Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the running costs of the Child Maintenance Service and Child Support Agency were last year; and how much those parents who are the subject of cases administered by both organisations paid in maintenance in the same period.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The cost of running the Child Maintenance Service and Child Support Agency for 2017/18 was £221.73m (excluding income) or £199.67m (net of income.) This is an Operational delivery cost only, and does not include any apportionment of DWP overheads.
Please note:
The amounts of maintenance paid by parents in relation to cases administered by the CSA are published in table 4 of Child Support Agency quarterly summary of statistics: December 2017 available on line at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-december-2017. Similarly the amounts of maintenance paid by parents in relation to cases administered by the CMS are published in table 8 of Child Maintenance Service: Aug 2013 to Dec 2017 (experimental) available on line at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-aug-2013-to-dec-2017-experimental
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the timetable is for completing the phase 4 roll-out of the Superfast Essex scheme; and what steps will be taken to support people in target areas who fail to receive the intended higher levels of broadband connectivity.
Answered by Margot James
Superfast Essex is one of the first BDUK projects to undertake a Phase 4 and has an ambition to ensure that at least 99% of premises in Essex have access to superfast broadband by the end of 2021.
Superfast Essex’s Phase 4 is a two-part procurement with Phase 4a currently at the evaluation stage. Phase 4b of the procurement is planned for launch in the summer. Deployment plans are not yet set and will be published by Superfast Essex once Phase 4 has been contracted and mobilised. Plans for the remaining ‘unconnected’ areas will be shaped once Phase 4 contracts are awarded and the size of the remaining gap is known.
As confirmed in our announcement in December 2017 we are pushing ahead with our plans for a Universal Service Obligation (USO) so that, by 2020, everyone across the UK will have a clear, enforceable right to 10 Megabit per second broadband.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2018 to Question 124937, if she will create a web page with information for employers wishing to employ refugees; and if she will include (a) information on the right of refugees to work in the UK, (b) the difference between the rights of asylum seekers and those of refugees, (c) a link to the check a biometric residence permit web page, (d) a link to the employer checking service web page, and (e) guidelines on the documentation needed to prove refugee status on that web page.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Guidance to employers on carrying out Right to Work checks includes information in respect of the employment of refugees and asylum seekers. This guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employers-illegal-working-penalties.
Documentation to demonstrate an individual’s right to work in the UK is set out in the employer guidance and Code of Practice for preventing illegal working. Anyone who is granted permission to remain in the UK as a refugee has unrestricted access to the labour market and can demonstrate their status and work entitlement through their Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).
There is currently no plan to create a new webpage dedicated to employers of refugees, however, Gov.uk content is kept under continuous review.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to update guidance on the gov.uk website on the rights of refugees to work.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Those granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, including those who are resettled to the UK, have the right to work here without any restrictions. There is guidance available on Gov.UK that provides information about the help that refugees can receive to find work, and the benefits to which they are entitled: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/refugees-guidance-about-benefits-and-pensions/help-available-from-the-department-for-work-and-pensions-for-people-who-have-been-granted-leave-to-remain-in-the-uk.
Where applicable, employers can check whether an individual has the right to work using the Employer Checking Service. Guidance on using this service can be found on Gov.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work.
Asylum seekers are not allowed to work in the UK unless their claim has been outstanding for at least 12 months through no fault of their own. Those who are allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List. This is made clear on Gov.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/claim-asylum.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that communities affected by multiple small developments will be able to charge the community infrastructure levy.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Local authorities are able to adopt the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). CIL is used to help fund the infrastructure needed to address the cumulative impact of development across the wider area, including the impact of multiple small developments.
To date 150 authorities have adopted CIL, with many others in the process of doing so. CIL rates are subject to public consultation and independent examination before they can be charged.
The Government announced an ambitious package of reforms to CIL at Autumn Budget which we will be consulting on in due course. Our proposals include measures to speed up the process of setting up and revising CIL, to make it easier to respond to changes to the market.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on the safety and capacity of the M11 if more houses are built in Saffron Walden.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The assessment of a housing proposal that falls within the scope of a local plan is the responsibility of the local planning authority. In this case it would be for Uttlesford District Council to assess the transport implications of sites they intend to allocate within their local plan.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that infrastructure improvements are made in rural areas before new housing development is permitted.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government's National Planning Policy Framework sets out that local authorities should plan for the mix of housing and supporting infrastructure they need through the Local Plan process. Planning decisions are taken in accordance with the Local Plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
Powers also exist to ensure appropriate infrastructure is in place to support new housing development. A local planning authority is able to seek a section 106 planning obligation as a requirement of a planning permission. Such obligations are used to mitigate the impact of a development to make it acceptable in planning terms. They might, for example, require the provision of a new or improved road or school. They can also be used to specify when infrastructure should be delivered, so that development is sequenced appropriately.
Local authorities are also able to adopt the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). This is a set charge on most development to help fund the infrastructure needed to address the cumulative impact of development across the wider area. CIL funds can be used to provide and maintain infrastructure.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Highways Act 1980, how many people have been injured as a result of pavements not being maintained at public expense in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department for Transport (DfT) does not hold data centrally on the number of people injured as a result of pavements (pedestrian walkways) not being maintained at public expense.