Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support small and medium-sized enterprises that have been waiting longer than HMRC's 40-day target to receive research and development tax credit payments.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Research and Development tax reliefs are a vital driver of innovation, growth and productivity and are crucial to the government’s pledge to grow the economy. It’s important that these reliefs are easy to claim and are provided quickly to genuine claimants.
HMRC does not currently have a delay or backlog and is exceeding performance against its published goal to either pay or make contact regarding the claim for 85% of claims within 40 days.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average processing time was for applications to the small and medium-sized enterprise research and development tax credit scheme in each year since 2020.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Research and Development tax reliefs are a vital driver of innovation, growth and productivity and are crucial to the government’s pledge to grow the economy. It’s important that these reliefs are easy to claim and are provided quickly to genuine claimants.
HMRC does not currently have a delay or backlog and is exceeding performance against its published goal to either pay or make contact regarding the claim for 85% of claims within 40 days.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, what the (a) total and (b) per Member cost of the House of (i) Lords and (ii) Commons was in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
This information is not held centrally.
The basic annual salary for an MP from 1st April 2023 is £86,584. MPs also receive expenses to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having somewhere to live in London or their constituency, and travelling between Parliament and their constituency. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) which was created in 2009 by the Parliamentary Standards Act, is responsible for setting and regulating MPs’ salaries, pensions, business costs and expenses. IPSA is quite rightly independent of Parliament and the Government. At the end of each financial year, IPSA publishes an annual report and accounts which can be found on IPSA’s website (https://www.theipsa.org.uk/annual-reports).
Most members of the House of Lords do not receive a salary for their parliamentary duties but are eligible to receive allowances and, within certain limits, the travel expenses they incur in fulfilling their parliamentary duties. The House of Lords publishes quarterly data on the claims made by Peers which can be found on the Parliament website (https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/whos-in-the-house-of-lords/house-of-lords-expenses/)
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to introduce a quota to determine the number of adult asylum seekers placed in each (a) local authority area and (b) parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
From 13 April 2022, all local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales are considered a dispersal area and will need to take part in asylum dispersal. This is to ensure a fair and equitable accommodation spread of asylum seekers across the UK.
We have asked local authorities across the United Kingdom to provide the Home Office with plans for dispersal within their nation or region and have agreed targets, based on those plans, for every local authority and region in the UK to deliver by the end of 2023.
As of March 31st 2023, there are no supported asylum seekers being accommodated in Arfon, Wales.
The latest Home Office figures holds show that Wales holds 2.6% of supported asylum seekers when Wales makes up 5.2% of the UK’s population. The current number of asylum seekers being accommodated in Wales is lower than it was in June 2020, despite the significant increase in asylum claims. Currently, Wales is considerably off track meeting their dispersal target.
The Standard Operating Procedure sets out that when a site is identified for use on the Asylum Support Contracts, the Deputy Director of Asylum Support will initially notify the Chief Executive of the relevant local authority and the Member of Parliament.
If you would like to put forward specific proposals, please do contact the Home Office at: rasiengagementhubregionalconsultation@homeoffice.gov.uk(opens in a new tab) and officials will happily discuss this in greater detail with you.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with (a) local authorities, (b) Health Boards, (c ) the local voluntary sector and (d) the Senedd on accommodating asylum seekers in Wales.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office has an established governance process with local authorities in Wales, as it does with other nations and local authorities in England, to drive delivery of our full dispersal plans.
The governance process includes a monthly meeting between the Home Office, our accommodation providers, Strategic Migration Partnerships and local authorities in Wales to drive collective delivery against this target. The focus of these discussions is to consider progress against the regional dispersal plan, opportunities and local housing market pressures.
The Standard Operating Procedure sets out that when a site is identified for use on the Asylum Support Contracts, the Deputy Director of Asylum Support will initially notify the Chief Executive of the relevant local authority and the Member of Parliament. This will notify the local authority that we have identified the site as a potential contingency site and that we will commence engagement with local authority officials, as well as Police and Health partners.
We are committed to work closely with all local authorities and stakeholders through Multi Agency Forum (MAF) meetings to address any concerns of the local community and reduce the impact on local services.
Furthermore, we recently met with Welsh counterparts such as Minister for Social Justice Jane Hutt MP on 30th March.
The latest Home Office figures show that Wales holds 2.6% of supported asylum seekers while Wales makes up 5.2% of the UK’s population. The current number of asylum seekers being accommodated in Wales is lower than it was in June 2020, despite the significant increase in asylum claims.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to provide wi-fi for asylum seekers accommodated in Arfon constituency.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Welsh Government have funded and worked in partnership with accommodation providers to provide Mi-Fi, a Wi-Fi device, across all dispersal accommodation sites in Wales enabling internet coverage for supported asylum seekers. As of March 31st 2023, there are no supported asylum seekers being accommodated in Arfon Wales.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to provide independent inspections of the (a) accommodation and (b) support for asylum seekers in Wales.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and other support whilst their application for asylum is being considered as set out in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The Act also sets out the need to meet essential living needs. The support package provided consists of accommodation and a weekly cash allowance to meet other essential living needs such as food, toiletries, travel and clothing. The support rate for those in contingency accommodation is intended to cover essential living items that are not met by the accommodation provider such as clothing, non-prescription medicine and travel.
All asylum properties are also inspected by our accommodation providers at least monthly. Additionally, our contract assurance team carries out targeted inspections, for example, targeting for inspection properties about which issues have been raised via Migrant Help. Our inspectors have procedures and tools to focus inspections on all relevant aspects of contract compliance.
If accommodation providers have been found to have fallen short of the required standards then we can take action, including but not limited to the application of financial remedies.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to provide lessons in (a) English and (b) Welsh to asylum seekers in Wales.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not provide English or Welsh Language lessons as part of the provision of Asylum Support. Accommodation providers do signpost asylum seekers they accommodate to local statutory and non-statutory bodies who may provide these services. Local authorities have a duty to provide suitable full-time education for all children of compulsory school age resident in their area. The education must be appropriate to the child’s age, ability, and any special educational needs they may have, regardless of their immigration status. Local authorities must offer free school places in accordance with their published admissions arrangements, and they must ensure that there is no unreasonable delay in securing school admission for any child.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment of the potential merits of housing asylum seekers in (a) dispersal and (b) contingency accommodation; and if she make will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Contingency Accommodation is accommodation that the Home Office has to use in order to continue to meet our statutory obligations. It is not a long-term solution to housing destitute asylum seekers and the Home Office is committed to moving away from contingency accommodation to more suitable forms of accommodation, including Dispersed Accommodation.
From 13 April 2022, all local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales are considered a dispersal area and will need to take part in asylum dispersal. This is to ensure a fair and equitable accommodation spread of asylum seekers across the UK. We have agreed targets for every local authority and region in the UK to deliver by the end of 2023.
Currently Arfon does not have any dispersal accommodation. If you would like to put forward specific proposals, please do contact the Home Office at: rasiengagementhubregionalconsultation@homeoffice.gov.uk and officials will happily discuss this in greater detail with you.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance is issued by her Department on the weight expected to be given to (a) family ties, (b) culture and (c) language when deciding where asylum seekers should be accommodated.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Under the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999, the Government is required to provide accommodation to asylum seekers that would otherwise be destitute.
It is Home Office policy to offer accommodation on a no choice basis except in exceptional circumstances: