Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of Barnardo’s report entitled Double discrimination: Black care-experienced young adults navigating the criminal justice system, published on 21 September 2023.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises that children in care are more likely than their peers in the general population to have contact with the criminal justice system. That is why, in 2018, the department published a joint national protocol with the Home Office and Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on reducing the unnecessary criminalisation of looked after children and care leavers. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-protocol-on-reducing-criminalisation-of-looked-after-children.
The department is also taking action on the risk factors that can lead to criminal behaviour, including through our work to improve school attendance.
Through the care leaver Ministerial Board, the department is working closely with MoJ to improve support and outcomes of care-experienced people in the criminal justice system.
MoJ is currently updating its strategy for care-experienced people, to ensure that their time in the criminal justice system is used to support them to lead crime-free lives. The strategy will include a focus on race and its role in shaping the experiences and outcomes of those with care experience and will link to wider departmental efforts to address racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system. MoJ is aiming to publish this strategy in 2024.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Gambling-related harms evidence review: quantitative analysis, updated on 11 January 2023, what definition of pools betting her Department used during the evidence gathering process; and which gambling activities were labelled as pools betting.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Gambling-related harms evidence review: quantitative analysis has not been updated since original publication on 30 September 2019. The Health Survey for England (2012, 2015, 2016 and 2018) was used as the primary dataset for this review and analysis was carried out on this four-year combined and weighted dataset. Information on methods for data collection for the Health Survey for England is available at the following link:
The Health Survey for England asks whether survey respondents have participated in several different types gambling activities, and is included in the quantitative analysis which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gambling-related-harms-evidence-review
Gambling activities were not specifically labelled as ‘pools betting’.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Gambling-related harms evidence review: quantitative analysis, updated on 11 January 2023, what methodologies were used to gather data on Football Pools.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Gambling-related harms evidence review: quantitative analysis has not been updated since original publication on 30 September 2019. The Health Survey for England (2012, 2015, 2016 and 2018) was used as the primary dataset for this review and analysis was carried out on this four-year combined and weighted dataset. Information on methods for data collection for the Health Survey for England is available at the following link:
The Health Survey for England asks whether survey respondents have participated in several different types gambling activities, and is included in the quantitative analysis which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gambling-related-harms-evidence-review
Gambling activities were not specifically labelled as ‘pools betting’.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to The Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety's oral statement on Long-term Plan for Housing on 19 December 2023, Official report, whether he plans to take steps to ensure the urban uplift within the National Planning Policy Framework meets the housing needs of each urban area.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
To support the effective and efficient use of land and densification within our towns and cities the standard method urban uplift increases local housing need in our 20 most populated urban areas by 35%. The uplift is designed to ensure that the standard method is consistent with our aim to deliver 300,000 homes a year. It also helps maximise use of existing infrastructure and our wider objectives of regenerating brownfield sites, renewal and levelling up.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework (December 2023) is clear that where the urban uplift applies it should be met by those cities and urban centres concerned rather than exported to surrounding areas, except where there is voluntary cross-boundary agreement to do so, or where this would conflict with other policies in the Framework.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's consultation on the statutory levy on gambling operators, published on 17 October 2023, for what reason the proposed statutory levy rate for remote pools betting was set at 1%.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Higher rates of problem gambling are associated with certain products, particularly those online, compared to most land-based products. We want to take this into account in the design of the statutory levy, as well as the higher operating costs in the land-based sector. Public Health England’s evidence review of gambling-related harms, based on Health Survey data, showed football pools to have a 'problem gambling' rate of 5%, which is higher than the population level which has been at or below 1% for the past 20 years.
The consultation on the design of the statutory levy opened on 17 October and has now closed. Our consultation specifically invited views on the question of levy rates so that the Government has the best available evidence to inform our final policy decisions on the structure of the levy. The Government is carefully considering the evidence received, and we will publish our response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Premier League on its financial fair play rules; and what assessment she has made as to whether future legislation should include penalties for breaching financial fair play rules.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Premier League’s financial fair play rules are a matter for the Premier League and will not be will not be covered by the Football Regulator, which will have a tightly defined scope around ensuring financial sustainability. The Football Regulator will not involve itself in sporting matters or league rules, recognising the Government’s long standing respect for the autonomy of sport.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the independent regulator should have jurisdiction over (a) breaches alleged by the Guardian by the previous owner of Chelsea Roman Abramovitch and (b) other breaches of the financial fair play rules.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Premier League’s financial fair play rules are a matter for the Premier League and will not be will not be covered by the Football Regulator, which will have a tightly defined scope around ensuring financial sustainability. The Football Regulator will not involve itself in sporting matters or league rules, recognising the Government’s long standing respect for the autonomy of sport.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to give the Football Regulator the (a) powers and (b) resources to regulate clubs to ensure any breaches of financial fair play rules are (i) identified and (ii) punished.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Premier League’s financial fair play rules are a matter for the Premier League and will not be will not be covered by the Football Regulator, which will have a tightly defined scope around ensuring financial sustainability. The Football Regulator will not involve itself in sporting matters or league rules, recognising the Government’s long standing respect for the autonomy of sport.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the new earnings threshold for skilled worker visa applications, including spousal and dependent applications, will come into effect; and whether it will apply to (a) existing applications, (b) renewals and (c) people already living in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Until the Immigration Rules are amended next Spring, the current salary and Minimum Income Requirement thresholds, and policies relating to dependants, remain in place and at the current levels. Those already in the Skilled work route, and applications made before the rules change, will not be subject to the new £38,700 salary threshold when they change employment, extend, or settle.
Full details of transitional provisions will be set out in due course when further policy details will be announced.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure value for money in public spending.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Value for money is at the heart of government spending. It is one of the key considerations for any decision involving the use of public funds across government.
Since the Spending Review, the government has taken several steps to ensure it continues to deliver the greatest value from every pound of taxpayer’s money it spends. Departments have reprioritised and identified further efficiencies to help manage the impacts of inflation, protect vital frontline services and give our key public sector workers the pay rise they deserve.
This is only the start, the Chancellor has asked me to lead an ambitious Public Sector Productivity Programme targeted at increasing public sector productivity growth, both in the short- and long-term.