Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken to prevent voter fraud at the upcoming local elections in response to the increase in postal vote requests.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Postal voting has a well-established place in our electoral system and many voters find it a convenient way to cast their vote. All existing security measures will remain in place to ensure the integrity of the postal vote process, including the requirement for postal voters to provide personal identifiers (their date of birth and signature) at application and again when they return their postal ballot at an election.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of fireworks on veterans suffering from (a) PTSD and (b) mental health disorders.
Answered by Johnny Mercer
The Government recognises that the use of fireworks can affect veterans and other groups due to the loud noise or flashes associated with fireworks and remains committed to promoting the safe and considerate use of fireworks. Advice for veterans about the potential impact of fireworks is available on the Veterans Gateway https://support.veteransgateway.org.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/732/~/five-tips-to-help-you-deal-with-bonfire-night-and-fireworks
Advice on how to use fireworks safely and in a considerate manner, that includes the considerations of vulnerable people, can be found as a part of the Office for Product Safety and Standards 2020 campaign that launched in October.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/opss-launches-firework-safety-campaign
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of homeless people who (a) are veterans and (b) have been provided with support through the Armed Forces Covenant.
Answered by Johnny Mercer
As we enter the winter months, it is more important than ever to ensure that no veteran or member of the Armed Forces community should be without a home to call their own. I would like to thank all those across the public sector and charities for their tireless efforts to support these efforts. More generally, for 2020/21 the Government has put in place over £600 million of funding to tackle homelessness across the UK, marking a 65% increase from the previous year.
Homelessness data monitoring veterans is currently available through H-CLIC (Homelessness Case Level Information Collection). Other independent research shows that the rough sleeping figures for veterans are around 3% across the UK.
Serving personnel and veterans benefit from a range of services delivered under the Armed Forces Covenant, such as the MOD’s Forces Help to Buy scheme which has helped around 21,000 Service personnel purchase their own property. All service leavers can now remain in Service Family Accommodation for up to a year after departure and can access military accommodation for up to a year after leaving the military, an extension of six months. Every service leaver also has access to the MOD’s Defence Transition Service to help them find adequate housing, and enhanced support to those who need it through the Veterans Welfare Service. In June 2020, we also published new statutory guidance for local authorities to improve access to social housing for the Armed Forces and veterans community.