Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with local authorities to move refugees from Afghanistan who have been in hotels for longer than year into alternative accommodation.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
There is a significant effort underway to support the families into permanent homes as soon as we can so they can settle and rebuild their lives. We remain committed to matching evacuees to suitable settled accommodation and continue to work collaboratively alongside around 350 local authorities, government departments and other partners to meet the demand for housing.
In addition, many families have, in recent months, taken steps to secure their own accommodation through the Find Your Own Accommodation scheme which opened on 29 June and empowers Afghan families to source their own accommodation. We are also looking at ways to make more suitable homes available in the private rented sector, and exploring alternatives to hotels for families who may have to remain in bridging accommodation for long periods.
The length of time that a family will remain in bridging hotels is dependent on the availability of appropriate housing. The demographic complexity of the Afghan cohort, coupled with a shortage in supply of appropriate housing and reliance on local authorities to bring forth property pledges means that this remains challenging. We encourage families to accept appropriate properties as quickly as possible and urge local authorities to continue to do all they can to help house people.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to support victims of human trafficking and modern slavery in the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to delivering personalised, needs-based support to victims of modern slavery, which places the individual victim and their recovery needs at the heart of the support we provide.
The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the process that identifies and supports victims of modern slavery by connecting them with appropriate support; including through the UK government funded Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC), support provided by local authorities, asylum services, and wider state support services such as the NHS.
The MSVCC is valued at over £300m and helps thousands of victims in England and Wales each year to access vital support they need to assist with their recovery from their modern slavery experience. It provides victims with three core pillars of support: safehouse accommodation, financial support (where necessary), and access to a support worker to assist with accessing wider services such as healthcare, translation services and legal aid. The Government’s comprehensive support offer is set out in full in Annex F of the Modern Slavery Statutory guidance, found modern slavery statutory guidance, non statutory guidance v2.11 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Support for victims in Scotland and Northern Ireland is provided by the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive respectively.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the 18 May 2022 White Paper on the Fire and Rescue Service, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of proposed legislative changes to British firefighter’s legal right to strike on (a) firefighter’s pay and conditions, (b) job satisfaction in the fire and rescue service and (c) job retention in the fire and rescue service.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The White Paper and consultation, Reforming our Fire and Rescue Service, does not include proposals in relation to firefighters taking industrial action in England. It commits to working closely with the National Fire Chief’s Council to review and strengthen business continuity plans and requirements to keep the public safe in the event of strike action.
The proposals in the White Paper seek to clarify the role of the firefighter, positively reform culture, talent management and diversity within fire and rescue services. It also commits to an independent review into the current pay negotiation process.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that British firefighter’s real terms pay and conditions are not impacted by the cost of living crisis.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Firefighters pay is the responsibility of the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Government has made of the (a) fire safety impact of disposable barbeques, (b) environmental impacts of disposable barbeques and (c) merits of a ban on disposable barbeques.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government intends to research the issue further, looking at the impact of disposable barbecues, as part of a research project led by Defra. This research will also include the impact of sky lanterns which may be a factor in causing wildfires.
Should the evidence indicate that these items represent a risk, we will of course examine the most appropriate options.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to help create a more effective working relationship with the French Government to reduce deaths and injury resulting from illegal channel crossings.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK maintains regular contact with the Government of France on our joint cooperation to tackle illegal migration at the shared border. The UK has committed several funding packages to support this work, including a bilateral arrangement which was reached between the UK and France on 20 July 2021.
This year, through our partnership and collaboration, over 19,000 crossing attempts were prevented – around 85% more than to this point in 2021. We remain committed to addressing this issue which requires long term and ambitious action
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to create a more effective working relationship with the French Government to reduce illegal channel crossings.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK maintains regular contact with the Government of France on our joint cooperation to tackle illegal migration at the shared border. The UK has committed several funding packages to support this work, including a bilateral arrangement which was reached between the UK and France on 20 July 2021.
This year, through our partnership and collaboration, over 19,000 crossing attempts were prevented – around 85% more than to this point in 2021. We remain committed to addressing this issue which requires long term and ambitious action
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what financial support is available to Ukrainians who have arrived in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme, and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing financial support to those people at a similar level to that provided to those people who have arrived under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Ukrainian nationals coming to the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme are given access to work, benefits and public services as laid down in Appendix Ukraine to the Immigration Rules, details of which can be found at:
There is no specific financial support available to those who choose to sponsor family members to join them in the UK. This includes those sponsoring under the Ukraine Family Scheme where there is no requirement to provide accommodation.
Therefore, the Government has not extended the £350 per month ‘thank you’ payment offered to those who are willing to offer a home to refugees arriving in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine and Super Sponsor Schemes.
Those sponsoring family members able to offer appropriate accommodation can choose to bring their family members to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme or Super Sponsor Schemes in order to become eligible for the ‘thank you’ payment.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the total value of fines issued by the police for breaches of the covid-19 regulations in each month of 2020.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The data requested on Fixed Penalty Notices issued under the Covid 19 regulations is not held centrally by the Home Office. These figures were collected by police forces and published monthly by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC).
The final tranche of figures relating to coronavirus breaches were published on 16 March 2022 and can be found on the NPCC website at Update on Coronavirus FPNs issued by forces in England and Wales, and the payment of FPNs (npcc.police.uk)
These figures include the number of FPN letters issued by ACRO, FPNs paid, FPNs contested and those not complied with, broken down by force area.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total number of fines issued for breaches of covid-19 restrictions was in each month in 2020.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The data requested on Fixed Penalty Notices issued under the Covid 19 regulations is not held centrally by the Home Office. These figures were collected by police forces and published monthly by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC).
The final tranche of figures relating to coronavirus breaches were published on 16 March 2022 and can be found on the NPCC website at Update on Coronavirus FPNs issued by forces in England and Wales, and the payment of FPNs (npcc.police.uk)
These figures include the number of FPN letters issued by ACRO, FPNs paid, FPNs contested and those not complied with, broken down by force area.