Asked by: Lord Watts (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 24 March (HL6900), how they are able to manage their functions without information on the number of Home Office staff working from home; and why they do not collect such information.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Asked by: Lord Watts (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Home Office staff are working from home; and what proportion of the department this represents.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Throughout the pandemic, all Civil Service employers have followed Government guidance in setting out their internal COVID-19 related policies. This includes complying with the Working Safely during Coronavirus: Guidance which sets out the key actions organisations should take to protect employees and customers in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in workplaces, along with carrying out health and safety risk assessments that include the ongoing risk from COVID-19.
On 21 February 2022, the Government published their 'Covid-19 Response: Living with Covid-19' This document sets out how and when the remaining restrictions will be lifted in England. Government guidance was subsequently amended, including the Working Safely guidance.
The Government’s Working Safely guidance continues to require organisations to carry out a risk assessment which includes the risk from COVID-19. It also sets out additional actions organisations can take to protect employees and customers in the workplace, such as ensuring adequate ventilation, frequent cleaning, asking people to wash their hands frequently and asking people with COVID-19 to stay away. The guidance advises that people continue to wear face coverings in crowded and enclosed settings where they come into contact with people they do not normally meet, when rates of transmission are high. Civil Service employers will continue to follow this guidance and align their policies accordingly.
Home Office staff conducts a wide range of roles requiring varying levels of attendance at the workplace. Our hybrid working model means that all staff, whose role permits, have the ability to work from home for a proportion of their working hours.
Asked by: Lord Watts (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many independent reviews the Home Office has commissioned into its policy or administration over the last year; and what was the total cost of those reviews.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office regularly commissions independent reviews to get an external perspective on its policy and administration. Information on numbers and, where incurred, costs is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Watts (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the effect of domestic violence on children.
Answered by Karen Bradley
Domestic violence and abuse is sickening in any context and can have a particularly profound effect on children. The Government’s approach to tackling this appalling crime is laid out in the Violence Against Women and Girls Action Plan, refreshed in March 2014.
The Action Plan sets out our commitment to develop the Troubled Families Programme to help families deal with a range of issues, including domestic violence and abuse.