Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to encourage the insourcing of public services.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This Government is determined to deliver high quality public services and better value for money for the taxpayer. To further this aim, the government has committed to introducing a public interest test to assess whether expiring contracts could be better delivered in-house. This will ensure that the government makes evidenced-based decisions on the best way to deliver public services.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to strengthen regulations on out-of-area working of private hire Uber vehicles.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is considering options to improve the current regulatory position in respect of taxis and private hire vehicles and will consult shortly on whether to make all local transport authorities, including Strategic Authorities, responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.
We believe administering taxi and private hire vehicle licensing across a larger footprint would increase the consistency of standards and enable more effective use of enforcement powers across a whole functional economic area and facilitate integrated local transport planning. Greater economies of scale should also increase the efficiency in taxi and private hire vehicle licensing and the sector. This should reduce the factors that induce people to license out of their usual working area. This would be a significant change for the sector, and responses to the consultation will help inform the final decision.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 4.59 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, what proportion of the additional funding for homelessness in 2025/26 has been (a) allocated and (b) spent to date for (i) temporary accommodation and (ii) homelessness prevention.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Funding allocations for homelessness and rough sleeping in 2025/26 were published on 18 December 2024 here.
In line with grant funding conditions, local authorities will report their spending at the end of financial year.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a reviewing homelessness funding across departments.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy. As part of the current Spending Review, the government is reviewing all spending across government, including funding for tackling homelessness.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Uber accounts are not used by unlicensed taxi drivers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Enforcement of the private hire vehicle licensing regime is a matter for licensing authorities and the police. Any licensed private hire vehicle operators found to be enabling the use of unlicensed drivers or vehicles to carry passengers may be prosecuted and risk revocation of their licence.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing mandatory fare meters in private hire vehicles.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Licensing authorities have the power to set maximum taxi fares for journeys within their area. Regulated fares provide an important element of customer protection in the rank and hail market where passengers do not have a choice over which vehicle they hire. A uniform set of tariffs enables taxi meters to be used to ensure taxi fares are accurately calculated.
Licensing authorities have no power to set fares for private hire vehicles (PHVs). Fares for PHVs, which must be pre-booked with a licensed operator, are set by the PHV operator. The competitive pre-booked market allows PHV operators to compete on price as well as other factors such as quality of service.
Apart from in London, meters can be fitted to PHVs and these would need to reflect the relevant PHV operator’s tariff. As different PHV operator tariffs may vary this could have the effect of restricting the range of operators which drivers could work with. Mandating the fitting of meters in PHVs would reduce the flexibility in the PHV sector and potentially affect the availability of vehicles for passengers and the way in which drivers can work to maximise their earnings.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the deadline for applications to the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
I understand the Honourable Member’s interest here and I thank her for her letter to the Attorney General’s Office on this issue.
Parliament intended the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme to be an exceptional power but it is important for victims and offenders that there is finality in sentencing.
The Law Commission has helpfully launched a consultation on reforms to the Scheme which runs until 30 May.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Electricity Act 1989 to ensure that the use of sub-meters in domestic properties is subject to the same consumer protections as electricity provided by licensed suppliers in domestic properties.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Under the Electricity Act 1989 all electricity meters used for billing must be of an approved design and be accurate. Those who charge anyone through submeters, such as landlords, in domestic properties ultimately have the same legal obligations as licensed energy suppliers.
In the event of a dispute over the accuracy of a meter, the law gives consumers the right to have their electricity meter independently checked and tested.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the minimum salary threshold for the Skilled Worker visa to provide exemptions for (a) the manufacturing sector and (b) other sectors with a shortage of workers.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The salary thresholds are in place to ensure that resident workers’ wages should not be undercut and to protect overseas workers from being used as low-cost labour. The thresholds are set at the median levels according to the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
The Government’s objective is to bring net migration down, linking migration with wider labour market policies, so that immigration is not used as an alternative to training or tackling workforce problems in the UK.
These objectives are also why this Government has maintained the current salary the Skilled Worker route.
As the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has said, salaries generally need to rise in response to shortages, which challenges the suggestion that shortages could be eased by paying lower wages. The MAC has also consistently advised against regional salary thresholds, on the basis that this could exacerbate existing regional pay differences.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of applying regional weighting for the minimum salary threshold for the Skilled Worker visa.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The salary thresholds are in place to ensure that resident workers’ wages should not be undercut and to protect overseas workers from being used as low-cost labour. The thresholds are set at the median levels according to the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
The Government’s objective is to bring net migration down, linking migration with wider labour market policies, so that immigration is not used as an alternative to training or tackling workforce problems in the UK.
These objectives are also why this Government has maintained the current salary the Skilled Worker route.
As the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has said, salaries generally need to rise in response to shortages, which challenges the suggestion that shortages could be eased by paying lower wages. The MAC has also consistently advised against regional salary thresholds, on the basis that this could exacerbate existing regional pay differences.