Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the Serious Fraud Office's recommendation on making failure to prevent economic crime a criminal rather than a regulatory offence.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In response to calls that current law on economic crime may require reform, the Government carried out a Call for Evidence in 2017 and published its response in November 2020. This is an extremely complex area of the law and the public consultation unfortunately proved inconclusive.
The Government has therefore asked the Law Commission to undertake an in-depth review of the laws around corporate criminal liability for economic crime and - if considered necessary - make recommendations on proportionate and appropriate options for reform. The Commission is aiming to publish an Options Paper shortly.
It is important that we get this right, and any reforms must be proportionate and evidence-based. We intend to engage with the Law Commission on the findings of the review once it has concluded.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
What assessment she has made of the potential benefits of international trade for the North West.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Burnley and the wider North West economy already benefit from the higher productivity and better-quality jobs associated with international trade. According to new experimental research, 630,000 jobs in the region were estimated to be linked to exports in 2016, and Foreign Direct Investment projects created over 5,000 new jobs in 2019-20.We are confident the new Free Trade Agreements we are striking around the world will create even more opportunities for Burnley companies and that this increased trade will help level up the UK economy further.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
What steps his Department is taking to help gyms, health spas and similar businesses to reopen safely as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are committed to reopening facilities as soon as it is safe to do so including indoor gyms and health spas. BEIS published guidance on 23 June to help spas prepare for reopening.
The Government is also in discussions with representatives from the sport and physical activity sector about the steps required to reopen these facilities, hopefully from mid-July.
As with all aspects of the Government’s response to Covid-19, we will be guided by science to ensure that as restrictions are eased people can return to these facilities safely.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Scotland Office:
What steps he is taking to support the defence sector in Scotland.
Answered by Douglas Ross
The Scotland Office, the Secretary of State for Scotland, and I are all in frequent contact with stakeholders across the Scottish defence sector to ensure their valuable perspective is heard and understood.
In my Moray constituency, Kinloss Barracks and RAF Lossiemouth have remained busy supporting the efforts to fight COVID-19 and to continue to protect our country. So I place on record our thanks to them for all their efforts.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Queen's Speech 2019, what progress has been made on introducing the Thomas Cook Compensation Bill.
Answered by Paul Scully
We are working to ensure that Parliamentary business can continue as far as possible during this period.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans are in place for local authorities to bring derelict housing stock back into use.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Local authorities are equipped with a range of powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes, including those that are derelict. Through the New Homes Bonus, they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as for building a new one. Billing authorities have the discretion to charge up to 100 per cent extra council tax – on top of the standard bill – on properties that have been empty for at least two years.
In certain circumstances, local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) to temporarily take over the management of a property that has been empty for more than two years and bring it back into use. Local authorities have a variety of compulsory purchase powers which they can use to acquire and develop derelict or empty property, including for housing purposes. However, compulsory purchase is intended for use as a last resort and there must always be a compelling case in the public interest.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that prison officers are safe at work.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Prison Officers are some of our finest public servants, and we do not underestimate the challenges faced by everyone working in prisons. We are committed to making prisons a safe place to work and providing prison officers with the right support, training and tools to empower them to do their jobs.
We have recruited more than 4,300 new prison officers over the last two years, and this has given us the capacity to implement the key worker role which will help us deal with emerging threats and to improve safety. We’re also investing £2.75 billion to transform the estate, to make prisons safer and cut crime behind bars.
We are rolling out body worn cameras, police-style restraints and PAVA incapacitant spray to prison officers to help them do their job more safely.
In light of recent developments concerning Covid-19, we have put in place robust contingency plans in consultation with Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care. This includes specific advice for staff on steps they should take should they become unwell, or if they have been exposed to Covid-19.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders convicted of serious offences have reoffended within 12 months of their release from prison in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This Government is committed to reducing reoffending by ensuring all offenders have the tools they need to turn their backs on crime. The Ministry of Justice regards every crime as serious, so does not group offence types on that basis. The ‘Proven Reoffending Type Data Tool, January to December 2016, England and Wales’ can be used to look at the various reoffending rates for specific offence categories:
As an example, from this toolkit, the relevant reoffending rates for a selection of index offences were:
Proven reoffending of adult offenders released from custody, by selected index offence type (January-December 2016 cohort) | ||
Offence | Number of Reoffenders | Reoffending Rate (%) |
Violence against the person | 3,505 | 36.1% |
Sexual | 356 | 14.1% |
Robbery | 830 | 31.4% |
Drug | 1,387 | 23.5% |
Possession of Weapons | 1,212 | 45.7% |
Note:
The January-December 2016 cohort in the table above refers to all adult offenders in the calendar year who were released from custody. A proven reoffence is then defined as any offence committed in a one-year follow-up period that resulted in a court conviction or caution in this timeframe or a further six month waiting period to allow time for cases to progress through the courts.
The index offence is the proven offence that leads to an offender being included in the cohort.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to encourage more young people to take up apprenticeships.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We have introduced a wide range of reforms to improve the quality of apprenticeships and to encourage employers across England to create more high-quality apprenticeship opportunities.
From August 2020, all starts will be on the new apprenticeship standards which are replacing frameworks. Over 530 standards, designed and driven by industry, have already been approved for delivery. These high-quality standards are directly benefitting young apprentices as they allow them to gain transferable skills, knowledge and behaviours which are recognised by industry and to become fully competent in their chosen occupations.
We are working hard to encourage take-up of apprenticeships among young people. The first 2 phases of the Fire it Up campaign have targeted young people, parents and schools to improve the perception and take-up of apprenticeships by young people. The third phase of the Fire it Up campaign, which launched in January, will continue this work as well as targeting audience groups that contribute to widening participation in apprenticeships.
Our 13th annual National Apprenticeship Week took place in February. Nearly 900 events were held across the country, aiming to change perceptions of apprenticeships.
In January 2018, we introduced a legal requirement for schools to give training providers the chance to talk to pupils about technical qualifications and apprenticeships so that young people hear about the alternatives to academic routes.
We also offer a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge for Schools and Colleges (ASK) programme to ensure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. In the last academic year, ASK reached over 300,000 students throughout England. We have recently extended the programme to include younger pupils in key stage 3 (years 7 to 9).
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the potential annual savings of fully integrating health and social care provision.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government continues to support the integrated provision of health and social care because of the improvements it brings to the quality of care people receive. Integrated provision has been found to improve health, quality of care and patient satisfaction.
Integration across health and social care commissioning also enables improved co-operation and joint decision-making between health and social care partners in delivering shared outcomes. A number of local areas have reported improved outcomes through the adoption of integrated approaches.
At the national level, evidence of savings due to integrated provision is limited, therefore, the Department does not have an estimate of the annual savings of integration.