Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Legalise assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults
Gov Responded - 3 Feb 2022 Debated on - 4 Jul 2022 View Lucy Allan's petition debate contributionsThe Government should bring forward legislation to allow assisted dying for adults who are terminally ill and have mental capacity. It should be permitted subject to strict upfront safeguards, assessed by two doctors independently, and self-administered by the dying person.
These initiatives were driven by Lucy Allan, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Lucy Allan has not been granted any Urgent Questions
A Bill to repeal provisions in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 requiring teachers, carers and responsible adults to report signs of extremism or radicalisation amongst children in primary school, nursery school or other pre-school educational settings; and for connected purposes.
Consumer Telephone Service Standards Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Robert Halfon (Con)
Whistleblowing Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Mary Robinson (Con)
Hospital Car Parking Charges (Abolition) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Robert Halfon (Con)
Family Justice Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - None ()
Parish Council Governance (Principles of Public Life) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - Mims Davies (Con)
While Post Office Ltd is publicly owned, it operates as an independent, commercial business. Unless otherwise specified in the Articles of Association, spending including spend on legal costs is treated as an operational matter for the Post Office. It funded all litigation costs related to the Group Litigation Order.
The Principal Accounting Officer has been sighted with quarterly updates relating to Post Office Ltd’s (POL) change spend (including litigation) costs since 2018/19. Additionally, the Principal Accounting Officer is also sighted on POL’s annual budgets which includes forecasted legal costs.
Concerns about the Horizon system were raised with the Department publicly, including in Parliament, and these are a matter of public record. BEIS relied on the Post Office’s management to investigate issues with the Horizon system and was assured that the system was robust and that the issues raised by the postmasters were being handled appropriately. The Department was aware upon the handing down of the Common Issues Judgement by Justice Fraser in March 2019 that there were serious issues with the Horizon IT System. This was confirmed in the Horizon Issues Judgement in December 2019.
The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, led by Sir Wyn Williams, will establish a clear account of the implementation and failings of Horizon over its lifecycle and the Department is fully cooperating with the Inquiry as are both the Post Office and Fujitsu.
The apprenticeship levy underpins our reforms to raise apprenticeship quality and supports employers to make long-term, sustainable investments in the skills that they need. Income from the levy is used to fund apprenticeships in all employers (both those who pay the levy and those who do not pay the levy).
In response to employers, we have already introduced the flexibility for levy-payers to transfer up to 25% of their funds, enabling them to support apprenticeship starts in their supply chains or to meet local skills needs. In January, we extended the use of transfers to cover the full cost of training for 16 to 18 year olds and eligible 19 to 24 year olds in employers with fewer than 50 employees.
We have listened to the concerns of businesses about the apprenticeship levy. We are committed to improving the apprenticeship programme to ensure that it continues to deliver the skilled workforce that employers need.
We will set out further detail on this in due course.
The apprenticeship levy underpins our reforms to raise apprenticeship quality and supports employers to make long-term, sustainable investments in the skills that they need. Income from the levy is used to fund apprenticeships in all employers (both those who pay the levy and those who do not pay the levy).
In response to employers, we have already introduced the flexibility for levy-payers to transfer up to 25% of their funds, enabling them to support apprenticeship starts in their supply chains or to meet local skills needs. In January, we extended the use of transfers to cover the full cost of training for 16 to 18 year olds and eligible 19 to 24 year olds in employers with fewer than 50 employees.
We have listened to the concerns of businesses about the apprenticeship levy. We are committed to improving the apprenticeship programme to ensure that it continues to deliver the skilled workforce that employers need.
We will set out further detail on this in due course.
The Department regularly reviews and assesses the effectiveness of COVID-19 guidance for care homes. From 31 January 2022, there is no limit on the number of visitors each resident can have and no additional requirements for normal visits outside of the home. All residents should be allowed to nominate an essential care giver, who can continue to visit during an outbreak.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors providers where concerns have been raised about visiting arrangements. The CQC has continued inspecting, raising safeguarding alerts where applicable and following up with residents, families, the provider, local authorities and UK Health Security Agency health protection teams.
National Health Service patients are benefitting from an unprecedented partnership with private hospitals as we battle the COVID-19 outbreak. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement have worked with the independent sector to secure all appropriate inpatient capacity and other resource across England.
It is currently not possible to estimate the cost to the public purse on how much has been paid to private hospitals to be on standby for use by the NHS for patients with COVID-19 since March 2020.
The information is not held in the format requested.
a) The Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund have been designed to support the smallest businesses, and smaller businesses in the some of the sectors which have been hit hardest by measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The two schemes have been tied to the business rates system and rating assessments, which together provide a framework for Local Authorities to make payments as quickly as possible. Businesses in the business rates system are also likely to face particularly high fixed costs, such as fixed rents.
In some shared spaces, individual users have their own rating assessments and may therefore be eligible for the grants schemes. In these cases, Local Authorities are urging landlords and management agents to support them in ensuring that the grants reach the correct ratepayers.
b) This Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund has been designed to support small businesses in some of the sectors hit hardest by the measures taken to prevent the spread of covid-19. In order to ensure that payments can be made quickly and efficiently to businesses which are facing particularly high fixed costs, the scheme is tied to the business rates system. Under the business rates system, small businesses are defined as those with a rateable value below £51,000. The Government continues to review the economic situation and consider what support businesses need. However, there are currently no plans to extend the grants scheme above the £51,000 limit.
Businesses which are not eligible for the grants schemes should still be able to benefit from other measures in the Government’s unprecedented package of support for business, including:
The current transitional relief scheme runs until the next business rates revaluation. Details of the scheme for the next revaluation will be confirmed before that revaluation.
The Government is committed to conducting a fundamental review of business rates. Further information will be announced in due course.
I have taken a number of steps to keep Members of Parliament up to date on Afghan resettlement. I have previously sent two letters to colleagues; one providing an update on casework to the Home Office on Afghanistan and one updating on the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).
I gave detailed evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee and I have updated the House on a number of occasions, including in January announcing the launch of the ACRS. Members can also continue to raise specific enquiries with MP Account Management via the Home Office MP Enquiry line or through requested engagement surgeries.
I meet individual MPs to discuss bridging accommodation queries within their constituencies and will be holding a general drop in session after recess for MPs with bridging accommodation in their constituencies.
The Government is committed to keeping children and young people safe from all forms of abuse.
The Inquiry’s investigation into child sexual exploitation by organised networks is ongoing. We will consider the Inquiry’s findings when they are published.
Our work to tackle this heinous crime continues, in the meantime, as I saw for myself when meeting victims in Rotherham recently. We will publish a strategy this year, setting out our plans to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse, including grooming gangs.
The Home Office has considered evidence from a range of sources including existing research, published and unpublished data, and insight from investigators and safeguarding professionals to better understand the characteristics of group-based child sexual offending. These include the nature and modus operandi of the networks involved, the backgrounds and motivations of individual offenders, and the characteristics of victims. Emerging findings have been shared with relevant partners in law enforcement agencies.
In early 2020 the Government will publish a national strategy, the first of its kind, to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse.
Our new strategy will set out our whole system response to tackling child sexual abuse, including group-based sexual offending drawing on this internal work. It will set out how we will work across government, law enforcement, safeguarding partners and industry to root out offending, protect victims and help victims and survivors rebuild their lives. We will work tirelessly to tackle all forms of sexual abuse; there will be no no-go areas.
The recently completed Victims’ Bill consultation is a critical step towards introducing a Victims’ Law – part of our plan for doing better by victims, from the moment a crime is committed through to cases being heard in court.
In particular, we have consulted on requirements for prosecutors to meet with victims pre-charge and pre-trial, the use of community impact statements, improving accountability of criminal justice agencies, increasing the Victim Surcharge and wider support for victims.
Victim support services are crucial to helping victims remain engaged in the criminal justice process. The Department has provided £150.5 million to victim support services this financial year, with funding increasing to £185 million by 2024/25. Hence, this Government has trebled the amount of funding for victims compared to pre-2010 levels.
This will enable us to increase the number of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) we fund to over 1,000, alongside other key services including a 24/7 support service for victims of sexual violence.
As community rates increase, the risk of outbreaks in prisons inevitably rises. We have planned for this and have a range of measures in place, informed by public health advice, to protect our staff, prisoners and the NHS over Winter.
Our hard-working prison staff are continuing to implement regimes that have been adapted for safety, with social distancing and PPE use. We are also quarantining new arrivals, isolating those with symptoms, and shielding the vulnerable.
These interventions are supporting us to minimise importation, limit the spread of infection and protect against explosive outbreaks.
Child sexual exploitation is an abhorrent crime and it is essential that specialist support is available to help victims of abuse through the criminal justice system to ensure victims have confidence to come forward. Independent Sexual Violence Advisors provide an important link between support services and criminal justice agencies and may support a victim when attending court and giving evidence. This is why we are an investing an additional £1m in recruiting more.
There are a range of special measures to help victims give their best evidence, for example from behind a screen or remotely. A Victim Personal Statement gives victims a voice in the criminal justice process by helping others to understand how the crime has affected them.
We’re also determined to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice, which is why we’re recruiting 20,000 more police officers, investing £85m in more prosecutors and building 10,000 extra prison places.