Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Border Force personnel have been recruited since January 2020.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Staffing and financial figures for Border Force from 2021 to 2023 can be found at Home Office annual report and accounts: 2020 to 2023 - GOV.UK Home Office annual report and accounts: 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
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 (a) raise awareness of and (b) commemorate the Holodomor in the UK, in the context of the war in Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Holodomor was a horrific, man-made disaster. The UK remembers this event annually, as the Prime Minister did by lighting a candle at the Holodomor memorial in Kyiv in November 2022. Our officials in Ukraine regularly attend similar commemoration events. The UK is committed to holding to account those responsible for committing atrocities in Ukraine, by supporting the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure allegations of war crimes are fully and fairly investigated by independent and robust legal mechanisms. Since the start of the invasion we have provided £2 million in additional contributions to the ICC.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of bringing forward proposals to ensure that parents are held accountable in the event that their child is convicted of a serious offence where it is deemed that the parent’s action or inaction contributed to that offence.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
We believe it is important for those who are responsible for a child’s care and well-being to be involved in their rehabilitation where appropriate.
Youth offending teams (YOTs) assess children engaging in, or at risk of, offending and determine whether parenting programmes or parenting contracts are needed to improve the guidance provided by parents and guardians to their children.
Courts can issue a parenting order where a child has been convicted of an offence and can include failure by the parent and guardian to comply with the requirements of a parenting contract. Parenting orders require the parent to comply for up to 12 months with certain requirements and, where appropriate, attend counselling or guidance programmes designed to improve parenting skills, manage difficult adolescent behaviour or ensure school attendance, for up to three months. Consistent non-compliance without good reason can lead to a police investigation and breach proceedings in court. Where the child is under 16, and has been convicted of an offence, the courts also have the power to order the parent or guardian to pay the fine.
As an alternative to parenting orders, YOTs often prefer where possible to engage and build strong relationships with parents on a voluntary basis. Parents often engage readily and take part in specific parenting support activities.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had recent discussions with his Japanese counterpart on increasing cooperation between the Japanese and UK legal service sectors.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The UK and Japan have a strong legal services trading relationship, with bilateral legal services trade valued at approximately £147m in 2021 (ONS data) and multiple UK law firms maintaining a presence in Japan. The UK and Japan regularly engage to discuss legal services. This includes as part of ongoing cooperation under the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement which was reaffirmed by the signing of the Hiroshima Accord by PM Sunak and PM Kishida in May 2023.
In July 2023, the Secretary of State for Justice undertook a visit to Japan to attend the G7 Justice Ministerial Forum. As part of the visit, the Secretary of State for Justice discussed legal services with his counterpart, the Japanese Justice Minister, and with representatives from the UK and Japanese legal sectors. The Secretary of State for Justice and Japanese Justice Minister signed a UK-Japan Memorandum of Cooperation on legal and justice affairs. The Memorandum of Cooperation will increase collaboration between Justice Ministries by establishing a regular dialogue on legal and justice matters. The agreement signals a mutual desire to strengthen cooperation between the Japanese and UK legal services sectors, and commits to cooperation on international legal services and dispute resolution.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service is adequately resourced to prosecute hate crime against members of religious minority communities (a) on social media and (b) in community settings.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government is committed to delivering justice for victims of hate crimes committed in our communities and online, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) considers all cases referred by the police.
Considering the events unfolding in the Middle East, a package of measures has been put in place to provide ongoing support to the police. This includes updating existing guidance on protests and offering the use of prosecutors in command centres to advise in real time.
In the rolling year to March 2023, the CPS has prosecuted 380 religiously aggravated and 9,1234 racially aggravated hate crime offences, with a charge rate of 85% and 87% respectively. These include aggravated malicious communication offences.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken recent steps with charities and voluntary organisations to promote (a) social cohesion and (b) community safety.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government meets regularly with charities and voluntary groups for the purposes of enhancing community safety and promoting social cohesion.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will (a) lower fuel duty and (b) provide other additional support for motorists in the Autumn Statement 2023.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Spring Budget 2023 the Government announced continued support for motorists by maintaining the rates of fuel duty at the levels set on 23 March 2022 for an additional 12 months, by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned inflation increase for 2023-24.
This support is already available for longer than in many countries and represents around £10 billion over 2 years and £200 for the average car driver. The Government will continue to keep fuel duty rates and other motoring taxes under review.
The Chancellor announces changes to taxes at fiscal events.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has held recent discussions with the Association for British Insurers on the provision of insurance for buildings deemed at risk of fire.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I have met both the British Insurance Brokers’ Association and the Association of British Insurers, along with companies providing services in these sectors, on multiple occasions during 2023 to highlight the concerns of leaseholders regarding excess insurance costs and the need to make progress in this important area.
The Government is committed to making sure that buildings insurance costs are fair and transparent, and that leaseholders have confidence in challenging costs where necessary. Insurers must price risk in a responsible manner. It is clear from the Financial Conduct Authority reports into this market that leaseholders have not always been getting the service that they should, and this must change.
Regarding broking fees, in April 2023 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) consulted on giving leaseholders rights under their fair value rules and increasing requirements on the disclosure of information to leaseholders by brokers, and I strongly welcome its initiatives in this direction. The British Insurance Brokers' Association have already confirmed that they are in the process of testing new guidance for their members on how to comply with FCA fair value rules.
The Association of British Insurers has been developing a scheme for buildings with fire safety risks experiencing particularly high premiums for a significant period of time. I continue to highlight the Government’s clear expectation that this be delivered as soon as possible.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that female asylum seekers do not fall victim to modern slavery.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
All asylum seekers have an interview on arrival in the UK which includes a series of questions designed to understand whether there are any potential indicators of trafficking and to identify any vulnerabilities.
If there are any indicators present that a person is at potential risk of modern slavery a referral is made to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The Single Competent Authority (SCA) will make a decision on this referral.
We take the wellbeing of asylum seekers seriously. Robust safeguarding procedures are in place to ensure all asylum seekers are safe and supported.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the attainment gap between pupils from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils has been the focus of our education reforms since 2010. The attainment gap narrowed by 9% at secondary school level and by 13% at primary school level between 2011 and 2019.
For over a decade, the Department has consistently taken a range of steps to give priority support and deliver programmes that help disadvantaged pupils, including improving the quality of teaching and curriculum resources, strengthening the school system, and providing targeted support where needed. The Department knows that disadvantaged children have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, which has widened the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils. The Department will continue to work to reduce this gap, as it previously has.
At a national level, the Department delivers several core policies to support disadvantaged pupils. This includes free school meals, which support around 2 million children, as well as the Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF), which is receiving £200 million in funding a year for the next two years, The Department also supports 2,700 breakfast clubs and family hubs.
The National Funding Formula (NFF) continues to distribute funding fairly based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics. In 2023/24, the Department has targeted a greater proportion of schools NFF funding towards deprived pupils than ever before. Over £4 billion (9.8%) of the formula has been allocated according to deprivation, while over £7 billion (17.4%), has been allocated to additional needs overall. As a result, schools with the highest levels of deprivation, on average, attract the largest per pupil funding increases. On top of this core funding, Pupil Premium funding rates have increased by 5% in the 2023/24 financial year to a total of almost £2.9 billion. This increase in funding is on top of £1 billion of recovery premium funding in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years, which was allocated to deliver evidence based approaches to support educational recovery for disadvantaged pupils, and over £300 million delivered in 2021/22.
The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) funds schools based on rates of disadvantage. Since the launch of the NTP in November 2020, more than £1 billion has been made available to support tutoring. From November 2020 to the 2023/24 academic year, nearly 4 million tutoring courses have been started (up to July 2023).
At a regional level, the Department has identified 55 Education Investment Areas (EIAs) with the lowest attainment outcomes. In these areas, the Department is providing £86 million for Trust Capacity funding, up to £150 million for Connect the Classroom, and extra funding for Levelling Up Premium retention payments to support schools with two or more Requires Improvement inspection reports.
24 EIAs have been identified as Priority EIAs. These areas face low attainment at Key Stage 2 and high levels of disadvantage. They therefore receive additional funding, including £42 million of Local Needs Funding, £86 million for Connect the Classroom and over £2 million for attendance mentoring pilots.