Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps he has taken to help ensure the protection of (a) Hindu communities and (b) other religious minorities in Bangladesh.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has a long-standing commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). Following the student-led protests in July and August, we have been closely monitoring the situation for minorities in Bangladesh. In November, I visited Bangladesh and discussed the importance of the protection of religious minorities, including the Hindu community, with Chief Adviser Yunus. We are providing up to £27 million under the Bangladesh Collaborative, Accountable and Peaceful Politics programme for protecting civic and political space, fostering collaboration, reducing corruption, and mitigating tensions that lead to violence. We will continue to engage with the Interim Government of Bangladesh on the importance of FoRB.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of SEND pupils in (a) Leicester East constituency and (b) England impacted by changes to the bus fare cap.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Education is the lead government department with responsibility for policy on home to school transport, including provision for pupils with special educational needs.
With regard to the national bus fare cap, this will be designed to be as equitable as possible in terms of its support for passengers across England. One of the key principles of the scheme will be to include ‘open’ services which allows any member of public to board. ‘Closed’ school services, defined as a service which would not allow a member of the general public to board, and school services which operate in term-time only will not be eligible for inclusion.
Services from participating operators that serve schools, are open to members of the public and run all year round will be eligible for inclusion in the scheme. This is the same approach as that taken under the current fare cap.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting Armed Forces personnel in receipt of Government compensation from means-tested benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The receipt of War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) awards is already fully ignored when calculating eligibility for Universal Credit.
The first £10 per week of a War Pension or AFCS award is disregarded in: income-related Employment and Support allowance; income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance; and Income Support. Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in these benefits and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount. This contrasts with a benefit like Industrial Injuries Disablement benefit where there is no weekly disregard. Furthermore, these are legacy benefits, in the process of being replaced by Universal Credit, in which War Pensions and AFCS are ignored.
By default, the first £10 per week of a War Pension or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme is disregarded in Housing Benefit. Furthermore, a discretionary scheme allows local authorities to fully disregard them.
In relation to Pension Credit, the first £10 of any War Pension payments or AFCS award made due to injury or disablement is disregarded. Four additions to the War Disablement Pension are completely disregarded: Constant Attendance Allowance; Mobility Supplement; Severe Disablement Occupational Allowance; and dependency increases for anyone other than the applicant or her/his partner.
War Pensions and AFCS awards are a qualifying income for the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit, which is available to those who reached State Pension age before April 2016. Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in Pension Credit and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount. There are no plans to change the ways in which War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) awards interact with means tested benefits.
Social security in Northern Ireland is a transferred matter. The Department for Communities is responsible for how compensation payments are treated in means-tested benefits in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that all SEND pupils are able to access (a) education and (b) training opportunities; and if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the consultation by Leicester City Council entitled Post-16 education transport for young people with SEND, published on 7 November 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
For too long the education and care system has not met the needs of all children and young people, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with parents struggling to get their children the support they need and deserve.
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND receive the right support to succeed in their education and develop the skills they need as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream settings, as well as ensuring specialist settings cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need.
Local authorities must provide to all young people aged 13 to 19, and to those between 20 and 25 with special educational needs, support it considers appropriate to encourage, enable or assist them to effectively participate in education or training. Alongside this there is also a guaranteed place in education and training for all 16 and 17 year olds, expanded work experience and careers advice, action to tackle school attendance and improved access to mental health services for young people in England.
Through our new ‘Youth Guarantee’, this government will ensure that every young person aged 18 to 21 that needs it, is supported in accessing further learning or receives help to get a job or an apprenticeship. This guarantee will bring together and enhance provision and support for young people by offering them tailored support that will help them into further learning or fulfilling work. This will provide support for young people with SEND who may be particularly at risk of not being in education, employment or training. To respond to this challenge, this government will launch trailblazers in eight mayoral combined authorities starting from April 2025, with £45 million of funding being invested in 2025/26 to design and develop the guarantee.
Furthermore, as part of our commitment to helping children and young people with SEND to develop the skills they need as they move into adult life, the department is investing up to £18 million until March 2025 to build capacity in supported internships. The department aims to double the number of internships each year to around 4,500, to support more young people with education, health and care plans to gain the skills to transition into employment.
With regards to the question about transport in Leicester, local authorities must consult with stakeholders in developing their policy statement and any proposed changes to the way post-16 transport is provided. This is to ensure that it provides a full picture of the available transport and support.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to employer National Insurance contributions on not-for-profit organisations.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
At the recent Budget, the government took a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the foundations of the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability.
DCMS Ministers have met with representatives from the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector to discuss this issue and are aware of their concerns about the impacts of the increase to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs). The government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that more than half of businesses (including charities) with NICs liabilities will either gain or see no change next year.
We are also expanding eligibility of the Employment Allowance by removing the £100,000 eligibility threshold, to simplify and reform employer NICs so that all eligible employers now benefit. Businesses and charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.
Within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving. More than £6 billion in charitable reliefs was provided to charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs and their donors in 2023 to 2024. The biggest individual reliefs provided are Gift Aid at £1.6 billion and business rates relief at nearly £2.4 billion.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a new direct rail link between Leicester and Coventry for Leicester's economy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is conducting a thorough review of the previous Government's transport plans to ensure that our transport infrastructure portfolio drives economic growth and delivers value for money for taxpayers. Decisions about individual projects will be informed by the review process and confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential economic impact of the Midlands Rail Hub on people in Leicestershire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are working closely with Network Rail and Midlands Connect to maximise the benefits of Midlands Rail Hub throughout the region, including in Leicestershire. Midlands Connect are leading on the development of the rationale for the scheme including the distribution of the socio-economic benefits and will be able to provide more detail.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of rail journeys made between Coventry and Leicester in each of the last five years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department holds information on the estimates of the number of journeys between all pairs of mainline stations in Great Britain by financial year in the Origin and destination matrix (ODM), published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The total number of journeys between Coventry Station and Leicester Station (in either direction) is reported below.
Table: Number of journeys between Coventry Station1 and Leicester Station by Financial Year
2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/232 | 2023/24 |
64,210 | 9,110 | 29,272 | 55,402 | 40,796 |
Source: Origin and destination matrix (ODM), Office of Rail and Road https://raildata.org.uk/dataProducts?textSearch=Origin%20and%20destination%20matrix%20(ODM)
Notes:
1. The figures are for Coventry Station and Leicester Station only. They do not include journeys to or from Coventry Arena.
2. There is a break in series after 2021/22. Data quality improvements mean that data from 2022/23 onwards is not comparable with previous years.