Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Iranian counterpart since Iran’s announcement that it has started enriching uranium to 60 per cent purity.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Iran's announcement on 16 April that they have started uranium enrichment up to 60% using advanced centrifuges is a serious and deeply worrying development in violation of its nuclear commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). This is the latest step in Iran's continued and systematic non-compliance with the JCPoA. The production of highly enriched uranium is an important step in the production of a nuclear weapon. Iran has no credible civilian need for enrichment at this level.
The UK has made multiple official level representations to the Iranians on this issue, both bilaterally and as the E3 alongside the governments of France and Germany. As the E3 said in a statement on 14 April, this step is contrary to the constructive spirit and good faith of discussions in Vienna that have the objective of finding a rapid diplomatic solution to revitalise and restore the JCPoA.
We continue to work with the parties to the JCPoA and the US Administration to seize the diplomatic opportunity for a full return to the JCPoA. We call upon Iran to avoid any escalatory measures which make a return to mutual compliance harder to achieve.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress has been made on the international review of the content of Palestinian Authority school textbooks.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We understand the review is in the final stages and the final report is due to be completed shortly. We continue to engage with the EU at a senior level and push for timely publication. We will review the findings carefully before deciding on any next steps.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will take steps to help reduce the level of local authority burial fees; and what support the Government provides to people who cannot meet the cost of burials.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Local authorities are responsible for their own budgets and making decisions on local spending in line with local priorities. This is entirely appropriate, given that central government cannot predict exactly what the cost of a local service will be. In line with this principle, public burial authorities have the power to set their charges at levels they consider to be appropriate.
The Funeral Expenses Payments scheme provides a significant contribution towards the cost of a simple, respectful funeral arranged by recipients of certain income based benefits or tax credits. The scheme pays necessary burial and cremation costs in full, as defined by legislation, plus up to £1000 for other expenses such as the cost of a coffin, church and funeral director fees, Scotland has a similar scheme, the Funeral Support Payment scheme. Support for funeral costs for all young people under 18 is provided by the Children’s Funeral Fund for England, with similar schemes in Scotland and Wales. Interest-free Social Fund Budgeting Loans and Universal Credit Budgeting Advances can also be used for funeral expenses. Further financial support is available through Bereavement Support Payments which help working age people whose spouse or civil partner dies.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to deliver civil service jobs in her Department to Dudley North constituency.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office employs Civil Servants across the UK and is already a major employer in many communities outside of London.
The Home Office intends to go beyond the conventional Government footprint and size to identify appropriate locations where we could locate future job opportunities. This will further enhance representation within the Home Office of the communities we serve and support economic growth across the UK.
Our long-term plans are being developed and we will share them in due course.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans her Department has to engage with stakeholders in the higher education and research sector on potential free trade agreements with Brazil.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
I refer my hon. Friend for Dudley North to the answer given to the hon. Member for Harrow West by my hon. Friend the Minister for Exports on 22nd March 2021 (UIN: 168823).
The Department for International Trade engages regularly with higher education and research stakeholders through the United Kingdom-Brazil Education Working Group for Higher Education and is in discussions with the Group’s members to facilitate greater collaboration on transnational education, including mutual recognition of degrees (under- and post-graduate degrees), industry-academia relationship, and language policies to internationalisation. We aim to promote a virtual trade mission later in the year to foster further partnerships between British and Brazilian universities.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of exempting (a) employers of people aged 25 and (b) people aged under 25 from national insurance contributions to (i) boost youth employment and (ii) increase and improve training of employees under 25.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has taken significant action to reduce the cost of employing young people. Since April 2016, employers do not pay employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) for apprentices under the age of 25 on earnings up to the Apprentice Upper Secondary Threshold (£967 a week in 2021-22). This builds on action the Government has already taken to remove employer NICs on those aged under 21 up to the Upper Secondary Threshold (£967 a week in 2021-22) in April 2015.
The Government is committed to keeping taxes low to support working people to keep more of what they earn and to encourage individuals to progress, ensuring work always pays. In April 2020, the NICs Primary Threshold – the level of earnings at which employees start paying NICs – was increased to £9,500. This provided a tax cut to about 31 million people, with a typical employee saving about £104. As announced at the recent Spending Review, the Primary Threshold will increase to £9,568 in 2021-22.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to deliver civil service jobs in her Department to Dudley North constituency.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Jobcentre Employment Advisers within Dudley North work closely with other Government Departments located in the area to ensure any planned recruitment is fully supported. Work Coaches undertake job-matching to identify customers in the area who have indicated an interest in joining the Civil Service, and provide assistance to register on the Civil Service Jobs website, including support with searching for vacancies and setting up job alerts.
Jobcentres across Dudley Borough have a partnership with the ‘Skills Shop’ at the Merry Hill Centre, where customers can be referred for further assistance with Civil Service applications and interview techniques. They also have a partnership with Go Train, a local provider, to provide support to customers with applying for the recent Work Coach recruitment exercise, including help and advice with the application process.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to support small and medium sized enterprises in (a) Dudley North, (b) Dudley Borough and (c) the West Midlands to increase their exports.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for International Trade (DIT) delivers a range of export services across the West Midlands, Dudley North and Dudley Borough. These include providing support in accessing international opportunities and trade missions; providing export credit and insurance through UK Export Finance (UKEF); access to DIT’s international network; and support provided by experienced International Trade Advisers (ITAs).
DIT recently announced further support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with the introduction a new Internationalisation Fund, providing grants of up to £9k to SMEs to enhance their export potential, and the founding of a new Export Academy, providing businesses with the knowledge, skills and tools to develop and implement an export plan. SMEs will also benefit from direct local support through dedicated Local Enterprise Partnership ITAs that focus on key local priorities.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
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 deliver civil service jobs in his Department to Dudley North constituency.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Departmental staff predominantly work in the London and Leeds offices, with a smaller number of staff based in the Reading, Runcorn and Burnley sites. The majority of staff have been working at home due to the pandemic and the Department is currently considering future ways of working once restrictions support a physical return to our sites. As part of and the Places for Growth programme, we are considering locations and are engaging with staff and partners in health and social care to consider our future geographic footprint. This may result in an expansion of existing locations and the Department will consider the potential benefits of any additional locations for recruitment, retention, capability and staff diversity.
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.