Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there are restrictions on Mr Haydon Etherington's activity as a member of the Labour Party whilst serving as Senior Policy Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
There are clear rules governing recruitment and appointment of civil service roles which are regulated by the Civil Service Commission. We do not comment on individual staffing matters. The approach to recruitment and staffing levels is in line with the approach taken for these central functions under the previous administration.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to allow for teenagers to be elected as hon. Members.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Persons aged 18 years and over are already able to stand and be elected at UK Parliamentary elections.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Prime Minister intends to appoint a Minister for Faith.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
My noble friend Lord Khan of Burnley has been appointed as the Minister for Faith, Communities and Resettlement. Details of ministerial responsibilities for the department are published on gov.uk.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Government ministers plan to meet with the Muslim Council of Britain.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the importance of engaging meaningfully with faith and belief groups. There has been no change to HMG policy and there are no plans for Ministers to meet with the Muslim Council of Britain.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which Department is responsible for tackling intimidation in public life.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Intimidation and abuse of those participating in public life has no place in our society and cannot be tolerated. As this is a broad issue that spans across a wide range of organisations and aspects of society, there is not one department with sole responsibility.
Many Government departments are working collaboratively to tackle this issue. For example, Ministers in the Home Office are responsible for the protective security of election candidates, and Ministers in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) are responsible for elections, including the conduct of campaigning. The Deputy Prime Minister and Home Secretary have already hosted a roundtable to discuss political intimidation and abuse which took place during the recent General Election.
To bring together work on this and other issues, the Government has created the Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit (JESP) as a permanent unit, dedicated to protecting UK elections. JESP sits between the Cabinet Office and MHCLG as a strategic centre, bringing together government departments, the police, the intelligence agencies, the devolved governments, and external partners to respond to issues, including intimidation in elections.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to help rough sleepers and homeless people.
Answered by Marcus Jones
One person without a home is one too many. That is why we launched a new £40 million Homelessness Prevention programme to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
This will enable authorities to support vulnerable people, preventing them from becoming homeless, and ensuring those who do have somewhere safe to stay.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the introduction of the English language tuition scheme in supporting Muslim women to learn English.
Answered by Marcus Jones
As the first step in rolling out the new £20 million programme we have committed just over £3 million to enable six providers who delivered the Department’s previous community-based English language programme to provide new tuition to over 10,000 people by March next year.
We will shortly be issuing a new Prospectus, inviting applications to run the bulk of the new programme from 2017. The nature and targeting of that provision will be informed by Louise Casey’s Review of Integration and Opportunity.
We will monitor the new Programme to assess its effectiveness in meeting its objectives.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many women have received tuition under the English language tuition scheme since January 2016.
Answered by Marcus Jones
As the first step in rolling out the new £20 million programme we have committed just over £3 million to enable six providers who delivered the Department’s previous community-based English language programme to provide new tuition to over 10,000 people by March next year.
We will shortly be issuing a new Prospectus, inviting applications to run the bulk of the new programme from 2017. The nature and targeting of that provision will be informed by Louise Casey’s Review of Integration and Opportunity.
We will monitor the new Programme to assess its effectiveness in meeting its objectives.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much of the English language tuition fund his Department has spent since January 2016.
Answered by Marcus Jones
As the first step in rolling out the new £20 million programme we have committed just over £3 million to enable six providers who delivered the Department’s previous community-based English language programme to provide new tuition to over 10,000 people by March next year.
We will shortly be issuing a new Prospectus, inviting applications to run the bulk of the new programme from 2017. The nature and targeting of that provision will be informed by Louise Casey’s Review of Integration and Opportunity.
We will monitor the new Programme to assess its effectiveness in meeting its objectives.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the National Planning Policy Framework in addressing the housing needs of disabled people.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Planning authorities are required to plan for a mix of housing to cater for the needs of different groups in their communities, including people with disabilities. The Government has an ongoing dialogue with a range of stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of the Framework.