Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of out-of-town (a) taxi and (b) private hire vehicle licensing on local authority enforcement capabilities and public safety; and what steps she is taking to support local councils to meet the challenges posed by drivers operating outside the area in which they are licensed.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since coming into Government, I have been actively looking at safeguarding in relation to taxis and private hire vehicles. I welcome the work by Baroness Casey in her audit of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse and her report adds valuable evidence to my department’s ongoing work.
The Government will legislate to address the issues raised in the report and there are two outcomes I am clear we must achieve; the first is ensuring we have consistently high safeguarding standards and the second is that there is no unintended reduction in the availability of taxi and private hire vehicle services, which could disproportionately impact women and girls and disabled people, who rely on these services the most. That is why we are considering all options – including out-of-area working, national standards, enforcement and transferring licensing to local transport authorities.
Public safety is an utmost priority, and both the Government and licensing authorities have an important role in the effective regulation of the sector in England.
Legislation passed in 2022 places a requirement on licensing authorities in England to share safeguarding, road safety or equality concerns about drivers with the authority that issued the licence. The authority that issued the licence must then consider whether to suspend or revoke the driver’s licence and must inform the authority that raised the concerns of their decision.
Statutory guidance, published by the Department for Transport in 2020, is clear that licensing authorities should, where the need arises, jointly authorise officers from other authorities so that compliance and enforcement action can be taken against licensees from outside their area. The same guidance also highlights that working in partnership with the police is vital for licensing authorities to share information as quickly as possible.
Best Practice Guidance issued in 2023 highlights how the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme can be used to increase the powers licensing enforcement officers have available. Officers authorised by the chief constables of their local force can be given powers to stop vehicles for inspection, testing and verification of licensing conditions, and the power to demand the name and address of the driver. If a driver fails to stop when directed by a CSAS-trained officer, it is a criminal offence and can be reported to the police for investigation and action.
Licensing authorities can also to carry out joint operations with other authorities and their local police force.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has held with Innovate UK on their decision to close the Smart Grants Scheme.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Supporting innovative firms to flourish in the UK will be vital to delivering our Growth Mission. Innovate UK is redesigning its approach to better support these firms to scale and grow. Innovate UK has paused its Smart Grants offer so that it can work with startups and SMEs on improving this support and has invited feedback on how to do this. In Spring, it will pilot a new support package that it will evolve in partnership with businesses. An economic evaluation of the Smart Programme is being conducted to inform Innovate UK's overall strategy and its role in delivering the Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to review the decision of Innovate UK to close the Smart Grants Scheme.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Supporting innovative firms to flourish in the UK will be vital to delivering our Growth Mission. Innovate UK is redesigning its approach to better support these firms to scale and grow. Innovate UK has paused its Smart Grants offer so that it can work with startups and SMEs on improving this support and has invited feedback on how to do this. In Spring, it will pilot a new support package that it will evolve in partnership with businesses. An economic evaluation of the Smart Programme is being conducted to inform Innovate UK's overall strategy and its role in delivering the Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he plans to take to improve his Department’s support for UK SMEs.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department is committed to improving support for SMEs, working cross-government to remove barriers to growth, ensuring that SMEs have access to resources and expertise needed to develop and scale. For example, over the last 2 years, Innovate UK has awarded £5.2bn funding to more than 7,000 businesses spread across the UK, of which 86% were SMEs
We are also working to back UK tech startups through a range of policies that address the issues the sector cares about. This includes harnessing the benefits of AI, investment, skills, regulation, data and procurement.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of Innovate UK funding for UK SMEs.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Supporting innovative small firms is a key objective of the government’s growth mission. My department regularly engages with business organisations to understand the needs of their members. 86% of Innovate UK grant funding goes to SMEs, with 8,000 SMEs supported in 2023 that were new to Innovate UK funding. Innovate UK’s connections to SMEs and innovators include 600+ skilled innovation & growth specialists across the UK through IUK Business Growth and IUK Business Connect. This network supports more than 10,000 SMEs a year on their innovation journey.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with small business organisations on the performance of Innovate UK.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Supporting innovative small firms is a key objective of the government’s growth mission. My department regularly engages with business organisations to understand the needs of their members. 86% of Innovate UK grant funding goes to SMEs, with 8,000 SMEs supported in 2023 that were new to Innovate UK funding. Innovate UK’s connections to SMEs and innovators include 600+ skilled innovation & growth specialists across the UK through IUK Business Growth and IUK Business Connect. This network supports more than 10,000 SMEs a year on their innovation journey.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) ensure the accessibility of allotments for members of the community and (b) support local authorities in (i) improving facilities and (ii) ensuring inclusive access; and whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of demand for allotment spaces.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is not currently taking any such steps. Allotments policy is a matter for local Government.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
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 take steps to (a) review and (b) amend the Allotments Act 1950 to strengthen the rights of allotment tenants.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is not currently taking any such steps. Allotments policy is a matter for local Government.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) company groups that have been entered into the Tonnage Tax scheme and (b) vessels entered into the scheme by those company groups in each year since 2000; and what flags of registration those companies flew.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not maintain cumulative records of all companies that have participated in the Tonnage Tax system, as there is no business requirement to do so. The training obligation is assessed annually. However, we can provide the most recent figures as of 1 October 2024.
Currently, there are 82 companies participating in the Tonnage Tax scheme, encompassing 870 ships, 331 of which are UK-flagged. Additionally, 35 companies are recorded as having exited the scheme.
Excluding the 331 ships registered in the UK, other ships in the scheme are registered under the following flags:
· Cyprus:6
· Denmark: 16
· Finland: 3
· Italy: 1
· Malta: 43
· Netherlands: 2
· Norway: 9
· Portugal: 6
· Spain: 1
· Antigua and Barbuda: 6
· Bahamas: 99
· Bermuda: 8
· Brazil: 3
· Cayman Islands: 1
· Gibraltar: 8
· Hong Kong: 16
· Isle of Man: 44
· Liberia: 161
· Madeira: 10
· Marshall Islands: 49
· Panama: 30
· St. Vincent: 1
· Singapore: 15
· USA: 1
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14304 on Prisoners Escort, how her Department defines agreed court start times.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The team in HM Prison & Probation Service responsible for managing the Prisoner Escort & Custody Service (PECS) contracts collects data relating to trial delays from several sources. HM Courts and Tribunal Service submits a Court Exceptions Report in respect of each instance of hearing delay; the contractors also self-report any delays; and the contract management team undertake further assurance work through site visits.
Court operating times were agreed with HM Courts and Tribunal Service as part of the procurement process for the PECS contracts and are set out in contract schedules. For each court day, the start time is determined by the judge, taking account of the scheduled operating time. The PECS contractor is required to produce the prisoner in advance of the start time decided by the judge, provided this is within the operating times set out in the contract.