Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the needs of an unaccompanied minor placed in the care of a local authority; and what assessment his Department has made of the ability of local authorities to meet those needs.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Local authorities have a statutory duty under S20 of the Children Act 1989 to look after children in need in their area. This includes unaccompanied asylum seeking (UAS) children who either arrive in a local authority area or are transferred there under the mandated National Transfer Scheme. The National Transfer Scheme provides a mechanism for the statutory responsibility for an UAS child to be transferred from an entry local authority to another local authority in the UK for ongoing care and support.
The decision for any UAS child to be referred to the NTS for transfer lies with the local authorities as the child’s corporate parent. The NTS Protocol sets out the criteria for referring a child to the NTS which can be found here: Unaccompanied asylum seeking children: national transfer scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
When a child is being looked after by a local authority, that local authority is under a duty to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare under the Children Act 1989.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to encourage (a) banks and (b) other financial institutions to engage in corporate social responsibility.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Corporate social responsibility, where such actions go beyond what is required in regulation, is a matter for banks and financial institutions to make individual decisions on.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what encouragement they are providing to businesses to promote and encourage volunteering amongst employees.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government recognises how vital volunteering is for society, reaping benefits for those who volunteer as well as the organisations they assist. The Government aims to remove barriers which prevent people from getting involved.
HM Government wants to see employers develop their own strong corporate responsibility programmes and to encourage businesses, the public sector and charities to consider the role that employer-supported volunteering can play as part of their impact on society.
HM Government strongly encourages employers to consider offering volunteering leave as part of their employee benefits package. Employees have the right to reasonable time off work to carry out specified public duties, as established in Section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Time off for other voluntary duties is a matter for individual employers as they balance their business needs.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many people have been hired by Ofcom in roles relating to equality, diversity and inclusion since 2020.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Ofcom is an independent regulator with responsibility for its own recruitment. Since 2020 it has recruited three people in roles relating to equality, diversity and inclusion: one Associate D&I advisor, one Senior Associate D&I Programme Manager and one Head of Culture, Diversity and Wellbeing. These staff are focused on internal, corporate matters, and do not relate to any of Ofcom’s relevant regulatory duties, for example, to ensure diversity and inclusion in broadcasting.
Ofcom’s diversity and inclusion strategy for 2021-26, as well as annual progress updates, can be found on their website.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people are employed by the Government to investigate tax evasion of people with assets worth over £10 million.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to tackling tax avoidance, evasion, and all other forms of tax non-compliance. HMRC has considerable resources to tackle non-compliance in the tax system, including tax evasion.
Within HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group (CCG), HMRC have dedicated Wealthy Teams with responsibility for tax compliance in this customer segment. As part of their role, they are key to delivering HMRC’s compliance response to evasion.
Alongside the work of the Wealthy teams, the most serious non-compliance in the Wealthy customer segment is dealt with by specialist Offshore Corporate and Wealthy (OCW) colleagues in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service.
For data on the full time equivalent (FTE) employees working in HMRC's Wealthy Teams, I refer the hon member to my answer of 30 January 2023 to PQ UIN 131454 : Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the transparency of the (a) finances and (b) corporate structures at United Utilities Group.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All water companies publish their annual reports on their websites. The publicly available reports include financial and governance information. United Utilities’ most recent annual report can be found here - United Utilities Group PLC - Year in Review 2022 (annualreport2022.com).
In addition to annual reports, all water companies publish an annual performance report (APR). The APRs are accessible to all stakeholders and set out how companies are delivering for their customers, environment and wider society.
Ofwat, the economic regulator, also assesses the financial resilience of water companies and publishes an annual Monitoring Financial Resilience Report, which sets out observations and actions to further improve the financial resilience of the sector. Ofwat’s report can be found here - MFR_2021-22.pdf (ofwat.gov.uk).
The water companies provide an essential public service to their communities, and so our Strategic Policy Statement sets out that we expect Ofwat to encourage and incentivise water companies to foster better corporate responsibility.
Building on their existing principles for board leadership, transparency and governance, Ofwat announced on 20 March 2023 new changes to company licences that will improve the performance and financial health of water companies and provide greater transparency with customers and stakeholders.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the transparency of the (a) finances and (b) corporate structures of water companies.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is a high level of transparency in both areas. All water companies publish their annual reports on their websites. The publicly available reports include financial and governance information.
In addition to annual reports, all water companies publish an annual performance report (APR). The APRs are accessible to all stakeholders and set out how companies are delivering for their customers, environment and wider society.
Ofwat, the economic regulator, also assesses the financial resilience of water companies and publishes an annual Monitoring Financial Resilience Report, which sets out observations and actions to further improve the financial resilience of the sector. Ofwat’s report can be found here - MFR_2021-22.pdf (ofwat.gov.uk)
The water companies provide an essential public service to their communities, and so our Strategic Policy Statement sets out that we expect Ofwat to encourage and incentivise water companies to foster better corporate responsibility.
Building on Ofwat’s existing principles for board leadership, transparency and governance, it announced on 20 March 2023 new changes to company licences that will improve the performance and financial health of water companies and provide greater transparency with customers and stakeholders.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she is taking steps to encourage businesses to update their Corporate Social Responsibility polices.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
British business has an outstanding reputation for corporate responsibility, with 10 of the world’s top 100 companies ranked by social responsibility based in the UK. These companies thrive within the UK’s world leading corporate reporting and governance frameworks. For example, the Companies Act 2006 requires directors to have regard to the environment, employees, customers, and suppliers, among other matters. Larger companies are required to report how directors have had regard to these matters when taking decisions to promote companies’ success. This is in addition to requirements to disclose information relating to social matters, human rights and corruption within annual reports.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to encourage businesses to launch corporate volunteering programmes.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government wants to see employers develop their own strong corporate responsibility programmes and to encourage businesses, the public sector and charities to consider the role that employer-supported volunteering can play as part of their impact on society.
The Government strongly encourages employers to consider offering volunteering leave as part of their employee benefits package. Employees have the right to reasonable time off work to carry out specified public duties, as established in Section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. However, time off for other voluntary duties is a matter for individual employers.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to his Written Answer on 9 March (HL5913), what legislation gives the Clerk of Parliaments and the Clerk of the House the legal responsibility for safety on the Parliamentary Estate.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Under the powers conferred on the Clerk of the Parliaments by the Clerk of the Parliaments Act 1824 and the Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992, the Clerk of the Parliaments is the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords and acts as the employer of the great majority of staff in the House of Lords Administration. As such he meets the various health and safety duties imposed on employers under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and regulations made under it (including the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012). The Clerk of the Parliaments also has safety-related duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and, in relation to visitors, the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957.
The Clerk of the House of Commons, who is the Corporate Officer of that House by virtue of the Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992, has very similar powers, although he is not the employer of House of Commons staff. He shares the responsibility for the physical premises under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 with the Clerk of the Parliaments.