Asked by: Baroness Adams of Craigielea (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what they have plans to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government does agree that the Vagrancy Act is antiquated and not fit for purpose, and therefore we have committed to repealing it. We made that commitment during the passage of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act. Our commitment to repealing it has always been dependent on introducing modern replacement legislation to ensure that police and other agencies continue to have the powers that they need to keep communities safe and protect vulnerable individuals.
I cannot give a specific date when we will bring the legislation in. We will bring forward suitable replacement legislation in a future legislative vehicle.
Asked by: Baroness Adams of Craigielea (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish (1) details, and (2) minutes, of the meeting of Commonwealth foreign ministers in March.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM) was organised and hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat on 15 March 2023. The Foreign Secretary made clear the UK's desire to work with partner nations to deliver tangible benefits for Commonwealth countries and citizens, in particular on trade and investment, climate and values. The Commonwealth Secretariat published details of the meeting on their website: https://thecommonwealth.org/news/commonwealth-foreign-affairs-ministers-meet-discuss-responses-global-crises.
Asked by: Baroness Adams of Craigielea (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many new detention centres will be required in the event that the Illegal Migration Bill is enacted; and how many sites or locations they have identified for such centres so far.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
An economic impact assessment will be published for the Illegal Migration Bill in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Adams of Craigielea (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that those with disabilities are in receipt of benefits that they are entitled to receive.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government makes information on benefits widely available to all those who may wish to claim, including disabled people and people with health conditions, through a variety of channels including GOV.UK. In addition, information is available from a wide range of other sources, including organisations and charities, who provide advice and support. The DWP continually seeks to improve the information it makes available to encourage people to claim the benefits they may be entitled to.
Asked by: Baroness Adams of Craigielea (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that people have access to a (1) new, or (2) renewed, passport during the period of five weeks of industrial action by Passport Office workers.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
His Majesty’s Passport Office are working to manage the impact of strike action, whilst ensuring they can continue to deliver vital services to the public, with comprehensive contingency plans in place.
There are currently no plans to change our guidance which states that it takes up to ten weeks to get a passport.
Asked by: Baroness Adams of Craigielea (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide access to affordable domestic energy for low-income customers.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has set up a number of Energy Affordability Schemes to support low-income customers with energy prices such as Energy Bills Support Scheme and the Energy Price Guarantee which all households will benefit from.
As announced in the Spring Budget, the Energy Price Guarantee has been extended at £2,500 for an additional three months to the end of June 2023 to further support households with energy bills.
The Autumn Statement set out a commitment to work with consumer groups and industry to consider the best approach to consumer protection from April 2024.
In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living payments. Pensioners will receive a £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment alongside their Winter Fuel Payment. The Warm Home Discount will also provide £150 per eligible household for the financial year 2023/24.
Asked by: Baroness Adams of Craigielea (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what variation in normal customs rules are applied within each freeport in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Businesses authorised by HMRC to operate on specific, secure 'customs sites' within Freeports can take advantage of a special customs procedure which builds on facilitations available elsewhere in the UK. The details of this procedure can be found (attached) in HMRC's guidance on customs sites.
Asked by: Baroness Adams of Craigielea (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional support they have provided to local governments to support additional needs following (1) job creation, and (2) the movement or growth of population, in the areas around freeports.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Freeport policy model features a generous package of funding for local authorities to help them drive local regeneration, including by meeting local infrastructure and other needs. This encompasses £1 million of funding to support local capacity to deliver, £25 million of funding for local capital works, and potentially hundreds of millions of flexible funding through local retention of business rates, to be used in line with local priorities.
Asked by: Baroness Adams of Craigielea (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address concerns of criminality relating to (1) money laundering, or (2) people trafficking, in instances where a freeport is located within an existing port approved location or within a freeport boundary with a variation from normal customs rules.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Freeports Programme monitoring and evaluation strategy (attached) sets out how the effectiveness and impact of the Freeport programme will be measured.
A breakdown of the amount of jobs that English Freeports estimate they will contribute to can be found in the UK Freeports programme annual report (attached). In addition, we recently announced two new Green Freeports in Scotland, which estimate they will create over 75,000 new, high-skilled jobs. These forecasts will be reviewed through a baselining exercise in early 2024 and performance against them tracked and reported on through the Government's ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the programme (attached).
With the majority of English Freeports now fully up-and-running, we are starting to see them attract new investment to their regions. More information about how Freeports deliver for the UK economy can be found in the UK Freeports programme annual report (attached).
Freeport’s special customs status - which builds on facilitations available elsewhere in the UK - is available only on specific 'customs sites' within the wider Freeport footprint. These are secure sites administered by a specially authorised 'Customs Site Operator' or CSO. CSOs are required to obtain AEO(S) or equivalent authorisation from HMRC, an international gold standard for safety and security, and remain subject to robust ongoing oversight from HMRC. Freeports uphold the UK's high standards on security and preventing illicit activity.
Asked by: Baroness Adams of Craigielea (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many employees at freeports in the UK are excluded from employer National Instance contributions under the Freeport Upper Secondary Threshold.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
There is a zero rate of secondary Class 1 national Insurance contributions on the earnings of new employees who spend 60% or more of their working time within Freeport tax sites. This rate can be applied on the earnings of all new hires up to £25,000 per annum from April 2022 and for 36 months per employee.