Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of migrants who (a) entered the UK at Dover (b) were stopped and returned to France immediately and (c) have been deported following a review of their status.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office do not routinely publish this level of data on clandestines, as this could compromise immigration controls and impact on national security.
The Home Office works closely with partners in the UK and overseas to strike people smuggling at source – identifying and dismantling the organised crime groups that facilitate illegal immigration. Additionally, the UK works abroad to reduce factors that may push or force people to attempt such journeys - through creating jobs, tackling modern slavery, providing education and delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance in response to conflicts and natural disasters.
We will continue to work closely with our French counterparts to maintain border security and keep legitimate passengers and trade moving.
At juxtaposed controls and ports around the country, Border Force officers use some of the most advanced detection technology available to find and stop migrants attempting to reach the UK illegally.
The Home Office publishes data on the number of returns from the UK in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of Returns are published in table Ret_D01 of the Returns detailed datasets.
Please note that only some of those returned will have previously entered the UK illegally; others may have entered legally, for example those who enter on a visa and overstay their period of valid leave and are therefore not separately identifiable in the data.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Justice to reduce the waiting time for welfare benefit tribunal appeals.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DWP is working with the Ministry of Justice to develop a new digital system with a view to enabling swifter processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Personal Independence Payment, Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit claimants can now submit their appeal online.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to (a) review the proposed changes to IR35 and (b) support people who are self-employed.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Chancellor has commissioned a review of the off-payroll working rules reform (IR35). As set out at Budget 2018, the reform is due to be extended to all sectors from April 2020. The review will focus on the implementation of the reform, and consider whether there are any further steps the Government can take to ensure the smooth and successful implementation of the upcoming reforms. The off-payroll working rules do not affect the self-employed; part of the review will consider whether this is clearly understood by businesses in their implementation of the reforms. In parallel to the review, HMRC will be stepping up their efforts to support individuals and businesses in preparing for these changes and raising awareness of the reform.
The Government is committed to supporting self-employed professionals and consultants. From April 2019, the UK will have increased its Personal Allowance by over 90% in less than a decade. The self-employed have also been given access to the full rate of the new State Pension, worth over £2,000 a year more to a self-employed individual than under the previous system.
Budget 2018 announced that the Government is extending the New Enterprise Allowance, to help people start a business; introducing a £10m pilot to support self-employed training; and equalising the treatment of all self-employed people with respect to the Universal Credit Minimum Income Floor.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for personal independence payment appeals to be decided at HM Courts & Tribunals Service Ashford.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice expects appeal hearings to take place as quickly as possible and is carrying out a series of initiatives to increase capacity which will help reduce waiting times for appellants in Ashford. Since September 2018, three additional judges have been allocated to Ashford as their primary venue and three further judges have been allocated to Ashford as their secondary venue. Furthermore, from November this year the capacity at the Ashford venue will increase from three hearing rooms to four on a daily basis and from August 2019, appeals to be heard at the Ashford venue can now be heard at a new venue in Hastings, depending on the appellant’s postcode.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage (a) UK and (b) overseas citizens to take holidays in UK (i) seaside towns and (b) coastal communities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
VisitBritain and VisitEngland are responsible for promoting the UK as a tourist destination, which it does through a range of different initiatives and campaigns. VB sit on the Coastal Tourism Leadership Forum (run by the National Coastal Tourism Academy), helping to shape the Coastal Visitor Economy Vision and Action Plan. DCMS are observers at the forum.
One of the projects currently being supported by the £40m VisitEngland Discover England Fund is the South West Coastal Path, which is promoting the path to the Dutch and German market.
Government recently published the Tourism Sector Deal which aims to improve the sector’s productivity and ready our visitor economy for the visitors of the future.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to encourage the development of tourism in seaside towns and coastal communities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
VisitEngland administer the £40m Discover England Fund which has helped to develop a number of tourism products which celebrate our coastal communities, such as England’s Seafood Coast, the Garden Gourmet Trails of England and England’s Coast.
My colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government also provide support and funding to coastal areas through the Coastal Communities Fund and the Coastal Revival Fund, much of which has a tourism focus. They have also set up Coastal Community Teams around the country to support the development of the coastal economy. An example of this investment is the Queensborough Harbour Trust Community Interest Company who received £500,000 of Coastal Communities Funding, increasing the number of moorings in the harbour, improving facilities for visitors and planning further activities and events for the future.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps is he taking to improve the regulation of Approved Inspectors in the building industry.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Approved Inspectors are an important part of the future system proposed by Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of the Building Regulations and Fire Safety System. In line with Dame Judith’s recommendations, the Government will end the ability of a developer to choose which building control body oversees the construction of higher-risk buildings. We are working with the Joint Regulators Group and representatives of Approved Inspectors to identify the best way to achieve this while retaining sufficient regulatory capability and capacity under the new system. The Department will also commission a review of the future role of the Approved Inspectors under the new regime.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timeframe is for her Department to bring forward legislative proposals for severe disability premium to be available under universal credit.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department laid The Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 before Parliament on 22 July 2019. This means we can identify claimants who are potentially eligible for Severe Disability Premium transitional payments and start making these payments as soon as possible.
From 24 July 2019, eligible claimants will be considered for backdated payments covering the time since they moved to Universal Credit. We estimate that by 2024/25, approximately 45,000 of the most vulnerable claimants will benefit from this package of support, worth an estimated £600million over the next six years.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on ensuring that the seasonal agriculture workers pilot is (a) made permanent and (b) expanded to include 10,000 places this year to meet the needs of the horticulture sector.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We are seeking to evaluate the ability of the Seasonal Workers Pilot to assist in alleviating labour shortages during peak production periods.
There are currently no plans to expand the pilot as we will fully assess the pilot before taking any decisions on future arrangements. Defra and the Home Office will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating the Pilot against its stated aims.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to maintain the provision of the EU Pet Travel Scheme in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
While the UK remains a member state, the EU current pet travel scheme arrangements will continue to apply.
After we leave the EU, we want pet travel to continue in any scenario with the minimum of disruption whilst maintaining high biosecurity and welfare standards. As such, the Government has no immediate plans to change our pet travel arrangements following the UK’s departure from the EU (as it relates to health requirements) in any scenario.
However, we will become a third country with regards to the EU’s Pet Travel Scheme and will need to comply with the appropriate requirements for pet movements to the EU.