Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there is any flexibility in the thresholds for (a) minimum working hours and (b) actual hours worked in the context of Skilled Worker visa applications.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The general salary threshold applies regardless of the number of working hours. The occupation specific going rates are assessed according to a worker’s contracted hours, which is consistent with the approach taken in national minimum wage guidance. Some salary requirement discounts are available: www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/when-you-can-be-paid-less.

The salary requirements are in place to protect resident workers from being undercut and ensure international recruits receive fair pay for skilled work. Currently, the requirements are set at the median rate of pay for UK workers in skilled occupations according to the Office of National Statistics’ (ONS) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people serving imprisonment for public protection sentences were in Category (a) B, (b) C and (c) D prisons as of 31 December 2024.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Table 1 shows the number of prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences(1) held in predominant function Category B, C and D establishments(2), in England and Wales, as at 31 December 2024.

Notes:

1.The figures presented in these tables include both unreleased and recalled IPP prisoners.

2. A number of prisons have multiple functions (e.g. a prison could have both "Reception" and "Category C" functions). For these prisons, the predominant function has been used.

3. For more information see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prisons-and-their-resettlement-providers.

4. Data sources and quality: The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. Source: Prison NOMIS.

It is right that the IPP sentence was abolished, and this Government is determined that those serving the sentence get all the support and opportunities they need to make further progress towards a safe and sustainable release, but not in a way that impacts public protection.

On 15 November 2024, the Government published the updated IPP Action Plan, which puts a stronger emphasis on effective frontline delivery in our prisons. It will ensure that prisoners serving IPP sentences have robust and effective sentence plans, which they are actively engaging with, and that they are in the correct prison to access the right interventions and rehabilitative services.

The IPP Action Plan and the commitment to deliver it have contributed to the overall reduction in the IPP population. The unreleased prison population fell from 1,227 in December 2023, to 1,045 in December 2024.

The Government also acted swiftly to commence the IPP measures in the Victims and Prisoners Act, which led to the automatic termination of licence for 1,742 cases on 1 November 2024. We also commenced the new power to re-release recalled IPP offenders executively through Risk Assessed Recall Review (RARR).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what delegated flexibilities are available to her Department for calculating (a) working hours and (b) actual hours worked.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Terms and conditions of employment outside the Senior Civil Service are delegated to departments but must be managed in the public interest and in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code, and through consultation with the Cabinet Office and His Majesty's Treasury.

Where a term of employment is contractual, like working hours, it cannot be changed for existing employees other than with their expressed agreement or through collective bargaining with the trade unions.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support staff in her Department who are employed on Skilled Workers Visas and whose salary is below the new salary threshold.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

All staff employed in the department on a skilled worker visa have a salary above the skilled worker minimum salary threshold introduced in April 2024.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a public inquiry into the policy of so-called educationally subnormal schools in the 1960s and 1970s and (a) the number and proportion of Black children placed in such schools and (b) the impact on them.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department does not currently plan to establish a public inquiry into the policy framework surrounding placement of children in schools for the so-called “educationally subnormal” in the 1960s and 1970s, but is keen to ensure that the mistakes made in that time are never repeated, and that no children or young people today suffer from the structural barriers and entrenched racism that held too many of our young people back in previous generations.

The government wants to ensure that whoever you are, wherever you come from, Britain is a country that will respect your contribution and give you a fair chance to get on in life.

We want every child and young person to achieve and thrive in education, work, and life, regardless of their background. All children and young people must be treated fairly. There is no place for hate or prejudice in our education system.

Additionally, under the Equality Act 2010, schools must not discriminate against a pupil in a number of respects because of a characteristic protected by the Act.

The Public Sector Equality Duty also requires public bodies, including maintained schools and academies to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and other conduct prohibited by the Act; advance equality of opportunity for people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it; and foster good relations across all characteristics.

The department is also focused on driving high and rising standards in every school, helping every child to achieve and thrive. We aim to deliver improvements though excellent teaching and leadership, a high-quality curriculum and a system which removes the barriers to learning that holds too many children back.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many volunteer support workers working in (a) prisons and (b) probation had criminal convictions in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

All support workers and volunteers in HM Prison & Probation Service are subject to vetting checks on entry, to protect the security and integrity of the organisation. This includes anyone recruited via our Lived Experience routes, such as Going Forward into Employment or Standard Plus. The vetting process includes review of any convictions that may lawfully be taken into account, in accordance with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

To obtain the information requested, it would be necessary to undertake a manual search of individual records, and to make local checks. This could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost is for processing (a) a fixed term and (b) an emergency recall to prison.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The process of recalling an offender to custody, whether for a fixed-term or in an emergency, involves activity and administration on the part of the Probation Service (which requests recall); officials in HM Prison and Probation Service (who revoke the offender’s licence), local police forces (which are responsible for returning the offender to prison custody) and then prisons’ reception and screening services. The costs to the bodies involved are not collated centrally. Consequently, there is no reliable basis on which to work out the average costs for either type of recall.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many paid support workers working in (a) prisons and (b) probation had criminal convictions in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

All support workers and volunteers in HM Prison & Probation Service are subject to vetting checks on entry, to protect the security and integrity of the organisation. This includes anyone recruited via our Lived Experience routes, such as Going Forward into Employment or Standard Plus. The vetting process includes review of any convictions that may lawfully be taken into account, in accordance with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

To obtain the information requested, it would be necessary to undertake a manual search of individual records, and to make local checks. This could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.

Fee waivers for ILR applications

International Day of the Midwife

British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme

News journalism and artificial intelligence tools

Government review into Volumetric Concrete Mobile plants

Royal Academy of Arts proposed job reductions

Avanti West Coast ticket offices and station staffing

Changes to Great Western Railway ticket offices and stations

Found: Jess Asato Bell Ribeiro-Addy Caroline Voaden Margaret Mullane Rosie Duffield Lillian Jones Kim Johnson

Found: Portcullis House to show film ‘When You Know: childbirth in the asylum system’, hosted by MP Kim Johnson

Found: Portcullis House to show film ‘When You Know: childbirth in the asylum system’, hosted by MP Kim Johnson