Richard Burgon

The forthcoming Elections Bill will have a package of measures to tackle different types of electoral fraud – including personation in polling stations, postal voting personation and interference, proxy voting fraud, intimidation and undue influence.

Voter fraud is a crime that we cannot allow room for, so the Government is stamping out any potential for it to take place in elections, in line with our manifesto pledge.

The Electoral Commission publishes electoral fraud data on its website: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/our-views-and-research/our-research/electoral-fraud-data.

Personation in polling stations is very difficult to identify and prove: by definition, it is a crime of deception. The 2015 Tower Hamlets election court judgment found that personation was one of the interlinked types of corrupt and illegal practices that took place.

By contrast, as the Electoral Commission has previously noted: ‘Since the introduction of photo ID in Northern Ireland there have been no reported cases of personation. Voters’ confidence that elections are well-run in Northern Ireland is consistently higher than in Great Britain, and there are virtually no allegations of electoral fraud at polling stations’ (December 2015).

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

We will publish the Net Zero Strategy ahead of COP26. We will build on my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan and the Energy White Paper, as well as upcoming plans in key sectors such as the Transport Decarbonisation Plan and Heat and Buildings Strategy.

The UK’s Nationally Determined Contribution is ambitious and demonstrates our continued leadership in tackling climate change. Our Net Zero Strategy will be a comprehensive plan for decarbonising sectors across the economy, both to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and meet our interim targets, making the most of new growth and employment opportunities across the UK.

We are building on the strong foundations we have established in decarbonising our economy; our ambitious manifesto commitments; and announcements from the Prime Minister and my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer of measures to cut emissions as we build back better in our economic recovery from COVID-19.

The Government is clear that employers must comply with National Minimum Wage legislation and pay their workers at least the minimum wage for hours worked.

The Government is committed to ensuring workers receive the pay that they are owed, more than doubling the budget for National Minimum Wage enforcement. Indeed, last year was another strong year for minimum wage enforcement, with £20.8 million in pay arrears identified for over 263,000 workers.

The Government will continue to support workers across the United Kingdom during this pandemic. Through our Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, we have supported 9.6 million jobs with claims worth £41.4 million. On August 31st, 4,000 jobs in Leeds East, 35,700 jobs In Leeds and 220,000 jobs in Yorkshire and the Humber were supported through the Job Retention Scheme. My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that we will extend the scheme through to 31^st March 2021, to continue to protect jobs and provide certainty.

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) ensure that the lowest paid workers are fairly rewarded for their valuable contribution to the economy. Since 2010, the minimum wage rates have increased faster than average wages and inflation, meaning more money for the lowest paid.

This April, we increased the NLW to £8.72, meeting its target to reach 60% of median earnings by 2020, benefiting an estimated 2 million workers. A full-time worker on the NLW will be £930 better off, over the course of the year.

As well as increasing the NLW, the Government has announced an unprecedented series of measures to support businesses and their employees to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. This includes over £6.5 billion of extra support through the welfare system. The Government is continuously monitoring the evolving economic and labour market situation to identify the most effective ways to help people stay in or close to work both now and in the future. Data on the number of people earning the minimum wage who are living in poverty since 1 March 2020 is not currently available.

Overall, for the Discretionary Business Grants Fund we have estimated some 400,000 businesses as potentially in-scope. The National Market Traders Federation estimates that there are 32,400 market traders; we have estimated that 80% do not pay business rates. 93,247 charity properties are in receipt of charitable rates relief. The Bed & Breakfast Association estimates that 5-10,000 Bed and Breakfast pay Council Tax rather than business rates. The numbers of business in shared work spaces, who are not liable for business rates is not fully known and makes up the remainder.

Government has made £12.3 billion available to businesses under the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund. The schemes have been tied to the business rates system to provide a framework for local authorities to make payments to businesses as quickly as possible as these businesses are likely to face particularly high fixed costs, such as fixed rents.

As of 3 May, over 697,000 businesses in England have received grants under the two schemes, totalling £8.6bn. We do not hold data on the number of businesses that are not eligible for this grant funding. We have, however, published a full breakdown of grant funding allocated to and distributed by each local authority here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-localauthority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses.

On 1 May, the Business Secretary announced a further up to £617 million available to local authorities to support small businesses previously outside the scope of the business grant funding, such as businesses in shared offices and regular market traders who do not have their own business rates assessment. For more details, please see: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/top-up-to-local-business-grant-funds-scheme.

The draft Online Safety Bill will make companies more accountable for protecting people online, with all platforms having to identify and remove content that encourages suicide.

They will also have to ensure children are prevented from accessing material which promotes suicide or self-harm.

If platforms fail in their duties under the Bill, they will face tough enforcement action including fines of up to 10% of global annual qualifying turnover.

On 20 January 2020, the department launched a new scheme which makes free period products available for state-funded primary schools, secondary schools, and colleges in England. In December 2020, we announced that this scheme was extended for 2021.

This scheme is in place to ensure that no learner misses out on education due to their period. Schools and colleges should have period products available, should learners need them. They may choose to order products through this scheme or through an alternative route.

The scheme has remained in operation during partial school and college closures, and these organisations are still able to order a range of period products and distribute them to learners who need them.

We continue to work with our delivery partner, Personnel Hygiene Services Limited, to encourage engagement with the scheme. We have engaged with schools and colleges on social media, and via direct communication in email and newsletter form.

In 2016, the government announced investments in several children’s health initiatives alongside the introduction of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, including doubling the primary sports premium to £320 million a year from September 2017, and introducing the National Schools Breakfast Programme from March 2018.

The Spending Review 2020 has now concluded and confirmed the Department for Education’s overall budget for the 2021/22 financial year. In due course, the department will confirm how much funding from within that settlement has been allocated to these schools programmes for 2021/22.

The Government wants to do everything it can to support schools to deliver remote education. The Department has invested over £195 million to support remote education and access to online social care, delivering over 220,000 laptops and tablets during the summer term for disadvantaged children who would not otherwise have access to a digital device.

The Department is adding to this support by making over 340,000 additional laptops and tablets available to support children that might face disruption to their education. Since September 2020, over 100,000 of these have been delivered to schools.

The Department allocated a number of devices to each school based on how many devices they would need if the school closed fully. To arrive at this allocation, the Department used data on the number of pupils eligible for free school meals in each school along with an estimate of the number of devices the school already owns.

Attendance data suggests most schools are not closing fully, and are instead supporting small groups of children that are not able to attend school because they are self-isolating. The Department changed the number of devices allocated to each school to reflect this, because original allocations were based on a school’s total need should they fully close.

This more targeted approach to allocations mean as many schools and disadvantaged children as possible benefit from receiving a device in the event that their face-to-face education is disrupted.

The Government wants to do everything it can to support schools to deliver remote education. The Department has invested over £195 million to support remote education and access to online social care, delivering over 220,000 laptops and tablets during the summer term for disadvantaged children who would not otherwise have access to a digital device.

The Department is adding to this support by making over 340,000 additional laptops and tablets available to support children that might face disruption to their education. Since September 2020, over 100,000 of these have been delivered to schools.

The Department allocated a number of devices to each school based on how many devices they would need if the school closed fully. To arrive at this allocation, the Department used data on the number of pupils eligible for free school meals in each school along with an estimate of the number of devices the school already owns.

Attendance data suggests most schools are not closing fully, and are instead supporting small groups of children that are not able to attend school because they are self-isolating. The Department changed the number of devices allocated to each school to reflect this, because original allocations were based on a school’s total need should they fully close.

This more targeted approach to allocations mean as many schools and disadvantaged children as possible benefit from receiving a device in the event that their face-to-face education is disrupted.

The Department is providing laptops and tablets to support disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examination in Year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver.

The Department has allocated devices to local authorities and academy trusts based on its estimates of the number of eligible children that do not have access to a device. The Department estimated there were up to 220,000 eligible children without access to a device. These estimates were based on the proportion of children in receipt of Free School Meals, an estimate of private devices ownership and an estimate of existing devices held by schools which could be loaned out to meet the needs of these children.

Comprehensive guidance has been issued and updated throughout the pandemic. Our priority is the safety of staff and passengers and our operators remain committed to ensuring their stations are safe for everyone.

Northern Trains Ltd (NTL) has received and confirms that it has followed Rail Delivery Group guidelines on the cleaning of its stations and has carried out a robust cleaning schedule since the outbreak.

In addition to routine cleaning regimes, NTL’s process is that all stations are treated at least once per week with a long-lasting broad spectrum; anti-bacterial; anti-viral, anti-fungal; and anti-algal cleaning product either by static cleaning staff or by mobile teams.

Once applied (by aerosol or by direct application) it bonds to surfaces and delivers persistent protection, even after regular washing and cleaning. The protective layer or “invisible shield” attracts and kills organisms mechanically, removing the risk of cross contamination, resistance or mutation.

The teams target high-touch areas like ticket vending machines. NTL has also worked with its services contractor, ISS, to recruit and train additional staff and provide additional transportation to facilitate this heightened cleaning regime

Engaging on health and safety matters at Leeds station is the responsibility of employers and service providers amongst others on the site as well as the station operator, Network Rail. Northern Trains Ltd has similar responsibilities as employer and operator of its own managed stations.

The Department does not hold specific information on rail operator employees.

The Government is committed to transforming the lives of disabled people, and will publish the National Strategy for Disabled People this year.

It will be informed by insights from the lived experience of disabled people, and will focus on the issues that disabled people say are most important across all aspects of life, from transport to education, and housing to employment. On Friday 15th January, we launched the online UK Disability Survey, which complements the range of engagement already undertaken and ongoing, including lived experience research with disabled people, discussions with the Disabled Charities Consortium, the Regional Stakeholder Networks and others. Contributions to the survey will feed not only into the development of the strategy but also its delivery.

Access to Work does not have any formal targets for elements of the journey as it offers a personalised service which involves regular contact with customers at the appropriate points throughout their application. Customers are provided with updates on the progress of their case, via their agreed method (letter, e-mail, text or phone). If there is any delay to their case customers will be updated via their communications with the nominated adviser, or through accessing information available on the inbound telephony line.

The available information on the number of new claims processed for housing benefit is published quarterly and is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-benefit-and-council-tax-benefit-statistics-on-speed-of-processing--2

The latest statistics were published in April 2020 and provide data to December 2019.

New claims for Housing Benefit can only be made by people over pension age and working age people living in temporary or supported accommodation. Otherwise, if a working age person requires help with their housing costs they must claim Universal Credit.

No fines or other financial penalties have been paid by Serco or sub-contractors.

The Government has not yet confirmed a publication date for this data.

We are working closely with all 314 lower tier and unitary local authorities to collate information on how the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme is progressing, and will release information on the number of applications, number of successful applications and amounts paid out in due course.

We are working closely with all 314 local authorities in England to collate information on the number of applications and successful applications for the Test and Trace Support Payment. We will publish this information in due course.

We are working closely with all 314 lower tier and unitary local authorities to collate information on how the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme is progressing and will release information on the number of applications, number of successful applications and amounts paid out in due course.

The Venezuela Reconstruction Unit is a small (one Head, and three part-time members including an external consultant) team in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which was established in 2019 to coordinate the UK approach to the international response to the dire economic and humanitarian situation in Venezuela. The UK is committed to working with international partners to bring a peaceful end to the appalling crisis in Venezuela, and the Venezuela Reconstruction Unit is a reflection of that commitment.

The Unit has visited Venezuela in order to understand the challenges and determine how the UK might help. The UK Ambassador ensured the regime were aware of the visit and spoke publicly about the Unit and its staff. The Unit has had contact with Juan Guaidó, whom the UK recognises as constitutional interim President of Venezuela, his representative in London and other Venezuelans.

Applications for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) opened on Monday 20 April. By midnight 17 May 2020, 986,000 employers had submitted claims to HMRC representing 8m furloughed employments and £11.1bn.

This is a new scheme and HMRC are currently working through the analysis they will be able to provide based on the data available. HMRC will make the timescales for publication and the types of data available in due course.

As of 1^st May, Government has provided up to an additional £617m for Local Authorities in England to enable them to make grants payments to businesses in these circumstances.

This funding will be used by Local Authorities to create a Discretionary Grants Fund.

Local Authorities are responsible for defining precise eligibility for these funds. And businesses will need to apply to their Local Authority in order to receive grants – each LA will need time to create their own process.

However, it is our intention that the following businesses should be considered as a priority for these funds:

• Businesses in shared offices;
• Regular market traders who do not have their own business rates assessment;
• B&Bs which pay Council Tax instead of business rates; and
• Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief.

The Undercover Policing Inquiry is independent of the Home Office and decisions regarding funding for Core Participants are for the Inquiry to make.

Under section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005, the Inquiry Chair has the power to award reasonable amounts to cover expenses, including in respect of legal representation for those who give evidence to the Inquiry. This includes witnesses, as well as core participants.

More information can be found on the Inquiry’s website at: https://www.ucpi.org.uk/about-the-inquiry/#costs

The Undercover Policing Inquiry is independent of the Home Office and so, decisions on the conduct of its investigations and hearings are for the Inquiry to make.

The Inquiry has sought the views of Core Participants and relevant parties on how it should conduct its evidence hearings. Following the completion of the November 2020 evidence hearings the Inquiry held a directions hearing in January 2021 which discussed arrangements for Phase 2 of Tranche 1 hearings that are scheduled to commence on 21^st April 2021.

The outcome of this directions hearing was published in February by the Inquiry, detailing its provision of live audio and video streaming to the public and the rationale behind this. This can be found on the Inquiry website at: https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/20210205-directions-t1_p2_hearings.pdf

The issue was carefully considered in 2018 and it was decided that panel members would not be appointed at that time. A judicial review of the decision was subsequently refused. Sir John Mitting is an experienced High Court Judge and has the necessary expertise to deliver the Inquiry’s terms of reference.

The Inquiry’s Strategic Review of May 2018 set out the Chair’s views that the appointment of a panel to assist in Module three of the Inquiry’s investigations timetable would be useful, and any such appointment would be subject to consultation between the Inquiry Chair and Home Secretary.

The police and Security Service are operationally independent from the Home Office and decisions concerning their engagement with the Undercover Policing Inquiry are a matter for them. It would not be appropriate for the Home Office to comment on or intervene in those organisations’ engagement with the Inquiry while it is ongoing.

The Home Office does not hold the information requested.

Data on the number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued under the new emergency COVID-19 health regulations, are published by the NPCC on a fortnightly basis. Information on the reason for which a fine was issued is included however the level of detail requested is not available. The latest statistics can be found here: https://news.npcc.police.uk/resources/fixed-penalty-notices-issued-under-covid-29th-may-v1

Policing is a devolved matter and FPNs issued by Police Scotland and Police Service Northern Ireland are reported separately by the respective forces.