Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2024 to Question 14388 on Horticulture: Seasonal Workers, whether the requirement for seasonal workers to receive a minimum of 32 hours pay for each week of their stay in the UK regardless of whether work is available was included in any (a) rules and (b) guidance published by his Department.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Scheme Operators are responsible for monitoring pay, conditions, and worker’s general welfare whilst they are in the UK.
The Home Office works closely with DEFRA to monitor the scheme to ensure Scheme Operators adhere to the stringent requirements set for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the seasonal workers. This includes ongoing monitoring of the route’s performance, regular communication with Scheme Operators and ongoing compliance monitoring which is underpinned by compliance visits to both Scheme Operators and growers which are carried out by UKVI. Action is taken if concerns are identified during sponsor visits, with sponsor licences being suspended while UKVI investigate further.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2024 to Question 14388 on Horticulture: Seasonal Workers, who is responsible for payments to seasonal workers in line with the requirement that they must receive a minimum of 32 hours pay for each week of their stay in the UK, regardless of whether work is available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Scheme Operators are responsible for monitoring pay, conditions, and worker’s general welfare whilst they are in the UK.
The Home Office works closely with DEFRA to monitor the scheme to ensure Scheme Operators adhere to the stringent requirements set for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the seasonal workers. This includes ongoing monitoring of the route’s performance, regular communication with Scheme Operators and ongoing compliance monitoring which is underpinned by compliance visits to both Scheme Operators and growers which are carried out by UKVI. Action is taken if concerns are identified during sponsor visits, with sponsor licences being suspended while UKVI investigate further.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2024 to Question 14388 on Horticulture: Seasonal Workers, whether his Department (a) monitors and (b) enforces payments to seasonal workers to ensure they receive a minimum of 32 hours pay for each week of their stay in the UK regardless of whether work is available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Scheme Operators are responsible for monitoring pay, conditions, and worker’s general welfare whilst they are in the UK.
The Home Office works closely with DEFRA to monitor the scheme to ensure Scheme Operators adhere to the stringent requirements set for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the seasonal workers. This includes ongoing monitoring of the route’s performance, regular communication with Scheme Operators and ongoing compliance monitoring which is underpinned by compliance visits to both Scheme Operators and growers which are carried out by UKVI. Action is taken if concerns are identified during sponsor visits, with sponsor licences being suspended while UKVI investigate further.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help protect hedgerows.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 set legal protections for hedgerows in England and Wales. These existing regulations prohibit the removal of most countryside hedgerows (or parts of them) without first seeking approval from the local planning authority.
In June 2023, the Government launched a consultation on how hedgerows should be further protected in England. The responses to the consultation supported bringing hedgerow management rules into regulation and this is what the Government will do as soon as parliamentary time allows. The regulations will require a 2-metre buffer strip, measured from the centre of the hedge, where no cultivation or application of pesticides or fertilisers must take place, and will ban the cutting of hedges between 1 March and 31 August. The regulations will support other Government actions and incentives, including over 90,000 km of hedgerows being managed through 16,000 agreements in the Government’s Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes.
Defra is also working with stakeholders and other Government departments to understand how to support the creation and maintenance of hedgerows in non-agricultural contexts, to maximise the benefits they provide.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help ensure access (a) into Gaza and (b) across the Strip.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
An immediate humanitarian pause is the most effective way of increasing the flow of much-needed aid into Gaza and securing the safe release of hostages. Crucially, it would also allow for progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.
We have been clear about the steps which are needed to get more aid into Gaza. All parties must take immediate action to ensure unhindered humanitarian access, ease restrictions on humanitarian supplies and ensure the UN and aid agencies can reach civilians in need throughout Gaza. We are focussed on five key humanitarian needs in our engagements with Israel:
1. An effective de-confliction mechanism to enable safe distribution of aid through that extended humanitarian pause.
2. Increased capacity inside of Gaza, enabling the humanitarian system and private sector to scale up the provision of goods.
3. Increased access for aid through land and sea routes.
4. An expansion of humanitarian assistance for Gaza, including fuel, shelter and public health items, as well as items critical for infrastructure repair.
5. The provision of electricity, water and telecommunications.
We have trebled our aid commitment this financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in and open more crossings. The Foreign Secretary has appointed his Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mark Bryson-Richardson. He is based in the region and is working intensively to address the blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the illegal smuggling of cats and kittens into the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government takes the illegal importation of pets seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals.
We operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in Europe. The Animal and Plant Health Agency works collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the Pet Travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.
We are aware that Selaine Saxby MP has introduced a Private Members’ Bill on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs, cats and ferrets. In accordance with Parliamentary convention, the Government will set out its formal position on this Bill when it receives its Second Reading.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) guidance and (b) support his Department provides to (i) veterinarians and (ii) other animal welfare professionals on cats and kittens illegally smuggled into the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government takes the illegal importation of pets seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals.
Defra regularly engages with stakeholders, including veterinary and animal welfare professionals, on a range of animal welfare issues, including the illegal smuggling of pets into the UK.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on how many Disabled people were evicted thorough section 21 no-fault evictions in the private rented sector in 2023.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 14713 on 22 February 2024.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to provide additional funding to the NHS for (a) diagnostic tools and (b) the workforce to help prepare for the potential arrival of new dementia treatments.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has established a dedicated national programme team, which is working in partnership with other national agencies and with local health systems to co-ordinate the preparations for the potential roll out of new treatments.
The team at NHS England are assessing the additional scanning, treating and monitoring capacity which would be required if potential new Alzheimer’s treatments are approved and determined to be clinically and cost-effective. This includes securing additional diagnostic capacity including magnetic resonance imaging, lumbar puncture, and positron emission tomography and computed tomography.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of geographical disparities in access to specialist dementia diagnostics on the (a) accuracy and (b) timeliness of diagnoses across regions.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network has been commissioned by NHS England to develop a resource to support investigation of the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates. The aim of this work is to provide context for variation and enable targeted investigation and provision of support at a local level, to enhance diagnosis rates. The tool has been released and is available via the NHS Futures Collaboration platform.