Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We urge Armenia and Azerbaijan to utilise upcoming multilateral meetings to maintain momentum on the peace process, and to finalise a lasting peace agreement. Alongside our international partners, the UK stands ready to support them in doing so. The Foreign Secretary spoke with both Foreign Ministers on 18 July at the European Political Community summit, where he made clear our support for both countries. I [Minister Doughty] also spoke with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on 11 October and Azerbaijan Presidential Representative Elchin Amirbayov on 29 October to reiterate our support.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Armenia and (b) Azerbaijan on Armenians detained in Azerbaijan.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to ensure that those detained during its conflict with Armenia, or during September 2023's military action in Nagorno-Karabakh, are afforded a fair trial and provided safe conditions, in accordance with Azerbaijan's international obligations and commitments. We have been consistent in calling for the release of all remaining prisoners of war, and the return of the remains of the deceased, throughout the period of conflict in the region. I raised these issues most recently with Azerbaijan Presidential Representative Elchin Amirbayov on 29 October. The Foreign Secretary met Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in July and urged them to seize the opportunity to secure an historic peace treaty.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Armenia and (b) Azerbaijan on the preservation of buildings of Armenian religious significance in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are clear that the preservation of religious and cultural sites in the region is an important issue and is in the interests of all peoples of the region and beyond. We are aware of allegations from both Armenia and Azerbaijan that cultural and religious sites have been deliberately damaged over the course of the conflict between the states, and in Nagorno-Karabakh. Officials at British Embassy Baku have raised the topic of religious and cultural heritage and the need to protect sites of Armenian religious significance with the Azerbaijani government at the most senior levels.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Alongside the US, we continue to urge Armenia and Azerbaijan to utilise upcoming multilateral meetings to maintain momentum on the peace process to finalise a lasting peace agreement. Officials in London, Baku and Yerevan remain in close contact with our US counterparts regarding peace negotiations. We welcome Secretary Blinken's recent efforts to bring both Foreign Ministers together in the margins of UNGA on 26 September.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people received fines for overpayment of Carer's Allowance in (a) 2020, (b) 2021, (c) 2022, (d) 2023 and (e) as of 1 April 2024; and what was the total amount of these fines.
Answered by Paul Maynard
Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award.
Overpayments occur when an individual receives a payment they are not entitled to. The fines imposed by DWP for overpayments vary depending on the circumstances of the overpayment.
Administrative Penalties may be offered by the fraud investigator as an alternative to a prosecution in certain cases where there has been benefit fraud or attempted benefit fraud.
The table below provides the volume and value of Administrative Penalties accepted due to an overpayment of Carer’s Allowance, by financial year.
Financial Years | Volume of Administrative Penalties | Value |
2020/21 | 64 | £114.4k |
2021/22 | 43 | £80.2k |
2022/23 | 43 | £81.3k |
2023/24 | 75 | £140.8k |
For cases of claimant error, a £50 Civil Penalty may be imposed by DWP where an individual incurs an overpayment as a result of failing to provide accurate information and have not taken reasonable steps to correct the error.
The table below provides the volume and value of Civil Penalties given due to an overpayment of Carer’s Allowance, by financial year.
Financial Years | Volume of Civil Penalties | Value |
2020/21 | 14.9k | £0.747m |
2021/22 | 26.3k | £1.309m |
2022/23 | 24.8k | £1.241m |
2023/24 | 30.1k | £1.506m |
Note that our latest figures show there are approximately 1.4 million people claiming Carer’s Allowance.
The data provided for this response is for the volume of penalties, and it is important to note that individuals can receive more than one penalty.
Data been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. Our analysis has not captured a small but unknown number of penalties that are logged as debts in their own right on the debt MI system. Our understanding is that this approach is rarely used for Carer’s Allowance.
More information about DWP penalties policy can be found here: Penalties policy: in respect of social security fraud and error - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken since receiving Sir Robert Francis KC's infected blood compensation framework study, published on 7 June 2022.
Answered by John Glen
Following the publication of Sir Robert’s study, and the Inquiry’s subsequent first interim report in July 2022, the Government made interim payments of £100,000 available to chronic infected beneficiaries and bereaved partners registered with existing support schemes from October 2022. These payments continue to be made to eligible beneficiaries upon being accepted onto the schemes. The Government accepted the moral case for compensation in December 2022, and is committed to responding to the Inquiry’s final report as quickly as possible following on from its publication.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of international coordination on supporting (a) peace, (b) human rights and (c) democracy in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is working with a wide range of partners, including Gulf and African countries, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the African Union and the UN, to take forward a sustained and meaningful peace process that leads to the resumption of civilian rule in Sudan. We continue to support mediation efforts and urge both warring parties to engage constructively to secure a ceasefire and ensure humanitarian access.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of levels of inflation on the real term valuation of pensions under the (a) Financial Assistance Scheme and (b) Pension Protection Fund.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The information required to carry out such an assessment is not readily available and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs. The Secretary of State has therefore made no such assessment at this time.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) police forces and (c) businesses in Wales on the incidence of shop theft in Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies
The UK Government continues to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to ensure the response to crimes, such as shoplifting, is as robust as it can be.
Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 32% in the 12 months leading to September 2023 in Wales and England. However, the number of people charged with shoplifting offences in the same period rose by 34%, suggesting that we are now seeing a more robust response.
We have also taken other significant steps to improve the police response to retail crime.
October 2023 saw the publication of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Retail Crime Action Plan. The plan includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel, showing the Government commitment to tackling this issue. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database as standard using facial recognition technology to further aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
In addition, October 2023 also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with policing to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders. This will include development of a new information-sharing platform and training for retailers.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people had Section 67 leave to remain on 14 March 2024; how many and what proportion of those people had been contacted by his Department to discuss their options for when their leave expires by 14 March 2024; and what guidance his Department has issued on the options available to people when their Section 67 leave expires.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Section 67 leave is a form of leave introduced in the Immigration Rules for eligible children transferred to the UK under Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.
The Home Office has not published data on how many people had Section 67 leave to remain on 14 March 2024.
The Immigration Rules are clear that individuals with Section 67 leave can apply for indefinite leave to remain once their leave to remain ceases, provided they meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules. Individuals can also seek advice from an independent legal representative about their options.
The published guidance for Section 67 leave can be found here: Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 asylum casework guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk). The Home Office is currently in the process of updating that guidance and will publish a revised version in due course.