Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the cases of Just Stop Oil protestors who were imprisoned on remand for slow-marching.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The decision to remand an individual in custody or to grant bail is solely a matter for the independent judiciary acting in accordance with the law. The Ministry of Justice therefore cannot intervene in any decision made by the court and cannot assess whether remands to custody or bail are more appropriate in these cases.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the reasons for which some Just Stop Oil protestors who were under the age of 18 were held on remand in adult prisons.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Custody should always be a last resort for children, including on remand. The Government raised the legal test for remanding a child to custody in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. A child must have committed a violent or sexual offence or have been charged with an offence where an adult may receive a custodial sentence of 14 years, and the court must consider it very likely that the child will receive a custodial sentence.
Any person under the age of 18 will not be remanded in an adult prison. Instead, they are remanded into Young Offender Institutions (YOIs), a Secure Training Centre (STC), or Secure Children’s Homes (SCHs). Specific placement decisions for custodial remands are made by the Youth Custody Service (YCS), factoring in the needs of the child.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Prime Minister’s speech on welfare of 19 April 2024, who the specialist work and health professionals are that will be responsible for issuing fit notes.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The trailblazers announced at Autumn Statement 2023 will be delivered in NHS Integrated Care Systems and fit notes will continue to be issued by the registered healthcare professionals working within the NHS who are specified in legislation – Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists.
Our ambition is to co-develop a new fit note process delivered through multi-disciplinary teams, bringing together the issuing of fit notes with health and work advice to support people who are at risk of falling out of work or who have already fallen out of work due to ill health.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to tackle climate change.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK is the first major economy to halve its emissions – having cut them by around 53% between 1990 and 2023. We have the most ambitious 2030 emissions reduction target of any major economy.
The UK over-achieved against the first, second and third carbon budgets. Taken together, the policies set out in last year’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan keep us on track for Carbon Budgets 4, 5 and 6, our 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution, and ultimately for net zero by 2050.
Renewables, which have increased from 7% in 2010 to nearly half of our electricity generation, will help ensure our energy security – providing homegrown energy, and reducing our exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets. The UK is home to the five largest operational offshore wind farm projects in the world and no country has built more offshore wind than the UK bar China.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department it taking to help ensure that disabled people have access to reasonable adjustments in the workplace.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All employers have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ in the workplace where a disabled person would otherwise be put at a substantial disadvantage compared with their colleagues. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act and providing guidance on reasonable adjustments.
For disabled people who require adjustments which are beyond reasonable adjustments, Access to Work (AtW) can provide a grant for the disability related extra costs of working a disabled employee may face. To support employers an AtW case manager will contact the customer’s employer ahead of making an AtW award to offer advice on reasonable adjustments an employer can provide and the support available under the AtW scheme.
DWP has worked with stakeholders to develop a series of Adjustments Passports and Planners to support disabled people, and those with a health condition, with the transitions into employment and between jobs. The Adjustments Passport and Planners provide individuals with an up to date document of their adjustments and working requirements and empower the holder to have more structured conversations about their disability with their employer. They also raise awareness of Access to Work, and where an application is made, help to reduce the need for another assessment, enabling support to be put in place more quickly.
The Disability Confident scheme provides employers with the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace. When an employer signs-up to the Disability Confident scheme, they agree to commitments which include anticipating and providing reasonable adjustments as required. They also agree to support any existing employee who acquires a disability or long-term health condition, enabling them to stay in work. The scheme provides resources for members including the recently published Disability Confident Manager’s Guide which explains how managers can make and review reasonable adjustments, consider flexible working, and includes examples of other types of adjustments.
As part of the government's response to the Health is Everyone’s Business Consultation, DWP has developed a digital service for employers, offering tailored guidance on health and disability. The service is called Support with Employee Health and Disability and is live across GB, testing very well with employers. Developed with small and medium enterprise (SME) employers, using user centred design principles, the service offers a simple, interactive and highly usable resource which helps employers to feel more confident having conversations about health and disability, as well as understanding and fulfilling their legal obligations on topics such as reasonable adjustments, and signposting to sources of expert support.
The fit note includes an option to allow a healthcare professional to indicate that a patient ‘may be fit for work subject to the following advice’ and provide general details of the functional effect of the individual’s condition and recommend common types of workplace adjustments. However, over 10 million fit notes each year are issued in England without any such advice, resulting in a missed opportunity to help people get the appropriate support they may need to remain in work.
That is why we announced funding in the 2023 Autumn Statement to test new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with tailored support, including referral to support through their local WorkWell service pilot. To support this, we launched a Call for Evidence to seek views on how the current fit note process works and the support required to facilitate meaningful work and health conversations and help people start, stay and succeed in work.