Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 June 2023 to Question 189475, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that there is no loss of earnings to the UK haulage industry due to EU rules on cabotage since the UK left the EU.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Cabotage access for UK road transport operators is included in Article 462 of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). Under the terms of that agreement, UK operators can undertake unlimited bilateral journeys to, from and through the EU.
Up to two additional movements (international movements between EU States or cabotage) may be undertaken within the EU following a laden journey from the UK, within a 7-day period. These rights are designed to support the efficient operation of UK international road haulage industry between the UK and EU and within the EU.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to process A1 forms, which are required for anyone temporarily working in a country within the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, on musicians seeking to (a) work and (b) tour in the EU.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We do not have the information on current average processing times separately for employees and the self-employed.
The Government has not made a formal assessment of the impact of A1 certificate processing times on musicians.
In response to customer feedback, HMRC introduced new online versions of forms CA3822 and CA3837 in February and June 2023. These are designed to streamline the application process and offer a number of enhancements, including no longer requesting recent UK employment histories, and providing additional guidance for more complex questions.
HMRC intend to automate the CA3822 and the CA3837 application process in the Autumn which will improve processing times and remove opportunities for error.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the current average processing time is for the (a) ca3837 Self-employed and temporarily working in a country within the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland and (b) CA3822 Employees temporarily posted to a country in the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland forms.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We do not have the information on current average processing times separately for employees and the self-employed.
The Government has not made a formal assessment of the impact of A1 certificate processing times on musicians.
In response to customer feedback, HMRC introduced new online versions of forms CA3822 and CA3837 in February and June 2023. These are designed to streamline the application process and offer a number of enhancements, including no longer requesting recent UK employment histories, and providing additional guidance for more complex questions.
HMRC intend to automate the CA3822 and the CA3837 application process in the Autumn which will improve processing times and remove opportunities for error.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to take steps to digitise the system for submitting and processing A1 forms.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We do not have the information on current average processing times separately for employees and the self-employed.
The Government has not made a formal assessment of the impact of A1 certificate processing times on musicians.
In response to customer feedback, HMRC introduced new online versions of forms CA3822 and CA3837 in February and June 2023. These are designed to streamline the application process and offer a number of enhancements, including no longer requesting recent UK employment histories, and providing additional guidance for more complex questions.
HMRC intend to automate the CA3822 and the CA3837 application process in the Autumn which will improve processing times and remove opportunities for error.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an estimate of potential changes in the revenue generated by the haulage industry due to EU rules on cabotage since the UK left the EU.
Answered by Jesse Norman
There has been no formal assessment of the revenue generated. However, based on the most recent statistics published in October 2022, in 2021 UK operators performed cabotage movements as permitted within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement equivalent to 93% of the average amount of movement that took place between 2015 – 2019.
The 2021 levels of cabotage movements performed by UK operators may differ from the 2015-2019 average due to reasons other than the changes to EU rules about cabotage.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is planning to provide support to residents who are being required by their insurer to remediate significant building fire safety defects on buildings under 11 meters in height, but whose building developer is rejecting a claim on the basis that the fire risk to individuals was deemed significantly low enough for the building to achieve a B1 EWS1 rating; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
It is generally accepted that risk to life is proportional to the height of buildings. There is no systemic risk in buildings under 11m, which are very unlikely to need costly remediation to make them safe.
Where an external wall assessment carried out in line with guidance from the British Standards Institute (PAS 9980) shows acceptable risk, premiums should reflect that. Insurers should offer affordable premiums and should not be prescribing additional remedial works. My department is engaging with insurers on this matter.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners have been waiting more than three months for an outcome of their pension credit application.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
As of 23 May 2023, the number of customers waiting more than 61 days for the outcome of their Pension Credit application was 7,213. This is due to the complexities of each case which can range from awaiting National Insurance Number allocation, requesting information from third parties such as Local Authorities, Solicitors and where we are awaiting documents from the customer which are needed to finalise their claim.
The Management Information used has been taken from the same operational source data systems as our published administrative data. However, as this Management Information is not a recognised National or Official Statistic, it has not been subjected to the same level of Quality Assurance. As a result, these figures should be treat with caution.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is for pensioners to receive an outcome of their pension credit application.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Average Actual Clearance Time as at April 2023 for a new claim to Pension Credit is 34.1 days.
Source: Output from Customer Account Management System (CAM)
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of driving test appointments available in (a) the London Borough of Southwark and (b) London.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises there is a high demand for learners who are wanting to take their car practical driving test.
The DVSA has a 24-week forward booking window and tests are not available to book beyond this. As the booking service is live, test appointments can also become available to book through other candidates cancelling, or rescheduling, their test.
As of 15 May 2023, there were 6,402 car practical driving tests booked, and 297 car practical driving tests available within the next 24-weeks at the three centres that serve the London Borough of Southwark.
Within London, as of 15 May 2023, there were 79,109 car practical driving tests booked, and 4,390 car practical driving tests available within the next 24-weeks.
As a result of the measures already taken by the DVSA, overall, since April 2021, an estimated 813,000 additional car test slots have been created. On average, the DVSA is creating approximately 35,300 extra car test slots each month.
Actions already being taken to make this possible include asking all those qualified to conduct tests but who do not do so as part of their current day job to return to conducting tests, conducting out of hours testing, such as on public holidays and weekends, asking recently retired driving examiners to return, and recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of right to work applications made by asylum seekers were accepted in 2021-22.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.