Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will establish a dedicated channel for people arriving from Hong Kong with British national overseas status to obtain driving licences.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Holders of a full Hong Kong car or motorcycle driving licence can exchange this for a GB equivalent without the need to apply for a provisional licence or take a driving test. Information on the average time taken to issue a driving licence to applicants from Hong Kong is not available.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has been working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government about the potential number of applicants who may arrive from Hong Kong with British national overseas status over the next five years. The DVLA is confident that these applications can be absorbed within its existing processes and there are no plans to introduce a dedicated channel.
Asked by: Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average length of time taken by his Department was from an application being received to issuing driving licenses to applicants arriving from Hong Kong with British national overseas status.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Holders of a full Hong Kong car or motorcycle driving licence can exchange this for a GB equivalent without the need to apply for a provisional licence or take a driving test. Information on the average time taken to issue a driving licence to applicants from Hong Kong is not available.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has been working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government about the potential number of applicants who may arrive from Hong Kong with British national overseas status over the next five years. The DVLA is confident that these applications can be absorbed within its existing processes and there are no plans to introduce a dedicated channel.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of building bespoke housing for refugees on his Department's unused estate as an alternative to selling that land as part of the Better Defence Estate Programme.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
In accordance with the principles of disposing of excess land, all surplus Defence land is made available to other Government Departments for alternative public use. We continue to engage across Government to make them aware of surplus land before it is released onto the open market. The Ministry of Defence also continues to work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government, and the Home Office support on a cross-Government efforts to identify how we can best support Local Authorities in their endeavour to home Afghan evacuees across the United Kingdom. This includes the provision of additional Defence accommodation where appropriate to do so.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions is she having with Ministerial colleagues in the (a) Department for Work and Pensions and (b) Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on Afghan refugees' access to benefits and housing support.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Under Operation Warm Welcome, we are taking a cross-government approach to ensuring Afghans arriving in the UK are able to rebuild their lives, find work, pursue education and integrate with their local communities.
Those brought to the UK under ACRS will be able to apply for public funds. To ensure they will be supported properly, changes will be made to legislation so that, if necessary, people arriving under ACRS do not need to meet the habitual residence test.
We continue to work with local authorities to source appropriate accommodation as quickly as possible for families already in the UK. So far, 204 local authorities have agreed to house those who have been evacuated from Afghanistan, and we would strongly urge every council across the country to contribute to this national effort.
We are working with other government departments and local authorities to realise appropriate accommodation opportunities to meet the demands of this urgent national response.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the penalties that have been served under the Vagrancy Act 1824 in the last five years.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is clear that no one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live and the time has come to reconsider the Vagrancy Act.
Work is ongoing to look at this complex issue and it is important that we look carefully at all options. We know from our engagement with stakeholders that there are diverging views about the necessity and relevance of the Vagrancy Act, and it may not be a question of simply repealing the 1824 Act and putting nothing in its place.
We will update on our findings in due course.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not centrally hold data on prosecutions under the Vagrancy Act over the last 10 years. The Ministry of Justice outcome by offence tool, which is publicly available, holds some of this information:
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people have been prosecuted under the Vagrancy Act 1824 in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and (c) York in each of the last 10 years; and what steps he is taking to reduce the number of prosecutions.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is clear that no one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live and the time has come to reconsider the Vagrancy Act.
Work is ongoing to look at this complex issue and it is important that we look carefully at all options. We know from our engagement with stakeholders that there are diverging views about the necessity and relevance of the Vagrancy Act, and it may not be a question of simply repealing the 1824 Act and putting nothing in its place.
We will update on our findings in due course.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not centrally hold data on prosecutions under the Vagrancy Act over the last 10 years. The Ministry of Justice outcome by offence tool, which is publicly available, holds some of this information:
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on repealing the Vagrancy Act 1824; and what the timeframe is for the repeal of that Act.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is clear that no one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live and the time has come to reconsider the Vagrancy Act.
Work is ongoing to look at this complex issue and it is important that we look carefully at all options. We know from our engagement with stakeholders that there are diverging views about the necessity and relevance of the Vagrancy Act, and it may not be a question of simply repealing the 1824 Act and putting nothing in its place.
We will update on our findings in due course.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not centrally hold data on prosecutions under the Vagrancy Act over the last 10 years. The Ministry of Justice outcome by offence tool, which is publicly available, holds some of this information:
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to prepare properties or repurpose accommodation on his Department's estate to ensure it is fit for habitation by refugees from Afghanistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The whole of government is rightly focused on delivering the best start to life in the UK for individuals who have supported the UK over the last 20 years of operations in Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence is particularly committed to actively supporting the integration of Afghan nationals who have supported Defence wherever we can.
The Ministry of Defence has already offered Local Authorities the opportunity to lease up to one hundred units of Service Family Accommodation to house Afghan evacuees across the United Kingdom. Whilst the provision of accommodation is clearly a crucial part of the resettlement programme, of equal importance is ensuring that Local Authorities have the capacity to provide the right level of access to health and education provision to ensure the integration of Afghan evacuees.
The Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government, and the Home Office support on a cross-Government efforts to identify where we can best support this endeavour. This includes the provision of additional Defence accommodation where appropriate to do so.
Before a decision is made on the provision of additional Defence accommodation, we continue to work with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation to assess the impact allocating additional houses to Afghan families would have on our ability to support Service families who are eligible but not currently entitled to occupy surplus Service Families Accommodation.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to release property from his Department's estate to house refugees from Afghanistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The whole of government is rightly focused on delivering the best start to life in the UK for individuals who have supported the UK over the last 20 years of operations in Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence is particularly committed to actively supporting the integration of Afghan nationals who have supported Defence wherever we can.
The Ministry of Defence has already offered Local Authorities the opportunity to lease up to one hundred units of Service Family Accommodation to house Afghan evacuees across the United Kingdom. Whilst the provision of accommodation is clearly a crucial part of the resettlement programme, of equal importance is ensuring that Local Authorities have the capacity to provide the right level of access to health and education provision to ensure the integration of Afghan evacuees.
The Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government, and the Home Office support on a cross-Government efforts to identify where we can best support this endeavour. This includes the provision of additional Defence accommodation where appropriate to do so.
Before a decision is made on the provision of additional Defence accommodation, we continue to work with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation to assess the impact allocating additional houses to Afghan families would have on our ability to support Service families who are eligible but not currently entitled to occupy surplus Service Families Accommodation.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the potential long-term financial costs of providing early intervention funding for support for disabled children and their families.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We believe it is right for local authorities, who know their areas’ needs best, to determine what services, including early help, are required locally.
Respite care services for disabled children are provided on the basis of an individual assessment of each child and family’s needs, and it is right that this individual focus continues. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, we ensured that respite care services for disabled children and their families were allowed to continue to operate. This applied to services which care for children in and away from home. Where parents have a disabled child under the age of 5, they were also able to establish a support bubble with another household to provide respite care.
To support local areas, the government has given over £6 billion in unringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including children’s services. We will continue to work with other government departments, including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to ensure the upcoming Spending Review reflects the needs of children’s services.
In addition to statutory services, we are providing £27.3 million to the Family Fund in financial year 2021-22 to support over 60,000 families on low incomes raising children and young people with disabilities or serious illnesses. Grants can be used for a range of purposes, including family breaks.