Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the imprisonment of (a) Yasin Malik and (b) other political prisoners under the Public Safety Act in India.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
HM Government has made no specific assessments related to the case of Yasmin Malik or others detained in India under the Public Safety Act. It is not for the UK to comment on an independent judicial process in another country. However, we encourage all states to ensure that their domestic laws adhere to international standards for free and fair trials and that the treatment of detainees respects international obligations.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of supporting leaseholders in receipt of Universal Credit to pay service charge costs when they take up (a) part-time, (b) short-term and (c) seasonal work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has not recently assessed the potential merits of supporting leaseholders in receipt of Universal Credit (UC) to pay service charge costs when they take up a) part time, b) short-term and c) seasonal work.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to publish guidance on cross-pavement EV charging solutions.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is committed to accelerating the roll out of charge points for electric vehicles. Guidance for local authorities to develop policies on the safe use of cross-pavement solutions will be published in due course.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to take steps to (a) protect consumers who receive inaccurate bills from utility companies and (b) prevent utility companies from enforcing high usage bills without case investigation.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As a priority, the Government will support Ofgem to review the rules around billing accuracy and supplier billing practices to understand where improvement is needed and whether compliance action is required. Ofgem is also considering new rules to improve and incentivise better billing accuracy and debt support, including default monthly bills for households and reviewing the back billing rules to reduce how far back a supplier can bill a customer where the error was the supplier’s fault.
We believe that when things go wrong, suppliers should successfully resolve issues as quickly as possible. Ofgem will work to review and improve the current complaint handling standards regulations to ensure that suppliers take ownership to manage and resolve complaints effectively and efficiently. It will also ensure there is better automatic customer compensation for failure to deter poor service and drive improvements. Under the guaranteed standards of performance (GSOPs), suppliers are required to make automatic compensation payments to customers if they fail to meet specific customer service standards.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing a list of LGBTQ+ friendly travel destinations in travel guidance to British citizens.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
FCDO travel advice provides information to help British nationals, including those who are LGBT+, make informed decisions about their foreign travel.
No travel is completely safe. We try to make objective judgements and we will advise against travel when we judge that the level of risk is unacceptably high.
We recognise, however, that LGBT+ people can face particular risks and challenges due to the stigma, discrimination and even violence that they can experience around the world. This is why the FCDO, in addition to country-specific advice, has worked with LGBT+ people and organisations to develop specific gov.uk guidance for LGBT+ people travelling abroad: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-foreign-travel-advice.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle digital exclusion among Arab women in the UK.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Digital inclusion is a priority for Government. It means ensuring everyone has the access, skills, support and confidence to engage in our modern digital society, whatever their circumstances. Digital exclusion disproportionately impacts certain demographics, creating new inequalities and exacerbating existing ones. As we develop our approach on tackling this issue we will be working closely with local communities, local authorities, businesses and charities to ensure everything we do is well targeted. We hope to announce more on this in the near future.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring the installation and retrofitting of sprinklers in (a) all buildings regularly used by vulnerable people and (b) warehouses.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Building owners are required to ensure that existing care home buildings or warehouses have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. As part of this process, some owners may choose to retrofit sprinklers as part of their overall fire strategy, while others may opt for alternative measures. Recent changes to the Building Safety Act 2022 defined new roles and responsibilities all stakeholders involved in a construction project, including building owners. This ensures that safety is prioritized throughout the lifecycle of a building. Retrofitting sprinklers is not always the best option, and other fire safety measures might be more appropriate for specific buildings.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing English National Concessionary Travel Scheme bus passes to be used before 9.30 am.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. Local authorities in England have the power to go beyond their statutory obligations under the ENCTS and offer additional discretionary concessions, such as extending the times at which concessionary passes can be used.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has for the holiday activities and food programme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The future of the Holiday Activities and Food programme beyond 31 March 2025 is subject to decisions flowing from this autumn’s government Spending Review. The outcome of this process will be communicated in due course.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her article in the Sun newspaper entitled We can’t pretend everything is OK: knife crime, anti social behaviour and people smugglers are plaguing our streets, published on 20 July 2024, whether the Returns and Enforcement programme has a specific name.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have established a new Returns Transformation Portfolio, focusing on delivering a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity to safe countries, through swift decision making to remove people with no right to be in the UK. This is to ensure that asylum and immigration rules are respected and enforced.