Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any operators have lost their accreditation to the Safeguarding on Rail Scheme.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Since the first Safeguarding on Rail Scheme accreditation for Great Western Railway (GWR) in 2021, no rail operator has lost their accreditation.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing a new Safety of Women at Night Fund.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The independent evaluation of the Safety of Women at Night (SWaN) Fund, worth £5 million and delivered over the 2021/22 financial year, was published on 10 April.
Learnings from the SWaN Fund were incorporated into rounds Four and Five of the Safer Streets Fund, worth £50m and £35m respectively, which included a primary objective around combatting violence against women and girls in public spaces, and have funded a range of interventions including CCTV, streetlighting and educational initiatives with a focus on changing attitudes and behaviours. Round five is currently ongoing.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
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 requiring the labelling of alcohol products with consumer health information.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Clear and accurate alcohol product labelling is crucial to ensuring consumers have access to essential information about the products they are purchasing, whilst also promoting transparency, responsible consumption, and safety.
Current alcohol labelling guidance recommends that health information, including pregnancy warnings, a drink driving warning, and the Chief Medical Officer’s weekly limit guidance, are included on the label for alcohol products. It is also a legal requirement to display alcohol by volume (ABV) labelling on drinks above the 1.2% ABV threshold.
The Department has recently consulted on updating labelling guidance for non-alcoholic and low alcohol products. This consultation closed on 23 November 2023, and the consultation response will be published shortly.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the proportion of ultra-processed foods in school meals.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
There is no universally agreed definition of ultra-processed foods. The term defines foods by how much processing they have been through rather than their nutritional composition.
The standards for school food are set out in The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. These regulations are designed to ensure that schools provide pupils with healthy food and drink options and to make sure that pupils have the energy and nutrition they need throughout the school day.
The ‘School Food Standards’ define the foods and drinks that must be provided, those which are restricted and those which must never be provided. The standards already restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, including crisps, confectionery and high-sugar drinks, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods. They also ensure that the right foods are available for children every day. For example, one or more portions of fruit must be provided every day and at least three different fruits every week.
Compliance with the standards is mandatory for all maintained schools, academies and free schools. School governors and trustees have a responsibility to ensure compliance and should appropriately challenge the headteacher and the senior leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its obligations.
The department believes that the standards provide a robust yet flexible framework for school food provision. The government continues to keep the standards under review.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary on its decision to make second and subsequent bail applications remote by default.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
It is standard practice not to comment on discussions between Ministers and the judiciary.
The Lord Chancellor is supportive of any efforts to help ensure sufficient capacity in the courts to hear bail applications and to remove principal structural barriers to applications being submitted, and he welcomes the revised guidance launched by Judicial Office which sets out that all second and subsequent bail applications to the Crown Court should be heard remotely unless ordered otherwise by a judge.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the potential additional cost to the public purse for the continued use of the digital case management system as well as Common Platform by Crown Courts.
Answered by Mike Freer
Whilst the detailed allocation of funding to HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) for 2024/25 is still being finalised, the annual support cost for Digital Case Management system is expected to be £0.6 million for the foreseeable future, plus another £0.4 million to complete work on an interface between this and Common Platform in 2024/25.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing time limits on asylum cases for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office takes our duty of care towards children and young people extremely seriously and we prioritise applications from children and young people.
The Home Office does not currently have a target time for processing applications for asylum, but is committed to ensuring claims are considered without unnecessary delay. We have already made progress in prioritising claims with acute vulnerability and those in receipt of the greatest level of support, including Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children.
Introducing a service standard for asylum claims is a complex consideration which needs to be balanced between the requirements of operational efficiency, the needs of service users and the integrity of asylum control measures, including the implementation of the Illegal Migration Act. A project to review these considerations, along with scope and potential implementation timescales, will be undertaken. Once the project is completed, a final decision will be taken on any potential asylum claim service standards.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
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 developing a social worker workforce strategy that prioritises (a) recruitment, (b) retention and (c) professional pathways.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
In December 2021, the Government set out its strategy for the social care workforce in The People at the Heart of Care white paper. This set out our commitment to the continued success of the social work profession, and included plans to develop the domestic care workforce, including the launch of the care workforce pathway and an investment of over £20 million for adult social care nurse and social work apprenticeships.
On 10 January 2024, the Government announced a new fund to support the recruitment of social work apprentices into adult social care, over the next three years. Nearly £8 million from this fund has already been released to local authorities, and in the summer there will be another opportunity to apply to this fund.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of No Recourse to Public Funds on people who are (a) destitute and (b) facing destitution.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office is committed to the continuous review of the NRPF policy and are engaging with public and private sector organisations on a regular basis to understand the impacts of the NRPF condition.
The Government published an overarching Equality Impact Assessment on the Compliant Environment measures, of which No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) is part; Compliant environment: overarching equality impact assessment (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
In general, temporary migrants are expected to support themselves and any accompanying family members in the UK without recourse to public funds. This is a well-established principle that protects taxpayer-funded public services from becoming overburdened.
Nonetheless, there are important safeguards in place for those in genuine need. Migrants with permission under the Family or Private Life routes, or the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) routes, can apply, for free, to have their NRPF condition lifted by making a ‘Change of Conditions’ application. An individual on these routes can apply to have their NRPF condition lifted if they are destitute or at risk of imminent destitution, if there are reasons relating to the welfare of a relevant child, or where they are facing exceptional circumstances affecting their income or expenditure.
For all other immigration routes (other than Family or Private Life, or the Hong Kong BN(O) routes), the general expectation is that they will return to their home country should they become unable to meet their essential living needs in the UK. If there are particularly compelling circumstances why leaving the UK is not possible, discretion can be used to consider if the circumstances justify access to public funds.
Local authorities may also provide basic safety net support, regardless of immigration status, if it is established either that there is a risk to the wellbeing of a child or there is a genuine care need that does not arise solely from destitution: for example, where a person has community care needs or serious health problems. Support provided to a child by local authorities is not dependent on the immigration status of the child or their parent(s).
Migrants with NRPF who have paid the necessary National Insurance contributions or have relevant periods of employment or self-employment, can claim contributory benefits and statutory payments such as New Style Jobseekers Allowance, Statutory Sick Pay, and the State Pension.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will end the use on children of (a) the inverted wrist hold and (b) other pain-inducing restraints.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The syllabus for training staff in under-18 young offender institutions and the secure training centre in Managing and Minimising Physical Restraint (MMPR) focuses exclusively on behaviour management and restraint.
It is essential that staff are trained for every aspect of their role, including in techniques they may need to use to prevent serious physical harm to a child or adult. Staff will continue to be trained in the safe use of pain-inducing techniques, as part of a separate package of interventions for use only in situations where that is the only means of preventing serious physical harm.
Any response must be necessary, reasonable, and proportionate in view of the risk of harm which is present. All instances where a pain-inducing technique is used are subject to detailed scrutiny by on site MMPR Coordinators, as well as by members of the Independent Restraint Review Panel.