Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many successful prosecutions there have been for child sexual abuse-related offences in (a) Telford constituency and (b) England in each year since 2010.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) provide information on the number of defendants whose prosecution was completed, where the case has been flagged as child abuse, and where the principal offence at finalisation is categorised as a sexual offence.
The CPS definition of child abuse covers any case where the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offence and allegations or crimes perpetrated by both adults and under 18s.
The CPS is a national service delivered at a local level by 14 Regional Areas. While prosecution outcomes are not collated for individual constituencies, records are held showing outcomes by individual Police Force Areas. West Mercia Police Force Area is responsible for policing the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire (including Telford and Wrekin) and Worcestershire.
Since April 2010 the number of defendants prosecuted, by outcome, in the West Mercia Police Force Area and England, for cases flagged as child abuse and whose principal offence was identified as a sexual offence, is as follows:
(a) West Mercia Police Force Area | |||||
- | Convictions | Unsuccessful | TOTAL | ||
- | Volume | % | Volume | % | |
2010-2011 | 104 | 75.4% | 34 | 24.6% | 138 |
2011-2012 | 96 | 76.8% | 29 | 23.2% | 125 |
2012-2013 | 87 | 85.3% | 15 | 14.7% | 102 |
2013-2014 | 96 | 76.8% | 29 | 23.2% | 125 |
2014-2015 | 134 | 82.2% | 29 | 17.8% | 163 |
2015-2016 | 156 | 70.0% | 67 | 30.0% | 223 |
2016-2017 | 166 | 80.6% | 40 | 19.4% | 206 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |||||
(b) England | |||||
- | Convictions | Unsuccessful | TOTAL | ||
- | Volume | % | Volume | % | |
2010-2011 | 3,278 | 74.2% | 1,141 | 25.8% | 4,419 |
2011-2012 | 3,306 | 76.0% | 1,043 | 24.0% | 4,349 |
2012-2013 | 2,849 | 76.1% | 894 | 23.9% | 3,743 |
2013-2014 | 3,143 | 76.7% | 954 | 23.3% | 4,097 |
2014-2015 | 3,715 | 74.0% | 1,304 | 26.0% | 5,019 |
2015-2016 | 4,364 | 75.3% | 1429 | 24.7% | 5,793 |
2016-2017 | 5,007 | 75.0% | 1,667 | 25.0% | 6,674 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |||||
It is not possible to disaggregate figures to show separately the volume and outcome of proceedings for individual offences within the Sexual Offences Category. A single defendant may be charged with more than one offence.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with police forces across England to protect children from sexual exploitation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government has prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat to empower police forces to maximise specialist skills and expertise. We have provided millions of pounds of extra investment through the Police Transformation Fund to transform policing’s response to changing crimes and threats including crimes against vulnerable people such as child sexual abuse. This includes awarding £1.9 million to the College of Policing to develop comprehensive training for first responders, and pilot a new licence to practise which will ensure that only those officers who are qualified to carry out specialist investigations in high risk areas like child protection are able to do so.
We have also funded a network of police regional child sexual exploitation coordinators and analysts, who identify organised child sexual abuse across police force boundaries, and prevention officers who work with the coordinators and analysts to implement early preventative approaches in child sexual exploitation hotspots.
We have also introduced new powers for the police to tackle offenders including new Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Risk Orders in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, 2014 (amending the Sexual Offences Act 2003).
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by local authorities to tackle loneliness; and what support the Government has provided to local authorities for such work.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Loneliness can have a significant impact on physical and mental health.
The Department will be working closely to support the Minister for Sport and Civil Society in developing the cross-Government strategy on loneliness, announced by the Prime Minister in January.
A number of existing Departmental supported programmes can help to address loneliness, including dementia friendly communities, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, the Carers Action Plan and social prescribing, and we will be looking to work with local authorities and the National Health Service to tackle loneliness as the strategy develops.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support has been made available to (a) Shropshire County Council and (b) Telford and Wrekin Council for the provision of domestic refuges since 2010.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Local authorities are responsible for making local spending decisions. In our Priorities for Domestic Abuse Services, published in 2016, we acknowledged the importance of local authorities taking a strategic approach to provision of these vital services informed by an assessment of local need.
Since 2014, the Department has dedicated £33.5 million in direct grant funding available to all local authorities for refuges, safe accommodation and other services.
In 2015 the Department launched a one year £3.5 million fund to help support victims of domestic abuse. Shropshire County Council submitted a successful bid for this fund and was awarded £45,156. Telford and Wrekin did not submit a bid for this round of funding.
In 2016, the Department launched a two year, £20 million fund for specialist accommodation based support and service reform to meet the Priorities for Domestic Abuse Services. Shropshire County Council worked in partnership with Telford and Wrekin Council and local domestic abuse services to submit a bid and were awarded £115,753.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps the Government has taken to improve local infrastructure for small and medium-sized businesses.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Government has supported and invested in the creation of a network of Growth Hubs (one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area), providing businesses across England with tailored advice and support. Businesses in Telford are served by The Marches Growth Hub. Since its launch in 2015, this Growth Hub has engaged and supported over 14,081 businesses and delivered 144 intensive assists.
Through the Industrial Strategy, Government has announced its intention to ensure all businesses in every region continue to have access to a Growth Hub. We will therefore build on the Growth Hub programme, providing a further £24m of core funding over the next 2 years (£12m in 2018-19 and £12m in 2019-20). In addition, Government will continue to provide national support to all businesses through the Business Support Helplinee and GOV.UK.
The Government is also supporting Local Enterprise Partnerships to develop local infrastructure, skills, broadband and innovation in their areas. We are investing £104.9 million in The Marches LEP as part of the Growth Deal Programme. This includes a £4 million project to provide Telford with 100% fibre broadband coverage by 2020 to support the town’s growth, economic prosperity and digital inclusion; and significant works to improve connectivity and access to Telford Town Centre, which will benefit small and medium-sized businesses in your constituency.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many homes are connected to superfast broadband in Telford constituency.
Answered by Margot James
According to Thinkbroadband, in Telford constituency over 96.8% of premises now have access to superfast broadband (http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/telford,E14000989), up from 81% in 2010.
Approximately 41,028 premises in Telford constituency can now access superfast broadband. As confirmed in our announcement in December 2017 we are pushing ahead with our plans for a Universal Service Obligation (USO) so that, by 2020, everyone across the UK will have a clear, enforceable right to request 10 Megabit per second broadband.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by local authorities to tackle loneliness; and what support the Government has provided to local authorities for such work.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Loneliness can have a significant impact on physical and mental health.
The Department will be working closely to support the Minister for Sport and Civil Society in developing the cross-Government strategy on loneliness, announced by the Prime Minister in January.
A number of existing Departmental supported programmes can help to address loneliness, including dementia friendly communities, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, the Carers Action Plan and social prescribing, and we will be looking to work with local authorities and the National Health Service to tackle loneliness as the strategy develops.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides for benefit claimants who are fleeing domestic violence.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is fully committed to the prevention of abuse and the Department for Work and Pensions has a range of measures designed to support people who flee violent households. Easements in benefit conditionality give claimants the space and time needed to stabilise their lives. Job-seeking and work-preparation requirements can be suspended for up to 13 weeks. There is special provision in Housing Benefit for when someone is temporarily absent from their home through fear of domestic violence and abuse. If the person intends to return to their former home, they can receive Housing Benefit for both a former permanent home and temporary accommodation. There is similar provision in respect of the housing cost element of Universal Credit.
Universal Credit provides an exemption for 18 to 21 year old claimants to be entitled to help with housing if they are a victim of domestic violence and abuse. There is provision for Universal Credit claimants to request separate benefit payments from their partner. There is also an exemption made in Universal Credit to support a third or subsequent child who is born on or after 6 April 2017 as a result of a non-consensual sexual act.
Housing support for exempt accommodation such as a refuge is excluded from the calculation of the benefit cap for victims of domestic violence and abuse. The removal of the spare room subsidy will not apply to those victims of domestic violence who are staying in exempt accommodation.
The department provides funding for Discretionary Housing Payments which are available from local authorities. These are aimed at a number of groups likely to be affected by welfare reform, including individuals or families fleeing domestic violence.
Customers who have reported domestic violence are exempt from paying the £20 application fee to use the child maintenance service.
A person that came to the UK on a family visa as a spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner, who needs to leave home through fear of domestic violence and abuse, can apply for a Home Office Destitute Domestic Violence concession. This will allow someone to claim benefits for up to 3 months while UK Visas and Immigration consider their application to settle in the UK.
Jobcentre Plus work coaches signpost and refer domestic violence victims to organisations that can provide further support.
Information on our support to victims of domestic violence was published on gov.uk on 5 January 2018 at the following link
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-violence-and-abuse-help-from-dwp
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides for benefit claimants who are fleeing domestic violence.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is fully committed to the prevention of abuse and the Department for Work and Pensions has a range of measures designed to support people who flee violent households. Easements in benefit conditionality give claimants the space and time needed to stabilise their lives. Job-seeking and work-preparation requirements can be suspended for up to 13 weeks. There is special provision in Housing Benefit for when someone is temporarily absent from their home through fear of domestic violence and abuse. If the person intends to return to their former home, they can receive Housing Benefit for both a former permanent home and temporary accommodation. There is similar provision in respect of the housing cost element of Universal Credit.
Universal Credit provides an exemption for 18 to 21 year old claimants to be entitled to help with housing if they are a victim of domestic violence and abuse. There is provision for Universal Credit claimants to request separate benefit payments from their partner. There is also an exemption made in Universal Credit to support a third or subsequent child who is born on or after 6 April 2017 as a result of a non-consensual sexual act.
Housing support for exempt accommodation such as a refuge is excluded from the calculation of the benefit cap for victims of domestic violence and abuse. The removal of the spare room subsidy will not apply to those victims of domestic violence who are staying in exempt accommodation.
The department provides funding for Discretionary Housing Payments which are available from local authorities. These are aimed at a number of groups likely to be affected by welfare reform, including individuals or families fleeing domestic violence.
Customers who have reported domestic violence are exempt from paying the £20 application fee to use the child maintenance service.
A person that came to the UK on a family visa as a spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner, who needs to leave home through fear of domestic violence and abuse, can apply for a Home Office Destitute Domestic Violence concession. This will allow someone to claim benefits for up to 3 months while UK Visas and Immigration consider their application to settle in the UK.
Jobcentre Plus work coaches signpost and refer domestic violence victims to organisations that can provide further support.
Information on our support to victims of domestic violence was published on gov.uk on 5 January 2018 at the following link
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-violence-and-abuse-help-from-dwp
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the levels of home ownership have been in England in each year since 2010.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Data on home ownership rates can be found on the department's website. See AT 1.1 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/676433/2016-17_Section_1_Households_Annex_Tables.xlsx