Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2020 to Question 119191, if she will provide refunds for payments of the immigration health surcharge made prior to 31 March 2020 by people working in the (a) health and (b) care sector.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Following the announcement in May that health and care workers would no longer be required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, the policy was backdated to 31 March to bring it in line with the introduction of visa extensions for health and care workers.
Health and care workers who paid the health surcharge to cover the period from 31 March 2020 onwards may be eligible for a refund. Refunds will not be made for the period prior to 31 March 2020.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing refunds for payments of the immigration health surcharge made by people working in the (a) health and (b) care sector prior to 31 March 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Health and care workers who paid the health surcharge to cover the period from 31 March 2020 onwards, may be eligible for a refund. This includes those who were working in the health and care sector before that date.
More information on this policy can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/refunds
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing emergency payments to (a) sex workers and (b) women in crisis during the covid-19 outbreak to help protect (i) the health and wellbeing of sex workers and their families and (ii) public health.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We understand that those who are vulnerable and involved in selling sex and women in crisis can face a number of challenges that affect their ability to access services particularly during the Covid-19 outbreak. The Government is providing £76m to charities and organisations throughout the country to support victims of modern slavery, sexual violence and domestic abuse. Of this, the Ministry of Justice is providing £25m to support sexual violence and domestic abuse services through Covid 19 pressures. A further £3m per annum until 2022 will also be invested in the recruitment of more Independent Sexual Violence Advisors across the country. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is providing £10m for safe accommodation services.
Healthcare services remain open including general practice, drug and alcohol, and sexual health services. Whilst they have reduced face to face appointments, some services are able to see urgent, priority or vulnerable clients (including sex workers) seeking support where necessary.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to reopen registry offices to enable registration of an intention to marry.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The local registration service in England has been advised that they can open to take notices of intention to marry where these can be safely delivered in line with public health and local authority guidelines. Restrictions in Wales have not yet been lifted.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential merits on exempting children in a joint custody arrangement with one parent overseas from self-isolating for 14 days after arriving back in the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Where children travel into the UK and need to move between parents’ UK homes as part of a shared custody agreement, this is permitted as long as they continue to self-isolate.
In all other cases everyone bar a short list of exempted people arriving into the UK should self-isolate in their accommodation for 14 days.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of domestic fires in the private rented sector in England that have occurred as a result of (a) smoking and (b) electrical fires since 2015.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office does not collect this information. Data on electrical fires and those caused by smoking are available in tables 6.02 and 6.05 here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables#cause-of-fire but we do not collect information on the tenure of the property in which the fire took place.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to support convenience retailers in Denton and Reddish that have lost an estimated £123,303 from shop theft; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
All forms of retail crime are unacceptable, and everyone has the right to feel safe at work.
I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies – including the Association of Convenience Stores - and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime. This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to improve the management and response to shop theft using a partnership approach according to local circumstances.
On 21 January I announced that we will launch a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers to strengthen our understanding of this issue, including how existing legislation is being applied.
In addition, the Sentencing Council is due to consult on a revised guideline on assault in the summer.
Where shop theft involves anti-social behaviour, local areas may use the tools provided for by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Where appropriate, this may include the Community Remedy, which gives victims of low-level crime and anti-social behaviour a say in the punishment of perpetrators who receive an out of court punishment, and the Community Trigger, which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour the ability to request a formal case review.
The powers are deliberately local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the circumstances. The Home Office keeps use of the powers under review through an Anti-social Behaviour Strategic Board which brings together key partners.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Association of Convenience Stores Crime Report 2019; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
All forms of retail crime are unacceptable, and everyone has the right to feel safe at work.
I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies – including the Association of Convenience Stores - and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime. This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to improve the management and response to shop theft using a partnership approach according to local circumstances.
On 21 January I announced that we will launch a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers to strengthen our understanding of this issue, including how existing legislation is being applied.
In addition, the Sentencing Council is due to consult on a revised guideline on assault in the summer.
Where shop theft involves anti-social behaviour, local areas may use the tools provided for by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Where appropriate, this may include the Community Remedy, which gives victims of low-level crime and anti-social behaviour a say in the punishment of perpetrators who receive an out of court punishment, and the Community Trigger, which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour the ability to request a formal case review.
The powers are deliberately local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the circumstances. The Home Office keeps use of the powers under review through an Anti-social Behaviour Strategic Board which brings together key partners.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to tackle (a) retail crime and (b) violence against shop workers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
All forms of retail crime are unacceptable, and everyone has the right to feel safe at work.
I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies – including the Association of Convenience Stores - and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime. This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to improve the management and response to shop theft using a partnership approach according to local circumstances.
On 21 January I announced that we will launch a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers to strengthen our understanding of this issue, including how existing legislation is being applied.
In addition, the Sentencing Council is due to consult on a revised guideline on assault in the summer.
Where shop theft involves anti-social behaviour, local areas may use the tools provided for by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Where appropriate, this may include the Community Remedy, which gives victims of low-level crime and anti-social behaviour a say in the punishment of perpetrators who receive an out of court punishment, and the Community Trigger, which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour the ability to request a formal case review.
The powers are deliberately local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the circumstances. The Home Office keeps use of the powers under review through an Anti-social Behaviour Strategic Board which brings together key partners.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to continue to allocate funding to the National Business Crime Centre; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Ministers are yet to take a decision regarding the award of allocations from the Police Transformation Fund for 2019/2020.