Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Baroness Wheatcroft, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Baroness Wheatcroft has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Baroness Wheatcroft has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Public appointments are made by Ministers following the Governance Code on Public Appointments. This Code sets out the principles that should underpin all public appointments, including those appointments that Ministers have delegated to others.
Public appointments are made by Ministers following the Governance Code on Public Appointments. This Code sets out the principles that should underpin all public appointments, including those appointments that Ministers have delegated to others.
The current Covid restrictions guidance states that you can only leave home for work purposes where it is unreasonable to do your job from home. It is important that people stay at home wherever possible to minimise the risk of transmission and Government will continue to reinforce this message when engaging with businesses and representative organisations across a range of different sectors.
Under existing health and safety laws, employers have a duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees and other people who might be affected by their business. Employers must do whatever is reasonably practicable to achieve this and this includes requiring and supporting those who can reasonably work from home to do so.
If employees are concerned that their employer is not taking all practical steps to support working from home, then they can report this to their local authority or the Health and Safety Executive who can take a range of actions.
The current Covid restrictions guidance states that you can only leave home for work purposes where it is unreasonable to do your job from home. It is important that people stay at home wherever possible to minimise the risk of transmission and Government will continue to reinforce this message when engaging with businesses and representative organisations across a range of different sectors.
We are not aware of increased costs on this route as there are no specific animal health or documentary requirements to enter Great Britain from Northern Ireland with a non-commercial pet, or commercial dog. We would welcome further information from stakeholders and members of the public on costs associated with these movements. For information on entrance requirements for dogs travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, the public should consult the information provided by the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland, on their website.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has put in place a range of measures to minimise the number of people working in its offices in the Swansea campus at any one time.
Around 2,000 of the DVLA’s over 6,000 staff are currently working from home, the majority of whom have done so since the first lockdown in March 2020. Staff in operational roles that cannot be carried out from home are on site, with around 2,000 on the campus at any one time, as the DVLA operates shifts and many staff work part time.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has put in place a range of measures to minimise the number of people working in its offices in the Swansea campus at any one time.
Around 2,000 of the DVLA’s over 6,000 staff are currently working from home, the majority of whom have done so since the first lockdown in March 2020. Staff in operational roles that cannot be carried out from home are on site, with around 2,000 on the campus at any one time, as the DVLA operates shifts and many staff work part time.
No Ministerial Directions have been issued in the Department of Health and Social Care since October 2020.
By mid-February we successfully offered a first vaccine dose to everyone in the top four priority groups identified by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation as follows:
- all residents in a care home for older adults and their carers;
- all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers;
- all those 75 years of age and over; and
- all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals.
The latest NHS England data dated 4 March shows that 7,300,964 individuals aged 70 years old or over have been vaccinated with at least one dose and 1,961,501 clinically extremely vulnerable patients have been vaccinated with at least one dose. This means 88.3% of the population identified as clinically extremely vulnerable have received at least one dose. We do not hold figures for vulnerable patients hospitalised for other conditions, but hospital hubs will typically vaccinate eligible inpatients where clinically appropriate.
None.
There have been two Ministerial Directions issued since October 2020: one by the Secretary of State in Defra concerning a Movement Assistance Scheme to support traders moving agri-food commodities and equines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland; and one by the Secretary of State in the then Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government concerning the funding of fire alarms and walking watches for private and social sector buildings over 18 metres with unsafe cladding.
There have been two Ministerial Directions issued since October 2020: one by the Secretary of State in Defra concerning a Movement Assistance Scheme to support traders moving agri-food commodities and equines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland; and one by the Secretary of State in the then Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government concerning the funding of fire alarms and walking watches for private and social sector buildings over 18 metres with unsafe cladding.
The Government published a consultation on the potential approach to duty-free and tax-free goods following the transition period which ran from 11 March to 20 May. During this time the Government held a number of virtual meetings with stakeholders to hear their views, and received 73 responses to the consultation. The Government is also continuing to meet and discuss with stakeholders following the announcement of these policies.
The detailed rationale for these changes and a list of respondents to the consultation can be found in the summary of responses to the consultation.
HMRC estimate that VAT Retail Export Scheme refunds cost about £0.5 billion in VAT in 2019 for about 1.2 million non-EU visitors. HMRC also estimate that fewer than one in ten non-EU visitors use the VAT Retail Export Scheme.
In 2019 the ONS estimate there were substantially more EU visitors (24.8 million) than non-EU passengers (16.0 million) to the UK. This implies an extension to EU residents would significantly increase the cost by up to an estimated £0.9 billion. This would result in a large amount of deadweight loss by subsidising spending from EU visitors which already happens without a refund mechanism in place, potentially taking the total cost up to about £1.4 billion per annum.
The final costings will be subject to scrutiny by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and will be set out at the next forecast.
The Government published a consultation on the potential approach to duty-free and tax-free goods following the transition period which ran from 11 March to 20 May. During this time the Government held a number of virtual meetings with stakeholders to hear their views, and received 73 responses to the consultation. The Government is also continuing to meet and discuss with stakeholders following the announcement of these policies.
The detailed rationale for these changes and a list of respondents to the consultation can be found in the summary of responses to the consultation.
HMRC estimate that VAT Retail Export Scheme refunds cost about £0.5 billion in VAT in 2019 for about 1.2 million non-EU visitors. HMRC also estimate that fewer than one in ten non-EU visitors use the VAT Retail Export Scheme.
In 2019 the ONS estimate there were substantially more EU visitors (24.8 million) than non-EU passengers (16.0 million) to the UK. This implies an extension to EU residents would significantly increase the cost by up to an estimated £0.9 billion. This would result in a large amount of deadweight loss by subsidising spending from EU visitors which already happens without a refund mechanism in place, potentially taking the total cost up to about £1.4 billion per annum.
The final costings will be subject to scrutiny by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and will be set out at the next forecast.
The Government has already taken a number of steps to support ex-offenders in gaining employment, including establishing the New Futures Network, a specialist part of the prison service that brokers partnerships between prisons and employers; and committing to deliver a Prison Education Service, with a key priority being to enable more prisoners to find employment on release.
The Extradition Treaty between the UK and the US came into force on 26 April 2007. Since that date 133 people have been extradited to the US. Of those, nine were extradited for terrorism offences and 57 were extradited for finance-related charges, including wire fraud. The following offences have been included in this broad category of criminality:
Information on plea bargaining is not centrally recorded by the Home Office.
All figures are from local management information and have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change. The figures do not include Scotland, which deals with its own extradition cases.
The Extradition Treaty between the UK and the US came into force on 26 April 2007. Since that date 133 people have been extradited to the US. Of those, nine were extradited for terrorism offences and 57 were extradited for finance-related charges, including wire fraud. The following offences have been included in this broad category of criminality:
Information on plea bargaining is not centrally recorded by the Home Office.
All figures are from local management information and have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change. The figures do not include Scotland, which deals with its own extradition cases.
The Extradition Treaty between the UK and the US came into force on 26 April 2007. Since that date 133 people have been extradited to the US. Of those, nine were extradited for terrorism offences and 57 were extradited for finance-related charges, including wire fraud. The following offences have been included in this broad category of criminality:
Information on plea bargaining is not centrally recorded by the Home Office.
All figures are from local management information and have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change. The figures do not include Scotland, which deals with its own extradition cases.
The Ministry of Justice is committed to increasing the number of employers that provide employment for ex-offenders.
The New Futures Network (NFN) was established as a specialist part of the prison service that brokers partnerships between prisons and employers. These partnerships help businesses fill skills gaps and prisoners to find employment on release. NFN continues to work across England and Wales to engage employers to employ ex-offenders and support them to do so.
We also understand that employers want ex-offenders to leave custody job-ready and so this Government committed in its 2019 Manifesto to deliver a Prison Education Service, with a key priority being to enable more prisoners to find employment on release.