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Written Question
Vagrancy Act 1824
Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of repealing the Vagrancy Act 1824.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities lead on homelessness and rough sleeping. They reviewed the legislation in relation to rough sleeping and determined that the Vagrancy Act required repeal, they consulted on replacing the outdated Vagrancy Act, undertook extensive engagement and published their response to that consultation.

The Home Office has additionally engaged with police, local authorities, Police and Crime Commissioners and other organisations on this topic.

The Vagrancy Act 1824 criminalises begging and some forms of rough sleeping and the Government agreed in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to repeal this outdated legislation and replace it with a package fit for modern usage. We outlined those plans in the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan published by this Government in March this year and are now bringing forward these provisions in the Criminal Justice Bill which is currently before Parliament.

As the Government has always made clear, the repeal of the Vagrancy Act will be brought into force once this replacement legislation is in place to ensure local authorities and police have the powers they need to support vulnerable individuals and keep communities safe.


Written Question
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Wednesday 25th October 2023

Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to counter the work of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK condemns Iran’s hostile activity in the UK and elsewhere. We continue to work in close cooperation with our international partners to ensure that our collective response is robust and deters the IRGC. In July, the Foreign Secretary announced a new sanctions regime that will give the UK new and enhanced powers to counter Iran’s destabilising activities.


Written Question
Ofgem: Conflict of Interests
Thursday 21st September 2023

Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to investigate whether the former Director of Retail at Ofgem accurately declared conflicts of interest during his tenure at Ofgem in the context of reports that his wife held shares in an energy provider; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that reported conflict of interest on the effectiveness of Ofgem’s regulatory policy and decision-making.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Ofgem is a non-Ministerial Government Department and independent regulator. It is directly accountable to Parliament for the performance of its functions, therefore, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has no authority to investigate Ofgem’s activities.


Written Question
Copyright: Internet
Tuesday 12th September 2023

Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that online platforms [operating in the UK] provide (a) cost- and (b) time-efficient takedown processes for [(a) designers and (b) other content creators] whose copyrighted (a) designs and (b) other products have been infringed on their platforms.

Answered by Paul Scully

The UK approaches the challenge of tackling online IP infringement in an integrated manner through enforcement and public education. There is in place a number of criminal, civil, administrative and voluntary initiatives which provide rights holders and law enforcement with a package of measures to use to tackle online infringement. These vary from relatively non-intrusive such as notice and takedown, to domain removal, website blocking via court orders, police intervention, and more intrusive initiatives such as notifications being sent to repeat infringers.

The IPO has published guidance on how rights holders can protect their intellectual property on e-commerce stores, such as Amazon and eBay.


Written Question
Leasehold: Reform
Monday 26th June 2023

Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to introduce reforms leasehold in this Parliament.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 176567 on 21 April 2023.


Written Question
Processed Food
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) public health measures to raise awareness of the potential risks of ultra-processed foods, (b) introducing measurable reduction targets for consumption of ultra-processed foods and (c) ensuring that ultra-processed foods do not appear as good choices on the NHS Food Scanner app.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

The Government encourages everyone to have a healthy balanced diet in line with the United Kingdom’s healthy eating model, the Eatwell Guide, which shows that foods high in saturated fat, salt or sugar should be eaten less often or in small amounts.

United Kingdom Government dietary guidelines are based on recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). SACN is currently carrying out a scoping review of the evidence on processed foods and health and aims to publish its initial assessment in the summer of 2023.

There is currently no universally agreed definition of ultra-processed foods. However, a diet high in foods classified as processed is often high in calories, salt, saturated fat and sugar and low in fibre, fruit and vegetables, which is associated with an increased risk of obesity and developing chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes and some cancers.

The Good Choice badge helps people identify healthier options using the NHS Food Scanner app and when shopping in store and online. The app and wider Better Health tools supports families on their journey towards having a healthier diet, as making the step to the healthiest option may be too far for many people in one move.


Written Question
UK Visas and Immigration: Correspondence
Friday 19th May 2023

Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the UK Visas and Immigration MPs' Enquiry Service requires letters of authority from visa applicants whose sponsor has contacted their MP about the progress of their application.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Data Protection Act 2018 requires large organisations such as the Home Office to ensure that we protect the individual rights and freedoms of the individuals (data subjects) whose information we process. We are not able to provide personal information as defined by the Data Protection Act 2018 to third parties, including sponsors with the explicit consent of the applicant. We therefore ask that sponsors provide letters of authority showing they have the applicant’s consent before providing personal information.

Article 4 (11) of the GDPR defines consent and further conditions for consent are listed in Article 7.


Written Question
Buildings: Fire Prevention
Monday 15th May 2023

Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of not allowing owners of three or more properties to receive funding for fire safety works on the progress of remediating buildings with fire safety issues.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

As with all policies, the Government continues to monitor this situation and the progress of remediation of buildings. The Government is committed to introducing a new scheme to provide funding for the remediation or mitigation of the fire safety risks linked to external wall system defects on medium-rise buildings (11-18m) where a responsible developer cannot be identified, traced, or held responsible. An initial pilot of the scheme opened in November 2022, targeting a small number of buildings that have interim measures or simultaneous evacuation measures in place. Further details will be set out in due course.

The availability of funding for fire safety risks linked to external wall system defects from the Building Safety Fund, and in due course the Cladding Safety Scheme, takes no account of the number of properties owned by leaseholders. Residential properties are bought both as personal residences and commercial investments and Parliament determined that it was appropriate to draw that distinction at the ownership of three properties, when considering this matter in relation to protecting leaseholders, during the passage of the Building Safety Act 2022.


Written Question
Building Safety Fund
Monday 15th May 2023

Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the Building Safety Fund for remedial works to medium rise blocks will begin.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

As with all policies, the Government continues to monitor this situation and the progress of remediation of buildings. The Government is committed to introducing a new scheme to provide funding for the remediation or mitigation of the fire safety risks linked to external wall system defects on medium-rise buildings (11-18m) where a responsible developer cannot be identified, traced, or held responsible. An initial pilot of the scheme opened in November 2022, targeting a small number of buildings that have interim measures or simultaneous evacuation measures in place. Further details will be set out in due course.

The availability of funding for fire safety risks linked to external wall system defects from the Building Safety Fund, and in due course the Cladding Safety Scheme, takes no account of the number of properties owned by leaseholders. Residential properties are bought both as personal residences and commercial investments and Parliament determined that it was appropriate to draw that distinction at the ownership of three properties, when considering this matter in relation to protecting leaseholders, during the passage of the Building Safety Act 2022.


Written Question
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Accountancy
Wednesday 25th January 2023

Asked by: John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) nature and (b) value was of all (i) contracts, (ii) consultancies and (iii) other services placed with the accountancy firms (A) Deloitte & Touche, (B) Ernst & Young, (C) KPMG and (D) PricewaterhouseCoopers in each year since 2010-11 by (1) their Department, (2) any predecessor Departments and (3) departmental agencies.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Details of Government contracts from 2016 above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder: www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.

<br/>Details of Core Defra contracts (which include its agencies) from 2010 to 2016 awarded to Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers can be found in the attached spreadsheet.