Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made on developing plans for implementation of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act since 29 August 2023.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government remains committed to implementing the important reforms in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 (the Act). These reforms will improve the quality of supported housing, protecting residents and getting better value for money for the taxpayer through Housing Benefit spend. It is important that we get the detail of how these reforms might be implemented right, to avoid any unintended consequences.
The first step towards implementation is a consultation on the proposed measures in the Act, including the National Supported Housing Standards and the supported housing licensing regime in England. The Government will consult on the measures as soon as possible.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department plans to commence the consultation process on the implementation of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government remains committed to implementing the important reforms in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 (the Act). These reforms will improve the quality of supported housing, protecting residents and getting better value for money for the taxpayer through Housing Benefit spend. It is important that we get the detail of how these reforms might be implemented right, to avoid any unintended consequences.
The first step towards implementation is a consultation on the proposed measures in the Act, including the National Supported Housing Standards and the supported housing licensing regime in England. The Government will consult on the measures as soon as possible.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average time from sentence to start of community payback in each year since 2015.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Year | Average days from sentence to start of Community Payback | Number of offenders who did not complete their first session of Community Payback | Total caseload |
2021 | 87 | 8,830 | 44,108 |
2022 | 63 | 7,822 | 47,421 |
2023 | 37 | 6,604 | 48,058 |
The dataset includes all offenders starting an order with a community payback requirement between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2023. The start of the community payback requirement has been defined as either the first attended session of group work, or an individual placement, or the completion of Employment, Training and Education work.
There are a variety of reason why a person hasn't completed their first community payback session. These include receiving a custodial sentence or remanded into custody, recall to prison, a warrant for their arrest, deportation, suitability of sentence and non -compliance. For issues of suitability or non-compliance requirements are returned to court for appropriate action to be taken.
People whose first community payback session took place over a year from their order start date have been excluded from the average days calculation as additional court work would need to be completed to ensure that the first session was worked within a lawful period.
People who have not completed a first work session have also been excluded from the average day calculation, along with those where a first work session has been recorded after the community payback requirement was terminated.
The 2023 figure is subject to change as offenders sentenced in late 2023 will still have time to complete their first community payback session.
Centrally collected data are only available from 2021.
Between 2021 and 2023, a total of 23,256 offenders did not complete their first session of community payback.
This figure is subject to change as offenders sentenced in late 2023 will still have time to complete their first community payback session.
Data as at 15 April 2024. Data are sourced from nDelius and while these data have been assured as much as practical, as with any large administrative dataset, the data should not be assumed to be accurate to the last value presented.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have not completed their first session of community payback.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Year | Average days from sentence to start of Community Payback | Number of offenders who did not complete their first session of Community Payback | Total caseload |
2021 | 87 | 8,830 | 44,108 |
2022 | 63 | 7,822 | 47,421 |
2023 | 37 | 6,604 | 48,058 |
The dataset includes all offenders starting an order with a community payback requirement between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2023. The start of the community payback requirement has been defined as either the first attended session of group work, or an individual placement, or the completion of Employment, Training and Education work.
There are a variety of reason why a person hasn't completed their first community payback session. These include receiving a custodial sentence or remanded into custody, recall to prison, a warrant for their arrest, deportation, suitability of sentence and non -compliance. For issues of suitability or non-compliance requirements are returned to court for appropriate action to be taken.
People whose first community payback session took place over a year from their order start date have been excluded from the average days calculation as additional court work would need to be completed to ensure that the first session was worked within a lawful period.
People who have not completed a first work session have also been excluded from the average day calculation, along with those where a first work session has been recorded after the community payback requirement was terminated.
The 2023 figure is subject to change as offenders sentenced in late 2023 will still have time to complete their first community payback session.
Centrally collected data are only available from 2021.
Between 2021 and 2023, a total of 23,256 offenders did not complete their first session of community payback.
This figure is subject to change as offenders sentenced in late 2023 will still have time to complete their first community payback session.
Data as at 15 April 2024. Data are sourced from nDelius and while these data have been assured as much as practical, as with any large administrative dataset, the data should not be assumed to be accurate to the last value presented.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of decoupling the age at which an individual can claim their NHS Pension from the State Pension Age.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Pension Scheme is generous, and provides good pensions for retirement. A new reformed scheme was introduced in 2015, to ensure the costs are sustainable for the future. The reforms included linking scheme retirement age to an individual’s state pension age, in response to people living healthier, longer lives.
Individuals can claim their National Health Service pension earlier than their state pension age, although their benefits will be reduced in value, to account for the fact that they are being paid for longer. This reduction is waived when the scheme accepts a claim for early retirement on ill-health grounds. Where an NHS pension is claimed after state pension age, the reverse applies, and the value of benefits will be increased. The scheme also offers a partial retirement option, which allows staff to draw down all or part of their pension, and continue working in a more flexible way.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions has he had with partners in West Africa on partnerships relating to climate mitigation.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is a strong supporter of climate action in West Africa, helping countries transition to a low carbon economy and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Africa Regional Climate and Nature Programme (ARCAN) is a regional programme of up to £250 million over 6 years which aims to build resilience to climate change, tackle nature and biodiversity loss and catalyse energy transition in Sub-Saharan Africa. I [Minister Mitchell] have engaged with a range of West African partners and led the UK delegation at the African Climate Summit in Nairobi in September 2023, and COP28 in Dubai in December 2023. During a visit to Accra in January 2024 I met Secretary General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), President Nasheed, and discussed priorities for the CVF and its Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what criteria a company must meet in order to be included on the Homes England Fire Risk Assessor Panel and authorised to carry out FRAEWs for buildings in the Cladding Safety Scheme.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
To join the Fire Risk Assessor Panel firms must sign a participation agreement which sets out the terms for the panel and eligibility criteria. Along with agreeing to follow Homes England processes set out in the scheme guidance and use the correct scheme documents, firms must have:
Membership is renewed annually with firms having to provide evidence of their PII insurance and self-certification of qualifications and experience of firm assessors. The use of PAS 9980 and proportionality is assured by sample audit.
Since the scheme went live, four firms have left the panel through their own accord. Two pulled out due to resourcing issues and their inability to commit to meeting service level agreements and two others left due to them not receiving any business from being on the panel.
To date, Homes England have not had to remove any firms due to performance however Homes England can exercise this option should they need to.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether any companies have been removed from the Homes England Fire Risk Assessor Panel for the Cladding Safety Scheme.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
To join the Fire Risk Assessor Panel firms must sign a participation agreement which sets out the terms for the panel and eligibility criteria. Along with agreeing to follow Homes England processes set out in the scheme guidance and use the correct scheme documents, firms must have:
Membership is renewed annually with firms having to provide evidence of their PII insurance and self-certification of qualifications and experience of firm assessors. The use of PAS 9980 and proportionality is assured by sample audit.
Since the scheme went live, four firms have left the panel through their own accord. Two pulled out due to resourcing issues and their inability to commit to meeting service level agreements and two others left due to them not receiving any business from being on the panel.
To date, Homes England have not had to remove any firms due to performance however Homes England can exercise this option should they need to.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support the (i) recruitment, (ii) retention and (iii) professional development of (A) teachers and (B) educational staff in crisis-affected countries and (b) invest in their (1) safety and (2) working conditions.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO supports the education workforce in crises-affected countries through our support to multilateral partners; our bilateral programmes; and our wider policy work on strengthening education systems and foundational learning. The UK is the second largest donor to Education Cannot Wait, which has funded the recruitment and/or financial support for nearly 170,000 teachers between 2016 and 2022. The UK is also the second largest donor to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), which spends over 60 percent of its funds in fragile and conflict affected states and directly supports teacher recruitment, training and safer school environments.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help international education systems prepare for natural disasters.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
In 2023, we pledged £80 million to Education Cannot Wait (ECW), a global fund for education in emergencies, central to supporting education resilience in the face of increasing natural and man-made disasters. The FCDO's position paper, 'Addressing the Climate, Environment, and Biodiversity Crises in and through Girls' Education' (2022), provides a framework of priority actions to build resilient and climate smart school systems. Increasingly, our bilateral education programmes are building climate resilience, and we are working, as leading donors, through global education funds - Global Partnership for Education and ECW - to protect education in the face of disasters.