Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the additional cost of withdrawing benefits when claimants increase their revenues from other sources at the Income Tax rate of 20 per cent instead of the marginal rate of 63 per cent.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
No such estimate has been made.
Universal Credit promotes work as an effective route out of poverty and the single taper rate means people know they will always be better off in work or working more. The rate of the taper reflects the need to balance work incentives with fairness to taxpayers.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government in which sectors of commerce or industry they have requested or required that evidence of submissions made to them in connection with legislation relating to the UK's withdrawal from the EU be kept confidential.
Answered by Lord Henley
HM Government uses multiple communication channels to reach a wide range of businesses to discuss a range of issues, including on EU Exit and associated legislation. This includes regular meetings with businesses, such as Sector Councils, the EU Exit Business Readiness Forums, media campaigns, phone calls, emails, letters, press releases and social media.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many places in hostels in London were available for rough sleepers from 21 December 2018 to 7 January 2019; and what was their aggregate occupancy rate.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Central government does not commission hostel provision directly. This is done at the local or mayoral authority level. For this reason we do not hold data on the total number of hostel spaces available in London, nor their occupancy rate.
However, the government does commission Homeless Link to conduct annual reviews on single homelessness support, which includes the number of hostel bed spaces (and void bed spaces) in the capital, and across the country. The latest of which is for 2017, and can be found (attached) at: https://www.homeless.org.uk/facts/our-research/annual-review-of-single-homelessness-support-in-england.
This Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy which sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many places are available in hostels in London for rough sleepers accompanied by a dog or dogs.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Central government does not commission hostel provision directly. This is done at the local or mayoral authority level. For this reason we do not hold data on the total number of hostel spaces available in London, nor specific data on those rough sleepers with dogs.
However, the government does commission Homeless Link to conduct annual reviews on single homelessness support, which includes the number of hostel bed spaces (and void bed spaces) in the capital, and across the country. The latest of which is for 2017 and can be found (attached) at: https://www.homeless.org.uk/facts/our-research/annual-review-of-single-homelessness-support-in-england.
We appreciate that those rough sleeping with dogs have specific needs and do fund, through the Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) and other programmes provision that accounts for this. For example, the new St Mungo’s RSI hostel in Bristol takes clients with dogs, as does emergency accommodation in St Edmundsbury and Nottingham. The RSI funded floating London hub – that moves between boroughs and is currently in Westminster – also accepts dogs into their service. Moreover, as a result of RSI funding, Birmingham has linked closely with Dogs On the Streets (DOTS). This organisation has significantly helped in working with entrenched rough sleepers who have dogs and other pets. As with the complex needs of any rough sleeper, we try and ensure someone having a dog, or any pet, is not a barrier to them getting the help they require.
This Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy which sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people sleeping rough in London from 21 December 2018 to 7 January 2019.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
This Government is committed to halting rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminating it altogether by 2027. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy which sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period.
National street counts and intelligence driven estimates of people sleeping rough are conducted every autumn. The next publication will be released on 31 January 2019 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics#rough-sleeping
The Greater London Authority (GLA) also commission the CHAIN database which holds information on the number of people rough sleeping in London. This is published quarterly, and the next data release will be available on 31 January 2019 at: https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/chain-reports
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken, or plan to take, in response to the arrest in Russia of Edem Bekirov.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK is deeply concerned about the welfare of Crimean Tatar Edem Bekirov. Mr Bekirov was detained re-entering illegally annexed Crimea on 12 December. We have seen reporting that Mr Bekirov has been denied critical medical assistance and access to his lawyers. On 20 December, the UK publicly called on Russia to provide urgent medical care and access to legal advice. We will continue to work closely with international partners in monitoring and raising awareness of his case, alongside other political prisoners currently detained in Russia and Crimea.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many non-EU citizens have (1) left employment in the NHS, and (2) started employment in the NHS over the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers.
The following table shows those who have joined and those who have left National Health Service trusts and CCGs in England, by nationality, between 30 June 2017 and 30 June 2018, which is latest data available.
Joiners | Leavers | |
All nationalities | 154,458 | 137,161 |
of which: |
|
|
United Kingdom | 120,965 | 110,446 |
European Union (excluding UK) | 11,384 | 10,487 |
Other European Economic Area countries | 122 | 93 |
Rest of the World | 15,094 | 8,288 |
Unknown | 6,893 | 7,847 |
Source: NHS HCHS quarterly workforce statistics, NHS Digital
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many EU citizens have (1) left employment in the NHS, and (2) started employment in the NHS over the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers.
The following table shows those who have joined and those who have left National Health Service trusts and CCGs in England, by nationality, between 30 June 2017 and 30 June 2018, which is latest data available.
Joiners | Leavers | |
All nationalities | 154,458 | 137,161 |
of which: |
|
|
United Kingdom | 120,965 | 110,446 |
European Union (excluding UK) | 11,384 | 10,487 |
Other European Economic Area countries | 122 | 93 |
Rest of the World | 15,094 | 8,288 |
Unknown | 6,893 | 7,847 |
Source: NHS HCHS quarterly workforce statistics, NHS Digital
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by the Earl of Courtown on 12 June (HL Deb, col 1575), from which countries it would not be acceptable for the NHS to recruit nurses and doctors.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The United Kingdom adheres to the World Health Organization Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel. The UK Government has developed a list of developing countries, based on economic status and the availability of healthcare professionals that should not be targeted for recruitment without Government-to-Government agreement.
The list is based upon the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee list of aid recipients and can be found in the attached table, due to the size of the data.
There are three important exceptions to this list. First, there is Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Philippine Governments to enable the UK to recruit registered nurses and other healthcare professionals that are regulated by appropriate professional bodies in both countries. Second, the inclusion of India on this list is in relation to four states: Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. These states currently receive assistance from the Department for International Development. Finally, the Chinese Government has requested that China is removed from this list but that no recruitment should take place in small rural areas.
Specific agreements also exist for exchange programmes, or medical training initiatives, which enable health care professionals to come to the UK on a temporary basis to learn new skills before returning to their home country. For example, the Government announced such a scheme in partnership with the Jamaican Government in April this year.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost of the Foreign Secretary's visit to Afghanistan on 25 June.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The cost of the former Foreign Secretary's travel will be disclosed in the usual way and published as part of transparency data in accordance with Cabinet Office requirements.