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Written Question
Asylum: Finance
Tuesday 2nd June 2020

Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 11 May (HL3390), what plans they have to include consideration of extending the current weekly validity of the Aspen card for asylum seekers alongside the quantum in the current review.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The asylum support cash payments are currently made on a weekly basis. There has been some suggestion that these payments should be made fortnightly, and we are currently seeking views on this issue.

We are currently reviewing the level of the cash payments, as we do each year, to ensure that they remain capable of meeting the essential living needs of asylum seekers and will announce the outcome as soon as we can.


Written Question
Asylum: Finance
Tuesday 2nd June 2020

Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 11 May (HL3390), on what date the current review into the level of cash allowances for asylum seekers will be published.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The asylum support cash payments are currently made on a weekly basis. There has been some suggestion that these payments should be made fortnightly, and we are currently seeking views on this issue.

We are currently reviewing the level of the cash payments, as we do each year, to ensure that they remain capable of meeting the essential living needs of asylum seekers and will announce the outcome as soon as we can.


Written Question
Public Buildings: Fire Regulations
Tuesday 12th February 2019

Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 4 January (HL12418), whether they will now answer the question asked, namely, what estimate they have made of the proportion of publicly-owned buildings to which the public have access which have an in-date Fire Certificate on display; and what steps they plan to take to improve compliance with the requirement to display such certificates.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The Fire Precautions Act 1971 required fire certificates in certain, not all, buildings to which the public have access. This was repealed with the introduction of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which came into force in October 2006 and is still extant. The current legislation does not require fire certificates to be issued by the fire and rescue authority, but does now cover all non-domestic premises.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the person responsible for the premises (usually the employer, owner, managing agent or landlord) to carry out and review regularly a fire risk assessment of the premises. The current legislation also requires the person responsible of the premises to put in place and maintain adequate and appropriate fire precautions to mitigate against the risk of fire. Fire and rescue authorities are required by the Fire and Rescue National Framework to have in place a risk-based inspection programme for auditing compliance with the legislation in their area. If they believe the fire safety measures in place in a particular premises are not adequate, they can take enforcement action.


Written Question
Prevent Oversight Board
Friday 4th January 2019

Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the dates of each meeting of the Prevent Oversight Board since its inception; and at each meeting, how many of those in attendance were (1) of black, Asian, and minority ethnic ethnicity, (2) of the Muslim faith, and (3) government ministers.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The Prevent Oversight Board was established, following the 2011 review of Prevent, as a non-executive board. The board is currently chaired by the Home Secretary. Since 2012 the board has met 7 times, most recently in November 2018.

The current membership of the Board includes the Home Office, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Department for Education, Department of Health and Social Care, Ministry of Justice, Cabinet Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department of Culture Media and Sport, Ministry of Defence Welsh Assembly, Scottish Government and the Police. The Prevent Oversight Board also includes a number of independent members.

The Home Office does not capture the faith or ethnicity of Prevent Oversight Board attendees.


Written Question
Borders: Personal Records
Tuesday 8th July 2014

Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on the reintroduction of exit controls from the UK.

Answered by James Brokenshire

The Home Office is committed to introducing Exit Checks by April 2015. The Government has introduced powers through the new Immigration Act to enable carriers to carry out these checks. We have carried out trials at ports and made positive progress on implementation with commercial partners.