Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to fund the Citizens Advice help to claim scheme beyond April 2020; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department takes seriously the need to support vulnerable claimants, and wants the application process for Universal Credit to be as quick and easy as possible, ensuring that claimants receive money at the earliest opportunity.
Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland have been delivering the ‘Help to Claim’ service on a pilot basis since April 2019, supporting claimants with making a new claim to Universal Credit. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim service offers tailored, practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time, and is available online, on the phone and face-to-face through local Citizen’s Advice services.
We are committed to ensuring that delivery of services, such as Help to Claim, are carefully monitored and evaluated to provide effective support to our most vulnerable claimants, whilst ensuring value to taxpayers. We have begun evaluation of the service and will use this to inform decisions about the future of the service beyond March 2020.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will detail the alternative entry requirements facing EU citizens arriving in the UK after 1 November 2019 following her announcement to end freedom of movement from the EU into the UK.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
When the UK leaves the European Union (EU) on 31 October, free movement as it currently stands will end, if the UK leaves without a deal. The details of new immigration arrangements for EU citizens moving to the UK after a no deal Brexit were announced on 4 September (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-09-04/HCWS1817/).
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what processes his Department has put in place for an EU citizen arriving in the UK to prove to immigration officials at the point of entry that they are eligible to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme in the event that freedom of movement between the EU and UK ends on 1 November 2019; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
We are leaving the European Union on 31 October 2019 and, in a no deal Brexit, freedom of movement as it currently stands will end then.
The Prime Minister has been clear that we want EU citizens who are resident in the UK by exit to stay and they will be eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme to enable them to do so. In a no deal Brexit, they will have until at least 31 December 2020 to apply. Until then, they will continue to be able to use their EU passport or national identity card to prove their rights to work and rent property; and will have the same rights to work and access benefits and services as they have now.
Border crossing arrangements will not change on 1 November 2019; EU citizens will continue to cross the border as they do now, using their passport or national identity card. They will be able to use e-Gates if they are travelling on a biometric passport, and they will not face routine intentions testing.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department plans to use to require non-UK EU citizens to undertake visa clearance prior to arrival in the UK after 1 November 2019; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
We are leaving the EU on 31 October and this will mean that freedom of movement as it currently stands will end on 31 October.
Whether we leave the EU with or without a deal, the Government has announced that EEA and Swiss nationals will be able to continue to travel to the UK for holidays or short-term trips, without needing a visa.
The arrangements for people coming to the UK for longer periods of time and for work and study will change. Details of changes immediately after 31 October and improvements to the previous government’s plans for a new immigration system are being developed.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what records his Department holds on the number of child contact services contracts entered into by local authorities in England and Wales on an annual basis; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Regarding the number of child contact services contracts entered into by local authorities in England and Wales, this information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests were made for hate crimes against people with learning disabilities in (a) 2018 and (b) 2017.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of arrests, conducted by each police force in England and Wales, on an annual basis.
Data are held at the offence group level only (for example ‘Violence against the person’ and ‘Public order’ offences). Information on the number of arrests for hate crimes against people with learning disabilities are not held centrally.
Data are published in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, the latest of which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2018
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there were for hate crimes against people with learning disabilities in (i) 2018 and (ii) 2017.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The Ministry of Justice has published information regarding prosecutions and convictions but the only hate crime offences specifically defined in legislation are ‘racially or religiously aggravated’ offences. The court outcomes for these offences can be found here:
Filter by ‘Offence’ for offences starting with ‘racially or religiously aggravated…’ and select all that appear.
As hate crime against individuals with learning disabilities is not specifically defined in legislation, we would not be able to distinguish whether or not a particular offence was related to a learning disability. For example, a relevant case could have the offence recorded simply as ‘common assault’. The level of detail required to answer this question may be held in court records, but to be able to identify these cases we would have to access and analyse individual court records which would be of disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which Departments are responsible for each of the EU free trade agreements that the UK is seeking to roll-over.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The task of ensuring continuity of EU free trade agreements is a cross-government programme with the Department of International Trade’s Trade Policy Group (TPG) working closely with other government departments, alongside the Department for International Development (DFID), the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many trade-related agreements, that are not full Free Trade Agreements, would require rolling-over to ensure that the UK continues to trade with non-EU countries on substantially the same terms after (a) 29 March 2019 and (b) any implementation period.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government is seeking to deliver continuity of existing international agreements as we leave the EU.
The EU has agreed to notify third countries that, during the implementation period, the UK is treated as an EU member state for the purposes of international agreements. This includes all EU international agreements, including free trade, and trade-related agreements. This provides a basis for continuity across all such agreements during this period.
In parallel, we’ve been engaging with third countries to identify which agreements are relevant, important and need action. Where this is the case, we are working with them to put in place successor agreements that replicate the effects of existing agreements as far as possible and which will come into force following the implementation period or on exit in the event of a ‘no deal’ scenario. The Secretary of State recently deposited information in the House Library on those international agreements which have already been signed and those which we expect to sign shortly. A number of these agreements include trade-related elements; for example the Trade in Wine Agreement with Australia, and Mutual Recognition Agreements with Australia and New Zealand. There are other agreements where the UK is seeking to ensure readiness by the end of March 2019. The precise number will depend on ongoing discussions with third countries, and we will provide a further update on these other agreements after technical discussions have concluded.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timetable is for the roll-out of universal credit in Nottingham; which categories of claimants will be included in each phase of that roll-out; and what deadline is planned for the completion of that roll-out.
Answered by Lord Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Universal Credit was recently rolled out to jobcentres in Nottingham on Wednesday 17 October, and in December, Universal Credit will be live in every Jobcentre in the country.
The Managed Migration regulations will come before Parliament in the autumn, and during 2019 we will test and refine our processes on a small scale to ensure they are working well before we take on larger volumes from 2020 onwards, and complete the process in 2023.