Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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
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.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if she will hold discussions with the British Insurance Brokers' Association on the potential merits of producing industry guidance for meeting fair value rules to ensure that leaseholders benefit from such rules.
Answered by Lee Rowley
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 Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with his Japanese counterpart on increasing cooperation between the UK and Japanese (a) railway, (b) automotive and (c) other transport sectors.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Honourable Member will note that the Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt. Hon. Mark Harper has had a number of discussions this year on increasing co-operation with our international partners on a range of transport related matters. In June this year, he travelled to Japan to attend the G7 Transport Ministers Meeting alongside the transport ministers or representative of the Minister for each of the G7 countries. Whilst there, he took the opportunity to meet with the Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to discuss the challenges that both transport sector in both Japan and the UK. He also met representatives of Japanese companies investing in the UK to discuss the challenges that face the UK transport sector as we plan to improve transport for users, meet our environmental targets and support the PM’s priorities including to grow the economy. Those meetings with a range of transport companies across the rail, automotive, and maritime sectors also discussed closer trading links and cooperation. Officials at the Department for Transport continue to work closely with Japanese officials in order to share knowledge on key transport issues and increase co-operation between the two countries.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times his Department has recorded the incursion of (a) Spanish and (b) civilian and other vessels in Gibraltarian waters in 2023 to date.
Answered by James Heappey
Between 1 January and 16 October 2023, there were 382 incursions by Spanish Government Agency vessels into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW), breaching the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Article 19. There were no incursions into BGTW by non-Spanish Government Agency vessels in this period. Entries into BGTW by civilian or commercial vessels are not subject to UNCLOS within BGTW, and are therefore not defined as incursions.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British armed forces personnel are currently located in Estonia; and how many will be based in that country in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 and (c) 2026.
Answered by James Heappey
There are currently 982 UK Service personnel deployed to Estonia as part of the UK's enhanced Forward Presence (eFP). A baseline deployment of around 1,000 troops is planned to be deployed in 2024, 2025 and 2026. The eFP is a rotational deployment, the precise number of personnel deployed will vary at any one time and will rise substantially during peak training periods.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his Estonian counterpart on increasing the number of British troops in that country as part of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence.
Answered by James Heappey
The Secretary of State for Defence held a bilateral meeting with the Estonian Defence Minister during NATO Defence Ministers in October, during which they discussed and agreed the UK's enduring commitment to the eFP. During this meeting the ministers also signed a Defence Cooperation Arrangement, which reaffirms the UK's previous commitments to Estonia and outlines future defence cooperation opportunities that the UK and Estonia will explore. Estonia continues to support the UK's approach to the eFP and the current Defence footprint in country.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) banks and (b) other payment service providers do not terminate contracts on the grounds of clients having expressed a view that is within the scope of lawful free speech.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
On 21 July, the Government confirmed that it would strengthen regulations overseeing banks and payment service providers to increase the minimum notice period in cases of provider-initiated contract terminations from 2 months to 90 days – giving customers more time to challenge a decision through the Financial Ombudsman Service, or find a replacement bank. Providers will also be required to spell out to the affected customer why they are terminating their contract – increasing transparency and aiding customers’ ability to appeal decisions. This requirement will be subject to limited exceptions where firms need to comply with existing legal obligations, for example, under financial crime law.
As set out in its follow-up statement on 2 October, the Government continues to work with the regulators, law enforcement and industry to support the implementation of these changes, and will publish draft secondary legislation to enact these changes to statute by the end of the year.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his (a) Italian and (b) Japanese counterparts on the potential entry of Saudi Arabia into the Global Combat Air Programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The UK has regular conversation with our trilateral Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) partners on a range of issues. All three GCAP nations have highlighted our openness to working with other nations through this programme, while keeping us on course for 2035 In Service Delivery. With the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we signed a Statement of Intent on the 1 March 2023, launching a Partnering Feasibility Study to define the future of our historic Combat Air partnership.