Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce inactivity in the labour market.
Answered by Jo Churchill
DWP supports people across the country to move into and progress in work, and we are committed to reducing economic inactivity.
Over the last year, we have announced a wide range of additional measures building on our extensive employment support, breaking down barriers to work for those we know are more likely to experience economic inactivity.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of trends in re-offending rates for people subject to a home detention curfew for the final part of their custodial sentence.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The proven reoffending rate for adults released from custody in 2017/18 and who reoffended within one year of their release was 47.6%. For offenders released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC), the reoffending rate was 23.0%.
The 2017/18 cohort has been chosen since this is the most recent cohort available where the reoffending data within a year (i.e. up to 2019) is not affected by the Covid 19 pandemic and associated court backlogs.
HDC has been operating well for over 20 years and provides a safe and effective way of managing the transition of suitable, lower-risk prisoners from custody to the community whilst maintaining restrictions on their liberty through the use of an electronically monitored curfew – ‘tagging’. Offenders released on HDC face strict eligibility requirements and a risk assessment process, which seek to select cases which are suitable because they can be safely managed in the community and have a lower likelihood of reoffending. We are seeking to expand the benefits of HDC for suitable prisoners whilst ensuring that public protection remains the overriding priority.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help people with the cost of living.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is taking action to help. Overall, we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023- 24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of bills.
This includes up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments for households on eligible means-tested benefits. The DWP successfully delivered the second payment of £300 to over 7 million households, 99% of those claiming DWP benefits who are eligible, between 31 October and 7 November. The remaining eligible households will continue to be automatically paid between now and 19 November by DWP. HMRC started to make their payments from 10 November. This follows on from the £301 payment issued in April 2023 to 8.3 million households. A further payment of £299 will be made by spring 2024 for those entitled.
Also, more than eight million pensioner households across the UK will receive an additional £300 Cost of Living Payment during winter 2023-24 paid as a top up to the winter fuel payment, and 6.4 million individuals on eligible ‘extra-costs’ disability benefits have also received a further £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment.
For people who require additional support, in England, the Household Support Fund will continue until March 2024. This year long extension allows Local Authorities to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need with the cost of essentials. Local Authorities are expected to support households in the most need, and in particular those who may not be eligible for the other support Government recently made available but are nevertheless in need. The Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion.
From April, we uprated benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%, and in order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap levels also increased by the same amount.
To support those who are in work, from 1 April, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the competitiveness of the UK's tax regime.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Chancellor is committed to ensuring the UK tax system is one of the most competitive amongst major economies.
The Government has announced full expensing for investments in qualifying plant and machinery for the next three years, permanently set the Annual Investment Allowance at its highest ever level of £1 million to significantly boost business investment, and has provided further support for businesses’ R&D spending to promote the conditions for enterprise to succeed.
The Chancellor will look to cut business taxes further when it is responsible to do so.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the armed forces in Scotland.
Answered by Alister Jack
Our armed forces in Scotland play a vital role in defending the whole of the UK.
Most recently, I was delighted to see £83m of UK Government investment awarded to RAF Lossiemouth to build a new facility ready for the UK E-7 Wedgetail fleet. This award - and the creation of 125 jobs - is another great example of how UK defence investment is supporting our armed forces in Scotland.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps she has taken to reduce administrative requirements on the police for the submission of documents to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
I am working closely with colleagues across Government to identify and if possible to reduce the administrative burden on the Police and CPS. Of course, there is an important balance to strike in protecting sensitive personal information, whilst not over-burdening police officers.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle rural crime.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We are committed to driving down rural crime, which is why the Government is providing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
We have also tabled amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to introduce tougher sentencing and improved police powers for hare coursing.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the value and effectiveness of independent (a) schools and (b) special schools’ contribution to SEND education in England.
Answered by Will Quince
In January 2021, local authorities reported placing 4,555 children and young people with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans in mainstream independent schools and 17,839 in independent special schools (5.2% of EHC plans). There are 610 independent special schools currently registered with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, representing 36% of special schools. 65% were rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ following inspection.
Local authorities are responsible for determining where children and young people with EHC plans should be educated. Decisions are informed by whether a school is suitable for the age, aptitude and needs of an individual, and compatible with the efficient use of resources. The local authority is responsible for monitoring the placement (for example through the annual review of the EHC plan), to ensure the provision continues to meet the child or young person’s needs.
In order to comply with the Independent School Standards, an independent school must take into account the ages, aptitudes and needs of all pupils, including those with an EHC plan, ensuring all pupils have the opportunity to learn and make progress. Where independent schools are identified as not meeting the required education or boarding standards, the Department for Education, as the independent school regulator, may take regulatory or enforcement action to require independent schools to improve within specified time constraints.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
What progress his Department has made in trialling e-scooters.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
E-scooter trials are progressing well. Legal changes were made in June, twenty trials are now live and supporting the green recovery across the country.
Asked by: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of the proposals for a mined tunnel in Wendover; and if he will publish the results of that assessment.
Answered by Grant Shapps
The Wendover Mined Tunnel was considered in detail during the passage of the Phase One Bill in both the Commons and Lords committees. Cost comparisons of the consented scheme and the tunnelled alternatives were considered in evidence to both committees during the Bill process and the primary conclusion was that the now consented scheme would be less expensive than the tunnelled alternatives.
Since then, DfT officials and HS2 Ltd have been challenged by Wendover Parish Council and your predecessor, Sir David Lidington, over these decisions and have presented further reports by OTB and Michael Byng (mbpc) challenging the consented scheme.
In each instance, it has been concluded that the Wendover Mined Tunnel would be harder to construct, is costlier and involves a significantly greater degree of risk to the consented scheme.
The Department and HS2 Ltd remain convinced that the Select Committee made the right decision when they accepted that there was a significant difference in cost between the mined alternative schemes and concluded that the HS2 Ltd scheme should be retained.
Even if the alternative mined schemes were broadly comparable in these respects, the subsequent costs of seeking legislative consent for the detailed design change and the consequential cost of delaying the introduction of HS2 services do not represent good value for money or an effective use of public money.