Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to provide more funding to the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services (NJC) in (a) Sunderland and (b) the North East.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not fund the National Joint Council.
Setting firefighter pay is the responsibility of employers, working through the National Joint Council; the Home Office plays no role in the negotiation or funding of firefighters’ pay.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken is for her Department to respond to correspondence on passport applications from hon. Members representing a constituent.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Data about intake and performance in answering Hon. Members Correspondence are published quarterly with the latest Quarter available at: Customer service operations data: Q2 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and this includes data up to and including the end of quarter 2 - 2021.
Further performance data will be published in due course.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time was for her Department to respond to correspondence from hon. Members and members of the House of Lords in the last 18 months.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Data about intake and performance in answering Hon. Members and Members of the House of Lords correspondence are published quarterly with the latest Quarter available at: Customer service operations data: Q2 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and this includes data up to and including the end of quarter 2 - 2021. We are proposing the release of data for quarter 3 in due course.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to make a decision on the issue presented in the correspondence from the hon. Member for Sunderland Central of 21 October 2021 in relation to a passport application made in March 2021.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office responded to the correspondence on 5 January 2022.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the levels of police funding in (a) Sunderland and (b) the North-East.
Answered by Nick Hurd
We undertook a substantial piece of work to assess demand in 2017 in which I spoke to leaders in all forces in England and Wales and also many frontline officers. I understand that forces are under pressure. We recognise that crime is changing and that police demand is becoming increasingly complex.
We responded by providing a comprehensive funding settlement which will increase total investment in the police system by over £460m in 2018/19. This includes £50m for Counter-Terrorism, £130m for national priorities and £280m in force funding from increases in Council Tax precept income. In Northumbria this means that the PCC could raise an additional £5.3m in local funding this year.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has received representations on (a) Tier 2 and (b) other migrant migrant workers' days of industrial action being classified as unpaid leave.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office has previously received a number of representations on the general principle of Tier 2 and other migrant workers' days of industrial action being classified as unpaid leave.
It is not the Government’s policy to prevent migrant workers from engaging in legal strike action; and, to date, I am not aware of any case where a migrant worker has had their leave curtailed or been removed as a result of doing so. To put the matter beyond doubt, however, we amended the guidance for Tier 2 and 5 sponsors on 18 July to make clear that there will be no immigration consequences for any migrant worker who takes part in legal strike action.
We will be making a similar change the relevant Immigration Rules at the next available opportunity in the Autumn.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timetable is for his Department to respond to it's consultation on the draft Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill; and what the timetable is for further steps to be taken in relation to that Bill.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
On 8 March we launched a 12 week public consultation on proposals for a landmark domestic abuse Bill and a supporting package of practical action to transform the response to domestic abuse. The consultation closed on 31 May. Over 3,200 responses to the consultation were received. The responses to the consultation are being considered and a draft Bill will be published later this session.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timetable is for his Department to respond to it's consultation on the draft Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill; and what the timetable is for further steps to be taken in relation to that Bill.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
On 8 March we launched a 12 week public consultation on proposals for a landmark domestic abuse Bill and a supporting package of practical action to transform the response to domestic abuse. The consultation closed on 31 May. Over 3,200 responses to the consultation were received. The responses to the consultation are being considered and a draft Bill will be published later this session.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the fire service is adequately funded.
Answered by Nick Hurd
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.
Single purpose fire and rescue authorities will see an increase in core spending power of 1.2% in cash terms in 2018/19, and an overall increase of 0.3% from 2015/16 to 2019/20. Financial reserves held by single purpose FRAs increased by 88% to £615 million between 31 March 2011 and 31 March 2017. This is equivalent to 45% of their core spending power.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that firefighters are paid fairly.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government recognises the vital work that firefighters undertake in protecting our communities and it is essential that they receive a fair pay award that reflects their role.
Firefighter pay in England is the responsibility of the National Joint Council, comprising of representatives from both the employers’ and employees’ side. Any award agreed by the NJC is paid from fire and rescue authorities’ existing budgets. Central Government has no role in this process.