Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to publish the UK’s critical minerals list.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Afghanistan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme in meeting its aims; and what steps she is taking in continuing to support that scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme commenced on 6 January 2022, providing up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
Eligible individuals can be referred onto the Scheme in one of three ways, as set out in the policy statement. In line with this statement, the Home Office remains committed to achieving the objectives set out for the ACRS.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement
We started to resettle families under Pathway One of the ACRS at the start of the year. In light of the success of our evacuation efforts, we expect to exceed our initial aim of resettling 5,000 through the Scheme in the first year.
We are working at pace to prepare to receive the first referrals under Pathways 2 and 3 as soon as we can, so individuals affected by the events in Afghanistan can safely arrive in the UK and start to rebuild their lives.
We will publish ACRS resettlement figures in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, allowing transparent progress-monitoring.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress his Department has made on introducing a Deposit Return Scheme.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A second consultation on introducing a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was held last year. Government is analysing the responses to that consultation, with a view to publishing a government response soon.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce ambulance queues outside Royal Cornwall Hospital Treliske.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
NHS England and NHS Improvement have advised that South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has placed a mobile unit at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro to accommodate up to eight patients waiting admission. Patients accommodated by the unit will be cared for by trained professionals working as part of the ambulance service team, allowing ambulance crews to hand over their patients.
Where appropriate, patients are taken to urgent treatment centres and clinical assessment and treatment units rather than waiting to be seen in the emergency department. Timely patient discharge is also being supported to improve patient flow through hospitals and reduce ambulance queues.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the road safety of the Cubert Crossroads in Cornwall; and whether his Department will release funds to improve this junction.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Following a number of serious accidents at the A3075 Cubert Crossroads junction, Cornwall Council is seeking funding to improve it. In August 2020, Cornwall Council submitted an Expression of Interest for the scheme through the Department’s Local Pinch Point Fund. The Fund has been superseded by the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund (LUF) so I would encourage Cornwall to consider submitting a bid for the second round of LUF later this year. In addition, we are providing Cornwall Council with £32.46 million in Highways Maintenance funding in each of the next three years. This is an un-ringfenced grant which may be used for local road improvements.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Kickstart Scheme placements have been (a) approved, (b) advertised and (c) started by young people by (i) nation, (ii) region and (iii) sector as of 15 March 2022.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of the 15th March 2022, over 152,000 Kickstart jobs have been started by young people. The last date a young person can start a Kickstart job is 31st March 2022.
We have previously published the number of jobs approved and advertised as of 31st January, here. At that point, over 235,000 jobs had been advertised and over 305,000 had been approved. Kickstart has now closed to employer applications and as of March, all approved jobs proceeding to the advertisement stage, have been advertised. As such, these totals will not increase but may decline as a result of vacancies being withdrawn or removed by the employer.
Below are tables listing the number of Kickstart jobs which have been made available and started by young people to date by geographical area of Great Britain and work sector. The figures used are correct as of the 15th March 2022 and these figures have been rounded according to departmental standards.
Jobs made available (advertised) and job starts quoted here include some unfunded Kickstart jobs. Also included in the Great Britain total are a small number of jobs made available (less than 100 in total) that have an unrecorded job location.
The number of approved jobs is defined as the number of jobs associated with approved applications recorded on the Kickstart application system on the date above. This total excludes approved jobs that have been withdrawn from the Kickstart Scheme by agreement with employers and gateways. This is generally because, over time, some previously approved jobs were removed where the employer chose not to follow up the application.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.
The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.
Table 1: Number of Kickstart total available jobs and job starts, Great Britain, by nation and region (figures rounded to nearest 1000*)
| Total jobs made available | Total jobs started |
Region / Nation Split | (DATA RETAINED FROM 31/01/22) | (DATA EFFECTIVE 15/03/22) |
|
|
|
Total, Great Britain | 235,000 | 152,000 |
|
|
|
England | 204,000 | 132,000 |
East Midlands | 14,000 | 10,000 |
East of England | 18,000 | 11,000 |
London | 51,000 | 33,000 |
North East | 11,000 | 7,000 |
North West | 30,000 | 19,000 |
South East | 26,000 | 16,000 |
South West | 14,000 | 9,000 |
West Midlands | 21,000 | 14,000 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 19,000 | 12,000 |
Scotland | 19,000 | 13,000 |
Wales | 12,000 | 7,000 |
Table 2: Number of Kickstart total available jobs and job starts, Great Britain, by Sector (figures rounded to the nearest 10*)
Sector Split | Total jobs made available | Total jobs started |
| (DATA RETAINED FROM 31/01/22) | (DATA EFFECTIVE 15/03/22) |
Administration | 57,350 | 37,500 |
Animal Care | 1,610 | 1,200 |
Beauty & Wellbeing | 1,720 | 1,300 |
Business & Finance | 8,500 | 5,600 |
Computing Technology & Digital | 15,840 | 11,800 |
Construction & Trades | 7,230 | 4,900 |
Creative & Media | 20,990 | 15,600 |
Delivery & Storage | 6,380 | 4,200 |
Emergency & Uniform Services | 520 | 300 |
Engineering & Maintenance | 7,080 | 4,600 |
Environment & Land | 4,620 | 3,200 |
Government Services | 1,000 | 600 |
Healthcare | 6,140 | 3,100 |
Home Services | 1,560 | 800 |
Hospitality & Food | 26,380 | 13,200 |
Law & Legal | 650 | 500 |
Managerial | 960 | 600 |
Manufacturing | 6,430 | 4,200 |
Retail & Sales | 34,970 | 24,900 |
Science & Research | 990 | 800 |
Social Care | 4,740 | 2,400 |
Sports & Leisure | 5,920 | 3,800 |
Teaching & Education | 11,000 | 6,300 |
Transport | 900 | 400 |
Travel & Tourism | 1,110 | 500 |
* Due to rounding, sum of figures may not match declared total
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his timetable is for bringing forward legislative proposals to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government remains absolutely committed to delivering on our manifesto commitment to ending rough sleeping, and as part of that, complete our review of the Vagrancy Act 1824.
We agree that the Vagrancy Act 1824 is antiquated and no longer fit for purpose - that is why we have committed to repeal this outdated Act. However, we must balance our role in providing essential support for the vulnerable with ensuring that we do not weaken the ability of the police to protect communities.
Therefore, while we have tabled an amendment in lieu that provides for the 1824 Act to be repealed in full in England and Wales, we will ensure that the repeal is not commenced until appropriate replacement legislation is in place. In the meantime, we will deliver a bold, new strategy to end rough sleeping which will set out how we will build on recent success and ensure rough sleeping is prevented in the first instance and is effectively responded to in the rare cases where it does occur, but also that our police have the ability to intervene where needed and to keep people safe.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether Local Authorities have discretion not to award grants to (a) holiday lets and (b) other businesses that cannot explicitly prove that they have been directly financially impacted by the Omicron variant.
Answered by Paul Scully
Holiday accommodation businesses are eligible for the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) scheme provided they can evidence they are trading as a business and are listed on the business rates register. Second homeowners not trading as a business cannot claim a grant of any amount. Where a Local Authorities determines that a business is not trading they will not be eligible for a grant. This is consistent with steps announced by Government on 14 January 2022, which mean that owners of second homes who abuse a tax loophole by claiming their often-empty properties are holiday lets will be forced to pay their fair share of tax under tough new measures due to be introduced from April 2023.
Local Authorities have the discretion to use Additional Restrictions Grants (ARG) funding to support businesses in the way that best meets local economic need, in line with the scheme guidance. Local Authorities are encouraged to focus ARG support on businesses who have been severely impacted by reduced business activity due to the spread of the Omicron variant. The guidance does not mandate specific evidence to determine if a business has been severely impacted by Omicron. It is for Local Authorities to issue grants at their discretion, based on local decision making.
The guidance for both OHLG and ARG schemes can be found here.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government has taken to develop (a) upstream, (b) midstream and (c) downstream sections of the critical minerals supply chain in the UK.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Upstream, midstream and downstream sections of the critical minerals supply chain have all been – and will continue to be – supported through a number of Government initiatives. For example, the 10 Point Plan announced £500 million to support the electrification of vehicles and their supply chains, and other strategically important technologies including critical mineral processing, through the Automotive Transformation Fund. Other specific examples of the UK’s extensive work in this area include the Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge, which is investing £80 million in electrification technologies. This includes projects relating to the recovery and recycling of Rare Earth Elements, and activities to facilitate the development of Rare Earth Element magnet supply chains in the UK.
Going forward, the Government will publish a UK Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022, setting out our approach to securing the technology-critical minerals and metals. Our stated aims include to ensure the UK has a reliable supply of critical minerals and metals, and to establish an enabling environment for growing the sector in the UK.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many foreign owned companies have critical mineral projects registered in the UK.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
There is a growing interest in critical mineral projects across the United Kingdom, and the Department continues to support such investment opportunities. Most critical mineral projects in the United Kingdom are operated by companies that are registered here.
HM Government is working to support and enable more British investment in extraction, processing and refining. We work with our international partners to strengthen critical supply chains too, as we seek to improve our national security and economic resilience.
We have committed to publishing a Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022, which will set out how we will establish an enabling environment for growing the sector domestically, and how we can work internationally to secure the sustainability of Britain’s supply.