Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Bedford to Cambridge section of East West Rail is still designated a nationally significant infrastructure project.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There has been no change to the designation of the East West Rail Project. In 2019 the then Secretary of State directed that the East West Rail Project between Bedford and Cambridge, as well as any associated matters, is nationally significant, and as such should be treated as development for which development consent is required, under section 35 of the Planning Act 2008. Due to this, East West Rail Co. will be required to make an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to obtain permission to construct and operate the railway.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing support to local authorities to allow people to be housed with their pets in (a) emergency and (b) temporary accommodation.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As set out in the Homelessness Code of Guidance housing authorities should be sensitive to the importance of pets to some applicants, particularly elderly people and rough sleepers who may rely on pets for companionship. Although it will not always be possible to make provision for pets, the Secretary of State recommends that housing authorities give careful consideration to this when making provision for applicants who wish to retain their pet.
The reforms within the Renters (Reform) Bill in relation to pets will apply to temporary accommodation within the private rented sector.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of working with (a) OFWAT and (b) water companies on (i) desalination and (ii) other sustainable water supply solutions.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recently published its Plan for Water setting out the importance of ensuring a clean and plentiful water supply. The National Framework for water resources sets out in detail how the Government, regulators and regional groups, including water companies, will work together to improve water resources management. This includes reducing demand, halving leakage, developing new water supplies and moving water to where it is needed.
Earlier this year, regional water resources groups and water companies consulted on their draft water resources plans. These statutory plans set out how each company will secure water supplies sustainably for at least the next 25 years. Within their plans, water companies consider all options, including demand management and water resources infrastructure, such as desalination. The draft water resources management plans contain proposals for multiple new schemes by 2050, including 9 new desalination schemes, 9 new reservoirs, 11 new water recycling schemes, and several new internal and inter-company transfers to share resources.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to reform the funding of the free-to-use ATM network..
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government recognises that while the transition towards digital payments brings many opportunities, cash continues to be used by many people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.
The government is currently legislating to protect access to cash across the UK as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The Bill establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. As amended, the Bill requires the FCA to seek to ensure that there is reasonable provision of free withdrawal and deposit facilities for personal current accounts with relevant providers.
ATMs play an important role in the availability of cash withdrawal facilities. Decisions regarding the operation and funding arrangements of an ATM network are taken by the parties involved. LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has made commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK publishes information on the number of protected ATMs monthly, and ATMs can be suggested for protected status via LINK’s website: https://www.link.co.uk/consumers/request-access-to-cash/suggest-an-atm-for-protected-status/
According to LINK data for March 2023, there were around 39,000 free-to-use ATMs across the UK, including 87 free-to-use ATMs in the constituency of Bedford. Further information is available at: https://www.link.co.uk/initiatives/financial-inclusion-monthly-report/
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the level of interchange fee required to sustain the free-to-use ATM network.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government recognises that while the transition towards digital payments brings many opportunities, cash continues to be used by many people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.
The government is currently legislating to protect access to cash across the UK as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The Bill establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. As amended, the Bill requires the FCA to seek to ensure that there is reasonable provision of free withdrawal and deposit facilities for personal current accounts with relevant providers.
ATMs play an important role in the availability of cash withdrawal facilities. Decisions regarding the operation and funding arrangements of an ATM network are taken by the parties involved. LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has made commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK publishes information on the number of protected ATMs monthly, and ATMs can be suggested for protected status via LINK’s website: https://www.link.co.uk/consumers/request-access-to-cash/suggest-an-atm-for-protected-status/
According to LINK data for March 2023, there were around 39,000 free-to-use ATMs across the UK, including 87 free-to-use ATMs in the constituency of Bedford. Further information is available at: https://www.link.co.uk/initiatives/financial-inclusion-monthly-report/
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Financial Services and Markets Bill, whether his Department plans to make an assessment of the adequacy of the number of protected free ATMs..
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government recognises that while the transition towards digital payments brings many opportunities, cash continues to be used by many people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.
The government is currently legislating to protect access to cash across the UK as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The Bill establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. As amended, the Bill requires the FCA to seek to ensure that there is reasonable provision of free withdrawal and deposit facilities for personal current accounts with relevant providers.
ATMs play an important role in the availability of cash withdrawal facilities. Decisions regarding the operation and funding arrangements of an ATM network are taken by the parties involved. LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has made commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK publishes information on the number of protected ATMs monthly, and ATMs can be suggested for protected status via LINK’s website: https://www.link.co.uk/consumers/request-access-to-cash/suggest-an-atm-for-protected-status/
According to LINK data for March 2023, there were around 39,000 free-to-use ATMs across the UK, including 87 free-to-use ATMs in the constituency of Bedford. Further information is available at: https://www.link.co.uk/initiatives/financial-inclusion-monthly-report/
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to take steps to introduce a national textile recycling scheme.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s 2018 Resources & Waste Strategy for England identified textiles as a priority sector for action. Our ambitions to minimise textile waste will be outlined in the upcoming document Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste, which constitutes a new Waste Prevention Programme for England. We expect to publish this in summer 2023.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing specialised training to (a) administrative and (b) auxiliary staff in the Family Court service on domestic violence including (i) recognising it, (ii) supporting vulnerable individuals and (iii) how to report concerns.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HMCTS staff are trained to support vulnerable individuals by providing practical protections, such as, protective screens, video links, and access to separate waiting rooms and separate entrances in accordance with the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and Part 3A of the Family Procedure Rules. All staff follow safeguarding policies to recognise vulnerable individuals and report concerns. Staff complete annual training on safeguarding, and domestic abuse training is currently being updated in conjunction with HMCTS’ Domestic Abuse Working Group which includes judicial members and representatives from a Women’s Centre.
The Government is delivering on commitments made in response to the final report of the Expert Panel on Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Cases. This includes working with across the family justice system to improve training on domestic abuse and to provide all professionals with the tools to effectively support vulnerable parties.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the speed at which asylum applications are processed for people from Sudan.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We are carefully monitoring the situation in Sudan.
We are taking immediate action to clear the backlog of 92,601 initial asylum decisions relating to claims made before 28 June 2022 (“legacy claims”) by the end of 2023.
We are increasing the number of caseworkers to 2,500 by September 2023, streamlining interviews where one is required and simplifying guidance.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a nationwide scheme to allow people to top-up a prepayment card for use in public car parking facilities when they are unwilling or unable to make app based payments.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Parking is the responsibility of local authorities and it is for them to determine what is best for their own area. Whilst central government has no remit to intervene in their daily affairs, it does have an interest in how car parks are managed and recognises the important link between parking provision and the vitality of our high streets and town centres. The Secretary of State recently wrote to all local authorities in England setting out his expectations that parking services for which councils are responsible for remain accessible.
All local authorities have existing statutory duties to ensure that they do not discriminate in their decision making against older people or those with vulnerabilities. Local authorities should ensure that there are alternative provisions for parking payments available so that no part of society is digitally excluded.