Deaths in Police Custody

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Monday 30th October 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

There might be “ifs” and “buts” but we are a cautious lot in the Home Office. It is not a no or a caveat; we will be considering it in the round as we proceed.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister please confirm that, when there are incidents involving public services, people are expected to be open and honest? Often, throughout this system people are told by insurers, “You may not say anything now”. Will the Government look carefully at where the insurance industry, by stopping people making open and honest comments, inhibits that openness and honesty?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords—

Disabled Children: Online and Verbal Abuse

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Wednesday 18th October 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I agree with the noble Baroness: not only are they quite shocking, some of them are pretty disgusting. I was unaware that disability was not listed on Twitter, although it certainly is a strand of hate crime. I can tell her that the Home Secretary has been in deep discussion with some of our CSPs, including Google, Twitter and Facebook, and I will certainly raise that back at the department, because I was unaware of it.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister share my disgust that many police services are now categorising what they believe to be the most important crimes to pursue, and that among those being put lower down are hate crime investigations? It is no good having things on Twitter, Facebook and the Government’s list if no action is taken because of this Government’s shoddy reduction in police numbers, which is causing crimes that the public want investigated not to be investigated. Does she share my anger and concern?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I do not agree with the noble Baroness in the sense that reporting has hugely increased. In fact, only this morning I was at the National Black Police Officers Association talking about the very subject of hate crime and getting diversity into the workforce. I disagree about police numbers because the police have the resources that they need to concentrate on the priorities they think are important, and they hold huge reserves.

European Union: Freedom of Movement

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Thursday 12th January 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My noble friend raises the point about different countries’ implementation of the directive although we have not, as a Government, done a comparative analysis. However, he is absolutely right.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, will the noble Baroness write to me, and put a copy of her letter in the Library, setting out in detail the Government’s reason for failing to implement and for failing to answer the question of the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, and my noble friend Lord Dubs?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, it is not a failure to implement; it is a difference in each country’s implementation of its legislation. This country is more than generous in its implementation of that directive.

Calais: Child Refugees

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Tuesday 13th December 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

As I think I have said in answer to previous Questions, the Government are certainly providing funding for the children when they come here. Local authorities will receive two bands of funding—for children under the age of 16 and for those between 16 and 17. We are also providing funding for English language learning and funding to local authorities experiencing high levels of immigration in their communities.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, would the Minister care to answer a question she failed to answer on another occasion: how long does the funding last? If a local authority takes in a child, is it a one-year payment or will it cover the full costs of that child’s education, housing and health?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, if a child is in local authority care, they will be looked after as if they were one of our own. As I said, the cost of that local authority care will be met. Regarding the other funding the noble Baroness referred to, I cannot speak for further budgetary rounds, but it is certainly being committed to for the moment.

Istanbul Convention

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Thursday 24th November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I think it is about four years.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, may I remind the Minister and Members of your Lordships’ House that when my noble friend Lady Armstrong was the Minister for Local Government, we ratified the convention giving genuine self-government at local and regional level? People need to be vigilant after a ratification, because many of those terms are still not implemented.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The noble Baroness makes a valid point. In some ways, we perhaps go further in our application of ETJ than other countries.

Immigration Act

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Wednesday 16th November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I can absolutely confirm to the noble Lord that there are, in fact, more than 160 reception centres. Officials in this country are engaging very closely in identifying exactly those children whom the noble Lord talked about.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, if the Minister is correct in her statement about funding for these children within local authorities, why have many local authorities objected to the shortage of funding for children? Does the Minister agree with me that some of the most generous local authorities that have come forward to help these children have their own extreme needs in their local community? If local communities are to be welcoming of these children, they must believe that it is not at the expense of cutting down on services for themselves or their families. The Government should provide funding in full for the life of the child so that this scheme works well.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I take the opportunity to commend those local authorities that have been so very generous in offering support to these children. I refer the noble Baroness to the Written Ministerial Statement issued by Robert Goodwill on 1 November stating how we will evaluate the need for any additional training required by foster carers and support workers in looking after unaccompanied children. We take our role as a corporate parent very seriously; local authorities do as well. While those children are in local authority care, they should receive exactly the same high quality of care as our own children do.

Asylum Seekers

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Tuesday 1st November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The noble Lord is absolutely right for all the points I made in replying to the noble Lord, Lord Alton. Women are often the bedrock of family life and their children’s future. I think it was earlier in the year that the former Prime Minister announced the setting up of a fund for women to learn English to help them integrate well into British society and to help their children.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, the other day I asked the Minister if she could assure your Lordships that those local authorities that are taking people in will be given extra financial help by the Government. Will they continue to receive that help continuing over time or will it be time-limited? If we want to see integration into communities that wish to be helpful and charitable by taking people in, it will not help if they feel that the expense of the services they provide—schools, hospitals and so on—is not supported by continuing additional help over time.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The noble Baroness made a valid point the other day, as she does now. I take the opportunity to thank local authorities for their good will and their efforts to accommodate asylum-seeking children, many of whom have arrived in recent weeks. On funding, as part of the safeguarding strategy we have committed to regularly reviewing the funding for the support and care of unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children, working closely with the LGA and local authorities. We have increased funding from just over £34,500 to £41,000 a year for those aged up to 16. Those rates underpin the introduction of the national transfer scheme.

Calais: Child Refugees

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Monday 24th October 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister please give an assurance that the local authorities that are co-operating in meeting the Government’s legal obligations will get additional resources for as long as the children are in their care? It is not a matter of making a one-off payment; it is an ongoing commitment.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right. Local authorities need to be reimbursed and there is a scheme for reimbursing local authorities that take the children. We do not want payment to be a disincentive for them. Again, I pay tribute to the local authorities that are taking the children.

Migrants in France: UK Contribution

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Wednesday 12th October 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My noble friend makes a valid point about these camps not being a suitable place for anybody to be. Therefore the renewed effort by the British Government and the French authorities to get people away from the camps, and either back to their countries or to reception centres where they will be safe and able to proceed with asylum claims or access other areas of support that they might need, is definitely the right approach.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, would the Minister tell me how the Government calculate what age children are when it comes to government policy for resettling them? I have heard that the Government may be limiting children to those aged eight and under, but children over the age of eight are extremely vulnerable.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right. Children under the age of eight—in fact, I think the Home Secretary referred on Monday to children under the age of 12—are extremely vulnerable. It can be very difficult to determine what age a child is, as they may not have papers and there may be communication problems. It can be difficult, but we have to take what people, including perhaps their supporters and some of the people who are giving them care, say about exactly what age they might be.

Planning: Retrospective Applications

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Wednesday 15th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I think my noble friend made her point very clearly in her supplementary question about draft regulations being ready on time for proper consideration. I am not a constitutional expert and I do not want to go into that area, but giving noble Lords sufficient time to consider regulations is certainly important.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as someone approaching the age of 76. Many of the people who come to this country referred to by the noble Lord will work in services to support those of us who are older, in caring, nursing and medical support. Does the Minister agree that, without them, our services would be the weaker and the poorer?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I am sure the noble Baroness makes a very valid point. On the question of planning, it is important that the types of housing that people need, both in London and elsewhere but particularly in London, meet the needs of those people—hence why the Government have doubled the housing budget to £20 billion over this Parliament.

Local Government Finance Settlement: Transition Grant

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Wednesday 16th March 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I do not know whether we consulted the Office for Budget Responsibility but I will let her know. But what is clear is that the transitional funding was given to those councils which were disproportionately affected by the new core funding regime.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a council tax payer in Lancashire. Would the noble Baroness please write to me with information about all the criteria used because it appears to those of us in the north—Trafford is obviously not complaining—that it depends who makes a fuss as to whether local people get transitional relief, and Lancashire does not appear to be taken seriously in terms of need?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I can certainly write to the noble Baroness. I understand that the formula will be published once the first payments have gone out, so that may help. I am certainly happy to write to the noble Baroness either before or after the formula has been published.

Living with Difference

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Monday 18th January 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The credits at the back of the report—if you can call them credits—certainly indicate an incredible number of contributions of people, from across society, of all faiths and none.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, would the Minister please care to reply to the question about what the Government are doing to increase the supply of suitably qualified teachers? Among the considerations they ought to take into account is that no member of the Government should run down the many thousands of excellent teachers in all schools, not just free schools and academies.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I hope I have not run down any teachers, or given any notion of doing so. The schools in this country are very well served by teachers. I will certainly be replying to the noble Baroness.

Local Government Finance

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Thursday 17th December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare a former interest as a member of local authorities. However, I rise to defend not local authorities but the people who want the services of local authorities. Local authorities can be held up as something to shoot at, whereas it is local people who will suffer. If she cannot answer now in detail, would the Minister please write to tell me how on earth there is going to be a correlation between the amount local authorities can increase in expenditure—2% on the rates—and equalising the income they get while having regard to the very different levels of need in different areas? I understand that there is to be detailed discussion on the £1.5 billion, and so, unusually, I ask the Minister not only to write to me but to keep me up to date by writing frequently.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I hope I do not have to write too frequently and that the words I write give her some comfort. To reiterate—and I think I possibly did this last year—the 10% of local authorities in the most deprived decile frequently get more spending power than the 10% in the top decile. At the moment, it is about 24% more. However, I understand the noble Baroness’s point about the changes and how we will ensure that vulnerable people are protected. I am sure I can give her comfort in the letter that I will write to her. We do not want to see the most vulnerable people in our society suffer in any way—quite the opposite.

Northern Powerhouse

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Tuesday 24th November 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, the Scottish Government will have to answer to their electors in due course.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, would the Minister please ensure that she assesses whether the allocation of resources tomorrow means that counties such as my home county of Lancashire get equal treatment with other county areas in the country—even those counties which happen to have the Prime Minister as one of their MPs?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I shall certainly take that point away.

UK: Number of Households

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Monday 29th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, we are building more homes. In fact, nearly 800,000 homes have been built in this country since 2009. However, I agree that, yes, we are in danger of blaming immigration for everything.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that the term “head of household” was dropped in relation to the electoral register many years ago because it was often interpreted as meaning men? Secondly, does she agree that in looking at the figures of people who were born overseas, it is important to distinguish the multifarious reasons why people are in that category? For example, until 30 years ago a British mother outside the EU was not able to pass on British citizenship unless the child was born in Britain, whereas a British father could. Can we not have a great deal more accuracy when we are looking at this issue?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I agree with the noble Baroness that we tend to look at things in rather a blanket way, that “head of household” suggests a certain person—namely, male—and that the reasons for immigration are many and varied. I am an immigrant myself: my family came here in the 1970s because my father got a job here. One reason may be to flee persecution. The noble Baroness is absolutely right.

Greater Manchester: New Deal

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Monday 8th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, Greater Manchester has come forward with a proposal that is fiscally neutral; the plan uses the money that government currently puts into certain services, and Greater Manchester plans to use that money more efficiently and to engender growth in the process. Greater Manchester has not asked for additional money.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, was the Minister’s answer to my noble friend Lord Kinnock that, yes, the 40% cut that is already in place will stay and that those who come in will have to manage within it?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, my answer to the noble Lord was that Greater Manchester has not asked for any additional public funding. This proposition between government and the combined authority has nothing to do with council budgets; it is an entirely different thing.

Housing: Brownfield Sites

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Wednesday 3rd June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, would the Minister care to comment further on the question from the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, about the difficulty of encouraging development in areas where the return for those developing on brownfield sites is hindered because rents and sale values are low? Where will the money come from to help areas such as Lancashire?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I have just outlined that the brownfield fund should help—but housing zones should also help. Those are zones on brownfield land on which housing is especially suitable to be developed. Having the register will make that information easily accessible, and the fund will help to clear some of the difficult sites. By the same token of the land values being low, the construction is quite often cheaper.

Devolution: England

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Wednesday 25th March 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, in terms of the first devolution deal, which is in Greater Manchester, the arrangements and relationships between the local authorities have been well established for over three decades. In terms of local engagement, the election of a mayor as the person accountable to government will add clarity to it.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness has not explained fully her remark about the Barnett formula. The Barnett formula allocates public funds between the countries of the United Kingdom. The noble Baroness seemed to imply that allocation between different areas of this country would be revisited. Also, would she take it from me that those who welcome the decentralisation moves do not number among those who are happy with the Government’s formula for allocating resources? Speaking from the north-west, we need an answer.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, this is a Question about England and the point I was making was that Barnett will become less relevant in the future.

Local Authorities: Funding

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Tuesday 18th November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of cuts in funding to local authorities in the most deprived and least deprived areas of England.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

My Lords, local government accounts for a quarter of all public spending. It is vital that local authorities help tackle the deficit by finding sensible savings and making better use of resources. Local government has risen to the challenge well and public satisfaction with council services remains high.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, I accept the Minister’s statement but would add that the University of Sheffield’s research shows that areas such as my own—Preston, Blackburn with Darwen, Liverpool and Manchester—have suffered disproportionately in terms of the reductions they are being asked to make. For example, Public Health England found that Manchester, Liverpool, Blackburn with Darwen and Preston face some of the toughest challenges. How can the Government justify giving reduced spending powers to local authorities in the most deprived areas and allowing greater spending in more affluent areas?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, this is just not the case. The most deprived councils receive, on average, 50% more than the least deprived. I will give examples from either end of the spectrum. Middlesbrough gets £2,500 per dwelling and Poole gets £1,678 per dwelling.

Child Abuse: Police Investigations

Debate between Baroness Williams of Trafford and Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Wednesday 29th October 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

There are highly trained officers within the NCA. The CEOP officers, of which there are 141 at the moment, are highly trained in terms of safeguarding and in terms of image viewing on the internet. I can provide the noble and learned Baroness with more information on that subsequently.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, would the Minister care to comment on my noble friend’s question: do the authorities take physical harm towards children outside the country as seriously as they do harm towards those within it? Is her definition of “most harm” inclusive of children who are abused anywhere else in the world?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, British national children, whether they are in this country or outside it, are of the highest priority for the Government. That is why some of the work being done on the internet has global reach. In fact, we are global leaders in this area.