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Written Question
Tax Credits: Universal Credit
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential reasons why people receiving tax credits are not voluntarily migrating to Universal Credit.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

It is the customers responsibility to choose whether to make an application for Universal Credit. There is no evidence to suggest any actions the Department has taken or should have taken are influencing that choice.


Written Question
LGBT Veterans Independent Review
Thursday 7th December 2023

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the LGBT Veterans Independent Review.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Government has accepted in principle the all the LGBT Veterans Independent Review's recommendations. Whilst we agree with the intent behind them, there are a number we will deliver in a slightly different way to that described in the report. Many of the recommendations are complex and it is vital that we carefully consider their delivery to ensure the best outcomes for those affected.

Responding to the LGBT Veterans Independent Review and delivering its recommendations remains a high priority for the Government. Further detail on the delivery of the recommendations will be included in our full response, which will be published shortly. In the meantime, the Government encourages anyone that was impacted by the historic policy to explore the support, services, and restorative measures available to Veterans, by visiting the LGBT Veterans: Support and next steps GOV.UK page.


Written Question
Public Sector: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Tuesday 17th January 2023

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of guidance for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions in the public sector.

Answered by George Freeman

There is detailed guidance available on public sector emissions measurement and reporting, as set out during the recent Public Accounts Committee hearing on this subject. Overall, the public sector has reduced its emissions by 44% between 1990 and 2020.

The Government will provide a full response to the Public Accounts Committee report shortly.


Written Question
Clothing: Manufacturing Industries
Thursday 12th January 2023

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to help tackle unethical supply chains in the fashion industry.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government is clear that it expects all UK businesses to respect human rights throughout their operations, in line with the UNGPs. In 2015 we introduced the Modern Slavery Act which requires businesses with a turnover of £36m or more to publish an annual modern slavery statement stating the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

The Government expects companies to report transparently about how they are mitigating modern slavery risks and to use their modern slavery statements to demonstrate year on year progress. This enables consumers, shareholders and civil society to scrutinise the efforts being made.

Since October 2020, a wide group of stakeholders comprising retailers, manufacturers and non-profit organisations have been working with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) under the Apparel and General Merchandise Public Private Protocol to address poor working, pay, and purchasing practices in the UK supply chain.


Written Question
Post Offices: Energy Bill Relief Scheme
Monday 9th January 2023

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support Post Offices after the end of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

HM Treasury is currently conducting a review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and evidence from post offices is included in that which has been received. The Government cannot confirm which sectors will receive further support after 31st March 2023 until the end of the review, which will report later this month.


Written Question
Small Businesses: Trade Promotion
Wednesday 30th November 2022

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to help support small businesses that are not eligible to participate in the UK Tradeshow Programme to develop commercial relationships.

Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Our Export Strategy has a range of measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to increase their exports. It includes initiatives such as the Export Champions, which facilitates peer-to-peer learning between businesses, allowing them to learn through exporting success stories and build business networks.

Our UK-wide Export Academy delivers webinars and events to build the exporting capabilities of small businesses, while also centrally coordinating the Department for International Trade’s capability building activities, including building effective networks and in 2021/22 UK Export Finance provided £7.4bn in support for UK exports, directly supporting 545 UK businesses, of which 81% were SMEs.


Written Question
Customs Declaration Services Programme
Thursday 17th November 2022

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses have applied to extend their use of CHIEF and have yet to register for the Customs Declaration Service.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

4,727 businesses made import declarations on CHIEF in 2021. As of week, commencing 7 November 2022, 3,440 businesses are using the full service on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), with over 86% of import declarations now being made on CDS. 1,287 businesses have yet to subscribe to CDS. 1,231 businesses are in the Trader Dress Rehearsal, which allows businesses to practice making declarations in CDS.

Out of 1,653 businesses that applied for an extension to use CHIEF until 31 October 2022, 263 are yet to subscribe to CDS.

Out of 2,485 businesses that applied for an extension to use CHIEF beyond 31 October 2022, 470 are yet to subscribe to CDS.

As of 16 November 2022, c600 businesses have a valid extension to use CHIEF to allow them to complete training or because of issues with their third-party software. HMRC is working with these third-party software providers to resolve their issues and is tracking their progress.


Written Question
Customs Declaration Services Programme
Thursday 17th November 2022

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses registered for CHIEF have yet to register for the Customs Declaration Service.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

4,727 businesses made import declarations on CHIEF in 2021. As of week, commencing 7 November 2022, 3,440 businesses are using the full service on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), with over 86% of import declarations now being made on CDS. 1,287 businesses have yet to subscribe to CDS. 1,231 businesses are in the Trader Dress Rehearsal, which allows businesses to practice making declarations in CDS.

Out of 1,653 businesses that applied for an extension to use CHIEF until 31 October 2022, 263 are yet to subscribe to CDS.

Out of 2,485 businesses that applied for an extension to use CHIEF beyond 31 October 2022, 470 are yet to subscribe to CDS.

As of 16 November 2022, c600 businesses have a valid extension to use CHIEF to allow them to complete training or because of issues with their third-party software. HMRC is working with these third-party software providers to resolve their issues and is tracking their progress.


Written Question
General Practitioners: Hackney South and Shoreditch
Tuesday 25th October 2022

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices were open in Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency on (a) 20 October 2022 and (b) in 2013.

Answered by Will Quince

In September 2013, there were 20 practices registered in Hackney South and Shoreditch, with 18 practices registered in October 2022.

Practices close for a variety of reasons, including practice mergers or retirement. A reduction in practice numbers does not indicate a reduction in the quality of care. When a practice closes, patients are informed and advised to register at another local practice of their choice. Practices and commissioners must put in place appropriate measures to ensure that affected patients have access to general practitioner services.


Written Question
Juries: Greater London
Tuesday 25th October 2022

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had recent discussions with representatives of local authorities in north London on agreeing a new jury venue to help clear the backlog in jury inquests.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Chief Coroner is engaging with the local coroner service and Camden Council, as lead local authority for the Inner North London coroner area, on the issue of accommodation for jury inquests.

More generally, the Chief Coroner continues to monitor carefully the national position on inquest backlogs, and has issued guidance to coroners on developing Covid-19 recovery plans. He is currently undertaking a tour of all coroner areas in England and Wales to better understand local needs.

The Government recognises that pandemic pressures have affected the ability to hold jury and other large and complex inquests. We have provided £6.15 billion in grant funding to local authorities in England to support the cost of pandemic pressures, which could include additional costs incurred in the administration of coroner services. Additional funding has also been allocated to the Devolved Administrations under the Barnett Formula.