Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to ensure that full-time carers are paid the national minimum wage.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Business and Trade is responsible for the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage. The Department of Health and Social Care has an interest in the terms and conditions of those working in the paid care sector in England.
DWP provides support for unpaid carers on low incomes, including through Universal Credit, Pension Credit and housing benefits. These are income-related benefits and are paid at higher rates for full-time carers than for those without full-time caring responsibilities. In England and Wales, DWP also provides support for unpaid carers through Carer’s Allowance, which can be paid alongside the income-related benefits.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
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 with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to ensure that the McCloud remedy is enacted for members of the Firefighters' Pension Scheme.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Neither the policy responsibility nor administrative responsibility for the firefighters’ pension scheme falls to the Department of Work and Pensions. There have, therefore, been no such discussions.
The Public Service Pensions and Judicial Act 2022 provides that all eligible members will be given a choice to remedy the discrimination set out in the McCloud judgment. Implementation of McCloud remedy is an administrative matter, and the firefighters’ pension scheme is locally administered by each of the individual fire and rescue authorities in England. The government continues to work closely with the fire sector to support the effective implementation of the McCloud remedy for all affected individuals.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the loan charge on the mental health of loan charge users.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In January, the Government launched an independent review of the Loan Charge. The Government believes the most important outcome of the review must be to bring the Loan Charge to a close for those people who still owe substantial amounts of money but can see no way to resolve their debts.
The Government recognises the impact that large tax bills can have on taxpayers, especially those who are in vulnerable circumstances.
HMRC continues to provide support for those affected, with agreed manageable payment plans and a well-established Extra Support Service. It has guidance and training in place for all customer advisors or settlement teams on identifying taxpayers who need extra support and providing reasonable adjustments to meet their needs.
Where appropriate, HMRC will signpost taxpayers to voluntary and community organisations and where needed, to a dedicated Samaritans helpline for specialist emotional help, where taxpayers can talk through their concerns and worries.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to update guidance on the ownership of XL Bullies.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The ban on XL Bullies is vital to protect the public and we expect all XL Bully owners to comply with the conditions. Up to date guidance for owners of XL Bullies is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the definition of retail premises in clause 14 of the Crime and Policing Bill includes (a) travel ticket offices, (b) train stations and (c) commercial passenger trains.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. This applies only to shop workers.
The new offence is aimed specifically at shop workers due to the unacceptable, soaring levels of retail crime and assaults against retail workers in recent years.
Those workers whose roles are not included within the definition are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This includes those working in retail and other public-facing roles, including those working in the transport sector.
We will use the parliamentary process to scrutinise the provisions in the Bill and will consider carefully amendments tabled as well as evidence put forward in support of such amendments.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the definition of retail workers in clause 14 of the Crime and Policing Bill includes staff selling tickets at (a) train station gate lines and (b) train station platforms.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. This applies only to shop workers.
The new offence is aimed specifically at shop workers due to the unacceptable, soaring levels of retail crime and assaults against retail workers in recent years.
Those workers whose roles are not included within the definition are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This includes those working in retail and other public-facing roles, including those working in the transport sector.
We will use the parliamentary process to scrutinise the provisions in the Bill and will consider carefully amendments tabled as well as evidence put forward in support of such amendments.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the definition of retail workers in clause 14 of the Crime and Policing Bill includes transport revenue protection staff with the facility to sell tickets.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. This applies only to shop workers.
The new offence is aimed specifically at shop workers due to the unacceptable, soaring levels of retail crime and assaults against retail workers in recent years.
Those workers whose roles are not included within the definition are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This includes those working in retail and other public-facing roles, including those working in the transport sector.
We will use the parliamentary process to scrutinise the provisions in the Bill and will consider carefully amendments tabled as well as evidence put forward in support of such amendments.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 on consumer protection laws.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act updates existing prohibitions on unfair trading in the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (2008) and introduces new consumer protections for subscription contracts.
The impact assessment for the DMCCA can be found here: Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill - Impact Assessment Summary.docx. We will continue to monitor the impact of the measures on consumers.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate they have made of the number of UK residents with properties in the EU that are affected by post-Brexit restrictions; and what steps they are taking to (a) address and (b) remediate these.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There is no requirement for UK residents with properties in the EU to record these details with the UK Government.
The UK and the EU allow for visa-free short-term travel in line with their respective arrangements for third country nationals. The UK allows EU citizens short-term visa-free travel for up to six months. Meanwhile, the EU allows for travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period; this is standard for third countries travelling visa-free to the EU. Applications for visas to visit or stay for longer periods of time would be processed according to the rules of individual Member States.
The UK Government is using diplomatic channels to facilitate conversations with EU Member States about a range of issues affecting our citizens. We will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support male victims of sexual abuse.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Supporting victims and survivors of sexual violence and abuse is an absolute priority for this Government. As you will be aware, this Government is faced with an incredibly challenging fiscal environment. Ensuring that the future service landscape meets the needs of different victim groups is important, whilst seeking to ensure we can support as many victims as possible within the current financial situation.
The views of organisations are being considered as we think innovatively about the best way to deliver services for all victims, and shape future service design, in the current fiscal environment. The Victims Minister held a men and boys roundtable on 27 November as part of this process to feed into design considerations of the future service for victims of sexual violence and officials continue to lead extensive market engagement as part of this process.