Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will further regulate the funeral industry.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We have accepted that some form of regulation of the funeral sector is required. My officials have therefore been working on a plan to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the self-regulation regimes introduced by the two main representative bodies, and to launch a call for evidence.
The call for evidence will be launched before summer recess and will gather views on what type of regulation is appropriate and proportionate. Following this, we will develop and consult on proposals for the regulation of the sector. There are a number of possible routes for regulation including introducing an independent regulator. It is too early at this stage to say which is most appropriate.
I have discussed the regulation of the Funeral Sector with cabinet colleagues, and am working particularly closely with Minister Hoare on the short-term response to the tragic events in Hull and East Rising.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the number of young people in Greater Manchester deemed at risk of Child Criminal Exploitation who have criminal offences recorded against them.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold specific data on the number of young people in Greater Manchester deemed at risk of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) who have criminal offences recorded against them. However, tackling CCE is a priority for this Government which is why we are providing funding to support Greater Manchester Police to help tackle county lines and CCE.
Through our Drug Strategy, we are providing a targeted investment of up to £145m over three years to bolster our County Lines Programme. This includes funding a dedicated county lines taskforce in Greater Manchester Police, as well as funding Catch22 to provide a specialist support and rescue service for under 25’s and their families in Greater Manchester to help them safely reduce and exit their involvement from county lines including child criminal exploitation.
We are also driving targeted action to respond to exploitation through the Home Office-funded Prevention Programme, delivered by The Children’s Society with funding of £1.37m for delivery between 2023-25. Through the programme, a dedicated Northwest Prevention Officer works to support a range of partners to improve the response to multiple forms of exploitation including CCE in the Northwest region.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding (a) community and (b) co-operative ownership in the renewable energy sector.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Government recognises the role community groups play in our efforts to tackle climate change and offers support through the £10m Community Energy Fund, which enables both rural and urban communities across England to access grant funding to develop local renewable energy projects for investment.
In addition, a Call for Evidence on the barriers to community energy projects was published on 8 April 2024.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure offenders convinced of child criminal exploitation are not released into the same community as the victims on the completion of a custodial sentence.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Individuals convicted of serious sexual, violent and terrorist offences are managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) on release from custody. MAPPA enables the Police, Probation and Prison Services to work together with other agencies to manage the risks posed by these individuals in the community, in order to protect victims and members of the public.
All offenders released from custodial sentences before the end of their sentence will be supervised on licence in the community by the Probation Service. Victims who opt in to the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS), which is available for victims of specified sexual or violent offences where the sentence is 12 months or more, have the statutory right to request licence conditions for when the offender is released. Typically, these conditions will include a non-contact condition and exclusion zones, prohibiting the offender from entering areas where the victim lives, works or travels to frequently.
Where victims do not qualify for the VCS, the supervising officer in the Probation Service will undertake a risk assessment and may request licence conditions to mitigate identified risks where they relate to victims of the index offence.
Licence conditions end when the offender completes his/her sentence. However, where the Police have concerns about an offender’s ongoing risk to a victim or the general public, they may apply may apply to the Magistrates Court for the imposition of a civil order, which may place restrictions or obligations on the offender which replicate some of the protections of the licence.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to ensure offenders convicted of Child Sexual Exploitation are not released into the same community as the victims on completion of a custodial sentence.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Individuals convicted of serious sexual, violent and terrorist offences are managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) on release from custody. MAPPA enables the Police, Probation and Prison Services to work together with other agencies to manage the risks posed by these individuals in the community, in order to protect victims and members of the public.
All offenders released from custodial sentences before the end of their sentence will be supervised on licence in the community by the Probation Service. Victims who opt in to the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS), which is available for victims of specified sexual or violent offences where the sentence is 12 months or more, have the statutory right to request licence conditions for when the offender is released. Typically, these conditions will include a non-contact condition and exclusion zones, prohibiting the offender from entering areas where the victim lives, works or travels to frequently.
Where victims do not qualify for the VCS, the supervising officer in the Probation Service will undertake a risk assessment and may request licence conditions to mitigate identified risks where they relate to victims of the index offence.
Licence conditions end when the offender completes his/her sentence. However, where the Police have concerns about an offender’s ongoing risk to a victim or the general public, they may apply may apply to the Magistrates Court for the imposition of a civil order, which may place restrictions or obligations on the offender which replicate some of the protections of the licence.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of hotel use for asylum seekers on community cohesion in Oldham; and when he plans to end the use of temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Asylum hotels were only ever a temporary measure, in response to an unprecedented spike in small boat arrivals and the statutory requirement to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. The Government has always been clear that they are an inappropriate form of accommodation and that we must stop using them as soon as possible.
Wherever hotels are used, the Home Office works in partnership with local authorities and other statutory partners, including through multi-agency forum (MAF) meetings. These consider, amongst other things, community cohesion issues.
We will have closed 100 hotels by the end of March. We continue to work with our providers on closing further hotels across the estate and will write to local authorities and MPs when a decision to close a site has been made.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) closures of magistrates courts and (b) trends in the recruitment of magistrates on case capacity in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The decision to close any court only happens following full public consultation, and only when effective access to justice can be maintained. Courts that have closed were either underused, dilapidated or too close to another existing HMCTS location in the same local area.
In recent years there has been considerable recruitment of magistrates in Greater Manchester, both for the Adult Court and the Family Court, and current magistrate numbers are sufficient to manage the volume of work in Greater Manchester.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the viability of independent (a) local newspapers and (b) other media.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers and other news outlets as vital pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.
Amid an evolving media landscape and changes in consumer behaviour, we are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry. We are introducing a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime, which aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely. This will make an important contribution to the sustainability of the press.
Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and our work through the Mid-Term Review of the BBC Charter to encourage greater collaboration and transparency from the BBC in the local news market and other markets in which it operates. The BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme. We continue to consider all possible options in the interests of promoting and sustaining news journalism.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) child criminal exploitation and (b) gang activity on police resources in Oldham.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold specific information on the potential impact of child criminal exploitation (CCE) and gang activity on police resources in Oldham. However, tackling CCE is a priority for this Government which is why we are providing funding to support Greater Manchester Police to help tackle county lines, CCE and serious violence.
Through our Drug Strategy, we are providing a targeted investment of up to £145m over three years to bolster our County Lines Programme. This includes funding a dedicated county lines taskforce in Greater Manchester Police, as well as funding Catch22 to provide a specialist support and rescue service for under 25’s and their families in Greater Manchester to help them safely reduce and exit their involvement from county lines including child criminal exploitation.
We are also driving targeted action to respond to exploitation through the Home Office-funded Prevention Programme, delivered by The Children’s Society with a funding of £1.37 million for delivery between 2023-25. Through the programme, a dedicated Northwest Prevention Officer works to support a range of partners to improve the response to multiple forms of exploitation including CCE in the Northwest region.
To tackle the drivers of serious violence, the Home Office has also invested over £20m to develop and run the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit (with funding of over £4.38m in 2023-2024).
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of trends in the level of (a) police station and (b) custody cell closures in Oldham since 2010.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish impact assessments relating to police office closures.
It is up to Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners to make decisions on local resourcing and estates, including police stations. They are best placed to make these decisions based on their local knowledge and experience.
Police stations are just one of the ways people can access their local police services including reporting online and by phone 24/7.