Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the prevalence of human trafficking in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) Hertsmere constituency.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The National Crime Agency regularly publishes statistics relating to the number of potential victims of modern slavery referred to the National Referral Mechanism, broken down by police force area. These can be found here: www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. The Home Office has not made an assessment of the prevalence of human trafficking and modern slavery in Hertfordshire or the Hertsmere constituency.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many local authorities have anti-trafficking programmes.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We do not hold data on how many local authorities have specific anti-trafficking programmes. All local authorities in England and Wales have a duty under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to notify the Home Office if they encounter a victim of modern slavery. They are also all ‘first responders’ under the National Referral Mechanism and so are able to refer victims for specialist support. Guidance on these referral processes is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to ensure that public bodies implement section 52 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We published guidance on the Modern Slavery Act on GOV.UK and a circular was sent to all bodies who are subject to the duty when section 52 was first introduced. In October 2016, we launched a communications campaign to raise awareness amongst public bodies and made communications materials available on GOV.UK. We will continue to promote the duty to notify in consultation with key partners.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many amateur sports clubs have lost their community amateur sports club status since 2002.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Since 2002, 1,172 sports clubs have been deregistered as community amateur sports clubs.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made recent representations to the South Korean government on implications of the South Korean dog meat trade for countries due to participate in the next Winter Olympics.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
I raised the issue of South Korea's dog meat trade with the South Korean Ambassador on 12 September. As I said during the Westminster Hall debate on the dog meat trade in South Korea on 12 September, high-profile global events such as the Olympic Games can be a catalyst for positive change. The South Korean government will be aware that the high profile of the Winter Games could cast a spotlight on issues such as the dog meat trade.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the South Korean government on dog meat trade in that country.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We will continue to raise this issue with the South Korean government and I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham), on 20 September 2016 to Question 46043.Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) the process is and (b) permissions required are for a reservoir to be drained.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
No legal requirements exist to drain a reservoir under the Reservoirs Act 1975.
However, the operator should inform the reservoir ‘Supervising Engineer’ to oversee the process.
An Environmental Permit issued by the Environment Agency may be required by an operator ahead of draining a reservoir. This is dependent on site specific issues, the type of release and whether fish may need to be removed.
Emptying a reservoir does not decommission it and the operator’s legal responsibilities under the Act still apply.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will consider reinstating clothing grants for care homes for elderly residents who have just arrived from hospital.
Answered by David Mowat
Despite a welcome shift towards more care provision in community settings, our ageing population means a growing number of people require care in care and nursing homes, with an increasing level of acuity and complexity of need.
The Enhanced Health in Care Homes vanguards, implemented by NHS England, are beginning to show how addressing this inequity in access to services can reduce unnecessary, unplanned and avoidable admissions to hospital, shorten the length of hospital stays and improve peoples’ quality of life, wellbeing and clinical outcomes.
NHS England is also leading the multi-agency Community Services and Hospital Discharge programme, which will deliver a series of interventions to transform community services and improve discharge of older people from hospital. These include initiatives such as “discharge to assess”, which will increase the number of patients who are discharged quickly and safely to their usual place of residence.
The Department is not aware of a clothing grant for people who enter care homes and is therefore unable to consider reinstatement. Where a local authority arranges care and support to meet an adult’s eligible needs, it may charge them. Where care is arranged in a care home, a local authority must not, through charges, reduce the adult’s income below the Personal Expenses Allowance of £24.90 per week.
The allowance means that local authority supported care home residents have money to spend as they wish on personal items, including clothing. It must not be spent on meeting their eligible care needs.
Local authorities have discretion to be more generous where they think this would be appropriate.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will consider setting up a system of Finnish-style care packages for elderly people leaving hospital and going into care homes.
Answered by David Mowat
Despite a welcome shift towards more care provision in community settings, our ageing population means a growing number of people require care in care and nursing homes, with an increasing level of acuity and complexity of need.
The Enhanced Health in Care Homes vanguards, implemented by NHS England, are beginning to show how addressing this inequity in access to services can reduce unnecessary, unplanned and avoidable admissions to hospital, shorten the length of hospital stays and improve peoples’ quality of life, wellbeing and clinical outcomes.
NHS England is also leading the multi-agency Community Services and Hospital Discharge programme, which will deliver a series of interventions to transform community services and improve discharge of older people from hospital. These include initiatives such as “discharge to assess”, which will increase the number of patients who are discharged quickly and safely to their usual place of residence.
The Department is not aware of a clothing grant for people who enter care homes and is therefore unable to consider reinstatement. Where a local authority arranges care and support to meet an adult’s eligible needs, it may charge them. Where care is arranged in a care home, a local authority must not, through charges, reduce the adult’s income below the Personal Expenses Allowance of £24.90 per week.
The allowance means that local authority supported care home residents have money to spend as they wish on personal items, including clothing. It must not be spent on meeting their eligible care needs.
Local authorities have discretion to be more generous where they think this would be appropriate.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discretion his Department has to waive rules on non-payment of housing benefit to people with savings over a prescribed amount for (a) looked after adults, (b) vulnerable adults and (c) adults with disabilities.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The capital limit of £16,000 applies to all Housing Benefit claimants, other than those on the guarantee element of Pension Credit.
While it is important to encourage saving, it has been the consistent policy of successive governments that substantial amounts of capital should not be ignored altogether when deciding entitlement to benefits which are based on need.