Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of violent crime to their country of origin if it is unsafe.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
This Government puts the rights of the British public before those of criminals, and we are clear that foreign criminals should be deported from the UK wherever it is legal and practical to do so.
Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made where a foreign national has been convicted of an offence and received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more. This is subject to several exceptions, including where to do so would be a breach of a person’s ECHR rights or the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention. Individuals are only returned to their country of origin when the Home Office and, where applicable, the Courts deem it is safe to do so. Each individual assessment is made against the background of any relevant caselaw and the latest available country information.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of shortages in the number of experts available to provide specialist evidential reports on (a) the criminal justice system and (b) conviction rates.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We recognise that expert evidence is a key element of many cases and so are taking a number of steps to ensure the availability of experts. We have increased expert witness fees (including forensic science experts) by 15% in cases where legal aid is granted on or after 30 September 2022 to help ensure that the defence have access to a high standard of forensic services. We passed legislation in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 so that remote hearings can continue to be used in criminal proceedings and are currently considering how we can support greater use of video links to secure attendance by expert witnesses.
More broadly across the criminal justice system, the Forensic Science Reform Programme, led by the Home Office, aims to improve criminal justice outcomes through the delivery of world class forensic capabilities. In this financial year (2023/24), the Government has allocated £19.6m to improving standards and capability in the provision of expert scientific evidence.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the services provided by Eaves Energy Solutions Ltd in providing works funded by the public purse under the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme; and what assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) value for money of energy improvement works more broadly to homes under that scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Under the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme, installers were TrustMark-registered, MCS-certified for heat and PAS-certified for energy efficiency, therefore thoroughly vetted against trading practices. Installers regularly had their work inspected to ensure quality. The scheme monitored quotes provided by installers to prevent over-charging and robust counter-fraud measures were built into the scheme.
Interim findings from the scheme evaluation, including on installation quality and initial assessment of value for money, were published in January 2023. The final evaluation will be published Summer/Autumn 2023.
Constituents should raise complaints regarding an installation directly with their installer. If their issues are not resolved, further information can be found here: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/homeowners/if-things-go-wrong.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether landlords are exempt from applying for a licence from a local authority for a House in Multiple Occupation if only part of the building is occupied by asylum seekers.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Currently all houses in multiple occupations (HMOs) in which 5 or more unrelated people live, or 3 or more in areas with additional licensing, must be licensed, including those occupied by asylum seekers.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made on the availability of adapted housing for people with disabilities in Walsall.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
DLUHC does not hold data on the availability of adapted housing in Walsall.
However, local authorities including Walsall have a statutory duty to provide home adaptations to eligible disabled people, subject to a means test and assessment of need through the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG).
On 10 May, DLUHC provided each local authority with their allocation of the £573 million funding for the DFG for 2023/24. Walsall received £4,202,771.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of constructing a cycle lane alongside the HS2 line from London to Birmingham.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government commissioned a study of cycling opportunities along the spine of HS2 corridor in 2013 and this was published in 2018 National cycleway feasibility study associated with HS2 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
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 potential merits of providing free prescriptions for immunosuppressants for transplant patients.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There are no plans to provide free prescriptions for immunosuppressants for transplant patients. Approximately 89% of prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge in community pharmacies and there is a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place for which transplant patients may meet the eligibility criteria and be in receipt of free prescriptions.
In addition, those on a low income can apply for additional support through the NHS Low Income Scheme. This provides both full and partial help with a range of health costs, not just prescription charges. Those who do not qualify for low-income help, may benefit from the purchase for prescription pre-payment certificate. This caps the cost of prescriptions at £111.60 per year, helping people to get all the medicines they need for just over £2 a week.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of trends in the level of (a) covid-19 infection, (b) admissions to hospital as a result of covid-19 infection or related complications and (c) deaths attributed to covid-19 in the last six months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
UK Health Security Agency are continually monitoring trends in COVID-19, to inform the Government on the spread, severity and impact of COVID-19. Long term trends must be interpreted with caution, as they can be affected by changes in dominant variant, timing of vaccine booster campaigns, seasonality, and changes to testing policy.
Over the last six months, trends have shown that cases of COVID-19 are seen to increase approximately every three months before returning to a baseline. This was seen over the Christmas period, and there has been a slow increase over March that has returned to baseline. Overall, the peaks are smaller than those seen in previous waves, peaking at 8,236 cases per day in December 2022 compared to a peak of 30,388 in July 2022.
Hospital admission due to COVID-19 tend to mirror cases of COVID-19. Over the last six months there have been peaks in hospital admissions over the Christmas period and a slow increase over March that has begun to decrease. Admissions peaks are similar or smaller than those seen previously, peaking at 1,376 admissions per day in December 2022, 1,418, in October 2022 and 2,005 in July 2022.
For deaths attributed to COVID-19, where COVID-19 is recorded on the death certificate/registration, over the last six months there has been an increase in deaths over the early January period, and a slow increase in April 2023. Peaks in deaths have been similar or lower to those seen previously, peaking at 126 per day in Jan 2023, 111 in Oct 2022, and 189 in July 2022.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many deaths recorded in (a) England and Wales and (b) Walsall were attributed to covid-19 in (i) October 2022, (ii) January 2023 and (iii) the most recent 30-day period for which figures are available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It should be noted that UK Health Security Agency have two measures of death associated with COVID-19, any death that has a positive COVID-19 test in the preceding 28 days, and deaths which have COVID-19 recorded on their death registration.
For England and Wales, in October 2022 there were 4,223 deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and 2,573 deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration. In January 2023 there were 4,063 deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and 3,380 deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration. In the 30 day period between 12 March 2023 and 10 April 2023 there were 3,366 deaths were recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and 1,704 deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration
For Walsall, in October 2022 20 deaths were recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and 17 deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration. In January 2023, 27 deaths were recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and 14 deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration. In the 30 day period between 12 March 2023 and 10 April 2023, 22 deaths were recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and four deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in (a) Walsall and (b) England and Wales were admitted to hospital as a result of covid-19 infection or associated complications in (i) October 2022, (ii) January 2023 and (iii) the most recent 30-day period for which figures are available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We do not hold the data in the format requested for people in Walsall being admitted to hospital, however we do hold the data by National Health Service trust. The most relevant trust for the question asked would be Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and this data is provided below.
For Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, in October 2022, 187 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19. In January 2023, 77 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19. In the 30-day period from 12 March to 10 April 2023, 144 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19
For England and Wales, in October 2022, 31,613 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19. In January 2023, 21,033 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19. In the 30-day period from 12 March to 10 April 2023, 24,989 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19.