Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assistance his Department has offered to the Spanish government, in the context of recent floods in that country.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary and I were shocked and saddened to see the devastating scenes in Spain, and by the deaths and damage caused by heavy flooding. The Foreign Secretary has been in touch with the Foreign Minister of Spain to express the UK's condolences and offer our support; the Prime Minister and I have also contacted our counterparts. Our thoughts are with all those who have been affected. The British Embassy in Madrid and Consulates in affected areas are providing consular support to affected British Nationals.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will simplify the application form for Pension Credit.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department continues to assess the Pension Credit service. This led to the introduction of the online claim process, providing customers with a convenient alternative claim route, alongside the existing telephony and paper application methods. As the Department continues to modernise the Pension Credit service, we continue to review the user experience, balancing simplification of application with capturing the right information to ensure accuracy of award.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for publishing a response to the report entitled The impact of a change in the maximum park home sale commission, published in June 2022.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The park homes sector is an important part of the housing market and must be a safe and secure place for residents.
The Government recognises that there are longstanding concerns about the requirement to pay site owners a commission upon sale of a park home.
The Government will consider the 2022 report in detail and set out its position on this matter in due course.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to negotiate a reciprocal agreement with the Australian government on uprating state pensions.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are no plans to negotiate a new reciprocal social security agreement with Australia.
UK State Pensions are payable worldwide, without regard to nationality, and are only uprated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so - for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating.
The policy on up-rating UK State Pensions paid overseas is a longstanding one and has been supported by successive Governments for over 70 years.
Up-rating is based on levels of earnings growth and price inflation in the UK which has no direct relevance where the pensioner is resident overseas.
Over many years, priority is given to those living in the UK when drawing up expenditure plans for additional pensioner benefits.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the merits of the use of snares.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation. As outlined in our manifesto, we will bring an end to the use of snare traps. We are considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the Target Operating Model on Divisional Sex Offender Units.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many requests were completed by frontline HM Prison and Probation Service staff for prisoners to be exempted from the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme in each month since October 2023; and how many and what proportion of these requests were granted by senior HM Prison and Probation Service managers.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
End of Custody Supervised Licence began in October 2023. Analysis of its use will be based on at least one year’s worth of data, and published in line with the same approach we take for other statistical releases such as deaths of offenders in the community.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many qualified probation officers were in post at the end of March in each year since 2020.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Staffing levels across HMPPS are publicly available in the “HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly” Official Statistics release, published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics.
Information on the number of staff by grade is available in Table 3 of the accompanying data tables, which can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6644d719ae748c43d3793c71/hmpps-workforce-statistics-tables-mar-2024_final.ods.
As of 31 March 2024, there were 5,139 full-time equivalent (FTE) Probation Officers in post. This is an increase of 718 FTE since 31 March 2023.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of prisoners that were released under the End of Custody Supervised License scheme who were homeless upon their release from prison in each month since October 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) began in October 2023. Analysis of its use will be based on at least one year’s worth of data and published in line with the same approach we take for other statistical releases such as deaths of offenders in the community. We cannot provide any breakdowns of the ECSL cohort ahead of publication because they would give an early indication of that cohort and hence these statistics.
Release under ECSL follows the same planning and arrangements as release at the normal automatic release point and that includes making suitable arrangements for accommodation.
We know that having a safe place to stay helps cut crime which is why we are investing in our ground-breaking transitional accommodation service so prison leavers can have a guaranteed 12 weeks of basic, temporary accommodation to provide a stable base on release.
His Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service has a statutory duty in England to refer someone at risk of homelessness to a local authority for assistance and we have worked closely with DLUHC on the design and delivery of its Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme.
In 2022/23, 86% of prisoners were accommodated on first night of release, up from 80% in 2019/20.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Approved Premises referrals were submitted by probation staff to accommodate people released on an End of Custody Supervised Licence in each month since October 2023; and how many and what proportion of those referrals were rejected.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) began in October 2023. Analysis of its use will be based on at least one year’s worth of data and published in line with the same approach we take for other statistical releases such as deaths of offenders in the community. We cannot provide any breakdowns of the ECSL cohort ahead of publication because they would give an early indication of that cohort and hence these statistics.
HMPPS currently delivers 104 Approved Premises across the country to accommodate higher risk prison leavers and people on probation. They provide a high level of supervision in a controlled environment and are closely integrated with Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).
Beyond their role in public protection, Approved Premises can also play a key role in improving the rehabilitation of prison leavers, ensuring they have a place to stay upon release, and a stable environment from which to engage with wider support including helping source employment opportunities and engage with drug and alcohol treatment.
Overall, we provide 2,357 spaces and accommodate approximately 11,300 individuals each year in Approved Premises.