Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the end of custody supervised licence scheme on rates of recidivism among early-release prisoners.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are constantly monitoring the use of End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) and its impact.
We are taking action to drive down the reoffending rate for all offenders by investing in a wide range of rehabilitative interventions to get them into skills training, work, and stable accommodation. This includes delivering our ground-breaking transitional accommodation service, known as Community Accommodation Service – Tier 3 (CAS-3), so prison-leavers have a guaranteed 12 weeks of basic, temporary accommodation to provide a stable base on release. By January 2023, the proportion of offenders housed on the first night of their release from custody was 7.6 percentage points higher in CAS3 regions versus non-CAS3 regions.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of (a) primary and (b) secondary school places.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department collects pupil forecasts and school capacity data from local authorities annually through the School Capacity (SCAP) survey. The most recent SCAP data shows a need for 30,000 additional primary places and 40,000 additional secondary places between May 2023 and September 2027.
The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on the data they provide. The department has announced nearly £1.5 billion to support local authorities to create school places needed over the next three academic years, up to and including the academic year starting September 2026. This funding is on top of the department’s investment in the free schools programme and means the department has now committed Basic Need capital funding of over £14 billion to support the creation of new school places between 2011 and 2026.
The department also engages with local authorities on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, the department supports them to find solutions as quickly as possible.
Between 2010 and 2023, the department supported the creation of 722,000 primary and 466,000 secondary places in response to a substantial increase in pupil numbers. This is the largest increase in school capacity in at least two generations, following a fall of 100,000 places between 2004 and 2010. Many more places are in the pipeline.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been released early under the end of custody supervised license scheme since October 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of releases under End of Custody Supervised Licence will be published when sufficient robust and comprehensive data is available. To support orderly release, its publication will be announced through the GOV.UK release calendar.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what support is available to media organisations to (a) detect and (b) counteract foreign disinformation.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government takes the issue of information threats to national security seriously, and the UK has a strong record of working closely with a wide range of different stakeholders to tackle these risks.
We recognise the invaluable role of a free and independent press in providing accurate and reliable information. Government works to complement the efforts of our independent press sector through a number of initiatives to counter disinformation.
For example, in 2022 the Government provided the BBC World Service with £4.1m emergency funding to help it to continue to bring independent, impartial and accurate news to people in Ukraine and Russia and counter disinformation in the face of increased propaganda from the Russian state. The Government has also directly sanctioned Russia-backed state media organisations who spread disinformation, helping to prevent the most prolific and harmful sources of disinformation from spreading propaganda to UK audiences online.
The Government has also recently passed the Online Safety Act (OSA), which includes the Foreign Interference Offence as a priority offence. This will require social media companies to take action against a wide range of state-sponsored disinformation and interference targeted at the UK. Ofcom will produce guidance for providers on how they should fulfil these duties. The consultation for this guidance closed in March 2024 and Ofcom is currently finalising these codes, due to come into force at the end of 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate she has made of the number of households that have received compensation for having had a pre-payment meter fitted against their will.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Suppliers have so far carried out 150,000 assessments to make sure those impacted get the compensation they deserve. Of these cases, around 2,500 customers were identified as needing compensation - and around 60% of those have received it, with payments planned for another 1,000 customers. We expect suppliers to work and day and night to issue these remaining payments - there is no excuse for delay. While this is a matter for Ofgem, I have spoken to Ofgem about their responsibilities and the need for suppliers to speed up payments. I will continue to monitor this very closely.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on trends in the cost of living in Scotland.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Supporting households and the most vulnerable by tackling cost of living pressures remains a core priority for this government. That is why the UK Government has introduced a £108 billion package of support over 2022-25, worth an average £3,800 per household, to mitigate against these pressures. We are also making good progress against the Prime Minister’s three economic priorities of halving inflation, getting the economy growing and reducing the national debt. Inflation is now at 3.2 percent - less than half its recent peak, and is expected to fall further to its 2 percent target one year earlier than expected.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help reduce the number of families living in temporary accommodation.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 23003 on 30 April 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the sustainability of transport infrastructure.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DfT formed the Infrastructure Decarbonisation Division (IDD) in April 2023 to drive action on the decarbonisation of transport infrastructure. DfT requires all transport infrastructure projects that it funds to produce carbon management plans (CMP) that include a comprehensive whole life carbon assessment, and a plan to reduce carbon across the project lifecycle in line with PAS2080 principles.
DfT maintains frequent engagement with its Arm’s Length Bodies to support progress against their own carbon reduction plans.
In addition to taking action on transport infrastructure decarbonisation, DfT is also strengthening transport adaptation policy by launching a consultation on the Department’s first transport adaptation strategy on 3 April. The strategy sets a vision for a well-adapted transport network that is flexible, reliable, operates safely and is responsive to a changing climate. This strategy will raise ambition and ensure that adaptation becomes a part of ‘business as usual’, ensuring the transport network is more resilient in the face of climate change.
The Environment Act 2021 has introduced new requirements that will support action to improve the sustainability of transport infrastructure. Since 1 November 2023 Ministers have had a legal duty to have due regard to the Environmental Principles Policy Statement when making policy.
Network Rail and National Highways are progressing work to support nature recovery including through commitments to deliver no net loss in biodiversity across their estates.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether UK Export Finance took steps relating to the Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas Project in response to the Palma attack of 24 March 2021.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Following insurgency incidents in Cabo Delagdo in March 2021, TotalEnergies declared force majeure, suspending work on the Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas project. That declaration remains in place. UK Export Finance is currently in talks with project sponsors regarding the latest status of the project.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the levels of benefits on economic inactivity due to ill health.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.