Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of immigration and asylum legal aid provision on the success rate of asylum appeals in Coventry in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The commissioning and monitoring of civil legal aid services are done by Procurement Area rather than by individual town or city, with Procurement Areas differing for different categories of law. The commissioning standard is to have at least one immigration provider per Procurement Area. Coventry falls within the Midlands and East of England Procurement Area. There are currently 45 immigration and asylum providers operating out of 55 offices within this procurement area. Information about number of legal aid offices undertaking work, broken down by region, legal aid scheme and category of law are published as part of the Legal Aid Agency (LAA)’s official statistics [see tables 9.1-9.8].
The LAA recently tendered for new contracts that will start on 1 September 2024 and is in the process of assessing the bids. There will also be a further tender opportunity commencing on 18 March. These procurement exercises provide opportunities for new providers to obtain a contract to deliver legal aid services and existing contract holders to deliver additional services in other categories of law with a view to maximising available provision.
Across England and Wales, we have taken a number of steps to help increase access to legal aid for immigration and asylum cases. For example, we are providing up to £1.4 million of funding in 2024 for accreditation and reaccreditation of senior caseworkers to conduct immigration and asylum legal aid work.
The ongoing Review of Civil Legal Aid is considering the broader economic context of the civil legal aid market as a whole, including for immigration cases, so that it can operate sustainably in the long-term; the Green Paper consultation is expected in July 2024.
The Ministry of Justice does not have data on the number and proportion of asylum seekers that have not had access to a local immigration and asylum legal aid provider in the last 12 months. At a national level, the LAA monitors capacity across its legal aid contracts on an ongoing basis and, where demand is greater than the available supply, takes action to secure additional provision to ensure the continuity of legal aid-funded services.
The LAA regularly engages with provider representative groups, including on the provision of immigration and asylum services, via forums such as the Civil Contract Consultative Group.
The Ministry of Justice has not made an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of immigration and asylum legal aid provision on the success rate of asylum appeals in Coventry in the last 12 months. We do publish data on tribunal outcomes as a part of the published statistics – see tab FIA3 in the main tables (Tribunals statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help increase access to legal aid for immigration cases in Coventry.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The commissioning and monitoring of civil legal aid services are done by Procurement Area rather than by individual town or city, with Procurement Areas differing for different categories of law. The commissioning standard is to have at least one immigration provider per Procurement Area. Coventry falls within the Midlands and East of England Procurement Area. There are currently 45 immigration and asylum providers operating out of 55 offices within this procurement area. Information about number of legal aid offices undertaking work, broken down by region, legal aid scheme and category of law are published as part of the Legal Aid Agency (LAA)’s official statistics [see tables 9.1-9.8].
The LAA recently tendered for new contracts that will start on 1 September 2024 and is in the process of assessing the bids. There will also be a further tender opportunity commencing on 18 March. These procurement exercises provide opportunities for new providers to obtain a contract to deliver legal aid services and existing contract holders to deliver additional services in other categories of law with a view to maximising available provision.
Across England and Wales, we have taken a number of steps to help increase access to legal aid for immigration and asylum cases. For example, we are providing up to £1.4 million of funding in 2024 for accreditation and reaccreditation of senior caseworkers to conduct immigration and asylum legal aid work.
The ongoing Review of Civil Legal Aid is considering the broader economic context of the civil legal aid market as a whole, including for immigration cases, so that it can operate sustainably in the long-term; the Green Paper consultation is expected in July 2024.
The Ministry of Justice does not have data on the number and proportion of asylum seekers that have not had access to a local immigration and asylum legal aid provider in the last 12 months. At a national level, the LAA monitors capacity across its legal aid contracts on an ongoing basis and, where demand is greater than the available supply, takes action to secure additional provision to ensure the continuity of legal aid-funded services.
The LAA regularly engages with provider representative groups, including on the provision of immigration and asylum services, via forums such as the Civil Contract Consultative Group.
The Ministry of Justice has not made an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of immigration and asylum legal aid provision on the success rate of asylum appeals in Coventry in the last 12 months. We do publish data on tribunal outcomes as a part of the published statistics – see tab FIA3 in the main tables (Tribunals statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many starts by region have been recorded for the youth offer as of 01 March 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Youth Offer launched on the 20 September 2020 and provides support for 16–24-year-olds who are on Universal Credit to help them move into employment. It includes three elements:
As of 01 March 2024, there have been 1,123,000 starts on the Youth Offer.
Starts by strand nationally:
Starts between dates | Youth Employment Programme | Youth Hub | Youth Employability Coach | Youth Offer |
21/09/2020 – 31/03/2021 | 206,700 |
|
| 206,700 |
01/04/2021 – 31/03/2022 | 259,300 | 14,800 | 21,700 | 295,800 |
01/04/2021 – 31/03/2023 | 272,700 | 15,100 | 18,300 | 306,200 |
01/04/2023 – 29/02/2024 | 282,800 | 13,000 | 18,500 | 314,300 |
Total Starts | 1,021,500 | 43,000 | 58,500 | 1,123,000 |
Starts by strand and region:
Region | Youth Employment Programme | Youth Hub | Youth Employability Coach | Youth Offer |
East Midlands | 69,000 | 1,000 | 2,500 | 72,500 |
East of England | 78,400 | 400 | 3,800 | 82,500 |
London | 157,800 | 3,100 | 5,900 | 166,800 |
North East | 51,100 | 2,800 | 3,300 | 57,200 |
North West | 131,500 | 10,700 | 9,600 | 151,800 |
Scotland | 85,300 | 3,000 | 7,900 | 96,200 |
South East | 107,000 | 3,700 | 3,800 | 114,600 |
South West | 64,700 | 700 | 4,100 | 69,500 |
Wales | 51,500 | 300 | 2,200 | 54,000 |
West Midlands | 108,900 | 8,900 | 7,800 | 125,600 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 96,400 | 8,200 | 7,300 | 112,000 |
Unknown | 19,800 | 200 | 400 | 20,400 |
Total | 1,021,500 | 43,000 | 58,500 | 1,123,000 |
Notes:
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the bi-mode trains on air quality in (a) Nottingham Railway station and (b) the surrounding area.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
East Midlands Railway is replacing its diesel-only Class 222 trains with bi-mode Class 810s as part of the East Midlands franchise award. These new bi-mode trains will gradually be introduced into service starting in early 2025 and are anticipated to significantly reduce air pollution emissions at Nottingham station and in the surrounding areas. The impact of these changes will be monitored by the Department for Transport's £4.5 million Air Quality Monitoring Network, which measures air pollution at selected stations across Great Britain, including Nottingham Station.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average ambulance response times in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) the East Midlands were in the latest period for which figures are available; and what steps she is taking to help reduce ambulance response times in those areas.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Lincolnshire and the East Midlands are served by the East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS). The following table shows the average EMAS response time, broken down by response time category, in January 2024:
Response time category | Response time |
Category 1 | 00:09:08 |
Category 2 | 00:49:59 |
Category 3 | 02:48:54 |
Category 4 | 02:48:56 |
Source: Ambulance response times are published monthly by NHS England, and are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/
Our Delivery Plan for Recovering Urgent and Emergency Care Services sets out a range of measures to support the reduction of Category 2 response times to 30 minutes on average. To increase capacity and improve ambulance response times, ambulance services are receiving £200 million of additional funding this year, alongside the delivery of new ambulances.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of hospital admissions for falls in each region in England; (a) South West, (b) London, (c) South East, (d) North East, (e) North West, (f) West Midlands, (g) Yorkshire and the Humber, (h) East Midlands and (i) East of England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data is not published in the format requested.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to protect rural bus services in Leicestershire; and what discussions he has had with Arriva East Midlands about the necessity of such bus services.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In England, the majority of bus services outside London operate on a commercial basis. Where commercial service provision is insufficient to meet the needs of local communities, local authorities can subsidise bus services where this represents value for money. This ensures that service provision is aligned with local needs. The Department for Transport regularly engages with bus operators and local authorities throughout England on the provision of local bus services, including those in rural areas.
The Government recognises the importance of local bus services to ensuring communities can stay connected, including in rural areas, and has announced over £4.5 billion to support and improve bus services since 2020.
The over £4.5 billion includes:
o £2bn pandemic funding between March 2020 and June 2023, followed by £300m in further service support until April 2025 (of which £160m is BSIP+ (not included in the £2bn BSIP funding below) and £140m is BSOG+ funding);
o £2bn Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding, including £1bn for LTAs in the North and the Midlands recently reallocated from HS2 (of which we have already announced allocations for the first £150m in 2024/25 and allocations for 25/26 onwards will be published in due course);
o Nearly £600m of funding for the £2 fare cap until the end of 2024.
From the Bus Service Improvement Plan funding, Leicestershire County Council has been allocated over £7.5 million so far.
The Government also makes over £200 million available to bus operators every year through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) to help them maintain their network. A further £42 million in BSOG funding is provided directly to local authorities to help subsidise socially necessary bus services that might otherwise be commercially unviable, helping to support rural bus routes. Leicestershire County Council receives £535,302 of this funding every year.
The Government is also providing £20 million through the Rural Mobility Fund in England to trial 16 innovative demand responsive minibus services to better understand the challenges associated with introducing bookable bus services in rural and suburban settings. £1.3 million of this funding has been provided to Leicestershire County Council to trial their ‘FoxConnect’ service, covering rural areas between Hinckley and Leicester.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of the number of leaseholders in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The department publishes an annual estimate of leasehold dwellings in England.
The most recent data (2021-22) shows there were an estimated 4.98 million leasehold dwellings in England. In the East Midlands, there were an estimated 192,000 leasehold dwellings.
Due to methodological limitations, the statistics cannot show robust estimates at a sub-regional level. The data are published on gov.uk here: Leasehold dwellings.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether they can publish the (a) members list and (b) terms of reference for the nine regional statutory joint committees responsible for commissioning specialised services that cover (i) North East, (ii) West Midlands, (iii) East Midlands, (iv) South West, (v) East, (vi) London, (vii) North West, (viii) Yorkshire and The Humber, and (ix) South East.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In December 2023, the NHS England Board approved plans to delegate the commissioning of the same 59 specialised services to integrated care boards (ICBs), rather than joint committees, in the East, the Midlands, and the North West regions of England, from April 2024. Any relevant joint committees will have delegated responsibility for commissioning specialised services up until this point. More information about the plans is available at the following link:
NHS England also approved plans for joint committees to commission appropriate specialised services in the South West, South East, London and the North East and Yorkshire regions of England for 2024/25. This will help support a smooth transition of commissioning responsibility by April 2025.
The committees are in various stages of development, with some winding up for April 2024 and others becoming established to commission specialised services from April 2025. The Department does not currently plan to publish terms of reference for these committees. The attached document shows a list of joint committees and members, for the commissioning of delegated services.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of families living in temporary accommodation in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 14761 on 26 February 2024.