Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on ensuring that the seasonal agriculture workers pilot is (a) made permanent and (b) expanded to include 10,000 places this year to meet the needs of the horticulture sector.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We are seeking to evaluate the ability of the Seasonal Workers Pilot to assist in alleviating labour shortages during peak production periods.
There are currently no plans to expand the pilot as we will fully assess the pilot before taking any decisions on future arrangements. Defra and the Home Office will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating the Pilot against its stated aims.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to maintain the provision of the EU Pet Travel Scheme in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
While the UK remains a member state, the EU current pet travel scheme arrangements will continue to apply.
After we leave the EU, we want pet travel to continue in any scenario with the minimum of disruption whilst maintaining high biosecurity and welfare standards. As such, the Government has no immediate plans to change our pet travel arrangements following the UK’s departure from the EU (as it relates to health requirements) in any scenario.
However, we will become a third country with regards to the EU’s Pet Travel Scheme and will need to comply with the appropriate requirements for pet movements to the EU.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Education:
What recent progress his Department has made on helping families to access childcare.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
By 2020 this government will be spending £6 billion on supporting families with childcare. All 3 and 4 year olds, and the most disadvantaged 2 year olds, can access 15 hours a week of early education. From September 2017, this government doubled the childcare entitlement for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours a week.
We recognise that parents’ working patterns vary significantly and want to ensure that the free entitlements deliver childcare to meet their needs, as well as being high quality early education to support the development needs of children. We are also encouraging partnerships between providers to support flexible provision.
In particular, we want 30 hours to continue to build on the flexible provision that we were already seeing across the country with the universal 15 hours. All the free entitlements can be “stretched” by taking fewer hours per week over up to 52 weeks of the year to cover term-time and the school holidays, for example 23 hours for 48 weeks of the year, and free places can be delivered at weekends.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of trailer registration charges on the operations of the haulage sector.
Answered by Jesse Norman
An impact assessment was carried out on the effect of introducing a trailer registration requirement and was published alongside the Trailer Registration Regulations 2018.
The cost to business and private users of large non-commercial trailers was assessed as follows:-
Familiarisation costs estimated at a one-off cost at £7 per trailer
Trailer registration fee expected to be no more than £28 (one-off cost) per trailer and since confirmed at £26
Registration plate at an average cost of £16 from private suppliers
Trailer users will benefit from avoiding enforcement costs that may otherwise be incurred during international travel. Overall the benefits of the scheme are expected to be much greater than the costs and this scheme has been broadly welcomed by industry.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2018 to Question 908852, what assessment he has made of the effect of plans for increased housing in Swale on access to primary health care in that area.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The revised National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to set clearer policy requirements for infrastructure and community facilities through plans, informed by evidence on infrastructure need and cost and viability assessments. At an early stage in the plan-making process, authorities will need to work alongside infrastructure providers, including healthcare providers, to identify requirements, and opportunities for addressing them.
It is understood that Swale Borough Council are updating their Local Plan. Once submitted, it will be examined by an independent Inspector. In testing the soundness of a plan, Inspectors assess whether sufficient provision is made for community facilities such as health infrastructure.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when employment and support allowance claimants in receipt of the severe disability premium will be able to migrate to universal credit without losing that additional entitlement.
Answered by Sarah Newton
I refer the honourable member to the answer the Minister for Employment gave on 30 January 2019 to Question 211077: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-01-22/211077/
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What steps he is taking to ensure that adequate infrastructure is put in place to support the proposed increase in housing in the Swale borough council area.
Answered by James Brokenshire
We will engage with Highways England and Swale Council to explore ways forward. We are already providing £3.5 million to provide local infrastructure for Swale, and we are working with Kent County Council to develop their proposals for larger, strategic infrastructure.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that alternative payment arrangements are put in place as soon as possible to avoid rent arrears for tenants and a loss of income for landlords and agents.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
A Managed Payment to Landlords (MPTL) is an Alternate Payment Arrangement (APA) that minimises the risk of claimants failing to pay their rent by paying an amount equivalent to the housing cost of their Universal Credit directly to their landlord, on the claimant’s behalf.
The decision to move a claimant on to managed payments can occur at the outset of the claim or when a claimant has accrued rent arrears - at two months or in some cases following one month due to ‘persistent underpayment’ of their rent. However, an APA can be requested at any point during the Universal Credit claim, as a claimant’s circumstances may change. A MPTL can be requested by the claimant, their representative or their landlord and will be considered on a case by case basis.
Requests for MPTLs are dealt with as a priority. The processing time of these requests is also regularly monitored. Landlords who are given access to the Landlord Portal are also given Trusted Partner status which allows them to make recommendations on whether an MPTL should be put in place. All APA recommendations from Trusted Partners will be implemented in good faith by DWP.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timetable is for rolling out (a) Pava pepper spray and (b) rigid police-style handcuffs across the prison estate.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Our hardworking prison officers must have the tools to do their jobs and that’s why we’re rolling out body worn cameras, ‘police-style’ restraints, and trialling pepper spray. We keep a close eye on the threats officers face to make sure they have what they need.
We are currently piloting PAVA Spray, this will inform any decision on the further issue of PAVA to prison officers.
Rigid Bar Handcuffs will be issued to prisons to replace the current ratchet cuffs. This will happen over 18 – 36 months in order to ensure staff are fully trained on how to use them.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What steps she is taking to promote value for money in aid spending.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
It is vital that aid spending delivers value for money. I have set a challenge that we ensure aid money is not just spent well, but cannot be spent better.