Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Renters (Reform Bill) on assured shorthold tenancies.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Renters (Reform) Bill had its First Reading in the House of Commons on 17 May. I refer my Rt. Hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS778) and to the published guide to the Bill.
We have submitted our Impact Assessment for review by the Regulatory Policy Committee. This is a significant document and they now need time to scrutinise it. We will publish it once that process has finished. I look forward to discussing these issues during the passage of the Bill.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of average time it takes to register a death.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
No estimate has been made. The General Register Office is part of His Majesty's Passport Office and oversees civil registration in England and Wales
In England and Wales, the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 requires a qualified informant to register the death of an individual within 5 days of the death taking place.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to enable the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to restore the full value of their grants in cases where a deduction has been made in respect of a compensation order but subsequently discharged.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The government-funded Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (the Scheme) exists to compensate for serious physical or psychological injury attributable to being a direct victim of a crime of violence. It provides an important avenue of redress for such victims and is part of the wider package of general and specialist support available to victims of crime.
The Scheme is a route of last resort and requires awards to be withheld or reduced if an applicant receives a compensation order made in criminal proceedings which the convicted offender is expected to pay. This reflects the long-standing legal principle of avoiding double compensation for the same injury and protects taxpayer funded compensation awards for those unable to access compensation or similar payments by other means. Under the Scheme, once a final award of compensation has been made, there are limited circumstances in which the application can be reconsidered, which are: (a) a person who has accepted an award subsequently dies as a result of the criminal injury giving rise to the award; or (b) there has been so material a change in the applicant’s medical condition resulting from the criminal injury, that allowing the original determination to stand would give rise to an injustice to them.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to include public sector swimming pools within the scope of the energy and trade intensive industries which will receive additional government support with energy bills through the Energy Relief Discount Scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
There are currently no plans to review the list of Energy and Trade Intensive Industries eligible for support under the Energy Bill Discount Scheme. The Government has taken a consistent approach to identifying the most energy and trade intensive sectors, with all sectors that meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity eligible for Energy and Trade Intensive Industries support. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to prevent the customers of energy suppliers being moved to prepayment arrangements without being consulted.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The energy regulator Ofgem has rules in place that restrict the force-fitting of a prepayment meter on customers who are in debt, except as a last resort.
Suppliers must provide notice of seven days before installing a prepayment meter or changing a smart meter to prepay mode.
Ofgem further rules require energy suppliers to assess whether installing a prepayment meter, including the remote switching of a smart meter, is safe and reasonably practicable for the customer. This assessment should include identifying any vulnerability.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the timetable is for the Government's local government Fair Funding Review.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available funding for local authorities in England. On wider potential reform, The Government will bring forward its plan for the year ahead in the usual way through the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement.
The Government will notify and work with local partners before consulting on any potential funding changes.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the impact of increases in the rate of inflation on the ability of highways authorities to deliver maintenance programmes.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department is keenly aware of the impact of inflation, both on our own programme of works and on those of partners such as local authorities.
The Department is working closely with local highways authority representatives and stakeholders, along with other Government Departments, to understand and address wider inflationary pressures on local authorities.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to announce the allocations from the Adult Social Care Discharge Fund.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department finalising the details of the Adult Social Care Discharge Fund and further information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children's Social Care published in May 2022.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department has established a National Practice group to begin work on the National Children’s Social Care Framework, a Ministerial Child Protection Group, and a National Implementation Board. The National Implementation Board will meet on November 16 2022, following an interim meeting in July, and is made up of people with lived experience of the care system and those with experience of leading transformational change.
We have also been working closely with other departments across government to rapidly agree on an ambitious and detailed implementation strategy that will respond fully to all three reviews. Ministers from across government are engaged on emerging policies and will agree on the final implementation strategy in due course.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 help increase the availability of residential places in social care settings.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act local authorities are responsible for making sure the care needs of their residents are met but it is clear that they are struggling.
That is why we have set up a £1.4 billion fund for local authorities to use to meet their duties under the care act – and to make sure they are paying the fair cost of care to care homes and agencies.