Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether all (a) buildings and (b) workplaces staff from their Department occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Ministry of Justice has a Health and Safety policy and Occupational Health and Safety Management System in place, which requires suitable and sufficient risk assessments to ensure all occupational health and safety hazards and risks are adequately identified, assessed, controlled and monitored.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether all (a) buildings and (b) workplaces staff from their Department occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by David T C Davies
All buildings and workplaces occupied by staff from my Department have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 in place.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether all (a) buildings and (b) workplaces staff from their Department occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO UK estate complies with all relevant aspects of the Health and Safety at Work Act and all regulations derived from that Act including suitable welfare and workplace requirements.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the (a) UK's arms exports licensing process and (b) role of the export control joint unit in the context of arms sent to (i) Israel, (ii) Saudi Arabia and (iii) nations alleged to have breached international humanitarian law.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Government takes its strategic export control responsibilities very seriously. Export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria - a regime that is among the most rigorous and transparent in the world and which provides a thorough risk assessment framework, including in respect of International Humanitarian Law. The Export Control Joint Unit administers our system of export controls and brings together policy and operational expertise from the Department for Business and Trade, FCDO and the Ministry of Defence. All export licences are kept under careful, continuous review and we are able to amend, suspend or revoke extant licences, or refuse new licence applications, where they are inconsistent with the UK's Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to support parity of treatment for infected blood victims across the UK via the infected blood support schemes.
Answered by John Glen - Shadow Paymaster General
The Government is committed to working with the Devolved Governments to develop an effective response that delivers across the UK. I also note the parity agreement reached in 2021 which enabled the four national financial Infected Blood support schemes to align, resulting in broader parity in annual payments and lump sums. In December 2023 the Government announced the introduction of a bespoke psychological service in England, to be in place by Summer 2024, bringing it alongside the other Infected Blood Support Schemes across the UK.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his planned timetable is for interim compensation payments under the Infected Blood Payment Scheme; and if he will take steps to ensure that those payments will begin within the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by John Glen - Shadow Paymaster General
In October 2022, the Government made interim payments of £100,000 to those infected and bereaved partners registered with the existing Infected Blood Support Schemes, as recommended in the Inquiry’s first interim report. We are actively looking at the recommendations of the Inquiry, including the recommendation for more interim payments, and the Government will respond to the recommendations of the final report following its publication on 20 May.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward amendments to the Victims and Prisoners Bill to ensure parity of treatment for infected blood victims across the UK.
Answered by John Glen - Shadow Paymaster General
The Government recognises that the Inquiry's second interim report made a recommendation that compensation be delivered by a UK-wide central body in the interests of parity, and we remain committed to working with the Devolved Governments where appropriate to develop an effective response that delivers for victims across the UK.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information his Department holds on the number of asylum seekers that were affected by (a) mould and (b) other damp conditions in (i) social housing, (ii) the private rented sector and (iii) hotel accommodation in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office ensures that all asylum accommodation is safe, habitable, fit for purpose and meets all regulatory requirements.
Home Office accommodation providers are required to visit each property at least monthly, and assurance that contractual requirements are met is tested by the Home Office Contract Assurance Team, which inspects properties and undertakes other assurance activities on an intelligence-led basis.
All asylum seekers have access to a 24/7 Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) service provided for the Home Office by Migrant Help, where any concerns regarding accommodation standards can be raised. Issues will then be investigated and addressed in accordance with strict contractual target timeframes.
The information you have requested is not held in a readily reportable format and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of (a) self-harm, (b) depression and (c) suicidal ideation have been reported by people living in government-provided asylum accommodation in (i) hotels, (ii) barges, (iii) former military sites and (iv) detention facilities and removal centres in each of the last 15 years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Central records on the number of cases of self-harm and suicidal ideation that have been reported in immigration removal centres (IRCs) are not held as far back as 15 years. Additionally, no central records on the number of cases of depression reported in IRCs are held. This information relates to health conditions which are treated as medical in confidence and therefore the Home Office would not necessarily know if someone in detention was experiencing depression.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers there are in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland by ethnic group as of 25 January 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications received is published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘Asylum applications, decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. This data is only at national level and includes nationality breakdowns, but not ethnic breakdown.
Data on asylum seekers in receipt of support by UK region is published in table Asy_D09 of the ‘Asylum support’ detailed datasets. Not all asylum seekers will require support. The data does not include location information for those who are not on support.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of each workbook. The latest data relates to 30 September 2023. Data up to the end of December 2023 will be published on 29 February 2024 and data up to the end of March 2023 will be published on 23 May 2024.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.