Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to address cases where DWP staff meet the annual Skilled Worker Visa salary threshold but are affected by the method used to calculate hourly pay.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
When assessing salaries for visa purposes, our approach is consistent with that taken in national minimum wage guidance, which states:
‘If you pay a salaried worker their normal salary while they are absent from work and this forms a part of their employment contract, the time of the absence counts towards the worker’s time worked for minimum wage purposes. For example, during rest breaks, lunch breaks, holidays, sickness absence or maternity / paternity / adoption leave.’
We do not plan to change our approach, as it could open up inconsistencies with wider employment regulation.
A decision on whether to amend employment contracts, so that salaries reflect the actual hours worked, would be for an employer to make.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the ability of police forces to (a) investigate sexual offences, (b) fill gaps in data on violence against women and girls and (c) implement recommendations for improving public safety.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this Government with a manifesto mission to halve VAWG in a decade. We will deliver a cross-government transformative approach to halving VAWG, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy, which we aim to publish as soon as possible.
The Home Office has invested £13.1 million this year to establish the new National Policing Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP) to improve the police response to VAWG and child sexual abuse. The NCVPP is continuing to drive forward the transformational work of Operation Soteria ensuring officers build the strongest possible, victim-centred, suspect-focused, context-led cases.
The Home Office works closely with police forces on improving the quality of police recorded crime data, including for crimes under the VAWG heading, as well as drawing on data from the Crime Survey for England & Wales (CSEW).
The Home Office are also carefully considering the findings and recommendations from the Angiolini Inquiry's Part 2 First Report which has examined the prevention of sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces.