Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 22 November (HL Deb, cols 1831–2), what percentage of the NHS nursing budget was spent on agency staff in the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department does not hold national data on agency staff that is broken down by this staff group.
Each trust publishes financial accounts which are publically available. Trusts are responsible for collecting the appropriate level of information on their agency spending that will enable them to achieve maximum value for money.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children have been admitted to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016; and how many applications are still outstanding.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Immigration Act states that we will transfer unaccompanied refugee children. Our criteria under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 are intended to ensure that we are focusing on the most vulnerable children. In France, we will be considering those aged 12 and under of any nationality, children referred to us by the French authorities as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation of any nationality, and those nationalities most likely to qualify for refugee status in the UK, aged 15 and below.
All unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family in the UK will continue to be considered for transfer under the criteria set out in the Dublin Regulation, regardless of age or nationality. Between 1 January and 1 October 2016, over 140 unaccompanied asylum seeking children were accepted for transfer under the Dublin Regulation, compared to around 20 children in the whole of 2015. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures for Dublin transfers.
Furthermore, since 10 October, we have transferred over 300 unaccompanied minors to the UK from France. This includes over 80 girls, many of whom were identified as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation; and more than 200 unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family links to the UK under the Dublin Regulation. The Home Secretary told Parliament on 24 October that several hundred more children and young people will be brought to the UK in the coming days and weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children have been admitted to the UK under the Dublin III Regulation; and how many applications remain outstanding.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Immigration Act states that we will transfer unaccompanied refugee children. Our criteria under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 are intended to ensure that we are focusing on the most vulnerable children. In France, we will be considering those aged 12 and under of any nationality, children referred to us by the French authorities as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation of any nationality, and those nationalities most likely to qualify for refugee status in the UK, aged 15 and below.
All unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family in the UK will continue to be considered for transfer under the criteria set out in the Dublin Regulation, regardless of age or nationality. Between 1 January and 1 October 2016, over 140 unaccompanied asylum seeking children were accepted for transfer under the Dublin Regulation, compared to around 20 children in the whole of 2015. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures for Dublin transfers.
Furthermore, since 10 October, we have transferred over 300 unaccompanied minors to the UK from France. This includes over 80 girls, many of whom were identified as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation; and more than 200 unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family links to the UK under the Dublin Regulation. The Home Secretary told Parliament on 24 October that several hundred more children and young people will be brought to the UK in the coming days and weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they have applied to the assessment of unaccompanied refugee children from the Calais camp.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Immigration Act states that we will transfer unaccompanied refugee children. Our criteria under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 are intended to ensure that we are focusing on the most vulnerable children. In France, we will be considering those aged 12 and under of any nationality, children referred to us by the French authorities as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation of any nationality, and those nationalities most likely to qualify for refugee status in the UK, aged 15 and below.
All unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family in the UK will continue to be considered for transfer under the criteria set out in the Dublin Regulation, regardless of age or nationality. Between 1 January and 1 October 2016, over 140 unaccompanied asylum seeking children were accepted for transfer under the Dublin Regulation, compared to around 20 children in the whole of 2015. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures for Dublin transfers.
Furthermore, since 10 October, we have transferred over 300 unaccompanied minors to the UK from France. This includes over 80 girls, many of whom were identified as being at a high risk of sexual exploitation; and more than 200 unaccompanied asylum seeking children with close family links to the UK under the Dublin Regulation. The Home Secretary told Parliament on 24 October that several hundred more children and young people will be brought to the UK in the coming days and weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 22 November (HL Deb, cols 1831–2), how many of the additional 40,000 nurses will be employed by agencies.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
As set out by Health Education England in its Workforce Plan for England: Proposed Education and Training Commissions for 2016/2017, an increase in available supply of between 3,000 and 40,000 nurses (adult, children’s, mental health and learning disability nurses) is forecast by 2020 compared with 2015. A copy of the Plan is attached.
No estimate has been made of how many of these nurses will choose to be employed by agencies. However the Government’s agency controls are already moving staff back to substantive and bank roles.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what dedicated and expert resources they have in each department to support bereaved families and survivors in the event of a terrorist attack.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government, law enforcement, and the security and intelligence agencies work tirelessly to prevent terrorist attacks wherever possible. Resources are in place for the provision of general and specialist support for those affected by terrorist attacks either in the UK or abroad, including bereaved families and survivors.
A range of medical, psychological, liaison, and compensation support arrangements can be provided suited to the specific circumstances.
Our approach is set out below.
Support for victims of terrorism overseas
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides support during any crisis overseas, including a terrorist attack, ensuring that the government responds effectively to deliver rapid and professional assistance to British nationals affected. The crisis centre in London can bring together teams of more than a hundred people from across government to coordinate a response and can call on trained staff to both bolster the team in London and be deployed to the country affected. This includes consular support to survivors and to families of victims, working with police family liaison officers and overseas authorities to provide support, assistance and information.
Immediately after the 2015 terrorist attack in Sousse, the Prime Minister established an ad hoc Ministerial Committee to coordinate support from across government to all British Nationals that were affected. The Committee has oversight of arrangements for the memorial service (which took place on 12 April), a physical memorial, compensation and a programme to provide support for those experiencing mental health difficulties.
Support for victims of terrorism in the United Kingdom
In the event that an attack were to take place in the UK, bereaved families and survivors are entitled to support and services under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime; this is published by the Ministry of Justice and can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476900/code-of-practice-for-victims-of-crime.PDF. This includes access to medical support and any specialist support such as psychological support. Families and victims are able to access these directly without a referral.
The Victim Information Service provides advice for victims of terrorism. This can be accessed online at www.victimsinformationservice.org.uk/im-victim-terrorist-attack/ or by phone on 0808 168 9293.
Government funding is also provided for the national Homicide Service and a number of smaller organisations to support those living in England and Wales bereaved by murder or manslaughter, whether committed here or abroad which includes those bereaved by terrorism.
Compensation
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority administers both the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and Victim of Overseas Terrorism Compensation Scheme, which provide compensation to victims of terrorist attacks in the UK and of designated terrorist attacks overseas.
Northern Ireland-related terrorism
Responsibility for dealing with Northern Ireland-related terrorism rests with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and, for that reason, this answer does not cover Northern Ireland-related terrorist attacks in Northern Ireland. The response does however, cover any Northern Ireland-related terrorism in Great Britain.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they estimate will be the net gain in social housing from the planned route for HS2.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
For Phase One the Government has committed to work with local authorities, housing associations, tenants and other key stakeholders in order to ensure that lost social rented housing is replaced in a manner sympathetic to local needs and reflective of the strategic approach to social housing driven by local authorities. Naturally the approach adopted for Phase One will inform that for Phase Two.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of people who are street homeless in London for each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
One person without a home is one too many and we are committed to doing all we can to prevent homelessness. That is why we have increased central investment to tackle homelessness over the next four years to £139 million.
This will include a new national £10 million programme to support innovative ways to tackle rough sleeping, and will build on the success of our No Second Night Out initiative, which saw two-thirds of rough sleepers in London come off the streets after a single night.
DCLG publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping. These are available (the latest figures are attached) at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2015
The GLA collects more detailed statistics on rough sleeping in London. These are available at: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/chain-reports
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many take charge requests the UK has received from each EU country per year since Dublin III came into force; how many of those were successful; how many involved minors; and how many of those requests involving minors were successful.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Data on cases progressed under the Dublin III Regulation is recorded on the main immigration database. However, this data is not held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically and is therefore not currently available.
Asked by: Baroness Jowell (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of community cohesion in view of the reduction in discretionary spending available to local authorities in London.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Britain has a claim to be the most successful multi-faith, multi-racial democracy in the world. Nowhere exemplifies this more than London – a thriving global city with a
diverse population.
It is up to the councils in London to decide what to spend their money on and reforms are giving them more powers over their budgets than ever before.
The Community Life Survey 2014/15 reports that 89 per cent of people in London feel that their local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on
well together. Full data is available (attached) from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447015/Community_Life_Survey_2014-2015_csv.csv/preview
But we are not complacent. The Prime Minister has asked Louise Casey to carry out a review on how to boost opportunity and integration in the most isolated
communities in Britain, the findings of which will inform a new Cohesive Communities programme.