Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to improve the (a) cost, (b) accessibility and (c) appeal process of visa applications.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Government regularly reviews the cost and accessibility of visas and process of appeals to ensure that public services are efficient and provide value for money to the taxpayer.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of funding on Fire and Rescue services; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional funding to Fire and Rescue services through the Local Government Settlement.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
MHCLG published the final Local Government Settlement on 5 February 2024 setting out the referendum principles for Local Authorities in 2024/25. All standalone FRAs will be able to increase their council tax by the core referendum limit of 3%. Standalone FRAs utilised this flexibility, which raised £42.6m in 2024/25.
Overall, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.87 billion in 2024/25. It is the responsibility of each fire and rescue authority to determine how to allocate that funding based on its analysis of risk and local circumstances. The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure fire and rescue services have the resources they need to keep the public safe.
Funding for Local Authorities in 2025/26 will be announced at the provisional Local Government Settlement later this year.