Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions his Department has had with the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner on improving levels of (a) enforcement of and (b) business compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to working with businesses and civil society to drive greater compliance with section 54 and ensure production of meaningful transparency statements.
The Home Office has established the ‘Business Against Slavery Forum’, chaired by the Home Secretary and in partnership with CEOs of 13 large multi-national corporations. The Forum aims to accelerate progress in tackling modern slavery, by sharing best practice and offering support to smaller businesses. The Department plans to develop a list of businesses in scope of the legislation and will use this to write directly to Chief Executives with clear guidance and resources to support effective reporting under the Act.
Home Office Ministers meet regularly with the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner to discuss issues relating to modern slavery, including compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act. The Home Office is planning to establish a Transparency in Supply Chains Advisory Group, involving the Commissioner’s office and other key stakeholders to build a fuller understanding of the compliance picture and coordinate activities.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that companies comply with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to working with businesses and civil society to drive greater compliance with section 54 and ensure production of meaningful transparency statements.
The Home Office has established the ‘Business Against Slavery Forum’, chaired by the Home Secretary and in partnership with CEOs of 13 large multi-national corporations. The Forum aims to accelerate progress in tackling modern slavery, by sharing best practice and offering support to smaller businesses. The Department plans to develop a list of businesses in scope of the legislation and will use this to write directly to Chief Executives with clear guidance and resources to support effective reporting under the Act.
Home Office Ministers meet regularly with the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner to discuss issues relating to modern slavery, including compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act. The Home Office is planning to establish a Transparency in Supply Chains Advisory Group, involving the Commissioner’s office and other key stakeholders to build a fuller understanding of the compliance picture and coordinate activities.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the priority settlement programme for spouse visas.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Priority Visa Service for settlement applications aims to process straightforward cases within 30 working days.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been made for spouse visas through the priority settlement programme; and how many of those applications were processed within 30 days.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Information on processing of settlement visas against performance standards is published in the Migration Transparency data at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-operations-transparency-data-may-2018
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for West Yorkshire Police.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Before making decisions on the 2018/19 police funding settlement, I spoke to every police force in England and Wales to understand how demands on them were changing. This year, we have enabled Police and Crime Commissioners to increase their direct funding by £280m through greater flexibility to raise precept. In West Yorkshire, the PCC used this flexibility to increase his direct funding by £9.9m this year.
Fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work. Overall fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.3 billion in 2018/19. In 2018/19 West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority will receive £79.1m in core spending power. This is an increase of 0.8% compared with 2017/18. In addition, at March 2017, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority held £33m in reserve, equivalent to 42% of core spending power.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Before making decisions on the 2018/19 police funding settlement, I spoke to every police force in England and Wales to understand how demands on them were changing. This year, we have enabled Police and Crime Commissioners to increase their direct funding by £280m through greater flexibility to raise precept. In West Yorkshire, the PCC used this flexibility to increase his direct funding by £9.9m this year.
Fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work. Overall fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.3 billion in 2018/19. In 2018/19 West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority will receive £79.1m in core spending power. This is an increase of 0.8% compared with 2017/18. In addition, at March 2017, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority held £33m in reserve, equivalent to 42% of core spending power.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government's policy is on access for those visiting the UK with missionary status to the NHS.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
All non EEA nationals visiting the UK, including those visiting as religious workers to preach or do pastoral work, are subject to the Immigration Rules, available at (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules )
If they do access NHS services, then they will usually be charged. The policy for charging visitors to the UK is the responsibility of the Department of Health. Further information is available at https://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/uk-visitors/visiting-england/Pages/visitors-from-outside-the-eea.aspx
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to change the English language requirement for spouse visa applications; and if she will make statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Being able to speak English is fundamental to successful integration into British society, helping migrants to participate in community life and find work.
The Supreme Court has upheld the lawfulness of the English language requirement for spouse visas. It agreed that the requirement strikes a fair balance between the interests of those wishing to sponsor a spouse to settle here and of the community in general.