Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will take steps to ensure that legal aid is available to people using the family courts who have been subject to (a) financial control and (b) domestic abuse.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is committed to supporting victims of domestic abuse.
In private family proceedings, legal aid is available for child arrangements, financial remedy proceedings and divorce for domestic abuse victims, including those subjected to economic abuse, and where the child is at risk of abuse, subject to providing the required evidence and meeting the means and merits tests.
Emergency representation is available for the purpose of obtaining urgent protection, such as non-molestation orders. We understand how important it is that anyone who needs a protective order can access legal advice and representation quickly, whatever their means. An eligibility waiver is available for victims of domestic abuse applying for an injunction or other protective order, which means they can receive legal aid even if they would not otherwise pass the means test, though they may then have to pay a financial contribution towards their legal costs.
In public family proceedings, means-free legal aid is available for parents and children in public family law children cases, including care proceedings and adoption proceedings under the Children Act 1989 and in related proceedings. Legal aid is also available to prospective kinship carers, subject to the means and merits test. Victims of domestic abuse do not need to provide evidence of abuse when accessing legal aid for public family matters.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that the family court system (a) provides adequate support for court users who have experienced abuse by their (i) partner and (ii) former partner and (b) cannot be misused by perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government is committed to halving incidences of violence against women and girls; a key element of this is ensuring that the courts are safe and supportive environments for victims, including within the family court.
We are committed to supporting children, parents and carers throughout the family justice system, and will set out a package of measures to see this done across the course of this Parliament.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to extend the Holiday Activities Fund.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and giving every child the best start in life.
The department will be providing over 3 million holiday clubs places this summer and these places will support children from disadvantaged backgrounds to access free healthy meals and enriching activities.
The department will also be providing over 500,000 holiday places over Christmas to ensure children get access to food through the school holidays and to the activities benefiting their heath, wellbeing and learning that we know make such a difference.
Funding beyond the end of March 2025 is subject to the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to assess impact of international humanitarian law on arms exports.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Foreign Secretary met with President Netanyahu in Israel on 14 July and pushed for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, the upholding of international law, and a rapid increase of aid into Gaza. When it comes to arms exports, this Government will uphold our international legal obligations, ensuring that international law is fully factored into decisions on arms exports in line with the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. The Government will now review the advice available and come to a considered decision. The Government will update Parliament as appropriate once this decision has been made.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make it his policy to place a moratorium on arms exports to Israel, in the context of the conflict between Israel and Gaza.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Foreign Secretary met with President Netanyahu in Israel on 14 July and pushed for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, the upholding of international law, and a rapid increase of aid into Gaza. When it comes to arms exports, this Government will uphold our international legal obligations, ensuring that international law is fully factored into decisions on arms exports in line with the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. The Government will now review the advice available and come to a considered decision. The Government will update Parliament as appropriate once this decision has been made.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commission a strategy on the (a) research, (b) diagnosis and (c) management of cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long-Term Plan published in January 2019 sets out the National Health Service’s key ambitions on cancer, including acknowledging the importance of research and cancer management. The Plan also sets out the NHS ambition to increase the number of cancers diagnosed at stage one and two to 75% by 2028 and to increase the number of people surviving cancer for five years by 55,000 as a result.
Lord Ara Darzi is currently undertaking an independent investigation into the state of the NHS, the findings of which will feed into the Government’s 10-year plan to build a health service that is fit for the future. The Government will set out any further priorities on cancer and health in due course.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will respond to the letter from the former Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee entitled Future Cancer: inquiry progress to his predecessor, published on 23 May 2024.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has received the letter and is reviewing the recommendations made by the former Chair of the Committee. When the Health and Social Care Committee is reconstituted in the autumn, we will consider an appropriate response at that time.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will respond to the letter from the former Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee on the Men's health inquiry to his predecessor, published on 23 May 2024.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will respond to the Health and Social Care Committee’s letter on the Men’s Health Inquiry. We will write to the new select committee, after considering the findings and recommendations outlined in the correspondence.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans for the taskforce on child poverty to make an assessment of the potential impact of ending the (a) the two-child benefit limit and (b) under-occupancy charge on levels of child poverty.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The new Ministerial Taskforce will drive cross-government action on child poverty, starting with overseeing the development of our ambitious new strategy in line with the Opportunity Mission.
After initial engagement, the formal work to develop the new child poverty strategy will begin and we will publish a Full Terms of Reference in the coming weeks. Recognising the wide-ranging causes of child poverty, we will explore how we can use all the available levers we have across government and wider society to drive forward the change our children need. Alongside this we will be reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the (a) terms of reference for the taskforce on child poverty and (b) planned timescale for publishing the outcomes of that taskforce's work.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The new Ministerial Taskforce will drive cross-government action on child poverty, starting with overseeing the development of our ambitious new strategy in line with the Opportunity Mission.
After initial engagement, the formal work to develop the new child poverty strategy will begin and we will publish a Full Terms of Reference in the coming weeks. Recognising the wide-ranging causes of child poverty, we will explore how we can use all the available levers we have across government and wider society to drive forward the change our children need. Alongside this we will be reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty.