Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment the Government has made of whether Hamas is a unified organisation under a single leadership.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government does not routinely comment on intelligence matters.
Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to review the effectiveness of the provisions of the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
Answered by James Brokenshire
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ56039 on 11 June 2020.
Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to ensure that (a) poor and (b) vulnerable fuel consumers do not face increased costs as a result of a transition to (i) low carbon and (ii) decarbonised energy plans.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Our aim is to deliver net zero at the lowest cost for all consumers. A key part of this is supporting consumers who may struggle to afford their energy.
We intend to publish an updated Fuel Poverty Strategy for England by the end of the year which will provide further information on our plans to support low income and vulnerable households as we transition to net zero.
The Energy Company Obligation, worth £640m per year, is already focused on low income and vulnerable households and the recently launched Green Homes Grant, which will provide up to £10,000 for vulnerable consumers to make their home more energy efficient. We also provide support with energy bills for low income and vulnerable consumers through the Warm Homes Discount, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments.
Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications there have been to the National Referral Mechanism by region in each of the last five years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Statistics relating to the number of referrals made to the National Referral Mechanism by region is not currently published by the Single Competent Authority. Published statistics include the police force the referral was sent to for investigation and crime recording purposes.
Data tables detailing the number of RG decisions made and their outcomes for the last five years can be found here:
The published data details the final outcome of an RG decision and does not take into account any previous decisions that may have been made on a particular case.
There is no appeals process for negative RG outcomes, however an individual, or someone acting on their behalf, may request reconsideration of a negative RG decision. Further detail on this can be found in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 – Statutory Guidance for England and Wales v1.02 sections 14.220 - 14.235. All negative decisions are reviewed by a Technical Specialist who is senior to a Decision Maker.
Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications to the National Referral Mechanism received a reasonable grounds decision in each of the last five years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Statistics relating to the number of referrals made to the National Referral Mechanism by region is not currently published by the Single Competent Authority. Published statistics include the police force the referral was sent to for investigation and crime recording purposes.
Data tables detailing the number of RG decisions made and their outcomes for the last five years can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-referral-mechanism-statistics-uk-end-of-year-summary-2019. The published data details the final outcome of an RG decision and does not take into account any previous decisions that may have been made on a particular case.
There is no appeals process for negative RG outcomes, however an individual, or someone acting on their behalf, may request reconsideration of a negative RG decision. Further detail on this can be found in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 – Statutory Guidance for England and Wales v1.02 sections 14.220 - 14.235. All negative decisions are reviewed by a Technical Specialist who is senior to a Decision Maker.
Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications to the National Referral Mechanism received a reasonable grounds decision in each of the last five years following appeal of a negative decision.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Statistics relating to the number of referrals made to the National Referral Mechanism by region is not currently published by the Single Competent Authority. Published statistics include the police force the referral was sent to for investigation and crime recording purposes.Data tables detailing the number of RG decisions made and their outcomes for the last five years can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-referral-mechanism-statistics-uk-end-of-year-summary-2019. The published data details the final outcome of an RG decision and does not take into account any previous decisions that may have been made on a particular case.
There is no appeals process for negative RG outcomes, however an individual, or someone acting on their behalf, may request reconsideration of a negative RG decision. Further detail on this can be found in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 – Statutory Guidance for England and Wales v1.02 sections 14.220 - 14.235. All negative decisions are reviewed by a Technical Specialist who is senior to a Decision Maker.
Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who have been recognised through the National Referral Mechanism as being a victim of a crime have gone on to prosecution; and how many of those prosecutions have been successful by type of crime in each of the last five years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Single Competent Authority (SCA) operates the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) which is a civil process for the identification and support of victims of modern slavery.
The SCA does not collect data on the number of prosecutions related to people being recognised as a victim of modern slavery through the NRM. Many victims are recognised through the NRM independently of a prosecution being linked to their case.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) publishes quarterly modern slavery prosecution statistics, and the latest quarter can be found at: https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/cps-data-summary-quarter-4-2019-2020
https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/cps-data-summary-quarter-4-2019-2020
Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the construction of (a) onshore wind, (b) solar and (c) offshore wind sites awarded contracts in Contract for Difference Auction Round 4 will begin in the 2019 Parliament.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Whether construction will begin during the 2019 Parliament will depend on decisions made by individual developers as well as the allocation round delivery years. Delivery years and other allocation round parameters will be published in advance of the next auction in 2021.
Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs in (a) onshore wind, (b) solar and (c) offshore wind which could be created in the 2019 Parliament as a result of the Contract for Difference Auction Round 4.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The low carbon economy is a success story, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, and it will continue to grow as we deliver net zero. The Government has not estimated the number of jobs that could be directly created as a result of the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 4. Auction outcomes are dependent on many factors including the auction parameters, which are yet to be set. However, we work closely with industry to maximise the opportunities for UK suppliers from projects with approved Supply Chain Plans.
Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the reportedly high number of cases of covid-19 in Barrow-in-Furness and South Lakes.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Variation in the number of COVID-19 cases is caused by a number of factors including demography, behaviour and rate of testing. The rate of testing in the area has been high due to an early and proactive approach to testing taken by the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay (UHMB) NHS Foundation Trust, which manages Furness General Hospital, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Westmorland General in Kendal in South Lakeland.
The Trust commenced swabbing of employees and household members who were symptomatic of coronavirus at the end of February 2020. Testing has included UHMB NHS Foundation Trust employees and household members, hospital inpatients, care home residents and staff, and key workers from other organisations and their households.