Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the Accreditation UK scheme for institutions providing courses to students on a Sponsored Study visa.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
International students using the student and child student routes must be sponsored by an education provider that holds a Student sponsor licence.
Education providers wishing to sponsor international students must obtain and maintain a Home Office Sponsor licence to do so and must be assessed for educational quality by an Educational Oversight body. We keep our immigration policies and Student sponsorship system under constant review.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to remove clauses 22-25 from the Illegal Migration Act 2023.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary set out the government’s position in respect of the Illegal Migration Act in her statement to the house on 22nd July 2024. Any legislative plans from the statement will be set out in the normal way in due course.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that her Department collects (a) comprehensive, (b) comparable and (c) disaggregated data on (i) violence against women and girls, (ii) the protected characteristics of (A) victims and (B) perpetrators and (iii) their relationship.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes a wide range of statistics collected across government on offences disproportionately experienced by women and girls. This includes data on the demographic characteristics of victims and their relationships with perpetrators.
The department is working with ONS and other government departments to improve and expand data collections in this area to provide a stronger evidence base to inform the Government’s commitment to halve violence against women and girls.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities on using (a) the Public Sector Equality Duty and (b) equality impact assessments to ensure that (i) women and (ii) women with intersecting protected characteristics are treated equally in all decision-making processes.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is each local authority's own responsibility to ensure it fulfils its obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to reform child maintenance services by (a) abolishing fees for survivors of violence against women and girls and (b) implementing robust enforcement measures for non-paying parents.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
A consultation on proposed reforms to the CMS was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. This included removing Direct Pay and changing the charging structure, with all CMS cases managed in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster. The consultation also explores how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported.
This Government has extended the consultation to the 30 September 2024 to ensure full stakeholder engagement can take place. We will then consider the next steps for CMS.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to introduce a legal right to (a) suitable emergency accommodation and (b) adequate support for people at risk of street homelessness.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness levels are far too high and we must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government will look at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.
The Homelessness Reduction Act, which came into force in April 2018, places duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness. These duties provide help to all eligible people, including single people who do not have priority need. If homelessness cannot be prevented or relieved, the local authority may owe the applicant a duty to provide them with temporary accommodation until settled accommodation is secured.
Homelessness legislation includes eligibility criteria, consideration of vulnerability and whether someone is intentionally homeless to ensure that resources, including temporary accommodation and access to settled housing, are prioritised effectively and accommodation is there for people who need it most. The Homelessness Code of Guidance, which local authorities must pay regard to, contains advice for assessing vulnerability.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to extend the move-on period for newly-recognised refugees to a minimum of 56 days.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government is aware of the need for a smooth transition out of asylum accommodation for recognised refugees. The Home Office works closely with MHCLG on ensuring move-on works effectively, so that those granted refugee status can integrate into society and work.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the Rent a Room Scheme tax-free earnings threshold.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Rent a room relief provides an incentive for people to make spare rooms available for rent.
As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government will keep this under review.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that competent authorities issue decisions on (a) reasonable grounds within five working days and (b) conclusive grounds within 30 days of a reasonable grounds decision; and if her Department will provide support for all victims of modern slavery who have been given a positive conclusive grounds decision for at least 12 months.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery; ensuring that victims are provided with the support they need to begin rebuilding their lives and that those responsible are prosecuted.
The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK’s framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery which works to ensure that confirmed victims receive support until they no longer have recovery needs, or until these needs are met by other services, including if this takes 12 months, or longer.
The unprecedented increase in the volume of referrals into the NRM has presented significant challenges in resourcing and workflow, and we recognise that wait times are too long. Work has been done to increase capacity for decision making, improve operational effectiveness and testing alternative approaches to decision making, but recognise that more needs to be done and are considering options. I am as keen as you to ensure that this happens.
We keep all policies and processes under review.
The Modern Slavery Statutory Guidance sets out when access to modern slavery support may be withheld and that potential victims in the NRM can choose to have legal representation. It also sets out the current prioritisation approach and priorities can change periodically in line with Ministerial arrangements under the Equality Act 2010. Any changes to the prioritisation criteria will be reflected in this guidance.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Sections 14.128-131 of the Modern Slavery Guidance, published in May 2024, if her Department will take steps to amend the prioritisation criteria to ensure her Department prioritises conclusive grounds cases for people in the National Referral Mechanism that have waited the longest.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery; ensuring that victims are provided with the support they need to begin rebuilding their lives and that those responsible are prosecuted.
The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK’s framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery which works to ensure that confirmed victims receive support until they no longer have recovery needs, or until these needs are met by other services, including if this takes 12 months, or longer.
The unprecedented increase in the volume of referrals into the NRM has presented significant challenges in resourcing and workflow, and we recognise that wait times are too long. Work has been done to increase capacity for decision making, improve operational effectiveness and testing alternative approaches to decision making, but recognise that more needs to be done and are considering options. I am as keen as you to ensure that this happens.
We keep all policies and processes under review.
The Modern Slavery Statutory Guidance sets out when access to modern slavery support may be withheld and that potential victims in the NRM can choose to have legal representation. It also sets out the current prioritisation approach and priorities can change periodically in line with Ministerial arrangements under the Equality Act 2010. Any changes to the prioritisation criteria will be reflected in this guidance.