Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if the Probation Service will introduce a ban on convicted paedophiles living within a five-mile radius of (a) schools and (b) nurseries.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In deciding where to permit a convicted child sex offender who is subject to licensed supervision to live or reside even for one night, the Probation Service works closely with the Police and other agencies under MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements).
Additionally, offenders subject to licensed supervision may be prohibited from entering specified geographical locations (exclusion zones) on account of the particular risks which those offenders present.
Under MAPPA, the Probation and Police Services must by law consider whether to disclose information about a child sex offender to any particular member of the public. There is a presumption to make disclosure where the offender is assessed as presenting a risk of serious harm to any child or children, where the MAPPA agencies judge that disclosure is necessary for the purpose of protecting any particular child or children from serious harm.
The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme aims to improve access to information that may help protect children from the risk of abuse. The Scheme allows parents, carers, guardians or interested third parties to ask local police to tell them about a person's record of child sex offences if they are concerned about that person's access to a child. Members of the public can submit a disclosure request to the Police by letter, phone, at a police station or by speaking directly to any police officer.
The Police will disclose information to the person best placed to protect the child if they believe there is a need to protect a child, and the disclosure is necessary and proportionate. Anyone receiving this information must keep it confidential and use it only to protect the child concerned.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Probation Service takes to liaise with local residents when convicted paedophiles leave prison and move to local communities.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In deciding where to permit a convicted child sex offender who is subject to licensed supervision to live or reside even for one night, the Probation Service works closely with the Police and other agencies under MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements).
Additionally, offenders subject to licensed supervision may be prohibited from entering specified geographical locations (exclusion zones) on account of the particular risks which those offenders present.
Under MAPPA, the Probation and Police Services must by law consider whether to disclose information about a child sex offender to any particular member of the public. There is a presumption to make disclosure where the offender is assessed as presenting a risk of serious harm to any child or children, where the MAPPA agencies judge that disclosure is necessary for the purpose of protecting any particular child or children from serious harm.
The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme aims to improve access to information that may help protect children from the risk of abuse. The Scheme allows parents, carers, guardians or interested third parties to ask local police to tell them about a person's record of child sex offences if they are concerned about that person's access to a child. Members of the public can submit a disclosure request to the Police by letter, phone, at a police station or by speaking directly to any police officer.
The Police will disclose information to the person best placed to protect the child if they believe there is a need to protect a child, and the disclosure is necessary and proportionate. Anyone receiving this information must keep it confidential and use it only to protect the child concerned.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Qatari funding on British universities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As autonomous bodies independent of government, it is for universities to decide on effective business models and to how to manage their finances. The sector is free to attract foreign investment, including from Qatar and China, which can and does make a valuable contribution to our universities and wider economy. The latest data indicates that overall education-related exports and transnational education activity generated £32.29 billion in revenue for UK institutions in 2022, and developing international partnerships is a key strength of our system.
When collaborating with any international partners, the department expects the sector to be alert to a range of risks and conduct appropriate due diligence to comply with legislation and regulatory requirements. These range from financial sustainability responsibilities, to research security requirements and expectations to safeguard values, such as freedom of speech. As the independent regulator in England, it is the role of the Office for Students to monitor and assess registered providers’ compliance with all its conditions of registration.
The department, along with the Department for Business and Trade and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, is currently conducting a review of the international education strategy to ensure that it continues to be an effective tool in increasing the value of education exports and reflects the priorities of education stakeholders, businesses and Ministers.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Chinese funding on universities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As autonomous bodies independent of government, it is for universities to decide on effective business models and to how to manage their finances. The sector is free to attract foreign investment, including from Qatar and China, which can and does make a valuable contribution to our universities and wider economy. The latest data indicates that overall education-related exports and transnational education activity generated £32.29 billion in revenue for UK institutions in 2022, and developing international partnerships is a key strength of our system.
When collaborating with any international partners, the department expects the sector to be alert to a range of risks and conduct appropriate due diligence to comply with legislation and regulatory requirements. These range from financial sustainability responsibilities, to research security requirements and expectations to safeguard values, such as freedom of speech. As the independent regulator in England, it is the role of the Office for Students to monitor and assess registered providers’ compliance with all its conditions of registration.
The department, along with the Department for Business and Trade and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, is currently conducting a review of the international education strategy to ensure that it continues to be an effective tool in increasing the value of education exports and reflects the priorities of education stakeholders, businesses and Ministers.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of housing estates built since 2010 that still have unadopted roads in (a) Ashfield, (b) Nottinghamshire, (c) the East Midlands and (d) England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold data on the number of housing estates that have unadopted roads or the average time for roads in newbuild housing estates to be adopted after construction.
Any decision on whether or not to adopt roads is a matter for the local highway authority. The Department for Transport has published guidance on gov.uk on Highways Adoption: The Adoption of Roads into the Public Highway, which was last updated in August 2022. It sets out the process by which new and existing roads can be adopted by highway authorities so that they become maintainable at public expense.
The government remain committed to protecting residential freeholders on private and mixed-tenure housing estates from unfair charges.
We will consult this year on implementing the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act’s new consumer protection provisions for the up to 1.75m homes that are subject to these charges, and bring these measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter. These include ensuring that homeowners who pay an estate management charge have better access to information they need to understand what they are paying for, the right to challenge the reasonableness at the First-tier Tribunal (in England), and to go to the tribunal to appoint a substitute manager.
The government is also determined to end the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ entirely and we will consult next year on legislative and policy options to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average time is for roads in newbuild housing estates to be adopted after their construction.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold data on the number of housing estates that have unadopted roads or the average time for roads in newbuild housing estates to be adopted after construction.
Any decision on whether or not to adopt roads is a matter for the local highway authority. The Department for Transport has published guidance on gov.uk on Highways Adoption: The Adoption of Roads into the Public Highway, which was last updated in August 2022. It sets out the process by which new and existing roads can be adopted by highway authorities so that they become maintainable at public expense.
The government remain committed to protecting residential freeholders on private and mixed-tenure housing estates from unfair charges.
We will consult this year on implementing the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act’s new consumer protection provisions for the up to 1.75m homes that are subject to these charges, and bring these measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter. These include ensuring that homeowners who pay an estate management charge have better access to information they need to understand what they are paying for, the right to challenge the reasonableness at the First-tier Tribunal (in England), and to go to the tribunal to appoint a substitute manager.
The government is also determined to end the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ entirely and we will consult next year on legislative and policy options to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of abolishing the roles of Police and Crime Commissioner.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
As the directly elected representative for policing in their area, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) have an important local role acting as the voice of the public and victims in policing, holding Chief Constables to account and leading local partnerships to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour.
In her Written Ministerial Statement of 19 November 2024 (HCWS232), the Home Secretary announced her intention to present a White Paper to Parliament this year on reforms to deliver more effective and efficient policing, to rebuild public confidence and to deliver the Government’s Safer Streets mission. We will consider the role of PCCs in local accountability and preventing crime as part of wider reforms to the policing system and we will set out our plans in due course.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the value for money of the Police and Crime Commissioner roles.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
As the directly elected representative for policing in their area, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) have an important local role acting as the voice of the public and victims in policing, holding Chief Constables to account and leading local partnerships to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour.
In her Written Ministerial Statement of 19 November 2024 (HCWS232), the Home Secretary announced her intention to present a White Paper to Parliament this year on reforms to deliver more effective and efficient policing, to rebuild public confidence and to deliver the Government’s Safer Streets mission. We will consider the role of PCCs in local accountability and preventing crime as part of wider reforms to the policing system and we will set out our plans in due course.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to strengthen (a) regulatory and (b) enforcement measures on anti-social behaviour in Houses of Multiple Occupancy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) where five or more people from two or more households share facilities, such as a kitchen and/or a bathroom, are subject to mandatory HMO licensing.
Following consultation, local authorities can also introduce additional licensing, where smaller HMOs shared by three or four people from two or more households who share facilities are required to hold a licence.
The government has no current plans to mandate a national licensing scheme for all HMOs.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will introduce legislation to mandate a national licensing scheme for all Houses of Multiple Occupancy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) where five or more people from two or more households share facilities, such as a kitchen and/or a bathroom, are subject to mandatory HMO licensing.
Following consultation, local authorities can also introduce additional licensing, where smaller HMOs shared by three or four people from two or more households who share facilities are required to hold a licence.
The government has no current plans to mandate a national licensing scheme for all HMOs.