Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether original copies of language certifications are required when applying for (a) citizenship and (b) settlement status.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Original copies of language certificates are not always required when applying for citizenship or settlement. Applicants required to take the Secure English Language Test must provide a unique reference number which the Home Office checks against a central database to verify the qualification. However, where there is insufficient evidence provided to verify that an applicant has passed an approved English language test, an original copy of a language certificate may be required.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many starts by region have been recorded for the youth offer as of 01 March 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Youth Offer launched on the 20 September 2020 and provides support for 16–24-year-olds who are on Universal Credit to help them move into employment. It includes three elements:
As of 01 March 2024, there have been 1,123,000 starts on the Youth Offer.
Starts by strand nationally:
Starts between dates | Youth Employment Programme | Youth Hub | Youth Employability Coach | Youth Offer |
21/09/2020 – 31/03/2021 | 206,700 |
|
| 206,700 |
01/04/2021 – 31/03/2022 | 259,300 | 14,800 | 21,700 | 295,800 |
01/04/2021 – 31/03/2023 | 272,700 | 15,100 | 18,300 | 306,200 |
01/04/2023 – 29/02/2024 | 282,800 | 13,000 | 18,500 | 314,300 |
Total Starts | 1,021,500 | 43,000 | 58,500 | 1,123,000 |
Starts by strand and region:
Region | Youth Employment Programme | Youth Hub | Youth Employability Coach | Youth Offer |
East Midlands | 69,000 | 1,000 | 2,500 | 72,500 |
East of England | 78,400 | 400 | 3,800 | 82,500 |
London | 157,800 | 3,100 | 5,900 | 166,800 |
North East | 51,100 | 2,800 | 3,300 | 57,200 |
North West | 131,500 | 10,700 | 9,600 | 151,800 |
Scotland | 85,300 | 3,000 | 7,900 | 96,200 |
South East | 107,000 | 3,700 | 3,800 | 114,600 |
South West | 64,700 | 700 | 4,100 | 69,500 |
Wales | 51,500 | 300 | 2,200 | 54,000 |
West Midlands | 108,900 | 8,900 | 7,800 | 125,600 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 96,400 | 8,200 | 7,300 | 112,000 |
Unknown | 19,800 | 200 | 400 | 20,400 |
Total | 1,021,500 | 43,000 | 58,500 | 1,123,000 |
Notes:
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his timetable is for announcing further dates on which the minimum income threshold for family visas will increase.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Net Migration is simply too high. This is why we have set out a package of measures to reduce net migration including bring the Minimum Income Requirement for family visas is in line with the new minimum general salary threshold for Skilled Workers, which is £38,700.
We will raise the minimum income for family visas incrementally, in stages. We intend to lay the family Immigration Rules we intend to lay on 14 March which will set out that from 11 April, we will raise the threshold to £29,000, that is the 25th percentile of earnings for jobs which are eligible for Skilled Worker visas.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many sector-based work academies have taken place in total and in each (a) country and (b) region of the UK since the programme began.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Sector-based work academies were launched in August 2011 in England and January 2012 in Scotland. Regular statistical releases on sector-based work academies, covering participation by those on legacy unemployment benefits, began in 2011 and ended in 2017. These statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/employment-schemes-work-experience-sector-based-work-academy-and-skills-conditionality-starts-to-november-2017
The scheme was relaunched as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) in July 2020 as part of the Government’s Plan for Jobs. Due to data limitations, we are unable to provide a geographical breakdown for SWAPs that took place before the start of the 2021/22 financial year.
Data for the financial years 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 to date shows that, as of 28 January 2024, there were a total of 266,330 starts to a Sector-based Work Academy Programme. The breakdowns of these starts are provided in the attached tables. Final start figures for 2023/24 will be available early next financial year.
Notes on the data:
Attached are tables listing the number of SWAP starts to date by Country, Region, Local Authority, Sector and Age band. The figures used are correct as of 28 January 2024 and these figures have been rounded according to departmental standards.
These figures reflect the number of starts by claimants in receipt of Universal Credit (UC), Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Income Support (IS).
It is important to note that the information provided shows the current home location of the person who has started a SWAP. For starts by those in receipt of JSA, ESA or IS, due to data limitations a location cannot be assigned to these starts and as such they are categorised as unknown within the figures. SWAPs are run in England and Scotland, where a person’s current home location is outside of this they have also been categorised as unknown.
Although care is taken when processing and recording SWAP starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any clerical recording system, but is provided in the interests of transparency.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help improve recycling for households.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are introducing Simpler Recycling in England to drive up recycling rates and reverse a trend of stagnation. From March 2025 for businesses and March 2026 for households, Simpler Recycling will ensure that the same materials can be recycled at home and at work, replacing the current wild west system where neighbouring local authorities can have completely different recycling systems.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with car insurance regulators on helping ensure that rises in car insurance premiums do not disproportionately impact elderly drivers.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules.
Department for Transport officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry and discuss issues as they arise. However, it is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set their premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people aged (a) 16 and over and (b) 16 to 64 were (i) in employment and (ii) unemployed between February and April 2010.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity data for various age groups is published and available at:
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people aged 16 to 64 were economically inactive in the period between February and April 2010; and how many people aged 16 to 24 were (a) in employment and (b) unemployed in that period.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity data for various age groups is published and available at:
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total rate of employment was for people aged 16 and over in the period between February and April 2010; and what the total rate of unemployment was for people aged 16 to 64 in that period.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity data for various age groups is published and available at:
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to announce funding levels for local planning authorities to help tackle planning backlogs.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Local councils are responsible for ensuring that they build skills pipelines in their area to discharge their responsibilities. We recognise, however, that there have been challenges in recent years in plan and so, on a temporary basis, the Government is providing additional funds.
The £24 million Planning Skills Delivery Fund will help local authorities to recruit, retain and upskill planners to build a more sustainable planning system for the benefit of communities by helping local planning authorities clear planning backlogs and get the skills in place that they need to respond to changes in the planning system. This has been supplemented at Autumn Statement by an additional £5 million to clear the planning applications backlog.
We will announce the successful local authorities who applied for funding as part of the year one application process shortly.