Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to tackle landlords who knowingly rent out unsafe and substandard accommodation.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Through the Housing and Planning Bill we are taking measures to tackle rogue landlords who rent out sub-standard accommodation. Our proposals include a database of rogue landlords and property agents, introducing banning orders for serious or repeat offenders, a tougher fit and proper person test, extending Rent Repayment Orders and introducing civil penalties for offences such as failing to comply with an improvement notice or overcrowding a property.
In addition, over the last Parliament, we made over £6.7 million available to local authorities to help them tackle rogue landlords in their areas. We have also invited 65 local authorities to bid for a share of a further £5 million funding to tackle rogue landlords and will be announcing successful schemes shortly.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the National Funding Formula on (a) schools, (b) teachers and (c) pupils in Liverpool.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The government is committed to meeting our manifesto pledge to make school funding fairer. At the Spending Review we announced our intention to deliver this by introducing a National Funding Formula in 2017, so that the money we provide for schools is fairly matched to need. As we develop our plans we will consider the effect of the formula on all schools, and we will make sure change is introduced at a pace that is manageable for the sector. We will set out our detailed proposals and consult extensively in the new year.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the number of people who are earning below the lower earnings limit and have more than one employer and do not qualify for national insurance contribution deductions.
Answered by David Gauke
Estimates of the number of individuals who work in more than one job but do not pay national insurance, even though their total earnings are above the lower earnings threshold, are available to view at the following internet address:
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what level of funding his Department has provided for mental health services in (a) Liverpool, Walton constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) England in the last three years.
Answered by Alistair Burt
NHS England does not split the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) programme allocation across service categories. CCGs receive an annual allocation calculated by reference to the size of population they commission for, and it is up to the CCG to decide how to spend it, taking into account national policy considerations and a local assessment of need.
CCGs are required to submit their spending plans and their annual accounts to NHS England. NHS England reviews spending, including for mental health (MH), through the CCG assurance process.
NHS England has made a requirement of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the planning guidance for 2015/16, The Forward View Into Action: Planning Guidance for 2015/16, that each CCG’s spending on MH services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s overall funding allocation increase.
CCG actual and planned spend (not funding) can be split between MH and other categories of expenditure. The table below shows CCG MH spend for Liverpool CCG, for Merseyside CCGs and nationally for all CCGs. These figures are actual spend for 2013/14 and 2014/15 and planned spend for 2015/16:
2013/14 | 2014/15 Outturn £k | 2015/16 Outturn £k | |
Liverpool CCG Total | 76,335 | 85,500 | 89,609 |
Merseyside CCGTotal | 181,521 | 209,004 | 217,948 |
| EnglandCCGsTotal | 7,818,924 | 8,289,153 | 8,602,990 |
Specialised health services, primary care and other directly commissioned services includes some spend on MH services. This direct commissioning spend on MH services is not routinely split into the different categories of expenditure and is not included in the figures in the table above.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) cleanliness, (b) degree of crowding and (c) safety of (i) prisoners and (ii) prison staff in HMP Liverpool.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Governor and staff at Liverpool are determined to improve the prison and action is already being taken to address the recommendations made in the most recent report. We are working closely with Lancashire Care NHS Trust to improve the healthcare provisions. More prisoners are out of their cells in work, training or education, and a range of initiatives are also in hand to reduce violence.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in what ways the UK's military mission in Afghanistan is contributing to the protection of civilian Hazaras.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The UK's military mission in Afghanistan, as part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission, is helping train and advise the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces, who are responsible for providing security for the entire population of Afghanistan including civilian Hazaras. In particular UK Armed Forces are playing a vital role in mentoring instructors at the Afghan National Army Officer Academy, where the next generation of Afghan military leaders are being taught.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to support suicidal and vulnerable inmates in (a) HMP Liverpool and (b) HMP Altcourse.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Every self-inflicted death is a tragedy and we are committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons.
All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves, and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has put in place additional resources to undertake this safer custody work. NOMS is also reviewing the operation of the case management process for prisoners assessed as being at risk and the Government is considering the recommendations of Lord Harris’ Review into the deaths in custody of young adults.
HMP Liverpool is implementing the recommendations arising out of the most recent inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, published on 20 October 2015. The prison has a full safer custody team, which has been allocated additional resources to support prisoners identified as being at risk. It operates a Listener peer support service in partnership with the Samaritans and will shortly be opening an early days centre to improve support for new prisoners.
HMP Altcourse has a local safer custody improvement plan that includes improvements to the support offered to prisoners in their early days. It also operates a Listener scheme with the support of the Samaritans.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the potential effects of changes in the Merseyside Police mounted division on that forces' capacity to police football matches at Anfield and Goodison Park.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
I have had no such discussions. Policing outside of sports stadia is a matter for individual clubs and the local police to determine. My Department has responsibility for ensuring the safety of spectators inside of sports stadia.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government's proposed changes to business rates on (a) Liverpool Walton constituency, (b) Liverpool City Council, (c) the North West and (d) the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority area.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Liverpool City Council is forecast to collect £190 million in 2015/16, while for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Area the total forecast is £466 million. The 45 local authorities that comprise the North West are expected to collect £2,588 million in 2015/16.
The Government intends to move to 100% business rates retention for the local government sector across England by the end of this Parliament. As part of the new system, there will continue to be a redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities, with protections in place for authorities that might see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will work with local government on the detail of these reforms.
Asked by: Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults on on-duty prison officers have occurred in (a) HM Prison Liverpool, (b) HM Prison Altcourse and (c) all other prisons in England and Wales in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
NOMS does not tolerate violence of any kind in prison and any assault is treated extremely seriously. Any prisoner who commits an act of violence can expect to have action taken against them.
Statistics for assaults on staff by establishment are published in Table 3.15 of the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. This can be found in the 'Assaults in prison custody 2000 to 2014' statistics at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-statistics