Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which Departments have been party to cases in the Upper Tribunal Lands Chamber involving disputes under the Electronic Communications Code in the last five years.
Answered by Gareth Johnson
This information relating to which Departments have been party to cases in the Upper Tribunals Lands Chamber involving disputes under the Electronic Communications Code is not centrally recorded and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the conclusions of the Education Select Committee on the availability of industry placements to support T Level qualifications.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The department will consider any recommendations that come out of the Education Select Committee’s review. We will continue to listen to key stakeholders to ensure high-quality industry placements can be delivered, in all subjects, throughout England.
The department has invested more than £200 million over the past 4 years to help T Level providers build their capacity for placements and develop relationships with local employers. We have put in place bespoke support for both providers and employers which includes direct, hands-on support. We also have a T Level Ambassador Network that is continuing to recruit T Level advocates across key industries to inspire engagement in the T Level programme.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of schools and colleges in England fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
The Department has sent a questionnaire on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) to all responsible bodies, asking them to complete the information on RAAC for all their schools. The questionnaire asks whether RAAC is present in any buildings on their school estates, and how responsible bodies are managing it. The purpose of the questionnaire is to allow the Department to better understand the prevalence of RAAC across the school estate and ensure the correct support is in place to meet the responsible bodies’ needs. The questionnaire has been sent to responsible bodies of schools and does not include colleges.
The questionnaire remains open. At present, the Department only has partial data and is not yet able to provide an estimate of the number of schools fitted with RAAC.
Depending upon the survey uptake in the next 6 months, an initial estimate may be issued in April 2023.
The Department has also previously issued guidance on identifying and managing RAAC, which it will be updating later this year.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to help support glasshouse growers to heat their greenhouses in the context of the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
HM Government Food Strategy published in June this year acknowledges the important role of industrial horticulture, including the contribution of glasshouse crop production in ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of fresh produce throughout the year. Growth of this sector would boost home-grown fruit and vegetable production, help future-proof the sector in a warming climate and create new skilled job opportunities.
HM Government Food Strategy explains that industrial horticulture will be considered alongside other manufacturing sectors in decisions on industrial energy policy and that we will also incentivise the sector to make use of surplus heat and CO2 from industrial processes, and renewable sources of energy. HM Government is developing a Horticulture Strategy for England which will explore how controlled environment horticulture can be supported.
In recognition of significant increases in energy costs, we have recently announced that businesses, charities and public sector organisations will be protected through HM Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme from October over the next six months. This support discounts price per unit of gas and electricity, meaning businesses and others will pay wholesale energy costs well below half of expected prices this winter.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of the promised 20000 new police officers committed to by the Government will be deployed in Harlow.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Beating Crime Plan sets out the government’s commitment to driving down crime, protecting the public and increasing public confidence in the criminal justice system. This includes the recruitment of 20,000 additional officers through the Police Uplift Programme. We are working with policing partners to deliver this plan. It is for Chief Constables and elected Police and Crime Commissioners to target their resources (including the deployment of additional officers) to tackle local priorities.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of officers recruited as part of the Police Officer Uplift Programme on a quarterly basis. The latest data, covering the situation to 30 June 2022, are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-officer-uplift-statistics. These data are published at Police Force Area level in the supplementary tables accompanying the bulletin.
Essex police has been allocated a total of 449 additional officers for the three year uplift programme. As at 30 June 2022, Essex police has recruited 345 additional officers.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a biannual basis in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: Police workforce England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These data are collected by Police Force Area only. Data on the number of police officers in Essex Police, on both a full-time equivalent (FTE) and a headcount basis are available in the Open Data Tables that accompany the release:
The deployment of officers across a police force area is a decision for operationally independent Chief Constables.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she will take to (a) increase policing and (b) reduce crime in Harlow.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Beating Crime Plan sets out the government’s commitment to driving down crime, protecting the public and increasing public confidence in the criminal justice system. This includes the recruitment of 20,000 additional officers through the Police Uplift Programme. We are working with policing partners to deliver this plan. It is for Chief Constables and elected Police and Crime Commissioners to target their resources (including the deployment of additional officers) to tackle local priorities.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of officers recruited as part of the Police Officer Uplift Programme on a quarterly basis. The latest data, covering the situation to 30 June 2022, are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-officer-uplift-statistics. These data are published at Police Force Area level in the supplementary tables accompanying the bulletin.
Essex police has been allocated a total of 449 additional officers for the three year uplift programme. As at 30 June 2022, Essex police has recruited 345 additional officers.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a biannual basis in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: Police workforce England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These data are collected by Police Force Area only. Data on the number of police officers in Essex Police, on both a full-time equivalent (FTE) and a headcount basis are available in the Open Data Tables that accompany the release:
The deployment of officers across a police force area is a decision for operationally independent Chief Constables.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers are designated to cover Harlow and the surrounding villages.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Beating Crime Plan sets out the government’s commitment to driving down crime, protecting the public and increasing public confidence in the criminal justice system. This includes the recruitment of 20,000 additional officers through the Police Uplift Programme. We are working with policing partners to deliver this plan. It is for Chief Constables and elected Police and Crime Commissioners to target their resources (including the deployment of additional officers) to tackle local priorities.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of officers recruited as part of the Police Officer Uplift Programme on a quarterly basis. The latest data, covering the situation to 30 June 2022, are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-officer-uplift-statistics. These data are published at Police Force Area level in the supplementary tables accompanying the bulletin.
Essex police has been allocated a total of 449 additional officers for the three year uplift programme. As at 30 June 2022, Essex police has recruited 345 additional officers.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a biannual basis in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: Police workforce England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These data are collected by Police Force Area only. Data on the number of police officers in Essex Police, on both a full-time equivalent (FTE) and a headcount basis are available in the Open Data Tables that accompany the release:
The deployment of officers across a police force area is a decision for operationally independent Chief Constables.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps she is taking to increase prosecution rates for (a) sexual assault and (b) rape offences.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
This Government is determined to increase the number of rape and sexual assault cases going to court.
The CPS is undertaking extensive work to drive up and improve prosecutions through its Joint National RASSO Action Plan with the police, the Rape Strategy, and the Operation Soteria Path Finders, which are testing methods for best practice in six CPS Areas.
Since publication of its strategy, the CPS has continued to see increases in the number of rape charges, prosecutions and convictions.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of school children that do not have a personal laptop or tablet.
Answered by Robin Walker
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has delivered over 1.95 million laptops and tablets to schools, trusts, local authorities, and further education providers for disadvantaged children and young people. This is part of a £520 million government investment to support access to remote education and online social care services.
The laptops and tablets distributed through the department are owned by schools, trusts, local authorities, or further education providers who can lend these to children and young people who need them the most. These laptops and tablets are an injection of support on top of an estimated 2.9 million already owned by schools before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. These devices are intended to give schools the flexibility to provide remote education support and can continue to be used in the longer term either in the classroom or from home.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much grant funding has been allocated to the National Union for Students over the past five years.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The department has not made any grant payments to the National Union for Students over the last five years.