Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the reasons for trends in the level of the use of food banks in the last five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department does not have any role in their operation.
The latest statistics on foodbank usage can be found in the household food security data tables found here -
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-2022-to-2023
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the number of people who will need to sell their home to pay the loan charge.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC will not force anyone to sell their main home or access their pension funds early to pay their Loan Charge or disguised remuneration debts.
Anyone who is concerned about their ability to pay what they owe should contact HMRC as soon as possible. HMRC can agree an affordable and sustainable instalment plan based on taxpayers’ specific circumstances and for as long as they need. HMRC can also refer taxpayers for free debt advice that is independent from HMRC.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) promoters and (b) operators of schemes subject to the loan charge have been prosecuted.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the hon. Member for Putney to the answer given on 8 February 2024 to Question UIN 12466.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps her Department has taken to help support (a) pubs, (b) restaurants, (c) cafes and (d) other parts of the hospitality sector.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My Department meets regularly with the sector through the Hospitality Sector Council to understand the challenges businesses are facing and help build the sector’s resilience.
In his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a business rates support package worth £4.3 billion over the next five years to support small businesses. The small business multiplier will be frozen for a fourth consecutive year, and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief will be extended. It should be noted that the support monies provided for Scotland and Wales were not fully passed on to relevant businesses as intended.
At the Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced that the government will freeze alcohol duty from 1 August 2024 until 1 February 2025, extending the six-month freeze announced at Autumn Statement 2023.
In addition, as part of our efforts to make regulation more effective and less burdensome for businesses, we are consulting on making it easier for bars and pubs to serve you a drink on a terrace.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
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 offering breast cancer screening to women going through early menopause.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) currently recommends that all women aged 50 to 71 years old are invited for a breast screening every three years. The AgeX trial is looking at the impact of increasing or decreasing the screening age for breast screening, and the UK NSC will review its findings when they are available.
The UK NSC can be alerted to any new published peer reviewed evidence which may suggest the case for a new screening programme, or changes to an existing one. Proposals can be submitted via the UK NSC’s annual call in July 2024, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth are serving (a) Imprisonment for Public Protection and (b) Detention for Public Protection sentences.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number and proportion of prisoners in HMP Wandsworth serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) and Detention for Public Protection sentences (DPP), as at 31 March 2024, are set out in the table below.
Sentence type | Number of prisoners | Proportion of the total population at HMP Wandsworth |
IPP | 10 | 0.7% |
DPP | 0 | - |
Please note:
(1) IPP prisoners include both unreleased IPP prisoners and recalled IPP prisoners.
(2) DPP is the youth equivalent of the IPP sentence, given to those aged under 18 at the time of conviction.
(3) The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
We have taken significant action through the Victims and Prisoners Bill to curtail IPP and DPP licence periods to give offenders the opportunity to move on with their lives. In addition to these changes, the actions this Government is taking are working; the number of prisoners serving the IPP sentence, including those serving DPP sentences, who have never been released now stands at 1,180 as of March 2024, down from more than 6000 in 2012.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of foreign national prisoners at HMP Wandsworth are (a) post-sentence awaiting deportation and (b) serving current sentences.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The removal of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) is a Government priority: the Ministry of Justice continues to work closely with the Home Office to maximise the number of deportations.
As of 31 March, 13 FNOs were held under immigration powers after their conditional release date at HMP Wandsworth, while deportation arrangements were being made by the Home Office. This represents 1.8 per cent of the prison’s population. On the same date, 90 FNOs were serving sentences in HMP Wandsworth. This represents 12.8 per cent of the population.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth have been recalled to custody having been released as part of the early release scheme.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data on 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: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth have been recalled to custody while on release on temporary licence.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are unable to answer the question about the number of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth that were recalled to custody while on release on temporary licence (ROTL). HMP Wandsworth is a category B, closed prison. There is no expectation that closed prisons deliver ROTL even though some of the population are eligible. Information on which prisoners were recalled to other prisons before moving to HMP Wandsworth is not held centrally. To obtain the data would involve a manual interrogation of prison records which would result in a disproportionate cost to the department.
ROTL from open prisons is preferred as open prisons are set up and have been resourced to deliver ROTL, with the right staff, processes, layout, and general population (i.e., everyone is eligible), and there is an expectation that they deliver ROTL.
Offenders released on temporary licence are subject to strict conditions and risk assessment. Any breaches can result in more time behind bars. By providing opportunities to work, learn and build family ties, temporary release from prison reduces the chances of reoffending. Evidence shows the vast majority abide by their temporary release conditions, with a compliance rate of over 99%.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth are awaiting dispersal to another category of prison following an assessment.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HMP Wandsworth’s main function is to hold unsentenced prisoners while their cases progress through the courts. Once prisoners are sentenced, they are categorised and can then be transferred to a prison with an appropriate security category if required. On 02 May 2024, there were 313 prisoners at Wandsworth who had been categorised as B, C or D, 20% of Wandsworth’s total population. The number of these who are currently awaiting transfer is not centrally collated, as some will be due for release from Wandsworth itself and some will be currently unable to transfer for other reasons such as completing programmes or medical conditions.
There are complex and wide-ranging issues involved in transferring and locating prisoners, and allocation decisions must reflect both the specific needs and circumstances of the prisoner, including their security assessment, as well as the operating environment and range of services at the receiving prison. How these considerations apply in individual cases is not recorded in centrally collated data.