Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on appointing a new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) as set out in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act is to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences and the identification of victims.
The process to recruit a new IASC follows the principles set out within the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments.
A decision on the appointment is under consideration.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with Royal Mail Group on six-day letter deliveries.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department has regular discussions with Royal Mail on a wide range of issues.
The Government’s objective continues to be ensuring the provision of a sustainable, accessible, and affordable universal postal service. The Government has no current plans to change the statutory minimum requirements of the universal postal service which are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with Royal Mail Group on the Universal Service Obligation.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department has regular discussions with Royal Mail on a wide range of issues.
The Government has no current plan to change the minimum requirements of the universal postal service that are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.
Ofcom has been given the powers and tools to protect the universal service and it has in place an effective monitoring regime that is able to identify any threats to it.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of work stations available for people employed by his Department on departmental premises.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The estimated total number of workspace/desks is 19,800. This includes all sites including Weybridge, council offices (where we have some desks) and labs. This includes Defra or any of the arm’s length bodies (Environment Agency/Rural Payments Agency/Natural England/etc).
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the backlog of DBS check applications for people seeking to work in social care; and what assessment she has made of the effect of those backlogs on the level of the social care workforce.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made. The Disclosure and Barring Service is meeting the service standard of completing 80% of enhanced check applications within 14 days.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to tackle backlogs in DBS checks.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The DBS issues four levels of certificates of criminal records, known as DBS certificates and operates a system of updating certificates through its Update Service.
Basic DBS check
A Basic DBS check is available for any position or purpose. A Basic certificate will contain details of convictions and conditional cautions that are considered to be unspent. DBS operates to service standards of completing 80% of Basic check applications within 2 days.
Standard DBS check
Standard DBS certificates show relevant convictions and cautions held on the Police National Computer (PNC), subject to filtering rules. DBS operates to service standards of completing 80% of Standard check applications within 5 days.
Enhanced DBS check
An Enhanced DBS check is available to anyone involved in work with vulnerable groups, and other positions involving a high degree of trust. Enhanced certificates contain the same information as a Standard certificate, with the addition of relevant local police force information. DBS operates to service standards of completing 80% of Enhanced check applications within 14 days.
Enhanced with Barred List(s) DBS check
An Enhanced with Barred List(s) DBS certificate will contain the same information as an Enhanced DBS certificate but includes details of whether the individual is included on one or both of the Barred Lists. These lists include individuals barred from working with children and vulnerable groups where the role is in regulated activity.
There are currently no delays in DBS processing times and performance against these targets is strong. The average processing time in September for all Basic applications was 0.9 days; for all Standard applications was 1.6 days; and for all enhanced applications was 10.4 days.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of work stations available for people employed by his Department on departmental premises.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The number of workstations estimated to be available for people employed by the Department within its office locations is 3419.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of work stations available for people employed by his Department on departmental premises.
Answered by Sarah Atherton
Each Ministry of Defence site is individually responsible for determining the number of work stations available for employee use. This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of work stations available for people employed by his Department on departmental premises.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The total number of workstations available for colleagues to use across the Department is currently 110,750. This figure includes the 991 workstations in the Department’s headquarters in London Caxton House and the 1,215 in Leeds Quarry House as provided in an earlier response.
On 17 March 2022, a statement was made to Parliament outlining the Department’s intention to consolidate its estate as it has too much space. As such, these figures will reduce over time.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of work stations available for people employed by his Department on departmental premises.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We refer the honourable member to the reply for PQ No. 61202, which provided the number of workstations available for Civil Servants to use in our headquarters buildings.
There is no central record held regarding the number of workstations available across the rest of our estate