Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of (a) 22 July 2024 to Question 66 and (b) 7 January 2025 to Question 20961 on Sexual Harassment, what progress she has made on implementation of the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this Government and a central part of our Safer Streets mission. Our unprecedented ambition is to halve the prevalence of VAWG within a decade, using every lever available to us.
Public sexual harassment is a crime that often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women, feeling unsafe on their own streets. That is unacceptable. Tackling public sexual harassment will form an important part of our cross-government VAWG strategy, which will be published before summer recess. We will confirm next steps on implementation of the Act at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2024 to Question 612 on Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, and the Answer of 4th November 2024 to Question 11600 on Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, when section 31 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 will come into force.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As part of implementation considerations, we have included a provision in the Data (Use and Access) Bill to ensure that section 31 extends UK-wide, given the nature of the UK’s data protection framework. This Bill has finished Commons committee stage and will be entering report stage. Subject to passage of the Bill, we will update on implementation in due course.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to increase the regulation of buy-now pay-later lenders; and what estimate she has made of when that legislation will take effect.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Across the UK, millions have used Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) products, which can be a helpful way of managing finances from month to month. However, without regulation, there are risks: that is why the government believes consumers need proper protections. The government has made regulating the BNPL sector a priority and in October 2024 it published a consultation setting out its plans for doing so.
Final legislation is expected to be laid in Parliament later in the Spring, and after the legislation has been made, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will consult on and finalise its tailored rules for BNPL products. We expect regulation to be in place 12 months after the legislation has been made.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of the use of fire and rehire practices in higher education in England; and what steps he plans to take to address it.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill including an impact assessment of the Bill’s measure to end the unscrupulous use of fire and rehire. The evidence on the prevalence of the practice of fire and rehire is limited, however. Department for Business and Trade analysis suggests that <1% of employers might engage in the practice each year.
We are strengthening the law in this area to make it clear that the unscrupulous use of fire and rehire and fire and replace are not acceptable and will be an automatically unfair dismissal.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish an impact assessment for the changes to development assistance announced on 25 February 2025.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security, and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review on the basis of various factors including impact assessments.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2025 to Question 30613 on British Nationality, whether victims of (a) trafficking and (b) modern slavery who are given leave to remain will have any citizenship application they make affected by whether they entered the UK via an irregular route.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
A person who previously entered the UK illegally, or who arrived without a required valid entry clearance or electronic valid authorisation, having made a dangerous journey, will normally be refused citizenship, regardless of the time that has passed since they entered the UK.
However, when assessing good character, it is normally appropriate to disregard immigration breaches if it is accepted this was outside of the applicant’s control.
Citizenship applications will continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis, allowing for mitigating factors to be properly considered, such as where a person is a victim of trafficking or modern slavery. Where it is appropriate, an exceptional grant may be supported.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will set out the the routes to British citizenship open to people who secure indefinite leave to remain having arrived in the UK by an irregular route after the 10 February 2025; and what estimate she has made of the cost of applying for naturalisation to this process.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
An individual can apply for British citizenship if they believe they meet the requirements. Those wishing to naturalise will need to meet the statutory requirements set out in the British Nationality Act 1981, including to be of good character. Applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but a person who has entered the UK on irregular routes will not normally meet the good character requirement.
Details of fees for immigration and nationality applications, including the estimated unit costs, can be reviewed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-fees-transparency-data.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many NCC1 application forms were (a) received and (b) approved in each month in 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested information is not readily available as it is not centrally collated and to provide this would be at disproportionate cost. Depending on the benefit being claimed, the clerical NCC1 forms are either handed into the Jobcentre Plus office, for Universal Credit, or are sent to the relevant postal address for Child Tax Credits and Income Support.
The annual statistics about the policy that provides support for a maximum of 2 children in Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit provides a range of statistics including statistics relating to the exceptions to the policy. The latest and previous publications can be found here: Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants: statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of 2 children, April 2024 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2024 to Question 66 on Sexual Harassment, what progress she has made on implementation of the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to halving levels of violence against women and girls in a decade. An important part of this ambition is tackling public sexual harassment which often leaves people, disproportionately women, feeling very unsafe. The Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 will make this type of harassment a specific offence and could see perpetrators face a custodial sentence of up to 2 years. We will confirm next steps on implementation of the Act at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to respond to the Egyptian Government's refusal to (a) release and (b) recognise the British nationality of Alaa Abd El-Fattah.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains committed to securing the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah. We continue to raise Mr El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian Government. The Egyptian Government does not recognise Mr El-Fattah's British nationality and is refusing consular access. The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions, most recently with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on 14 November. The Prime Minister also raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 8 August. I raised Mr El-Fattah's case with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 15 October.