Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report Car Wash Code of Practice Project Report: Home Office Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, published by Nottingham Trent University and submitted to the Home Office in October 2022.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office funded the evaluation report conducted by the Responsible Car Wash Scheme and Nottingham Trent University, as part of its grant funding under the Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, a one-off pot of funding to build the evidence base on what interventions work to prevent modern slavery.
The Home Office has shared the evaluation of this project with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority so the lessons from this project can be incorporated into operational activity to improve standards within the hand car wash sector. The Government has no plans to respond directly to the report.
In addition, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) sets out the scale and nature of labour exploitation in their annual strategy to ensure the three labour market enforcement bodies are targeting the highest-risk industries. The most recent 23-24 DLME strategy highlights hand car washes as a sector at risk of labour exploitation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will respond to the report Car Wash Code of Practice Project Report: Home Office Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, published by Nottingham Trent University and submitted to the Home Office in October 2022.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office funded the evaluation report conducted by the Responsible Car Wash Scheme and Nottingham Trent University, as part of its grant funding under the Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, a one-off pot of funding to build the evidence base on what interventions work to prevent modern slavery.
The Home Office has shared the evaluation of this project with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority so the lessons from this project can be incorporated into operational activity to improve standards within the hand car wash sector. The Government has no plans to respond directly to the report.
In addition, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) sets out the scale and nature of labour exploitation in their annual strategy to ensure the three labour market enforcement bodies are targeting the highest-risk industries. The most recent 23-24 DLME strategy highlights hand car washes as a sector at risk of labour exploitation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding has been awarded in total from the Community Ownership Fund to communities seeking to turn places of worship into assets of community value.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The £150 million Community Ownership Fund helps communities across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to take ownership of assets at risk of closure.
Current and former places of worship and their attached community hubs are one of the many asset types that the fund supports, though not specifically recorded as such. We recognise the important role these places have in building our social fabric and boosting pride in place by bringing people together. Some of the great projects we have already supported include The Light Church Bradford, The Open House in Sheffield, and The Old Synagogue in Belfast – all of which are providing valuable services to their community.
A full list of successful projects is available on GOV.UK at: Community Ownership Fund: successful bidders - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government which places of worship have received support from the Community Ownership Fund.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The £150 million Community Ownership Fund helps communities across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to take ownership of assets at risk of closure.
Current and former places of worship and their attached community hubs are one of the many asset types that the fund supports, though not specifically recorded as such. We recognise the important role these places have in building our social fabric and boosting pride in place by bringing people together. Some of the great projects we have already supported include The Light Church Bradford, The Open House in Sheffield, and The Old Synagogue in Belfast – all of which are providing valuable services to their community.
A full list of successful projects is available on GOV.UK at: Community Ownership Fund: successful bidders - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to enable local communities to safeguard places of worship through the Community Ownership Fund.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The £150 million Community Ownership Fund helps communities across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to take ownership of assets at risk of closure.
Current and former places of worship and their attached community hubs are one of the many asset types that the fund supports, though not specifically recorded as such. We recognise the important role these places have in building our social fabric and boosting pride in place by bringing people together. Some of the great projects we have already supported include The Light Church Bradford, The Open House in Sheffield, and The Old Synagogue in Belfast – all of which are providing valuable services to their community.
A full list of successful projects is available on GOV.UK at: Community Ownership Fund: successful bidders - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals referred to the National Referral Mechanism for modern slavery after arriving in the UK irregularly since January 2022 were referred because of (1) exploitation which happened in the UK, and (2) trafficking to the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes statistics on irregular arrivals to the UK, including those arriving via small boats, in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. Data on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals from small boat arrivals and the outcomes of these referrals is published in tables Irr_D04 and Irr_D05 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of May 2023.
The Home Office does not publish data on modern slavery referrals for other irregular arrivals, or data on the nature or location of the exploitation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals referred to the National Referral Mechanism for modern slavery after arriving in the UK irregularly since January 2022 have been given (1) a positive reasonable grounds decision, (2) a negative reasonable grounds decision, (3) a positive conclusive grounds decision, and (4) a negative conclusive grounds decision.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes statistics on irregular arrivals to the UK, including those arriving via small boats, in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. Data on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals from small boat arrivals and the outcomes of these referrals is published in tables Irr_D04 and Irr_D05 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of May 2023.
The Home Office does not publish data on modern slavery referrals for other irregular arrivals, or data on the nature or location of the exploitation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who have arrived into the UK illegally since 1 January 2022 and who would therefore be eligible for removal to Rwanda have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism for modern slavery.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes statistics on detected irregular arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. Data on NRM referrals from small boat arrivals and the outcomes of the NRM referrals is published in tables Irr_D04 and Irr_D05 respectively of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’ with the latest data up to the end of May 2023.
Information on NRM referrals from people who have arrived through other irregular routes is not published.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Historic England register Heritage at Risk, published on 9 November, what steps they are taking to support, repair and maintain new entries on that register.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Once a new entry is added to the Heritage at Risk Register, Historic England offers public funding for the repair and conservation of the asset at risk. It focuses its grants on those sites which are most in need of repair and which, without additional investment, would be at risk of deterioration. The National Lottery Heritage Fund will also factor the Heritage at Risk Register into its assessments of applications for its National Lottery Grants for Heritage. The work supported by such funding results in assets at risk being taken off the register – including, this year, ecclesiastical heritage sites such as Sheerness Dockyard Church, Sheffield General Cemetery, and St. John The Evangelist, Rutland.
Historic England offers grants to enable churches to employ support officers, who work locally to help those responsible for places of worship which are at risk to plan repairs, manage projects, and fundraise. Since 2008, more than 40 posts have been funded through this programme.
Historic England also works with other bodies which award grants to help avert harm to our heritage, advising them on where to focus their resources so that they have the greatest impact for historic places and the people that benefit from them. Partnerships with owners, organisations, local authorities, and community groups are vital in making these projects successful.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the Long-Term Plan for Towns on 1 October, what plans they have to develop representation from faith groups on Town Boards.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.