Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Evennett and Tom Pursglove

Monday 15th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

12. What progress his Department has made on closing asylum hotels.

[The Minister for Legal Migration and the Border (Tom Pursglove)]

The Home Office has been clear that the use of hotels is a temporary and short-term measure to ensure that we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate destitute asylum seekers. We have made significant progress in closing over 100 asylum hotels as of the end of March. Our actions mean that there are over 20,000 fewer asylum seekers in hotels today compared with six months ago.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir David Evennett]

I welcome all the efforts that my hon. Friend is making to deal with and speed up the asylum process. However, will he outline what measures he considers when deciding which hotels to close in each tranche?

[Tom Pursglove]

My right hon. Friend will recognise that value for money is a critical consideration that informs hotel closure decisions, as are operational deliverability and the notice periods on contracts. It is also about recognising the needs in particular locations and the challenges that these sites present. We have a plan, we are closing hotels, and we will continue to deliver on precisely what we promised.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Evennett and Tom Pursglove

Monday 4th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Tom Pursglove]

There is no advantage to anybody in the right outcome not being achieved at the very earliest point. The hon. Lady asks why we often see tribunals reach different decisions. There are a number of reasons, for example, drawing different conclusions on the same evidence, cogent evidence being presented orally within those tribunals, or even perhaps written evidence being provided at the hearing that has not previously been shared. We are taking steps, including having presenting officers feed back to the Department, to ensure that more decisions are got right at the first opportunity.

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

18. What steps his Department is taking to improve social mobility among young people.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Evennett and Tom Pursglove

Monday 23rd January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Tom Pursglove]

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question. We have worked together constructively on issues in the past, and I would certainly be delighted to meet him on this occasion to discuss this important issue. Of course, one point that I would make is that many people who are receiving the disability cost of living payment will also be receiving other elements of the Government’s cost of living package, but I am happy to talk to the hon. Gentleman about his views on this particular issue.

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

We all know, including the Minister, how disabling and terrible Parkinson’s disease is—members of my own family have suffered from it. I therefore urge my hon. Friend the Minister to keep in mind the extra costs of heating that the hon. Member for Bootle (Peter Dowd) has referred to, which these people need to keep their mobility. We should do anything that can be done to help them overcome and live with this awful affliction.

[Tom Pursglove]

I thank my right hon. Friend for making that point. Those additional costs that people with conditions such as Parkinson’s often experience are something that I am incredibly mindful of. The Government are committed to having a look at the issue of social tariffs, and I will be meeting with the Energy Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart), to talk about that issue. I will also take this opportunity to signpost the household support fund, which is a discretionary fund that is there to help, through local authorities and on a discretionary basis, where needs are not necessarily being met through the wider package.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Evennett and Tom Pursglove

Monday 5th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

Can my right hon. Friend give the House an update on the new disability action plan that the Government are preparing at the moment?

[Tom Pursglove]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for asking about that. It is right that we work across Government to identify priority areas where we can deliver meaningful change and progress for disabled people to improve their lives. That is what that action plan will do. We will be drawing up ideas, consulting on them, and then getting on delivering them. I look forward to hearing his views as we take that work forward.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Evennett and Tom Pursglove

Tuesday 9th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

T6. Many victims of crime feel extremely vulnerable. What steps is my hon. Friend taking to bring forward measures focused on protecting the victims of crime by ensuring that they are constantly supported through the criminal justice system?

[Tom Pursglove]

My right hon. Friend is a long-standing advocate for victims in his community. I hope he will be reassured that we will consult as soon as possible on how we best guarantee victims’ rights in law and the level of support that they can expect. We will want to hear from a wide range of individuals and stakeholders to inform that process and shape policy, getting it right from reporting the crime through to the courtroom experience.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Evennett and Tom Pursglove

Monday 18th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

16. What steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of small boat channel crossings.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Tom Pursglove)]

May I, too, associate myself with the tributes that have been paid, and that no doubt will be paid for the rest of the day, to both Sir David and James Brokenshire? They were model parliamentarians and great friends, and we are far poorer in this House for their passing.

Illegal entry to the UK via small boats is unsafe, unfair and unacceptable. We are working tirelessly to make the route unviable through a comprehensive package of measures—there is no one single answer. Our new plan for immigration and the Nationality and Borders Bill will address the challenge of illegal immigration by increasing maximum sentences for people smugglers and making it easier to swiftly remove those who enter the UK illegally.

[Tom Pursglove]

My right hon. Friend will know that the provisions in the Bill are comprehensive, many and varied. As I said, there is not one single answer to the challenge that we face in relation to illegal channel crossings. We must make the route unviable and, of course, in the Bill we reserve the right to do exactly what my right hon. Friend advocates.

[Sir David Evennett]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the Nationality and Borders Bill is key to preventing the vile people-smuggling gangs from continuing to facilitate channel crossings and putting so many lives at risk?

[Tom Pursglove]

As ever, my right hon. Friend gets to the nub of the issue. I make the point again, because it bears repeating, that there is no one single answer to resolve the challenge that we face. In swift order, we require the comprehensive measures set out in the Bill, which are there to tackle dangerous crossings. Of course, we also need global assistance to help us to achieve our aims. We must put these evil criminal gangs out of business once and for all and preserve human life, which is exactly what the measures we have proposed seek to do.