Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for the British Transport Police.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The British Transport Police’s (BTP) budget is set by the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA). It is the executive non-departmental public body that oversees the Force and is their employer. BTPA sets the BTP’s budget annually following proposals from the Force and views from industry. Set against a backdrop of wider public sector efficiencies and affordability by the rail industry it has agreed a budget increase for the financial year 2025/26 of 5.9%. BTP work closely with BTPA and industry operators to make final resourcing decisions with their agreed budget.
The cost of policing the rail network in Great Britain is primarily covered through the funding agreements that the British Transport Police Authority holds with Network Rail, the rail operators and Transport for London.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the establishment of Great British Railways on funding for the British Transport Police.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The British Transport Police’s (BTP) budget is set currently set by the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA). It is the executive non-departmental public body that oversees the Force and is their employer. BTPA sets the BTP’s budget annually following proposals from the Force and views from industry.
We anticipate that the level of funding for the BTP during the transition to and commencement of Great British Railways will similarly balance the needs of the industry and the force against public sector affordability.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Restoring Control Over the Immigration System: White paper, published on 12 May 2025, whether the changes to the qualifying period for settlement from five to 10 years will impact people on the skilled worker route who are already in the UK.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and will provide further details at that stage.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support women in the workplace with flexible working.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government knows how important flexible working can be to help women with caring responsibilities manage their work and personal commitments. It can also be equally important for carers of vulnerable adults as well as employees with long-term physical or mental health conditions.
That is why the Government, through the Employment Rights Bill, is increasing access to flexible working by making it the default except where not reasonably feasible. These measures will support all employees, including women, to access flexible working. The changes in the Bill will require employers to accept flexible working requests where it is reasonably feasible to do so.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of banning asylum claims from foreign national offenders convicted of sexual offences in their country of origin on LGBTQI+ people from countries where same-sex relationships are criminalised.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has introduced an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill which will strengthen existing provisions by creating a new presumption that convictions for all sexual offences in Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (sex offences which are subject to the notification requirements) are considered particularly serious for the purposes of Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention.
The same provision will only apply to convictions received overseas where we are able to show that an individual has received, from a foreign court, a conviction for a sexual offence that would have resulted in the notification requirements had they committed it in the UK.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
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 reduce regional differences in waiting times for ADHD services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I commend my honourable friend for her dedication to improving support for people with ADHD and recognise the valuable perspective she brings through her lived experience.NHS England’s ADHD taskforce is looking at how support for people with ADHD can be improved and I look forward to reading their report when it is published.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress NHS England’s ADHD Taskforce has made on improving access to (a) services and (b) support.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) taskforce, established by NHS England, is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors, to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support. The taskforce is working closely with the Department for Education’s Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group to ensure consideration of joined up services and support across the health and education systems. The taskforce expects to publish its report in the summer.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
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 reduce waiting times for adult ADHD assessments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service, published September 2024, highlighted the severe delays in access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments and that demand for assessments for ADHD has grown significantly in recent years.
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including ADHD assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, with the report expected in the summer.
In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop an ADHD data improvement plan to inform future service planning. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential (a) impact of the Spanish government's migration strategy on economic growth in that country and (b) merits of allowing asylum seekers to work.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No assessment has been made on the impact of the Spanish government’s migration strategy on economic growth in Spain.
The Government is committed to ensuring the UK border is secure and has a properly controlled, functioning and managed asylum system. Our new approach is expected to reduce asylum spending in the UK by over £4 billion across 2024/25 and 2025/26
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish a Hate Crime Action Plan.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is determined to tackle all forms of hate crime.
We have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes which target race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and transgender identity, and we back the police in taking strong action against the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.
The Government funds an online hate crime reporting portal, True Vision, designed so victims of all types of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We are also continuing to fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub, which supports individual local police forces in dealing specifically with online hate crime, providing expert advice to police to support them in investigating these abhorrent offences.
The Government is carefully considering how best to strengthen the response to hate crime going forward so we can continue to tackle this offending head on.