Asked by: Lucy Allan (Independent - Telford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support victims within the criminal justice system.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
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.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Independent - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are being taken to ensure that Members of Parliament are kept regularly briefed on the accommodation of Afghan refugees in their constituencies.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Independent - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that all care homes allow family and friends of residents to visit regularly.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
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.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Independent - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on whether the Principal Accounting Officer with responsibility for the Post Office Ltd authorised the use of public money for purposes of resisting resolution of the Post Office group litigation.
Answered by Paul Scully
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.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Independent - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his department holds on whether the Principal Accounting Officer with responsibility for the Post Office Ltd was aware of the budget for the legal costs of defending the Post Office group litigation.
Answered by Paul Scully
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.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Independent - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on when the Principal Accounting Officer with responsibility for the Post Office Ltd became aware that the Horizon Accounting System was faulty.
Answered by Paul Scully
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.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Independent - Telford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
What steps his Department is taking to help reduce the spread of covid-19 in prisons.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
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.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Independent - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, 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.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
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.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Independent - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many private hospitals the NHS has rented facilities from since April 2020; and what the total cost to the public purse was of those rentals.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Independent - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
What steps her Department plans to take to build on the work of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse on grooming gangs.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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.