Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department issues to regional police forces on allowing legal representatives access to the booking-in desk in police custody suites.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Police custody is governed by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Codes of Practice which sets out the legal framework for the detention, treatment and questioning of persons by police officers. Additionally, the operational management of custody suites is carried out in accordance with the Authorised Professional Practise requirements as set by the College of Policing.
PACE Code C states clearly that police must inform an arrested person in custody about their continuing rights, including the right to consult privately with a solicitor at any time, whether in person, in writing or by telephone, and the right to free independent legal advice. The custody officer must act without delay to secure the provision of such advice.
Access to legal advice may be delayed if a person is in police custody in connection with an indictable offence, has not yet been charged, and an officer of superintendent rank or above has reasonable grounds to believe it would otherwise lead to (i) interference with, or harm to, evidence connected with an indictable offence or interference with, or physical harm to, other people; (ii) alerting other people suspected of having committed an indictable offence but not yet arrested for it or (iii) hinder the recovery of property obtained in consequence of the commission of such an offence.
The Home Office does not have plans to amend PACE Code C further or provide additional guidance to forces.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that Palestinian civilians can secure safe passage out of Gaza.
Answered by David Rutley
Our focus is on securing safe and unimpeded humanitarian access and the UK is leading calls for humanitarian pauses and for the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing to facilitate delivery of critical humanitarian aid. The UK Government is at the forefront of the global efforts to help Palestinian people access the vital support they need and has committed an additional £30 million of aid for the Occupied Palestinian Territories to help provide essential relief items such as food, water and shelter. This funding will allow key UN agencies and trusted partners to provide essential relief items and services.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help facilitate the opening of an international humanitarian corridor in Gaza.
Answered by David Rutley
Our focus is on securing safe and unimpeded humanitarian access and the UK is leading calls for humanitarian pauses and for the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing to facilitate delivery of critical humanitarian aid. The UK Government is at the forefront of the global efforts to help Palestinian people access the vital support they need and has committed an additional £30 million of aid for the Occupied Palestinian Territories to help provide essential relief items such as food, water and shelter. This funding will allow key UN agencies and trusted partners to provide essential relief items and services.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help facilitate the opening of an international humanitarian corridor in Gaza.
Answered by David Rutley
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that Palestinian civilians can secure safe passage out of Gaza.
Answered by David Rutley
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has a target for the percentage of eligible people accessing the healthy start scheme in 2023.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. The NHSBSA is committed to increasing uptake of the scheme to ensure as many children as possible have a healthy start in life.
The NHSBSA promotes the Healthy Start scheme through its digital channels and has created free tools to help stakeholders promote the scheme locally. The NHSBSA has also reached out to stakeholders to see how it can support them to promote the scheme.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when her Department plans to publish the eligibility requirements for the 2023-24 Warm Home Discount Scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount scheme 2023-24 is set in the Eligibility Statement which was published on 12th September 2023 and can be found here:
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beneficiaries in receipt of healthy start payments have no recourse to public funds but are eligible through having British children as of 19 September 2023.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
As of 19 September 2023, there are 41 beneficiaries in receipt of payments from the temporary extension to the Healthy Start scheme.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department holds the data needed to contact families who are eligible for Healthy Start payments but are not accessing that scheme.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. NHSBSA is currently working with the Department for Work and Pensions to obtain contact data for those eligible for but not accessing the Healthy Start scheme.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) representatives of the banking sector and (b) consumer bodies on the provision of guidance for ensuring people who have been issued with Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System marker on their bank accounts are notified of that circumstance.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Chancellor of the Exchequer engages with a number of a key stakeholders to discuss policy matters.
Cifas is a fraud prevention service offering individuals and organisations help in combating the growing threat of fraud and financial crime. In 2022 Cifas members prevented fraudulent conduct totalling £1.3 billion, protecting people, businesses and the public finances from losses and wider harm.
To use the database, a Cifas member must operate within the terms of the National Fraud Database Handbook – a guide that sets out eight Principles of use with accompanying guidance. These Principles and guidance describe the controls in place to protect the data on the database and ensure that the highest possible standard of fairness and transparency are observed. Subjects have a right to know how data will be used and how any decisions related to them have been made, and can file a data subject access request (DSAR) to do this. More information on this can be found on the Cifas website.
If an individual believes that a Cifas marker has been incorrectly assigned they should first raise it with the organisation that recorded it to the Cifas database for them to review. If they do not remove the marker then the individual can go directly to Cifas. The individual can also apply to have a further review conducted by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).