Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on producing guidance for the performing arts sector on the visa and work permit requirements for each EU Member State.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
While UK performing artists are still able to tour and perform in the EU, being outside the European Union means practical changes on both sides of the Channel that will require understanding and adaptation. We recognise this, and that is why we are working urgently across government to ensure guidance is clear, up to date and accessible for the performing arts sector travelling to the EU.
To date, we have published guidance on GOV.UK, signposting to official information provided by EU countries about their business travel routes. We will continue to enhance guidance for businesses to support travel for work purposes under our new trading relationship with the European Union, and we will publish business traveller summaries for each Member State in April. We are also developing sector specific “landing pages” for GOV.UK.
We will imminently be engaging with EU Member States to improve their guidance, specifically around their entry and work permit requirements, to ensure this is as clear and accessible as possible. Where there are issues around the clarity of Member States’ immigration rules, we will also raise these with the European Commission.
And through the DCMS-led Working Group, we are working closely with sector bodies - several of whom have already produced excellent guidance in this area - to help distil and clarify the new rules further.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will reinstate emergency driving tests for critical workers.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
To help stop the spread of coronavirus, routine driving tests have been suspended in all areas of England, Scotland and Wales.
In England and Wales, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will respond to requests for driving tests from organisations on behalf of frontline mobile emergency workers, who require a driving licence to carry out duties in their employment role. This service is restricted to candidates working in health and social care, and public bodies providing a service in the national interest. The DVSA will contact eligible organisations.
Approved driving instructors and trainers can return to work only for the purpose of supporting a mobile emergency worker with a booked test.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps he is taking to improve (a) aftercare and (b) rehabilitation for victims of stroke.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The NHS Long Term Plan highlighted stroke community rehabilitation as an area with significant scope for improvement. NHS England and NHS Improvement are piloting higher intensity models of stroke rehabilitation at several sites around the country. In addition, investment has been made in the development of integrated stroke delivery networks, delivering improvements across the whole stroke pathway, including rehabilitation and life after stroke services.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of divorce on people's mental health; and what steps his Department is taking to help reduce that effect.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Government has made a landmark change to the law on divorce with the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020. We are working to implement it so that the legal process for divorce does not incentivise conflict. By making an applicant or applicants’ statement conclusive evidence of the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage or civil partnership, we are removing the need to establish conduct or separation-based facts and for the drafting of supporting particulars.
We want to encourage positive, non-confrontational approaches to resolving problems before they reach the courts. This includes separating parents who are in conflict. In December 2020, we issued a statement on behalf of the Family Justice Board that sets out our immediate and longer-term reform priorities for the family justice system. This includes testing an earlier gateway to court to offer families a more rounded assessment of the needs of children and their families, and an improved offer for non-adversarial problem solving. This Government is committed to ensuring couples and parents can navigate the family justice system and understand the different options available to resolve their disputes, including out-of-court options such as mediation where they are safe and appropriate.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of out-of-court alternatives for couples seeking divorce.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Government has made a landmark change to the law on divorce with the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020. We are working to implement it so that the legal process for divorce does not incentivise conflict. By making an applicant or applicants’ statement conclusive evidence of the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage or civil partnership, we are removing the need to establish conduct or separation-based facts and for the drafting of supporting particulars.
We want to encourage positive, non-confrontational approaches to resolving problems before they reach the courts. This includes separating parents who are in conflict. In December 2020, we issued a statement on behalf of the Family Justice Board that sets out our immediate and longer-term reform priorities for the family justice system. This includes testing an earlier gateway to court to offer families a more rounded assessment of the needs of children and their families, and an improved offer for non-adversarial problem solving. This Government is committed to ensuring couples and parents can navigate the family justice system and understand the different options available to resolve their disputes, including out-of-court options such as mediation where they are safe and appropriate.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to promote access to early legal advice for divorcing couples.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
We spent £1.7bn in 2019 on Legal Aid to ensure vulnerable people have access to proportionate legal advice and support and that we minimise the burden on courts and tribunals.
Legal aid is available for private family matters where an applicant is a victim of, or at risk of being a victim of domestic abuse or child abuse, subject to the means and merits criteria. The Exceptional Case Funding scheme provides legal aid in cases which fall out of scope. It provides legal aid where without it there would be a breach, or risk of a breach of, human rights, subject to the statutory means and merits test.
But legal aid is only one part of a broader picture. As set out in our Legal Support Action plan, there are other forms of support that can help people overcome their problems, such as legal information, guidance and signposting so that everyone can access justice in a way that best meets their needs.
In April we also launched the new, two-year, £3.1m Legal Support for Litigants in Person Grant, which is designed to fund services provided at local, regional and national levels with the aim of understanding more about how they can combine to help people. This new grant funding is in addition to the more than £9m that the MoJ has invested in support for litigants in person since 2015 through our existing Litigants in Person Support Strategy.
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service has established 17 Nightingale courts across England and Wales, providing 32 additional court rooms, and are recruiting more staff.
Judicial sitting days in the family court have been increased and approximately £3.5m additional funding has helped Cafcass increase staffing levels to respond to record levels of open cases.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of reductions in legal aid on access to professional or legal support for divorcing couples.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
We spent £1.7bn in 2019 on Legal Aid to ensure vulnerable people have access to proportionate legal advice and support and that we minimise the burden on courts and tribunals.
Legal aid is available for private family matters where an applicant is a victim of, or at risk of being a victim of domestic abuse or child abuse, subject to the means and merits criteria. The Exceptional Case Funding scheme provides legal aid in cases which fall out of scope. It provides legal aid where without it there would be a breach, or risk of a breach of, human rights, subject to the statutory means and merits test.
But legal aid is only one part of a broader picture. As set out in our Legal Support Action plan, there are other forms of support that can help people overcome their problems, such as legal information, guidance and signposting so that everyone can access justice in a way that best meets their needs.
In April we also launched the new, two-year, £3.1m Legal Support for Litigants in Person Grant, which is designed to fund services provided at local, regional and national levels with the aim of understanding more about how they can combine to help people. This new grant funding is in addition to the more than £9m that the MoJ has invested in support for litigants in person since 2015 through our existing Litigants in Person Support Strategy.
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service has established 17 Nightingale courts across England and Wales, providing 32 additional court rooms, and are recruiting more staff.
Judicial sitting days in the family court have been increased and approximately £3.5m additional funding has helped Cafcass increase staffing levels to respond to record levels of open cases.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of improved early access to professional advice for divorcing couples on conflict and the mental health of those involved.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
We spent £1.7bn in 2019 on Legal Aid to ensure vulnerable people have access to proportionate legal advice and support and that we minimise the burden on courts and tribunals.
Legal aid is available for private family matters where an applicant is a victim of, or at risk of being a victim of domestic abuse or child abuse, subject to the means and merits criteria. The Exceptional Case Funding scheme provides legal aid in cases which fall out of scope. It provides legal aid where without it there would be a breach, or risk of a breach of, human rights, subject to the statutory means and merits test.
But legal aid is only one part of a broader picture. As set out in our Legal Support Action plan, there are other forms of support that can help people overcome their problems, such as legal information, guidance and signposting so that everyone can access justice in a way that best meets their needs.
In April we also launched the new, two-year, £3.1m Legal Support for Litigants in Person Grant, which is designed to fund services provided at local, regional and national levels with the aim of understanding more about how they can combine to help people. This new grant funding is in addition to the more than £9m that the MoJ has invested in support for litigants in person since 2015 through our existing Litigants in Person Support Strategy.
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service has established 17 Nightingale courts across England and Wales, providing 32 additional court rooms, and are recruiting more staff.
Judicial sitting days in the family court have been increased and approximately £3.5m additional funding has helped Cafcass increase staffing levels to respond to record levels of open cases.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to the (a) public purse and (b) court system of ensuring legal aid is accessible in family law cases.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
We spent £1.7bn in 2019 on Legal Aid to ensure vulnerable people have access to proportionate legal advice and support and that we minimise the burden on courts and tribunals.
Legal aid is available for private family matters where an applicant is a victim of, or at risk of being a victim of domestic abuse or child abuse, subject to the means and merits criteria. The Exceptional Case Funding scheme provides legal aid in cases which fall out of scope. It provides legal aid where without it there would be a breach, or risk of a breach of, human rights, subject to the statutory means and merits test.
But legal aid is only one part of a broader picture. As set out in our Legal Support Action plan, there are other forms of support that can help people overcome their problems, such as legal information, guidance and signposting so that everyone can access justice in a way that best meets their needs.
In April we also launched the new, two-year, £3.1m Legal Support for Litigants in Person Grant, which is designed to fund services provided at local, regional and national levels with the aim of understanding more about how they can combine to help people. This new grant funding is in addition to the more than £9m that the MoJ has invested in support for litigants in person since 2015 through our existing Litigants in Person Support Strategy.
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service has established 17 Nightingale courts across England and Wales, providing 32 additional court rooms, and are recruiting more staff.
Judicial sitting days in the family court have been increased and approximately £3.5m additional funding has helped Cafcass increase staffing levels to respond to record levels of open cases.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of improving early legal advice for divorcing couples to help reduce pressure on family courts.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
We spent £1.7bn in 2019 on Legal Aid to ensure vulnerable people have access to proportionate legal advice and support and that we minimise the burden on courts and tribunals.
Legal aid is available for private family matters where an applicant is a victim of, or at risk of being a victim of domestic abuse or child abuse, subject to the means and merits criteria. The Exceptional Case Funding scheme provides legal aid in cases which fall out of scope. It provides legal aid where without it there would be a breach, or risk of a breach of, human rights, subject to the statutory means and merits test.
But legal aid is only one part of a broader picture. As set out in our Legal Support Action plan, there are other forms of support that can help people overcome their problems, such as legal information, guidance and signposting so that everyone can access justice in a way that best meets their needs.
In April we also launched the new, two-year, £3.1m Legal Support for Litigants in Person Grant, which is designed to fund services provided at local, regional and national levels with the aim of understanding more about how they can combine to help people. This new grant funding is in addition to the more than £9m that the MoJ has invested in support for litigants in person since 2015 through our existing Litigants in Person Support Strategy.
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service has established 17 Nightingale courts across England and Wales, providing 32 additional court rooms, and are recruiting more staff.
Judicial sitting days in the family court have been increased and approximately £3.5m additional funding has helped Cafcass increase staffing levels to respond to record levels of open cases.