Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to help ensure that UK Border Force eGates are configured to permit entry to holders of Irish passport cards travelling from outside the Common Travel Area.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Irish nationals can travel to the UK on either an Irish passport or associated passport card. In line with other identity cards, Irish passport cards cannot be used at eGates and there are no plans to change this.
If an Irish national wishes to use their passport card to enter the UK from outside the Common Travel Area, they are required to present it to a Border Force officer.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Code of Practice in the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill in protecting the (a) rights and (b) privacy of (i) vulnerable people and (ii) people living in poverty.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As outlined in the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, DWP will publish three Codes of Practice to sit alongside its Information Gathering, Debt Recovery and Eligibility Verification measures. These are in development and we are already engaging with key stakeholders on the principles of the Codes. There will be public consultations to provide an opportunity for all interested parties to review and respond.
It is important to note these Codes of Practice are not legislation and so will not contain statutory provision themselves. They offer guidance and guidelines on how the Bill’s measures will be operationalised and detail the Bill’s practical application including the application of safeguards included in the Bill itself.
The Department is confident the Bill’s powers are compliant with the government’s duties under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), including the right to private life under Article 8. The measures are justified, lawful and proportionate and the Departments’ detailed analysis on ECHR is set out in the published ECHR Memorandum, available here.
The Impact Assessment which accompanies this Bill can be found here.
The Bill includes safeguards to provide assurance the new powers are used proportionately and effectively, and in a way that protects vulnerable people and people living in poverty. More information can be found here: Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill 2025: factsheets - GOV.UK
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria will be used to determine suspicious bank account activity that would result in the Department requiring access to the individuals bank account under the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP’s information gathering powers may be used where there is a reasonable suspicion of fraud. In such cases the Department can issue an information notice, where necessary and proportionate, to any information holders who DWP believe hold relevant information, including banks. When gathered, this information can be used to either prove or disprove the allegation of fraud.
This is distinct from the new Eligibility Verification measure contained within the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, where banks and financial institutions will be required to share limited data with DWP on benefit-receiving account holders and accounts relating to specified benefits, where it suggests someone may be receiving an incorrect payment. For example, where a person is in receipt of Universal Credit and has savings over £16,000. This is done without any presumption of fraud.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with mortgage-lenders on ensuring that existing leaseholders with (a) unregulated and (b) uncapped ground rents are able to secure buyers for their properties.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government remains firmly committed to its manifesto commitment to tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, and we will deliver this in legislation.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that existing leaseholders with (a) unregulated and (b) uncapped ground rents are able to secure buyers for their properties.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government remains firmly committed to its manifesto commitment to tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, and we will deliver this in legislation.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 19048 on Gaza: Israel Defense Forces, whether any products made by Elbit Systems exported before 2 September 2024 were used by Israel Defence Forces in operations in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Following the suspension of export licences announced on 2 September, there are currently no extant export licences for items that we assess might be for use by the Israel Defense Forces in military operations in the Gaza conflict (except for F-35 components, which have been excluded from the ambit of the suspension). We continue to keep export licences for Israel under continual and careful review.
Licences where there is no clear risk the items could be used in military operations in the conflict remain extant. These cover items such as body armour for NGOs, journalists, components for trainer aircraft, items for re-export to third countries, or non-military controlled items such as technology for commercial aircraft, chemical manufacturing equipment, commercial satellite, and spacecraft components.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 20 December 2024 to Questions 19855 and 19857 on Climate Change: Demonstrations and to Questions 19852 and 19853 on Arms Trade: Israel, Question, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of (a) the policing of protests and (b) trends in the number of (a) arrests and (b) convictions for protest related activities.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The right to peacefully protest is a fundamental part of our democratic society.
We have committed to holding expedited post-legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 beginning in May 2025. This process will review how the legislation has operated since it came into force. We will carefully consider the outputs of this review.
The full Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will also be subject to post-legislative scrutiny between April 2025 and April 2027. This will include a review of sections 73, 74 and 79, as well as the other public order measures in the Act.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 20 December 2024 to Questions 19855 and 19857 on Climate Change: Demonstrations and to Questions 19852 and 19853 on Arms Trade: Israel, Question, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the (a) Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2023 and (b) Public Order Act 2023 on (i) the policing of protests and (ii) (A) arrests and (B) convictions for protest related activities.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The right to peacefully protest is a fundamental part of our democratic society.
We have committed to holding expedited post-legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 beginning in May 2025. This process will review how the legislation has operated since it came into force. We will carefully consider the outputs of this review.
The full Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will also be subject to post-legislative scrutiny between April 2025 and April 2027. This will include a review of sections 73, 74 and 79, as well as the other public order measures in the Act.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 20 December 2024 to Questions 19855 and 19857 on Climate Change: Demonstrations and to Questions 19852 and 19853 on Arms Trade: Israel, Question, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the implementation of the (a) Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2023 and (b) Public Order Act 2023.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The right to peacefully protest is a fundamental part of our democratic society.
We have committed to holding expedited post-legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 beginning in May 2025. This process will review how the legislation has operated since it came into force. We will carefully consider the outputs of this review.
The full Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will also be subject to post-legislative scrutiny between April 2025 and April 2027. This will include a review of sections 73, 74 and 79, as well as the other public order measures in the Act.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2024 to Question 20272 on Social Security Benefits, whether she plans to conduct a statutory public inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 into (a) deaths and (b) serious harm linked to the social security system.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department is fully supportive of the Work and Pensions Select Committee’s ‘safeguarding vulnerable claimants’ inquiry, which is examining how the department supports vulnerable benefit claimants and whether its approach to safeguarding needs to change. I look forward to reading the Committee’s report and recommendations when this inquiry concludes.
We are reviewing the approach we take as a department to safeguard our most vulnerable customers – we are working to introduce and publish a DWP ‘safeguarding approach’. This will tell customers what support is available, how they access it and the level of service they can expect.