Daily Report Friday, 21 February 2020

This report shows written answers and statements provided on 21 February 2020 and the information is correct at the time of publication (03:32 P.M., 21 February 2020). For the latest information on written questions and answers, ministerial corrections, and written statements, please visit: http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers/

CONTENTS ANSWERS 7 Bus Services: Rural Areas 14 ATTORNEY GENERAL 7 Department for Digital, Sexual Offences: Prosecutions 7 Culture, Media and Sport: Offshore Funds 15 BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY 7 Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: [Subject Heading to be Work Experience 15 Assigned] 7 Gambling: Video Games 15 Climate Change Convention 8 Greyhound Racing 17 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Huawei 17 Work Experience 8 Huawei: 5G 17 Greenhouse Gas Emissions 8 Loneliness 18 Innovate UK: Finance 9 Telecommunications: Foreign Paternity Leave 10 Companies 18 Visas: Research 11 Television: Licensing 19 DEFENCE 11 EDUCATION 20 [Subject Heading to be [Subject Heading to be Assigned] 11 Assigned] 20 Defence: Innovation 11 Apprentices 21 Porton Down: Animal Apprentices: Degrees 22 Experiments 12 Food Poverty: Academic Year 22 DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND Social Services 23 SPORT 13 Special Educational Needs 23 Broadband 13 Special Educational Needs: Broadband and Mobile Finance 24 Phones: Banff and Buchan 13 ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND Plastic Bags: Fees and RURAL AFFAIRS 24 Charges 41 [Subject Heading to be Sharks: Conservation 42 Assigned] 24 Tobacco: Litter 42 Agriculture: Import Duties 26 Trees: Imports 43 Agriculture: Subsidies 26 Viridor 44 Air Pollution 26 Waste Disposal: Environment Air Pollution: Health Hazards 27 Protection 45 Air Pollution: Urban Areas 28 Waste: Landfill 45 Animals: Imports 28 Wildlife and Countryside Act Cats: Tagging 28 1981 45 Chemicals 29 FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 46 Chemicals: Regulation 29 Anoosheh Ashoori 46 Chemicals: Seas and Oceans 30 Coronavirus 47 Clean Air Zones 31 Hong Kong: Embassies 47 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Middle East: Peace Procurement 31 Negotiations 47 Dogs: Animal Breeding 32 Occupied Territories: Demolition 48 Dogs: Pet Travel Scheme 32 Philippines: Human Rights 48 Energy: Waste 33 Somalia and Somaliland: Environment Protection 34 Travel Information 48 Farmers: Government UN Mission in Darfur 49 Assistance 35 UN Mission in South Sudan 49 Fish: Sales 36 HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE 50 Flood Control: Finance 37 [Subject Heading to be Fly-tipping: Bosworth 37 Assigned] 50 Horses: Animal Welfare 38 Accident and Emergency Incinerators: Fires 39 Departments: Mental Illness 51 Livestock: Transport 39 Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs: Microplastics: Seas and Health Services 52 Oceans 40 Aortic Dissection: Diagnosis 53 Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Blood: Contamination 53 Emissions 40 Cancer: 54 Cancer: Health Services 54 Carers: Older People 55 Knives: South Leicestershire 71 Carers: Young People 56 Lancashire Constabulary: Stop Coronavirus 56 and Search 72 Coronavirus: Disease Control 58 Offences Against Children 72 Department of Health and Special Constables: Social Care: Offshore Funds 58 Conditions of Employment 73 Diabetes: Health Education 59 Special Constables: Equality 73 Diabetes: Medical Equipment 59 Special Constables: Recruitment 74 Diabetes: Skin Diseases 60 Special Constables: Training 75 Eating Disorders: Children 60 Visas: Research 75 Electronic Cigarettes: Children 60 HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND Electronic Cigarettes: Safety 61 LOCAL GOVERNMENT 76 Genito-urinary Medicine 61 [Subject Heading to be Hinckley Hospital: X-rays 61 Assigned] 76 HIV Infection: Drugs 62 Clarion Housing Group 77 Hospitals: Discharges 63 Disabled Facilities Grants 77 Learning Disability: Diagnosis 64 Economic Growth 77 Mental Health Services: Flats: Insulation 78 Waiting Lists 64 Freehold: Fees and Charges 78 Prescription Drugs 65 Fuel Poverty: Older People 79 Prostate Cancer: Screening 65 Housing: Construction 80 HOME OFFICE 66 Housing: Domestic Abuse 81 [Subject Heading to be Housing: Multiple Occupation 82 Assigned] 66 Housing: Romford 82 Asylum 66 Local Plans 83 Asylum: Deportation 66 Planning Permission 83 Domestic Violence: LGBT People 67 Private Rented Housing: Liverpool 83 Firearms and Knives: Liverpool 68 Private Rented Housing: Reform 84 Free Movement of People: Musicians 69 Temporary Accommodation: Children 84 Home Office: Work Experience 69 Immigrants: Health Services 70 Immigration: EU Nationals 70 INTERNATIONAL Grandparents: Access 96 DEVELOPMENT 85 HM Courts and Tribunals [Subject Heading to be Service: Sick Leave 97 Assigned] 85 Homicide: Reoffenders 98 Department for International Knives: Crime 98 Development: Offshore Funds 85 Legal Systems: Islam 99 Developing Countries: Children 86 Life Imprisonment 99 Developing Countries: Fossil Offences Against Children: Fuels 87 Convictions 100 Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance 87 Offences against Children: Sentencing 100 Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: Finance 88 Offensive Weapons: Sentencing 101 Overseas Aid 88 Open Prisons 103 Private Infrastructure Development Group: Fossil Pregnancy: Alcoholic Drinks 103 Fuels 89 Pre-sentence Reports 104 Sub-Saharan Africa: Prison Service: Staff 105 Renewable Energy 90 Prisoners 105 INTERNATIONAL TRADE 90 Prisoners' Release 106 Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia 90 Prisoners' Release: Christmas 108 Trade Agreements: Mexico 91 Prisoners' Release: Curfews 108 Trade Agreements: Tanzania 91 Prisoners: Foreign Nationals 109 JUSTICE 91 Prisoners: Homosexuality 109 [Subject Heading to be Prisoners: Parole 110 Assigned] 91 Prisons: Crimes of Violence 111 Coroners 92 Rape: Convictions 112 Counter-terrorism 93 Reoffenders 113 Courts: Digital Technology 94 Reoffenders: Alternatives to Crimes against the Person: Prosecution 113 Prosecutions 94 Reoffenders: Community Crimes of Violence: Orders 114 Sentencing 95 Reoffenders: Sentencing 115 Debts: VAT 95 Sentencing 115 Driving: Disqualification 96 Sexual Offences: Prosecutions 116 Fraud 96 Tenants' Associations: High Speed Two 128 Tribunals 116 Pedestrian Crossings 128 Terrorism: Prisoners' Release 117 Private Roads 129 Young Offenders: Reoffenders 118 Railways: North West 129 Young Offenders: Sentencing 118 Roads: Capital Investment 129 LEADER OF THE HOUSE 118 Traffic Lights 130 Voting Rights: Scotland 118 TREASURY 130 NORTHERN IRELAND 119 [Subject Heading to be : Northern Ireland 119 Assigned] 130 Equality Commission for Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties 131 Northern Ireland 119 Average Earnings: North East 132 Northern Ireland Office: Work Beer: Excise Duties 132 Experience 119 Bridges: Irish Sea 132 Terrorism: Northern Ireland 119 Child Benefit 133 SCOTLAND 120 Dementia: Social Services 133 Scotland Office: Work Experience 120 Digital Technology: North East 133 TRANSPORT 120 Employment: Taxation 134 [Subject Heading to be Farmers: VAT 135 Assigned] 120 Funerals: Children 135 Aviation: Emergencies 121 Gambling 136 Bus Lanes: Ambulance High Speed 2 Railway Line 136 Services 121 National Insurance 136 Bus Services: Kirklees 122 Ports: Infrastructure 137 Bus Services: Passengers 122 Revenue and Customs: Department of Transport: Offshore Funds 137 Work Experience 122 Social Services: Children 138 Electric Vehicles 123 Tax Avoidance 138 Electric Vehicles: Batteries 124 Temporary Employment: Electric Vehicles: Charging Taxation 140 Points 125 WALES 140 Heathrow Airport: Railways 125 Infrastructure: Wales 140 High Speed 2 Railway Line: WORK AND PENSIONS 140 Iron and Steel 126 Department for Work and High Speed 2 Railway Line: Pensions: Work Experience 140 Wendover 127 Housing Benefit: Older People 141 Universal Credit: Wales 146 Local Housing Allowance 141 MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS 148 Personal Independence HOUSE OF COMMONS Payment: Medical COMMISSION 148 Examinations 141 : Festivals and Special Universal Credit 143 Occasions 148 Universal Credit: Vulnerable Adults 146

Notes: Questions marked thus [R] indicate that a relevant interest has been declared. Questions with identification numbers of 900000 or greater indicate that the question was originally tabled as an oral question and has since been unstarred. ANSWERS

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Sexual Offences: Prosecutions Taiwo Owatemi: [14803] To ask the Attorney General, what recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on ensuring more effective prosecutions of cases involving rape and other sexual offences. Michael Ellis: I regularly engage with the Director of Public Prosecutions on all criminal justice issues, including rape. Rape and sexual offences are devastating crimes that can have a significant and profound impact on victims. All cases are dealt with by specially trained CPS Rape and Serious Sexual Offences lawyers, and the CPS is committed to bringing perpetrators of these horrific crimes to justice. The CPS has accepted all recommendations made in the HMCPSI Rape Report, published in December 2019, and a joint action plan with the police is already underway. This work aims to improve performance in key areas including case progression, digital capability and disclosure, and supporting victims. The ongoing cross-Government review into this complex area will offer comprehensive findings across the whole criminal justice system, and I look forward to its completion

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

[Subject Heading to be Assigned] : [14977] To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help households improve their energy efficiency. : The Clean Growth Strategy set out the aspiration that as many homes as possible will be EPC Band C by 2035 where practical, cost-effective and affordable. The current iteration of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO3) will upgrade around a million homes for low income and vulnerable households by March 2022. ECO3 and its successor will drive over £5bn of investment in energy efficiency between now and 2028. Furthermore, the Manifesto committed to an additional £6.3bn of public investment to upgrade the energy performance of fuel poor homes and social housing. Last year, we launched Simple Energy Advice, a new digital and phoneline service to provide homeowners with impartial and tailored advice on how to cut their energy bills and make their homes greener, as well as information on any available financial support. We also launched two energy efficiency innovation competitions in summer 2019, both aimed at investigating ways to make energy efficiency cheaper and more accessible for householders. The Whole House Retrofit cost reduction trajectory competition made available £9.4 million of funding for projects which demonstrate the potential to reduce costs for Whole House Retrofit. The Green Home Finance Innovation Fund is making nearly £2 million of funding available for a series of projects to develop innovative green mortgage and other lending products, to improve householder access to green finance to support energy efficiency retrofit. We have also committed to consult later this year on requirements for lenders to support homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

Climate Change Convention Seema Malhotra: [741] To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many (a) civil servants and (b) diplomats are working on COP 26 preparations. Kwasi Kwarteng: The COP26 Team in Cabinet Office consists of 140 civil servants (as of 12th February), including an international engagement team. The unit works closely with colleagues across Whitehall, and with the FCO’s overseas network, on the successful delivery of COP26. The Government is committed to making a success of COP26, working across Departments. A key element of this is working towards the UK’s net zero commitment, which is very important to this Government both domestically and internationally.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Work Experience Seema Malhotra: [706] To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people aged (a) 16 and under and (b) over 16 years old undertook work experience in her Department in each of the last three years. : The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Seema Malhotra: [742] To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the report entitled Absolute Zero, published by UK FIRES in November 2019 on eliminating greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Kwasi Kwarteng: We are committed to delivering on our world-leading target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. As announced by the Prime Minister, 2020 is a Year of Climate Action which aims to inspire positive action on climate change across the UK in the build-up to COP26. The Government considers a wide variety of viewpoints on how to reach net zero. We agree with the advice of the Committee on Climate Change that a full range of solutions will be needed to meet our targets, including behaviour change, new technologies to reduce emissions across the economy, as well as greenhouse gas removal technologies that can capture carbon dioxide from the air. The UK has cut carbon emissions by more than any similar developed country. In doing so, we are now the world leader in offshore wind and have many other strengths in key decarbonisation technologies such as smart energy systems and electric vehicles. In the next decade, we will work with the market to deliver two million new high quality jobs in clean growth, creating opportunities across the country from future export markets.

Innovate UK: Finance Daniel Zeichner: [14827] To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of Innovate UK core funding has been awarded to (a) SMEs, (b) large companies and (c) academia in each year since 2010, by sector. : The table below includes grants offered to organisations within the three categories requested. This does not provide an industry sector breakdown as this information is not recorded.

10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18 18/19 19/20

Academic 21% 17% 14% 14% 13% 15% 13% 13% 13% 13%

Large 28% 24% 37% 18% 14% 15% 11% 14% 10% 7%

SME 48% 57% 46% 63% 66% 60% 68% 68% 69% 70%

Totals will not sum to 100% due to organisations outside of these categories. This also excludes funding for the Knowledge Transfer Network, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, Catapults and other Centres, and grants provided through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the Newton fund, and through programmes managed by institutes. The figures for 2019 to 2020 show funding at the time of the question rather than final year-end figures. These are subject to change as the current financial year has not yet concluded. Daniel Zeichner: [14828] To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of project collaborators in Innovate UK core funding grants awarded to Higher Education Institutions were (a) SMEs and (b) large companies in each sector in each year since 2010. Amanda Solloway: The table below describes the proportion of Innovate UK projects that have an academic partner with either a large business or SME. As some projects will involve both large businesses and SMEs, the percentages will not add up to 100%. This does not provide an industry sector breakdown as this information is not recorded. The figures for 2019 to 2020 show funding at the time of the question rather than final year-end figures. These are subject to change as the current financial year has not yet concluded.

10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18 18/19 19/20

Proportion 46% 45% 63% 50% 47% 47% 36% 34% 22% 29% Large

Proportion 80% 76% 68% 86% 86% 83% 89% 85% 85% 79% SME

Paternity Leave Darren Jones: [14738] To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she is taking to improve access to paternity leave. Nadhim Zahawi: The Government is committed to maintaining and enhancing workers’ rights, and to supporting people to balance their work and caring responsibilities. We recently consulted on parental leave and pay reform, including Paternity Leave and Pay through a survey of approximately 3,300 parents, we are also collecting data on various parental leave and pay policies, including barriers and enablers to take-up. We will publish the consultation response and survey findings in due course. The Government is committed to making the UK the best place to work and grow a business. As announced in the Queen’s Speech, we will bring forward an Employment Rights Bill to deliver the greatest reform of workers’ rights in over 20 years. Visas: Research Daniel Zeichner: [623] To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she is taking to ensure that the new visa scheme for international researchers announced on 27 January 2020 enables science and technology companies in (a) Cambridge and (b) the UK to access the global talent that they need to innovate and grow. Amanda Solloway: The Government is committed to making the UK a global science superpower that attracts brilliant people and businesses from across the world. The Global Talent route makes several changes to the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route that will make it easier for the UK’s science and research community to recruit global talent. The route includes a new UKRI Endorsed Funder fast-track route for scientists, researchers, their teams and dependents. The UK’s digital technology sector will also benefit from the Global Talent route. Tech Nation will remain an endorsing body for highly-skilled entrepreneurs and employees working in digital technology. In addition, there will no longer be a cap on the number of visas available.

DEFENCE

[Subject Heading to be Assigned] Andrew Rosindell: [14981] To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding has been allocated to helping members of the armed forces transition back to civilian life in each of the last three years. Johnny Mercer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 February 2020 to Question 13448 to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas).

Attachments: 1. 13448 - MOD Veterans Employment [13448 - MOD Veterans Employment.docx]

Defence: Innovation Grahame Morris: [14688] To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) Engagement Day at Cranfield University on 11 February 2020, whether his Department has plans for further DASA engagement events in the (a) the North East and (b) UK. : I am delighted that my predecessor ( MP) attended the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) engagement day at Cranfield on 11 February, and met Small and Medium Enterprises and academics attending the event. This was the first event of this type and needs to be evaluated before a decision is made on staging further events. In the meantime, DASA has a team of regional Innovation Partners who regularly attend events across the UK, including in the North East of England. The Innovation Partners will continue to look for the right opportunities to engage with suppliers who could support innovation for the defence and security of the UK.

Porton Down: Animal Experiments Cat Smith: [723] To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2020 to Question 9721, on Porton Down: Animal Experiments, on which species of animal were scientific procedures conducted in each year from 2009 to 2018; and how many scientific procedures were conducted on each species. Jeremy Quin: The information requested is shown in the table below. Number of scientific procedures, by species, for the years 2009 to 2018

DOMESTIC GUINEA MACAQUE MARMOSET YEAR DOG FOWL PIG HAMSTER (PRIMATE) (PRIMATE) MOUSE PIG RABBIT RAT TOTAL

2009 0 0 190 0 22 127 7,982 96 30 5 8,452

2010 0 0 308 30 47 197 8,553 140 50 113 9,438

2011 0 0 652 0 0 68 8,801 88 76 37 9,722

2012 3 6 281 0 0 114 8,205 75 16 130 8,830

2013 0 0 447 0 0 193 5,641 108 4 68 6,461

2014 0 0 323 0 0 67 3,411 100 0 223 4,124

2015 0 0 116 0 0 57 2,894 58 0 124 3,249

2016 0 0 236 0 0 118 2,167 27 0 199 2,747

2017 0 0 126 0 0 87 3,400 52 0 240 3,905

2018 0 0 24 0 0 56 1,738 67 0 56 1,941

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Broadband Mr : [14773] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to roll out gigabit broadband (a) in Hampshire and (b) throughout the UK. : The Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit capable connectivity as soon as possible. Much progress has already been made, with full fibre coverage doubling in the past year to reach 10% of UK premises.

This Government will continue to take action to remove barriers to network rollout and to ensure that those in the hardest to reach areas are not left behind. We have introduced legislation to make it easier for operators to deploy broadband in blocks of flats, will be legislating to mandate gigabit connectivity in new builds and will provide £5 billion of funding to support rollout in hard to reach areas.

Specifically in Hampshire, the government has invested heavily in this county, with over £15million of government funding allocated. Full fibre coverage stands at 9%, marginally below the UK figure of c.10%.

Virgin Media switched on full gigabit capability to Southampton in September 2019, whilst CityFibre, Toob and Trooli have all announced plans to invest in full fibre networks. Toob is aiming to cover 100,000 premises in Southampton with full fibre by the end of 2021, while Trooli has been undertaking work in the villages of Ropley and Bramdean.

The Government is also supporting deployment in Hampshire with projects in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight through the Local Full Fibre Networks programme.

Broadband and Mobile Phones: Banff and Buchan David Duguid: [14767] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress the Department has made on the roll-out of (a) superfast broadband and (b) mobile data connectivity in Banff and Buchan constituency. Mr : The government has invested heavily in the Rest of Scotland project area, where the Banff and Buchan constituency sits, with £50 million of central government funding allocated. Superfast coverage in the constituency stands at 84.8%, up from 1.1% in 2012

Today, there is 84.8% 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile network operators in the Banff and Buchan constituency, with 99.3% from at least one mobile network operator.

Bus Services: Rural Areas Marion Fellows: [13991] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of broadband for smart ticket machines on buses in the rural areas of (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland. Matt Warman: Department for Transport statistics show that in March 2019, 92% of buses in England outside were enabled for smart ticketing and 72% offered contactless payment. The Department for Transport offers bus operators in England outside London an additional incentive to implement smart ticketing through the Bus Service Operators Grant. Policy on bus services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter.

The Government announced in-principle support in October 2019 for the Mobile Network Operators’ (MNOs) Shared Rural Network (SRN) proposal. The proposal would share investment costs between the mobile network operators and government and increase 4G mobile coverage throughout the to 95% by 2025, with the biggest improvements seen in the devolved nations. It will be underpinned by a legally binding coverage commitment from each operator.

The Government's in-principle support is subject to detailed negotiations. While this is not yet a done deal, the Prime Minister has made improvements to rural mobile coverage part of his first 100 days pledge. I will continue to work with the sector to make that happen. Smart ticketing is dependent on good mobile coverage, so improvements in geographic coverage, including on major roads will facilitate the option for bus companies to provide smart ticket machines on buses in the rural areas of each nation of the UK, if they choose to do so.

This Government is committed to improving digital connectivity overall. It has committed to investing £5bn to improve broadband connections in the hardest to reach areas of the UK. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Offshore Funds Tulip Siddiq: [653] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department monitors the cash held by its subsidiaries in offshore bank accounts; and how frequently those subsidiaries report those balances to his Department. Mr John Whittingdale: DCMS monitors the commercial bank balances of its Arm’s-Length Bodies (ALBs) held outside of the Government Banking Service (GBS) via quarterly returns and this is reported to HM Treasury. The returns include any cash held in offshore accounts.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Work Experience Seema Malhotra: [709] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many people aged (a) 16 and under and (b) over 16 years old undertook work experience in the Department in each of the last three years. Mr John Whittingdale: The Civil Service aims to increase opportunities for people of all backgrounds and create a Civil Service fit for 21st century Britain through work experience, internships and apprenticeship schemes.

DCMS does not run a central work experience scheme and therefore does not hold data on work experience placements for people under 16. The figures for people over 16 years old are as follows:

2017: 3 on the Summer Diversity Internship Programme

2018: 2 (1 on the Summer Diversity Internship Programme and 1 on the Autism Internship Exchange Programme)

2019: 5 (4 on the Summer Diversity Internship Programme and 1 on the Autism Exchange Internship Programme)

Gambling: Video Games Alex Sobel: [751] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will take steps to (a) close the monetisation loophole in gambling legislation in regards to loot boxes and (b) empower the Gambling Commission to regulate loot boxes in video games. Alex Sobel: [752] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness amongst children of the risks of (a) in-game purchases and loot boxes in video games and (b) other forms of gambling. Matt Warman: The Government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005, and to tackle issues around loot boxes. Further details will be announced in due course.

From September 2020 it will be mandatory for state-funded secondary schools in England to teach pupils about risks related to online gambling as part of education about internet safety and harms. This is in addition to initiatives by third sector bodies, including the PSHE Association’s resources for teachers, Parentzone’s tools to help parents educate children about gambling and gambling-like mechanics in gaming, and the Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust’s (YGAM) training and resources about gambling and digital resilience for teachers, youth workers, mental health specialists and others who work with children and young people. We also welcomed the launch in January 2020 of the games industry’s Get Smart About P.L.A.Y. campaign encouraging parents to use parental controls and take an active role in their children’s gaming specifically. Alex Sobel: [753] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will take steps to cap the amount of money players can spend on in-game purchases in video games. Mr John Whittingdale: The government is aware of concerns around the potential for excessive spending in games, particularly by young people. These concerns are discussed in the recent DCMS Select Committee report on Immersive and Addictive Technologies. We are currently considering the Report and its recommendations and will respond in due course. We continue to work with industry and the age ratings bodies to encourage the use of parental controls that can disable or limit spending on devices, and welcomed the launch in January 2020 of the games industry’s Get Smart About P.L.A.Y. campaign encouraging parents to use parental controls and take an active role in their children’s gaming. Greyhound Racing Andrew Rosindell: [499] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he is taking steps to promote the sport of greyhound racing; and if he will make a statement. Matt Warman: In January 2019, the Government announced that it had secured a new funding commitment from five of the largest online bookmakers worth an estimated £3 million annually to ensure the welfare of greyhounds is protected and improved. This is in addition to the existing voluntary payments made to the British Greyhound Racing Fund from most betting operators that benefit from greyhound racing, which sit alongside commercial deals between the betting and racing industries.

We will continue to encourage any remaining bookmakers that have not signed up to the voluntary arrangements to follow suit and support greyhound racing.

Huawei : [14013] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Official Report, 2 May 2019, column 364, what recent assessment he has made whether Huawei is a private company. Matt Warman: The government’s decision to categorise Huawei as a high risk vendor takes into consideration the potential links between Chinese companies and the Chinese State. And the limits we have imposed on the presence of all High Risk Vendors constitute some of the toughest security measures in the telecoms sector in the world. We have unique insight through the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC), which was established in 2010. As a result of our work, we know more about Huawei, and the risks it poses, than any other country in the world. Huawei’s operations in the UK are subject to the strongest oversight possible. The company’s presence in the UK has been subject to detailed, formal oversight through the HCSEC, and the HCSEC Oversight Board which has reported annually since 2014.

Huawei: 5G Bob Seely: [12974] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the human rights implications of the decision to use of Huawei systems in the UK's 5G network. Matt Warman: The UK has been vocal in drawing attention to the systematic human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in China. Ministers and senior officials regularly raise our concerns both directly with the Chinese and multilaterally. On 29 October, at the UN Third Committee, the UK read out a joint statement, on behalf of 22 other countries, drawing attention to the human rights violations in Xinjiang and calling on China to uphold its obligations to respect human rights. The UK also co-hosted an event on Xinjiang during the UN General Assembly in September. The Government has also set out its expectations of businesses in the UK National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights and continues to encourage all British businesses to undertake appropriate levels of due diligence before deciding to do business or invest in foreign companies. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights advises UK companies to respect human rights wherever they operate including adopting appropriate due diligence policies to identify, prevent and mitigate human rights risks, and commit to monitoring and evaluating implementation

Loneliness Bridget Phillipson: [11504] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government’s loneliness strategy in helping to tackle loneliness. : Government is committed to understanding the impact of its activity on loneliness and will use this insight to inform future decision-making. The 60 commitments made in the loneliness strategy vary widely and so learning is captured in different ways. Many of these commitments are still in progress and findings will emerge over time. For example, an independent evaluation of the £11.5m Building Connections Fund is underway, and findings will be published from mid-2020 onwards. The first annual report on government’s work on tackling loneliness was published on 20th January 2020. It highlighted the progress made so far, including action by frontline workers across the public sector to recognise and act on loneliness, the launch of the Let’s Talk Loneliness campaign, the commitment to include measures in the Public Health Outcomes Framework so we can understand local rates of loneliness, and the announcement of an additional £2m of grant-funding to help frontline grassroots organisations that bring people together.

Telecommunications: Foreign Companies John Nicolson: [13986] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Department makes an assessment of the working practices of overseas companies from which the Government procures imported telecommunications infrastructure and technology. Matt Warman: The Government conducted a comprehensive, evidence-based review of the Telecoms Supply Chain to ensure the security and resilience of 5G in the UK. The Review was published in July 2019 and the final conclusions of the Review in relation to high risk vendors were announced in January 2020. The Review was informed by expert technical advice from the NCSC, economic analysis and discussions with industry and UK’s international partners. The conclusions from the Review have outlined the Government’s three priorities for the future of telecommunications: stronger cyber security practices; greater resilience in telecoms network; and diversity in the market. The Government has also set out its expectations of businesses in the UK National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights and continues to encourage all British businesses to undertake appropriate levels of due diligence before deciding to do business or invest in foreign companies. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights advises UK companies to respect human rights wherever they operate including adopting appropriate due diligence policies to identify, prevent and mitigate human rights risks, and commit to monitoring and evaluating implementation.

Television: Licensing Rosie Cooper: [571] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking with the BBC to ensure the continuation of the provision of free TV licences for people aged over 75. Rosie Cooper: [572] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to tackle loneliness among people aged over 75 who cannot afford a TV licence from June 2020 and are not eligible for pension credit. Mr John Whittingdale: The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC from June 2020. This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament.

The Government is disappointed with the BBC's decision to restrict the over 75 licence fee concession to only those in receipt of pension credit. We recognise the value of free TV licences for over-75s and believe they should be funded by the BBC.

In 2018 this government published the world's first government loneliness strategy and appointed the world's first minister with responsibility for tackling loneliness. In January 2020 we published our first annual report, highlighting the progress made so far. Rosie Cooper: [594] To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to support people over 75 to (a) pay for a TV licence and (b) claim a concessionary rate for a TV licence. Mr John Whittingdale: The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is the responsibility of the BBC from June 2020. It is for the BBC to set out the ways in which people over 75 can pay for a TV licence or claim the BBC’s concession from this date.

The Government is disappointed with the BBC's decision to restrict the over 75 licence fee concession to only those in receipt of pension credit. We recognise the value of free TV licences for over-75s and believe they should be funded by the BBC.

The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to and the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances.

EDUCATION

[Subject Heading to be Assigned] Andrew Rosindell: [14969] To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what specialist support is provided in schools for pupils with mental health problems. : The Department’s nationally representative survey of school and college provision published in 2017 suggested that the most common types of support offered for pupils with identified mental health needs were educational psychological support (61%) and counselling services (61%), with 84% of secondary schools providing their pupils with access to counselling support. Survey results can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-mental-health-in-schools- and-colleges. Since this survey was done, the Department has taken significant steps to improve access to specialist mental health support in schools and colleges. We are introducing new Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to provide dedicated support to schools and colleges and quicker access to an increased range of support and treatments. These teams will employ new staff who are being recruited and trained specifically for the programme. The first 25 trailblazer sites delivering 59 new teams were announced in December 2018. These MHSTs are all expected to complete their training by early 2020 and will be fully operational following this. The aim is to cover between a fifth and a quarter of the country by 2023. The teams are part of extensive wider investment in the NHS which means that by 2023-24, an extra 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 years in England will receive mental health support. To support more schools to provide counselling the Department has provided advice on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.

Apprentices Mr David Davis: [14615] To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to promote apprenticeships in (a) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the UK. Nick Gibb: We have introduced a wide range of reforms to apprenticeships to improve their quality and to encourage employers across England to increase the number of apprenticeships they offer. Since May 2010, there have been 4,392,000 starts in England. Of these, 6,930 apprenticeships starts have been in Haltemprice and Howden and 535,420 in Yorkshire and the Humber. We are raising the profile of our apprenticeship programme through wider communications and marketing activity. The third phase of the Fire it Up campaign was launched in January, targeting important audience groups that are central to widening participation in apprenticeships. Our thirteenth annual National Apprenticeship Week took place this month (3 to 9 February). Nearly 900 events were held across the country to celebrate and promote the diversity and value that apprenticeships bring to employers, apprentices and communities across England today. In addition, in January 2018, we introduced a legal requirement for schools to give colleges or other organisations providing further education or training, the opportunity to make pupils aware about technical qualifications and apprenticeships. We also offer a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) project to ensure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. In the last academic year, the ASK Programme reached over 300,000 students. We are investing £2.5 billion in apprenticeships this year (2019-20) so that employers of all sizes across England can provide apprenticeship opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds. We are moving smaller employers onto our award-winning apprenticeship service to give them a greater choice of where their apprentices are trained, and so that they can also benefit from transferred funds from levy payers. Levy transfers can help to support new starts in supply chains and address local skills needs.

Apprentices: Degrees Kate Green: [13978] To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to promote degree apprenticeships as a route to an undergraduate degree. Nick Gibb: Degree and degree-level apprenticeships at level 6 and above offer people of all ages and from all backgrounds the chance to earn while they train and access a range of professions. Apprenticeship starts at level 6 and above have increased from 100 in 2014/15 to 22,480 in 2018/19. 120 employer-designed standards are now approved for delivery at levels 6 and 7, in a wide range of occupations. We are continuing to raise the profile of these apprenticeships as high-quality alternatives to academic study. To support employers to raise awareness of opportunities in their businesses, we worked with the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) to develop an online higher and degree apprenticeship vacancy listing. The most recent update was published in National Apprenticeship Week for starts in 2020 and includes over a thousand vacancies from employers in a range of sectors, from aeronautical engineering to town planning. Representatives from the National Apprenticeship Service also attended 30 UCAS exhibitions in 2019, engaging with around 10,000 young people, their parents and careers advisers. This work will continue throughout 2020 alongside our wider communications and marketing activity to raise the profile of apprenticeships, including the second phase of the ‘Fire It Up’ campaign. A number of the apprentices who feature in advertising throughout the second phase are undertaking degree or degree-level apprenticeships.

Food Poverty: Academic Year Ian Byrne: [620] To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to provide meals for disadvantaged school children during school holidays in 2020 in (a) Liverpool West Derby constituency and (b) the UK. : During the 2018 summer holidays the Department awarded £2 million to 7 organisations to deliver free healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children. With this money, the Department were able to support more than 280 clubs and reach around 18,000 children. In 2019, this funding was more than quadrupled to explore a model of local coordination of free holiday provision in 11 local authority areas, reaching around 50,000 children. In 2020, the Department will again invest £9 million to support children and their families. Officials are currently processing the bids received and the Department will announce the outcome and the chosen organisations and locations in due course. This has been a competitive bidding process and all areas were able to apply for this funding. The scheme operates in England only as education is a devolved matter.

Social Services Dr : [13963] To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Government has to review the care system. Nick Gibb: We are committed to undertaking a review at the earliest opportunity.The review aims to better support, protect and improve the outcomes of vulnerable children and young people. This was confirmed in a written statement made on 12 February 2020, which is available at the following link: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers- statements/written- statements/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2Clor ds&uin=HCWS110.

Special Educational Needs Carla Lockhart: [668] To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the level of sensory equipment in primary schools. Michelle Donelan: Every school is required to identify and address the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) of their pupils. Schools also have duties under the Equality Act (2010) towards individual disabled children and young people. They must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services, to ensure that disabled children are not at a substantial disadvantage compared with their peers. Local authorities are responsible for meeting the additional support costs for pupils with SEND up to the value of £6,000 per pupil by providing schools with sufficient funds to enable them to do so from the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant. When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEND exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and funding for special schools, comes from the local authority’s high needs budget. The department recently announced £780 million in additional high needs funding for the next financial year, bringing total high needs funding to over £7 billion. Every local authority in England will see an increase in high needs funding of at least 8% per head of population aged 2 to 18. The department have also allocated £365 million special provision capital funding to local authorities in England from 2018 to 2021, to increase the number of places available locally and enhance facilities for children with the most complex SEND. This could include re-purposing areas so that they meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

Special Educational Needs: Finance Ian Byrne: [615] To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding he has allocated to support (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils with special educational needs in Liverpool, West Derby constituency; and how that allocation compares with the average funding level across England. Michelle Donelan: We recently announced £780 million additional high needs funding for 2020-21, a 12% rise bringing the total to over £7 billion. Every local authority in England will see an increase in high needs funding of at least 8% per head of population aged 2 to 18. Liverpool will receive £57.9 million in total high needs funding next year. The department does not break down high needs funding by constituency. When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and funding for special schools, comes from the local authority’s high needs budget. We have also allocated £365 million special provision capital funding to local authorities in England from 2018 to 2021, to increase number of places available locally and enhance facilities for children with the most complex SEND. This could include re-purposing areas so that they meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

[Subject Heading to be Assigned] Jon Cruddas: [14958] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph two of the Government Response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s Tenth Report of Session 2017-19, Hand car washes, HC 981, where the Environment Agency's updated guidance on pollution prevention is located on gov.uk. : The guidance was updated in May 2019 and can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pollution-prevention-for-businesses. The Environment Agency has restructured this guide to improve the experience of users and eliminate duplication. Jon Cruddas: [14959] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph two of the Government Response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s Tenth Report of Session 2017-19, Hand car washes, HC 981, if she will publish the correspondence from the Environment Agency to local planning authorities in England that directs those authorities to that agency's updated pollution prevention guidance. Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency (EA) has been liaising with the Local Government Association (LGA) in regards to a draft guidance document and has input to a section covering environment and drainage. This considers the discharge of effluent from hand car washes. To ensure that local councils are made aware of such considerations for this form of car washing, the EA considered that the publication of the guidance would be made by the LGA as opposed to writing to individual councils. The EA joined a workshop held by the Responsible Car Wash Scheme on 26 November 2019 in London, where the guidance was discussed. The EA is awaiting confirmation from the LGA that the guidance has been published and issued to local authorities. Jon Cruddas: [14960] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph three of the Government Response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s Tenth Report of Session 2017-19, Hand car washes, HC 981, if she will publish the (a) dated correspondence from the Environment Agency to major supermarkets and (b) replies received. Rebecca Pow: A copy of the dated correspondence from the Environment Agency to major supermarkets will be placed in the Library of the House. Replies were not requested and have not been recorded centrally. Andrew Rosindell: [14973] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will take steps to encourage members of the public to adopt more (a) black dogs and (b) greyhounds, which are reportedly adopted at a slower rate than other types of dog. : The Government advises anyone looking to acquire a pet dog to consider adopting a rescue in the first instance. Any dog, including the famous greyhound breed, is capable of providing owners with love, loyalty and pleasure for its owner and family. Animal rescue and rehoming charities are aware that black dogs can be harder to rehome than other colours and encourage people to adopt animals in their care, regardless of colour. Agriculture: Import Duties Jo Stevens: [13505] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of removing agricultural tariffs on US imports on the viability of small and medium sized UK farms. Victoria Prentis: There has been no specific assessment completed of the impacts of the removal of tariffs on a bilateral basis on the viability of small and medium sized farms. Defra will consider the interests of all farmers, producers and consumers in the formulation of the Government’s future trade policy, including for a future trade agreement with the United States.

Agriculture: Subsidies Mr Richard Holden: [14744] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of payments to farmers will be under the (a) old and (b) new system in each of the seven years of the introduction of the new payments system for farmers. Victoria Prentis: The Government plans to phase out Direct Payments to farmers in England over a seven year agricultural transition period. For the first year of the transition, 2021, we will reduce Direct Payments by up to an already announced set of percentages, which could free up to around £150 million to reinvest into the delivery of public goods and providing support for farmers during the transition. We will set the reduction percentages for the later years of the transition taking account of our detailed plans for future schemes and wider discussions about Government spending. The Government’s election manifesto guaranteed the current annual budget in every year of the new Parliament, giving significant certainty on funding for the coming years. In England this will enable the Government to provide financial support for the purposes set out in the Agriculture Bill.

Air Pollution : [646] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of air pollution in (a) the UK and (b) and Wallington constituency. Rebecca Pow: Air quality is generally improving in the UK, as set out in the annual National Statistics report at the following URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/air-quality- statistics. There are 171 automatic national monitoring stations producing hourly air quality measurements in the UK operated by the Environment Agency on behalf of Defra. Near real-time measurements from these sites and further data tools can be found on the UK-AIR website ( https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk ). There are no automatic national monitoring stations in Carshalton and Wallington constituency. However, the also assesses air quality using three automatic monitors within the constituency boundary: two are industrial monitoring stations at Lane, and the other site is a roadside site in central Wallington. Near real-time measurements from these sites can be found on the London Air website which is managed by King’s College London ( http://londonair.org.uk ). Air quality is improving at all three sites, with only the Wallington site providing an exceedance of the annual mean limit value for nitrogen

dioxide (NO 2 ) in 2019 (based on provisional data).

The Borough also uses 15 passive monitors to measure NO 2 within the constituency boundaries; measurements are made available through Annual Status Reports ( https://www.sutton.gov.uk/info/200497/pollution/1232/air_pollution/3 ). Only two

exceedances of the annual mean limit value for NO 2 were observed in 2018 (at Rosehill Roundabout and London Road, Hackbridge) with levels at most sites either showing a lower or similar value compared with 2017 levels.

Air Pollution: Health Hazards Alex Sobel: [750] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent health complications caused by PM2.5 particles. Rebecca Pow: Short term exposure to elevated levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can impact the health of vulnerable groups. That is why we provide alerts and advice during air pollution episodes to ensure people can access the information and the health advice they need in order to minimise impacts. During episodes of elevated air pollution Defra works closely with Public Health England and a network of health charities to ensure that key health messages are communicated to those who are vulnerable to the effects of air pollution. However, the biggest impact of particulate air pollution on public health is understood to be from long-term exposure to PM2.5, which increases the age-specific mortality risk, particularly from cardiovascular causes. The Clean Air Strategy, published in January 2019, sets out the comprehensive action required across all parts of Government to improve air quality, and reduce public exposure to particulate matter pollution. Through the Environment Bill, re-introduced to Parliament on 30 th January, we are also establishing a duty to set a legally-binding target for PM2.5. This target will drive action to reduce long term exposure to PM2.5 and its associated health impacts. Air Pollution: Urban Areas Ian Byrne: [619] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce air pollution in (a) Liverpool and (b) other cities. Rebecca Pow:

As a result of the 2017 NO2 Plan and 2018 supplement, 61 local authorities including

Liverpool have been required to assess what action is needed to address NO2 exceedances in their area and develop local plans. The Government is committed to improving air quality in the UK and have provided £572 million to support the development and implementation of required measures by these local authorities. Liverpool City Council submitted a final plan to deliver compliance with legal limits for

NO 2 in the form of an Outline Business Case in October last year. We continue to

work with the Council to ensure their final plan delivers compliance with legal NO 2 limit levels in the shortest possible time. Our Clean Air Strategy (CAS) sets out an ambitious programme of action to reduce air pollutant emissions from a wide range of sources. The World Health Organization has recognised the CAS as an example for the rest of the world to follow. Our Environment Bill was reintroduced to Parliament on 30 January 2020 and makes a clear commitment to set an ambitious target for fine particulate matter, the pollutant of most concern for human health. It also ensures that local authorities have a clear framework and simple to use powers to tackle air pollution in their areas, and will provide the Government with new powers to enforce environmental standards for vehicles. All this action will improve air quality across the UK, including in the most affected areas

Animals: Imports Mr Richard Holden: [14843] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many animals of each species have been imported to the UK as rescue animals in each of the last 10 years. Victoria Prentis: The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not capture whether imported animals are rescue animals and so is unable to provide this data. Furthermore, APHA’s data retention period for import data is 3 years and so we can only provide data for the last 3 years on matters relating to imports.

Cats: Tagging Daniel Zeichner: [14824] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government plans to publish the outcome of the call for evidence on cat microchipping which closed on 4 January 2020. Victoria Prentis: In line with guidance on Government consultations we plan to publish the summary of responses to the call for evidence within three months of the consultation closing.

Chemicals Dr Matthew Offord: [13970] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on the development of a national chemicals strategy. Rebecca Pow: Work on the Chemicals Strategy (CS) started in the summer of 2019. A broad programme of stakeholder engagement is underway to help shape the vision and scope of the CS. To date, we have engaged with interested stakeholders from industry representatives to academia to voluntary organisations. We will publish a Call for Evidence in the spring to seek views on the safe and effective management of chemicals. This will be published on Defra’s website. It will help inform the development of a draft CS for consultation. Dr Matthew Offord: [13972] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his international counterparts on classifying per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances as a group of chemicals in the Stockholm Convention. Rebecca Pow: There is a growing global awareness of the adverse effects on human health and the environment of polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS); the widespread occurrence of it in products and the environment make it a complex challenge. The UK is a signatory to the Stockholm Convention which bans and/or restricts the production, use and emissions of substances listed as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). We will continue to engage with the Stockholm process on the management PFAS as a group of chemicals. The UK participated in recent discussions on PFAS at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), where we offered our scientific expertise to support work on new PFAS assessments and life cycle approaches. We will continue to work with partners around the world to develop our approach domestically and internationally.

Chemicals: Regulation Dr Matthew Offord: [13973] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he bring forward legislative proposals to tighten the regulations on the (a) control and (b) use of highly persistent chemicals. Rebecca Pow: The production, use, and disposal of Persistent Organic Pollutant (POPs) chemicals is managed in order to protect human health and the environment. Substances that fulfil the criteria for a POP are banned or restricted under the international Stockholm Convention and we regulate to enforce those restrictions. The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan has specific targets to reduce emissions of POPs to the environment and we produce a triannual National Implementation Plan. It sets out our ambitions for the next three years and reports on previous actions and targets. We will also consider whether further action is needed to reduce the impact of these chemicals in the forthcoming Chemicals Strategy. Dr Matthew Offord: [13975] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning the use of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances in consumer products. Rebecca Pow: Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) constitute a group of thousands of chemicals that are widely used in consumer and industrial products. There are existing restrictions on the use of certain PFAS under the Stockholm Convention, to which the UK is a signatory, and under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. My department is working with regulators to improve the understanding of the emissions and risks of PFAS in the UK and how we manage these chemicals will be considered in our forthcoming Chemicals Strategy.

Chemicals: Seas and Oceans Dr Matthew Offord: [13974] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of monitoring levels of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances in the sea as part of the Marine Strategy. Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science will carry out field studies in 2020 to estimate levels of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances in sediments in selected English estuaries and coastal waters. The results will be used to inform assessments of the risks posed by these chemicals to humans and sea life as part of the UK Marine Strategy. Clean Air Zones Jeff Smith: [14786] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with Chancellor of the Exchequer on allocating funding in the forthcoming Budget to support the implementation of clean air zones. Rebecca Pow: The Government is committed to improving air quality. That is why £572 million is already available to support local authorities implement a range of clean air measures

to deliver compliance with NO2 levels, including Clean Air Zones. I am considering what future support is needed to deliver Government priorities via a range of clean air measures. I will discuss Defra’s Budget proposals with the Chancellor in due course.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Procurement Luke Pollard: [763] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to develop a system for a full range of public goods; what steps her Department is taking to ensure that system is (a) equitable and (b) transparent; and whether decisions taken under that system will be open to appeal. Victoria Prentis: The Agriculture Bill will introduce ambitious new schemes in England, based on the principle of “public money for public goods”, which will allow us to reward farmers and land managers who protect our environment, improve animal welfare and produce high quality food in a more sustainable way. Our Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme is the cornerstone of our new agricultural policy. Founded on the principle of “public money for public goods”, ELM is intended to provide a powerful contribution to achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, while supporting our rural economy. We are working closely with a range of environmental and agricultural stakeholders to collaboratively design the new ELM scheme so that it is fit for purpose. We are currently running a programme of Tests and Trials, the priorities for which are the building blocks we will need for the National Pilot, due to commence in late 2021 and run to 2024. The National Pilot will provide a critical opportunity to test and refine the scheme design prior to full roll out of the ELM scheme in late 2024 across England. Clause 3 of the Agriculture Bill provides the Secretary of State with the power to make regulations to check, enforce and monitor the conditions of financial assistance provided under the Bill. This includes the power to establish a mechanism for appealing against decisions. Clauses 4 to 6 of the Bill also require the publication of multi-annual financial assistance plans, annual financial reports and impact and effectiveness reports. This transparency will enable public scrutiny of our future spending plans and the extent to which Government funding for agriculture, horticulture and forestry activities has been delivered on a value for money basis.

Dogs: Animal Breeding Dr : [640] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the farming of puppies. Victoria Prentis: In October 2018, The Animal Welfare (licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 came into force which updated and improved the laws on the breeding and selling of dogs in England. The new regulations require dog breeders and sellers to adhere to strict statutory minimum welfare standards linked to the welfare needs set out in the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This includes prohibiting the sale of puppies below the age of 8 weeks; preventing licensed breeders from selling dogs not bred by them and preventing breeders from breeding dogs if it can be reasonably expected on the basis of their genotype, phenotype or health that this would lead to welfare problems for the mother or the puppies. In addition, licensed breeders must show puppies to purchasers in the presence of the mother and licensed pet sellers must complete the sale of a dog in the presence of the purchaser on the licensed premises. This prevents online sales of puppies. Any licensed breeder advertising puppies for sale must include their licence number in the advert to improve traceability. In addition, from 6 April 2020, the regulations will prohibit the commercial third party sale of puppies and kittens to directly tackle low welfare, high volume breeding, known as puppy farms. In advance of this ban coming into force, the Government will launch a public awareness campaign on the responsible sourcing of puppies and kittens.

Dogs: Pet Travel Scheme Kenny MacAskill: [13018] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were imported through the Pet Travel Scheme in 2019; and from which countries those dogs were so imported. Victoria Prentis: The number of dogs that were imported to Great Britain via the Pet Travel Scheme (PTS) in 2019 was 307,263. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is unable to provide a breakdown of the number of dogs travelling under the scheme by country of origin as it does not hold that information. The data regarding the PTS is taken from the APHA system for recording pets throughput based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. The information that APHA has provided is a true reflection of the information that is held. APHA cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data, as it can only rely on the information that has been entered into the pets returns by a third party.

Energy: Waste Ian Lavery: [549] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of household recycling that went to landfill in each of the last 10 years. Ian Lavery: [550] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of household recycling that became refuse derived fuel in each of the last 10 years. Ian Lavery: [551] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of household recycling that became solid recovered fuel in each of the last 10 years. Ian Lavery: [552] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of household recycling that was repurposed in each of the last 10 years. Rebecca Pow: Consistent data at this level of detail for the treatment of material collected for recycling is only available for the last four years when a new more detailed data reporting structure was introduced. Table 1 below shows the tonnages of all local authority waste collected in England for recycling as source segregated or comingled material that is sent to landfill, incineration and recycling. All local authority waste will primarily relate to household waste (approximately 90 per cent) but will include a proportion of non-household waste. The data does not distinguish between material that became refuse derived fuel and solid recovered fuel; a total for material sent for incineration has been provided. Repurposing has been interpreted to mean recycling (including preparation for reuse); detailed information on the specific end uses is not collected. Due to the complexity of the data and the multiple treatment stages that the material may go through, any consequent slight differences in data recording or cases of unknown treatments, it is possible that there are tonnages that are not fully captured in the landfill and incineration figures but these will be small (a combined maximum 20-40 thousand tonnes in total in any of these years). Table 1 Treatment of non-residual local authority collected municipal waste in England

FIGURES ARE IN THOUSAND TONNES

Treatment 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 of Non residual waste

Sent to 146 148 103 78 Landfill

Sent to 268 284 357 429 Incineration

Recycled 10,473 10,627 10,249 10,215 or Reused

Notes:- 1. Figures relate to all (“Household” and “non-household”) local authority waste from non-residual waste streams. 2. Incineration includes material reported as refuse derived fuel (RDF), incineration with energy recovery, incineration without energy recovery and other heat treatments. Outputs from incineration which are subsequently landfilled are not included in the landfill figures to avoid double counting. 3. The “Recycled” total does not include material recycled from the residual waste stream and so will not agree with published totals for recycling.

Environment Protection Mr Barry Sheerman: [14622] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she is having with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that environmental organisations are given priority for the allocation of funding raised from environmental charges and levies. Rebecca Pow: Across the Defra group, for many environmental services provided, HM Treasury requires that we seek to charge for those services through full cost recovery, levies or in some cases taxes. For these services, the revenue received from these charges can only support the services specified. The retention of revenue from levies or taxes is usually in agreement with HM Treasury. Farmers: Government Assistance : [13540] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on supporting farmers to (a) maintain existing and (b) develop new routes to market after the transition period. Victoria Prentis: Food and drink exports are a success story. Exports have increased by 24% in real terms since 2010. The Government is determined to help maintain existing and develop new export opportunities. This includes through ongoing market access and via showcasing and promoting our excellent food and drink even more in the years to come. Exports are an important driver of growth in the food and drink sector, allowing it to become more resilient, competitive and profitable. The UK’s growing reputation for high quality food and drink, with high standards of food safety, animal welfare and sustainability, is an excellent platform to increase overseas demand for our products further. Defra’s ‘Food is GREAT’ campaign is raising the profile and reputation of British food and drink overseas by building global demand and increasing positive perceptions of the UK’s food and drink products, as demonstrated by recent campaign activity in Japan to promote beef and lamb exports from the UK, following opening up of market access last year. Defra, in collaboration with the Department for International Trade and representatives of the food and drink sector, is developing a replacement for the existing International Action Plan for Food and Drink, which will set out the future export ambitions for the sector. This includes reviewing the support we offer in market, building on the success of Defra’s first agriculture counsellor in Beijing. As set out in the Government’s election manifesto, we have ambitious goals for British trade. As of 31 January 2020, when the UK left the EU, we had successfully concluded and signed trade continuity agreements with 48 countries. This accounts for £110 billion of UK trade in 2018. We will be continuing our programme to replicate existing EU trade agreements with trading partners to ensure continuity for UK businesses following the transition period. An up-to-date list of trade continuity agreements, signed and in discussion, is available on the GOV.UK website at: www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-trade-agreements-with-non-eu-countries. We aim to have 80 per cent of UK trade with countries covered by free trade agreements within the next three years, starting with the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. This will further present new routes to market for British farmers. We are also working hard to secure a free trade agreement with the EU that will provide tariff-free access to the EU market for UK goods, and facilitative customs arrangements that will ensure smooth trade. Fish: Sales Luke Pollard: [13558] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the average percentage variation between the live weight (a) shown on logbooks for fishing vessels of 10m and over registered in England and (b) derived from sales notes for (i) cod, (ii) monkfish, (iii) brill, (iv) whiting, (v) gurnard, (vi) lemon sole, (vii) squid, (viii) megrim, (ix) plaice, (x) red mullet and (xi) John Dory in 2019. Victoria Prentis: The following data shows the percentage change between the live weight of landed catch as recorded in logbooks, landing declarations and sales notes, for the species referred to, as reported by English administered over-10 metre vessels landed into UK ports in 2019. This information is based on data currently held by the Marine Management Organisation. It should be noted that this data is yet to go through full validation checks, undertaken each year in advance of publication of the UK Annual Sea Fisheries Statistics. In addition, whilst valuable for initial cross-checking, the logbook is essentially a diary record of fishing activity maintained by skippers and not the formal landing declaration which documents the precise weight of landed catch.

LOGBOOK, LANDING DECLARATION AND SALES NOTE LIVE WEIGHTS FOR SELECTED SPECIES REPORTED BY ENGLISH ADMINISTERED OVER 10 M VESSELS LANDED IN TO UK PORTS: UNVALIDATED DATA 2019 NEI = NOT ELSEWHERE INCLUDED

Species Name Logbook Live Sales Note Landing Logbook to Logbook to Weight Live Weight Declaration Sales Note Landing (tonnes) (tonnes) Live Weight Percentage Declaration (tonnes) Change Percentage Change

Anglerfishes 4,092 2,907 4,167 -29% 2% nei

Atlantic cod 5,750 2,660 5,652 -54% -2%

Brill 228 251 255 10% 12%

Common 122 264 185 116% 51% squids nei

European 1,484 1,515 1,542 2% 4% plaice

Gurnard 853 872 970 2% 14%

John dory 106 138 137 30% 29% LOGBOOK, LANDING DECLARATION AND SALES NOTE LIVE WEIGHTS FOR SELECTED SPECIES REPORTED BY ENGLISH ADMINISTERED OVER 10 M VESSELS LANDED IN TO UK PORTS: UNVALIDATED DATA 2019 NEI = NOT ELSEWHERE INCLUDED

Lemon sole 594 644 728 8% 23%

Megrims nei 840 795 841 -5% 0%

Red mullets 36 46 47 28% 30%

Whiting 2,206 2,258 2,379 2% 8%

Source: UK Fisheries Administrations

Flood Control: Finance : [542] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with representatives from the Environment Agency on additional resources for the maintenance of flood and drainage systems. Andrew Percy: [543] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure the adequacy of resources available to the Environment Agency for the maintenance of (a) flood defences and (b) drainage systems. Rebecca Pow: The Government is investing £2.6 billion between 2015 and 2021 to deliver more than 1,000 flood defence projects to better protect 300,000 homes by 2021.This is on top of £1 billion to maintain flood defence assets between 2015 and 2020. This includes investing in developing technology and direct maintenance work such as managing drainage systems, inspecting assets and carrying out repairs. This is a real-terms increase when compared with the average annual capital investment of £812 million over the previous five years. Defra will continue to work with the Environment Agency to consider future investment needs ahead of the Budget announcement on future floods funding on 11 March 2020.

Fly-tipping: Bosworth Dr Luke Evans: [633] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle fly tipping in Bosworth constituency. Rebecca Pow: Fly-tipping is an unacceptable blight on local communities, wherever it occurs, and a crime that the Government is committed to tackling. In recent years we have bolstered local authorities’ powers to tackle fly-tipping. Local authorities, such as Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, have a range of powers available to tackle fly-tipping. This includes the power to take those accused of fly-tipping to court. If a fly-tipper is convicted in a Magistrates’ Court, the offence is punishable by a fine of up to £50,000 or 12 months’ imprisonment. If they are convicted in a Crown Court, the offence can attract an unlimited fine and up to five years’ imprisonment. We have cracked down on offenders by working with the Sentencing Council to strengthen the guidance for environmental offences. We will keep this guidance under review as we deliver on our manifesto commitment to secure tougher penalties. We will continue to work with magistrates and the Judicial Office to ensure magistrates are effectively trained in the use of the guidance and are aware of the prevalence of waste crime and the significance of its impact on local communities. This will help to ensure that fly-tippers receive appropriate sentences for the offence they have committed. Local authorities have powers to search and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, and the power to issue fixed penalty notices of up to £400 for fly-tipping offences and for those who breach their duty of care by passing their waste to a fly-tipper. In August 2019 we published publicity materials aimed at helping householders better understand their responsibilities under the waste duty of care. The materials have been provided to the Local Government Association to circulate to local authorities and published on the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group’s website. Powers to tackle fly-tipping are also being enhanced through the newly introduced Environment Bill, in particular through amendments to the powers to search for and seize evidence, as well as amendments to the powers of entry in the Environment Act 1995, to make it easier for enforcing authorities to use them. In addition to the measures in the Environment Bill, Defra is developing proposals to fundamentally reform the waste carrier, broker, dealer regime and introduce electronic waste tracking which will ensure those transporting waste can be better regulated, and that we are able to track waste through the system at all points. Defra is also developing a fly-tipping toolkit, which will be a web-based tool to help local authorities and others work in partnership to tackle fly-tipping. It will cover the use of new technology to report fly-tipping, the presentation of cases to court, the sharing of intelligence within and between partnerships and will promote the duty of care to individuals and businesses.

Horses: Animal Welfare Dr Lisa Cameron: [13984] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals for the licensing of equine (a) sanctuaries, (b) rescue centres and (c) re-homing centres. Victoria Prentis: Animal sanctuaries and rescue and rehoming centres carry out important work to ensure that unwanted and abandoned animals are offered the opportunity of finding a permanent home. This includes those organisations caring for equines. Concerns have been raised by the sector about variations in welfare standards across the sector, and that some individuals prioritise commercial gain over the welfare needs of animals. In England, Defra has been working closely with organisations such as World Horse Welfare and the National Equine Welfare Council and its members, to better understand the benefits and impacts, particularly on smaller rescue centres, if licensing or other regulation was introduced on the sector. We continue to engage with the sector on these questions. Any proposal to bring forward such regulation will be subject to a full public consultation.

Incinerators: Fires Elliot Colburn: [641] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of fires being reported at waste incinerator sites since 2015. Elliot Colburn: [643] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to help prevent the occurrence of fire incidents at waste incinerator sites. Rebecca Pow: No assessment has been made of trends in the number of fires being reported at waste incinerator sites since 2015. In England all incinerators that are regulated by the Environment Agency (such as energy from waste plants that burn municipal waste) are required to have a management system which identifies and minimises the risk of pollution due to accidents, which will include fires. All new incinerators must also have an approved fire prevention plan before they are allowed to start operating.

Livestock: Transport Dr Lisa Cameron: [13985] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to issue the public consultation on welfare in transport and minimum journey times for animals for slaughter. Victoria Prentis: We have a manifesto commitment to end excessively long journeys for live animals going for slaughter and fattening, which is an opportunity we have gained through leaving the EU. We intend to issue a consultation on how we deliver on that commitment shortly.

Microplastics: Seas and Oceans Dr Matthew Offord: [14020] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent micro plastics from entering the sea. Rebecca Pow: Microplastics, pieces of plastic smaller than 5mm, can fragment from larger items or be intentionally produced. Our aim is to prevent plastic pollution at its source and develop a circular economy approach to plastic. In 2018, we launched one of the world’s toughest bans on the sale and manufacture of microbeads in rinse-off personal care products, helping to prevent billions of tiny plastic pieces from entering the ocean every year. Pre-production plastic pellets are a major source of microplastics. Current estimates put the number of pellets lost during the production of plastic in the UK between 5 billion and 53 billion. We have been engaging with industry to encourage businesses to do more, including signing up to Operation Clean Sweep, to prevent plastic pellet loss. To address evidence gaps from other sources of microplastics we have commissioned: 1. A study from the University of Plymouth to investigate the sources and pathways of microplastics from tyres and textiles into the marine environment. 2. A Rapid Evidence Assessment by Defra on “Analysis, Prevalence and Impact of Microplastics in Freshwater and Estuarine Environment”. These reports will be published this year and the evidence will help us continue to develop policies to tackle the problem.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions Jeff Smith: [14785] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the proposal in Greater Manchester's Clean Air Plan that non-compliant vehicles are subject to a daily penalty payment, whether funding will be allocated by the Government to support (a) people and (a) businesses to purchase compliant vehicles. Afzal Khan: [14845] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Plan proposals, what plans the Government has for financial support for (a) local businesses and (b) sole traders to upgrade to cleaner vehicles. Rebecca Pow: The Government is committed to improving air quality in the UK and has provided £572 million to support the development and implementation of required measures by local authorities. This includes a Clean Air Fund that is aimed at mitigating the impact of local plans on individuals and businesses including sole traders. We are mindful of the challenges of delivering a clean air plan across Greater Manchester and the need to support individuals and businesses that may be affected by the resulting charging Clean Air Zone (CAZ). We have provided at this stage a first tranche of £36 million towards implementing the CAZ and intend to provide further funding, both for implementation and for mitigating the impacts of the CAZ, from the Clean Air Fund, once we have a clearer picture of the scale of need based on our assessment of additional evidence being provided by Greater Manchester.

Plastic Bags: Fees and Charges Mr Barry Sheerman: [14617] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to increase the (a) accountability and (b) transparency of the allocation by retailers of revenue raised for environmental causes from the five pence plastic bag charge. Mr Barry Sheerman: [14618] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the reliability of retailers to allocate revenue raised from the five pence plastic bag charge towards environmental projects. Mr Barry Sheerman: [14619] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to increase regulatory oversight of the allocation by retailers of revenues raised from the five pence plastic bag charge. Mr Barry Sheerman: [14621] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of oversight arrangements of the spending by retailers of revenue raised from the five pence plastic bag charge. Rebecca Pow: The introduction of the 5p charge on single use carrier bags has reduced sales by 90% by the main supermarket retailers. The regulations require retailers with more than 250 staff to charge a minimum of 5p and report data on their annual sales of single use carrier bags, including what they did with the proceeds from the charge. The Department publishes a summary of the data reported in line with the regulations by 31st July each reporting year on the GOV.UK site. As this is not a tax, the Government does not determine where the proceeds of the charge are redistributed. There is no legal requirement for businesses to donate the proceeds from the charge to charities. Businesses are, however, encouraged to donate the proceeds of the charge (after deducting VAT and reasonable costs) to good causes such as charities or community groups in accordance with guidance published on GOV.UK ( https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carrier-bag-charges-retailers- responsibilities#dealing-with-the-proceeds ). Around 55% of retailers, who accounted for 57% of all bags reported for 2018 to 2019, voluntarily provided information on donations they had made to good causes. Over the last three reporting years the charge has raised nearly £140 million.

Sharks: Conservation Dr Matthew Offord: [13976] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a limit on the number of each shark species caught in UK territorial waters. Victoria Prentis: The UK strongly supports the need to ensure scientifically robust catch limits are in place for all shark species exploited commercially within and outside of UK territorial waters. The Common Fisheries Policy, which we will continue to follow during the transition period, already provides a framework for the protection and management of sharks within UK waters. Beyond this, the UK will continue to use the most recent scientific advice when setting Total Allowable Catches and Quotas. Landing prohibitions remain in place for angel shark, basking shark, white shark, spurdog and porbeagle shark. Owing to the often highly migratory nature of elasmobranchs, as they move across national and international boundaries regularly, it is important that management is implemented throughout the range of the species rather than in isolation. Therefore, the UK continues to press for the establishment of scientifically justified catch limits for commercially exploited sharks within international Regional Fisheries Management Organisations.

Tobacco: Litter Dr Matthew Offord: [562] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the contribution of the tobacco industry in tackling litter from its products. Dr Matthew Offord: [563] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential (a) merits of the EU proposal to introduce a producer responsibility scheme for the tobacco industry on litter and (b) effect on environmental protection of not introducing that scheme in the UK. Rebecca Pow: The Government has made no specific recent assessment of the UK tobacco industry’s contribution to tackling smoking-related litter. We would like to see the tobacco industry delivering on the commitment given by the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association to tackle the litter created by its products and their users, but this must be achieved without breaching the UK’s international obligations. Tobacco packaging is covered by the current Producer Responsibility Regulations, which require companies to recycle a proportion of the packaging waste they place on the market. Our forthcoming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for packaging, including relevant tobacco packaging, will require producers to cover the full net costs of managing packaging at its end of life, including litter. This will be introduced in 2023. In the Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS), we committed to looking into and consulting on EPR for five new waste-streams by 2025, and consulting on two of these by 2022. We have currently identified our five priority waste-streams as: textiles, fishing gear, certain products in construction and demolition, bulky waste and vehicle tyres. This list is not fixed and does not exclude the potential to review and consult on EPR for other waste streams if these are identified as being of equal or higher priority. The EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive includes measures to implement an EPR scheme for tobacco products with filters, and filters marketed for use in combination with tobacco products, which should cover the costs of awareness raising, data gathering and litter clean-up of these products. Now that the UK has left the EU, the Government will use this opportunity to refresh and renew our environmental policy. In the RWS, we committed to meeting or exceeding the ambition of the EU Directive, and we will do this in a way that works best for the UK’s aspirations in this policy area.

Trees: Imports Caroline Lucas: [13453] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what procedures are in place to ensure that invasive tree pests and diseases are not imported on trees for plantation; whether additional steps will be taken to improve biosecurity after the transition period; and what biosecurity standards to prevent the import of invasive tree pests and diseases will be applied to new free trade deals that the UK agrees with (a) the US and (b) other countries. Victoria Prentis: The UK has robust controls in place to protect against tree pest and disease threats. These include being the most prolific user of the EU Protected Zone system, comprehensive official inspections and surveillance, and a statutory notification scheme for certain tree species imported from the EU. The UK operates under WTO obligations and will apply the EU Plant Health Regulation (which came into force in December 2019) until the end of the Transition Period. This risk-based regime prohibits or controls the import of high risk plants and planting material from third countries. The UK frequently uses national measures to enhance these biosecurity provisions. Horizon scanning for any new and emerging threats associated with tree imports is carried out continuously and the results are considered monthly by all UK Plant Health Authorities, facilitated by the Defra chaired UK Plant Health Risk Group. The UK Plant Health Risk Register (UKPHRR) is the principal screening tool used for this purpose and all outputs are published. The UKPHRR now has over 1000 entries (300 of which can impact trees), informing decision making and prioritisation in relation to tree health threats. UK legislation is updated on a frequent basis to protect against new and revised threats. After the Transition Period, the UK will continue with our risk based approach to maintain strong biosecurity protections. We will maintain our own autonomous sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regime to protect plant health and the environment, reflecting our existing high standards. The UK will introduce import controls on EU goods at the border and will continue to have controls on other third country goods. This will allow the UK to keep our borders safe and bio-secure. The UK is proud of its world-leading biosecurity standards. We will not lower our standards nor put the UK’s biosecurity at risk as we negotiate new trade deals. We are already considering what additional measures it might now be appropriate to introduce against key threats such as Xylella fastidiosa and the Emerald ash borer. In planning for all scenarios, we have always had three key objectives: to maintain current high levels of UK plant health biosecurity; to maintain the flow of goods at the border; and to minimise impacts on businesses.

Viridor Elliot Colburn: [647] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of air pollutants generated by the Viridor energy recovery facility incinerator on Beddington Lane in South London. Elliot Colburn: [649] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the level of carbon monoxide emissions from the Viridor energy recovery facility incinerator on Beddington Lane in South London during January 2020. Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency (EA) regulates the Energy Recovery Facility (Erf) in Beddington Lane, Sutton through an Environmental Permit under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010. The permit has strict conditions relating to acceptable levels of emissions of substances. The ErF operator (Viridor) is required to continuously and periodically monitor the emissions from the Erf stacks and submit the monitoring data quarterly to the EA. The EA assesses all data submitted including breaches in emission limits for trends and requires the operator to investigate issues and take actions to rectify them. The quarterly monitoring data that covers January 2020 is due to be submitted to the EA before end of April 2020. The EA have not received any notifications for breaches in emission limits during January 2020.

Waste Disposal: Environment Protection Elliot Colburn: [645] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment she has made of the environmental effects of mechanical biological treatment waste processes and waste incineration processes. Rebecca Pow: Defra has not made such an assessment. Residual waste should be treated in accordance with the waste hierarchy. To assist decision makers, the department published information on the mechanical biological treatment of waste in 2013. This can be found on the GOV.UK website at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/mechanical-biological-treatment-of-municipal- solid-waste. Information on energy from waste (incineration with energy recovery) was published in 2014 at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-from-waste-a-guide-to-the- debate.

Waste: Landfill Ian Lavery: [553] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of commercial recycling waste that went to landfill in each of the last 10 years. Rebecca Pow: The information requested is not available. It is not specifically collected from the commercial sector and cannot be routinely or reliably estimated from other available data.

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Caroline Lucas: [14727] To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to section 24 (3) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, when the Government laid before Parliament a copy of the (a) 6th Quinquennial Review advice received from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and (b) Government’s formal response to that review and any accompanying statements; where those documents can be located online; and if she will make a statement. Rebecca Pow: The Government has not laid these documents before Parliament. In tandem with its advice to the governments of all GB administrations on species listing following the 6th Quinquennial review of Schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) noted concerns from stakeholders that the selection criteria needed to be reviewed. The Government concluded that we should not consult upon species or amend legislation, based on criteria which were likely to be modified. Defra will arrange to lay these documents before Parliament as soon as possible.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

Anoosheh Ashoori Janet Daby: [13590] To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Iranian counterpart on the jailed British national Anoosheh Ashoori. : The Foreign Secretary raised his concerns about dual national detentions with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif on 6 January. The Prime Minister raised his concerns with Iranian President Rouhani on 9 January. The former Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Dr Murrison, raised dual-national cases with the Iranian ambassador on 13 January. We remain extremely concerned about the welfare of all British-Iranian dual nationals detained in Iran, including Mr Anoosheh Ashoori. We have made clear to Iran that we expect them to ensure he is treated humanely and in line with international standards. We are committed to ensuring that we do everything we can, including continuing to press the Iranian authorities for consular access. Janet Daby: [13592] To ask the Prime Minister, what plans he has to meet the family of Anoosheh Ashoori to discuss progress the Government has made on securing the release of that person from prison in Iran; and if he will make a statement. James Cleverly: The Government remains extremely concerned about the welfare of British-Iranian dual nationals detained in Iran, including Anoosheh Ashoori. Iran does not recognize dual nationality and therefore does not permit access to British-Iranian detainees. We are committed to ensuring that we do everything we can, including continuing to press the Iranian authorities for consular access to ensure that they are treated in accordance with international standards and that their welfare needs are met. The Foreign Secretary raised his concerns over dual nationals most recently in his call with Foreign Minister Zarif on 9 January. The Prime Minister also raised his concerns in a recent telephone call with President Rouhani. The former Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Dr Murrison, raised dual-national cases with the Iranian Ambassador on 13 January.

Coronavirus Andrew Rosindell: [496] To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has met (a) the Commonwealth Secretariat and (b) other Commonwealth institutions to discuss health system strengthening as a response to the recent outbreak of coronavirus. : The Secretary of State has not met with the Commonwealth Secretariat or affiliated institutions on this matter. However, the UK recognises that strong health systems are vital to ensuring health security and we support the Commonwealth's ambition to move towards achieving Universal Health Coverage, enabling countries to prevent, detect and respond to global outbreaks like Coronavirus. Commonwealth Health Ministers will next meet in the margins of the World Health Assembly to discuss a range of health matters, including Universal Healthcare Coverage. Separately, the UK is providing £5 million to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to help prevent the spread of this outbreak by helping rapidly identify and care for patients with symptoms, as well as £40 million for research into the virus.

Hong Kong: Embassies Sarah Champion: [12893] To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to Written Question 8308, whether support has been offered to the 15-year-old girl arrested on UK consulate land in Hong Kong on 11 January 2020; and what representations have been made on the behalf of that girl to the relevant Hong Kong authorities. Nigel Adams: The UK has repeatedly made clear that we support the right to peaceful and lawful protest. As in all overseas missions, we maintain regular contact with the police, including discussing the case in question. As Lord Ahmad stated on 15 January, any arrests and judicial processes should be conducted in a fair and transparent manner. We have made clear that we expect the Hong Kong authorities to abide by international human rights laws and practices.

Middle East: Peace Negotiations Jim Shannon: [14711] To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the US Administration's Middle East peace plan proposal. James Cleverly: The Prime Minister discussed the United States' proposal with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on 6 February. The former Minister for the Middle East and North Africa also met with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev, on 4 February. They discussed a range of issues, including the US proposal.

Occupied Territories: Demolition James Murray: [13563] To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the (a) number and (b) frequency of (i) demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures and (ii) forced displacement of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. James Cleverly: As we made clear in our statement at the UN Security Council on 21 January, we are deeply concerned by the increase in demolitions of Palestinian property by the Israeli authorities. Demolitions and evictions of Palestinians from their homes cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; call into question Israel's commitment to a viable two-state solution; and, in all but the most exceptional of cases, are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our serious concern at the increase in demolitions of Palestinian properties in Area C of the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, most recently on 17 December 2019. We will continue to call for Israel to abandon demolition plans entirely, and instead provide a clear, transparent route to construction for Palestinians in Area C.

Philippines: Human Rights Andrew Rosindell: [495] To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Filipino counterpart on the potential effect on human rights of revoking the broadcast licence of ABS-CBN; and if he will make a statement. Nigel Adams: We are concerned by any actions that seek to curtail freedom of expression or freedom of speech in the Philippines, or elsewhere. Senior UK officials discussed media freedom in the Philippines with Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Enrique Manalo, during High Level Talks in London in November 2019. Our Embassy in Manila continues to follow developments in the case of ABS-CBN closely.

Somalia and Somaliland: Travel Information Dr Matthew Offord: [561] To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will decouple Somalia from Somaliland in relation to his foreign travel advice. : Travel advice takes account of local/regional differences and is kept regularly under review. As the UK does not recognise Somaliland as an independent state, it is presented as part of the travel advice for Somalia. UN Mission in Darfur : [12882] To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the UK is providing to the UNAMID peacekeeping mandate in Sudan; and what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of that mandate. James Duddridge: As a member of the UN Security Council the UK has a long-standing role in supporting sustainable peace in those areas of Sudan where UN peacekeeping missions are in place (Darfur and Abyei). This includes the UK's commitment to funding peacekeeping missions globally through the "assessed contribution" system and our role as the penholder, alongside Germany, on the mandate for the UN/African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID). This work has helped to ensure that the peacekeeping presence addresses the needs on the ground. We also welcomed the UN Security Council decision to extend the UNAMID mandate until 31 October while options for any future presence are developed. We continue to work with the UN, AU and the Government of Sudan to consider the appropriate scope of UN support to Darfur and Sudan. We commend the role that UNAMID has played in the protection of civilians in Darfur since its creation in 2007 and its work to assist in bringing stability to the region. One of the largest factors influencing the effectiveness of the UNAMID mandate and its implementation has been the approach of the Government of Sudan. This has seen significant shifts since the revolution of 2019, including progress in peace talks on Darfur. We are encouraged by the recently appointed civilian-led government's pledge to facilitate unfettered access across Sudan, including in Darfur, for the UN. We remain concerned of reports that this has not been consistently implemented and continue to make clear the importance of unfettered access across Sudan for humanitarian actors and the UN at the highest levels. We welcome the priority the civilian-led government of Sudan has given to securing a peace deal for Darfur, and the progress made in talks in Juba with armed opposition groups. Addressing the long-term drivers of conflict will contribute to the success of Sudan's transition to democracy and economic recovery. As a leading donor the UK is working closely with the civilian-led government and international partners to support implementation of the reforms needed to ensure that transition benefits all Sudanese.

UN Mission in South Sudan Harriett Baldwin: [12884] To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affiars, what support his Department provides to the UNMISS peacekeeping mandate in South Sudan; and what assessment his department has made of the effectiveness of that mandate. James Duddridge: The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) mandate is due for renewal by 15 March. We will continue to work with UN Security Council members to ensure this is extended and that the mission continues to have a mandate that focuses on: protection of civilians; human rights; peace process support; and humanitarian aid delivery. We continue to assess that these core tasks remain relevant and important, including as the peace process moves into the next phase if a government of national unity forms by the 22 February deadline. As a member of the UN Security Council, the UK has a long-standing role in supporting the peace process in South Sudan and supporting UNMISS. This includes the UK's commitment to funding peacekeeping missions globally through contributed funds of £51.45m (in FY 2018/19) and circa 300 UK peacekeepers who have provided medical and engineering support to UNMISS since 2016. Successes of the UK military contribution includes the building of a UN hospital in Bentiu, the upgrading of 15km of road used to deliver vital food and aid, as well as making a wider contribution to UN peacekeeping reform. In particular we commend the role that UNMISS and its leadership have played in the protection of civilians in South Sudan, and supporting both to human rights work and the peace process. One of the largest factors influencing the effectiveness of the UNMISS mandate and its implementation has been the approach and the political will of the Government of South Sudan and opposition groups. The number of access issues has reduced since the signing of the 2018 peace agreement, but we are concerned by continued denials of access and hope this will improve as the peace agreement is implemented in full. Through our bilateral engagement we continue to make clear at the highest levels the importance of unfettered access across South Sudan for humanitarian actors and the UN.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

[Subject Heading to be Assigned] Hilary Benn: [14956] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve early intervention and treatment in cases of eating disorder among young people. Ms : We know the difference that early intervention can make and recognise that the earlier treatment is provided, the greater the chance of recovery. It is vital that everyone with an eating disorder can access quick, specialist help when necessary. The Government set up the first waiting times to improve access to eating disorder services for children and young people. The standard we are working towards is that by 2020/21, 95% of children with an eating disorder will receive treatment within one week for urgent cases and within four weeks for routine cases. Data from January to March 2019 shows 80.6% of all patients started urgent treatment within one week and 82.4% of patients started routine treatment within four weeks. : [14966] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has include people with life-long debilitating medical conditions in the categories of people eligible for free medication. : The Department has no plans to review or amend of the list of medical conditions that provide entitlement to exemption from prescription charges. Extensive arrangements are already in place to help people access National Health Service prescriptions. These include a broad range of exemptions from the prescription charge for which someone with a long-term condition may qualify, including for people on low incomes through receipt of specific benefits and through the NHS Low Income Scheme. To support those with the greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption, prescription pre-payment certificates are available for three months or 12 month periods. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just £2 per week. Andrew Rosindell: [14972] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the long-term effects of video game addiction on primary school- aged children. Jo Churchill: No assessment has been made. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England has made provision for children and young people who are seriously addicted to computer games to be treated in a new Centre for Internet and Gaming Disorders. The NHS National Gaming Disorder Clinic provides treatment for problem gamers, aged 13-25, living in England and Wales.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Mental Illness Preet Kaur Gill: [698] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2020 to Question 13559 and with reference to the Answer of 23 October 2018 to Question 181292 on Mental Illness: Children and Young People, for what reasons his Department was able to provide the data requested to Question 181292 but not to Question 13559. Ms Nadine Dorries: Data is held by number of attendances rather than the number of patients. Attendances do not represent the number of patients, as a person may attend a National Health Service hospital on more than one occasion within the period. Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs: Health Services Seema Malhotra: [719] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent from the public purse by (a) NHS bodies and (b) local authorities on (i) drug and (ii) alcohol abuse (A) prevention and (B) treatment in (1) 2016-17, (2) 2017-18, (3) 2018-19 and (4) 2019- 2020 to date. Seema Malhotra: [720] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent from the public purse by the NHS on alcohol-related hospital admissions in (a) 2018-2019, (b) 2017-2018, (c) 2016-2017 and (d) 2015-2016. Jo Churchill: Data on spending on drug and alcohol abuse prevention and treatment (including alcohol related hospital admissions) by National Health Service bodies and providers is not collected centrally. Local authorities report their spending on drug and alcohol treatment and prevention to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This information is published by the Office for National Statistics and is known as the local authority outrun. Local authority spend for 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 is shown in the following table. Figures for 2019/20 have not yet been published.

SERVICE PROVISION 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

Treatment for alcohol £202,777,000 £186,803,000 £182,384,000 misuse

Preventing and £38,073,000 £45,478,000 £43,682,000 reducing harm from alcohol misuse

Treatment for drug £425,345,000 £393,017,000 £365,488,000 misuse

Preventing and £67,584,000 £67,009,000 £67,805,000 reducing harm from drug misuse

Drug and alcohol £49,400,000 £44,239,000 £40,066,000 misuse services for children and young people

Overall spend £783,179,000 £736,546,000 £699,425,000

The annual local authority outruns can be viewed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and- financing-england-2018-to-2019-individual-local-authority-data-outturn Through the NHS Long Term Plan, up to 50 hospitals will establish Alcohol Care Teams, which could prevent 50,000 admissions over five years.

Aortic Dissection: Diagnosis Mrs : [14724] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequate diagnosis of Aortic Dissection at A&E departments. Jo Churchill: We recognise that accurate and rapid assessment of suspected acute aortic dissection is crucial. Computerised tomography plays a central role in the diagnosis to allow expedited management and all acute hospitals with emergency departments have the capacity to make the diagnosis. NHS England and NHS Improvement are aware of the findings of the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch’s recent investigation into delayed recognition of acute Aortic Dissection, and these recommendations have been included in the actions being taken forward with hospitals. NHS England and NHS Improvement Specialised Commissioning is progressing the Thoracic Aortic Dissection service specification and have identified resource to support this as one of the priorities within the Specialised Vascular Clinical Group work programme. It should also be noted that the NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Getting It Right First Time Cardiothoracic Review recommended that acute aortic syndrome patients are only operated on by rotas of acute aortic syndrome specialist teams. This is being actioned across cardiac and vascular teams. The NHS England and NHS Improvement Specialised Cardiac Improvement Programme has developed a guide and toolkit to support implementation with the first Region rolling out from April 2020.

Blood: Contamination David Duguid: [14760] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s policy is on short-term financial support for people affected by the contaminated blood scandal before the conclusion of the Infected Blood Inquiry. Ms Nadine Dorries: Since 1988, successive Governments have voluntarily provided ex-gratia financial and non-financial support for people affected by HIV and/or hepatitis C through historic treatment with National Health Service-supplied blood or blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2017, country specific support schemes were set up in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, responsibility for these is devolved to the four nations. We are working with our partners in the devolved nations and other relevant Government departments to improve parity of support across the United Kingdom.

Cancer: Buckinghamshire Greg Smith: [14745] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve waiting times for cancer treatment in Buckinghamshire. Jo Churchill: Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to improving survival rates for cancer and we have committed to the new 28-day faster diagnosis waiting times standard. Implementation in all trusts including Buckinghamshire, subject to Government approval, is planned from spring 2020. Buckinghamshire is included in plans to develop Rapid Diagnostic Service models as part of the Long Term Plan for Thames Valley to improve and speed up cancer diagnostics and patient experience. During 2019, they established a non-site specific (also referred to as vague symptom) pathway for general practitioners (GPs) with Buckinghamshire NHS Trust to fast track such patients. Cancer is a priority for this Government and in October 2018 we announced a package of measures that will be rolled out across the country with the aim of seeing three quarters of all cancers detected at an early stage by 2028 (currently just over half). This is part of the Long Term Plan for the National Health Service and forms part of how the Government will achieve its ambition to see 55,000 more people surviving cancer for five years in England each year from 2028. The Long Term Plan is available at the following link: https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/

Cancer: Health Services Elliot Colburn: [625] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking improve cancer treatment in the (a) Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and (b) Royal Marsden NHS Trust. Elliot Colburn: [626] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of cancer treatment outcomes in the (a) Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and (b) Royal Marsden NHS Trusts. Jo Churchill: Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust has a strong track record of providing high quality care to people with suspected or confirmed cases of cancer in a timely manner. Last year, the Trust met all of the waiting time standards we expect for cancer patients, including seeing 97.2% of patients with a suspected cancer within two weeks of their general practitioners (GPs) referral, 99.1% of patients began treatment with 31 days of diagnosis, and 89% of patients began treatment within 62 days of their initial referral. Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust is working on plans to improve the patient’s experience through their cancer journey. This includes access to a clinical nurse specialist or key worker, and they have recently appointed three Advanced Nurse Practitioners and funding approved to increase number of clinical nurse specialists. The Trust is introducing ‘Living With and Beyond Cancer’ – a new work stream to improve patient experience and care beyond their diagnosis and initial treatment and improving quality of life for those living with cancer. This includes NHS England and NHS Improvement data collection on long term quality of life metrics, stratified follow up pathways, reducing and managing long term outcomes of treatment, and Holistic Needs Assessments. The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a research active organisation, with an academic partnership with The Institute of Cancer Research, and, together, are ranked third in the world for impact of their research. The Royal Marsden is continually looking to improve the treatment options and facilities they offer to patients, including the first linear accelerators (LINAC) in the country and third in the world, which is now treating patients across six tumour types as part of clinical trials. The Royal Marsden is also the host of RM Partners, the only cancer alliance in England to achieve the 62 day target consistently during 2018/19 and which was awarded a further £10 million in funding from NHS England to continue to improve cancer outcomes for the population across west London.

Carers: Older People Rosie Cooper: [564] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support carers who are over 80 years old. : In June 2018 we published the cross-Government Carers Action Plan 2018-2020 which includes commitments from across Government to support the health and wellbeing of all carers, including those over 80. We have also commissioned a piece of work through the Health and Wellbeing Alliance which looks at supporting carers to make plans for a future where they may be less able to care. A report and resources will be published in the spring. Carers: Young People Chris Evans: [500] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of GP practices who have adopted the care for young carers package launched by NHS England. Helen Whately: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the then Minister of State for Care ( MP) gave to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon MP) on 4 February 2020 to Question 8280.

Coronavirus Munira Wilson: [12334] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Government (a) Departments and (b) non-departmental public bodies are involved in formulating the response to the Coronavirus. Munira Wilson: [12335] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has requested assistance from the EU to fly UK citizens back from China since the outbreak of the Coronavirus. Munira Wilson: [12336] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the management of the Coronavirus. Munira Wilson: [12337] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to raise public awareness of how to prevent the transmission of the Coronavirus in the UK. Munira Wilson: [12338] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) staff and (b) equipment required to respond to the Coronavirus. Munira Wilson: [12339] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the additional funding required by the NHS to respond to the Coronavirus. Munira Wilson: [12340] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus in the UK. Munira Wilson: [12341] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the Government's Coronavirus public health campaign, launched on 1 February 2020. Jo Churchill: We have launched a public information campaign, setting out how every member of the public can help to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom by taking simple steps to minimise the risk to themselves and their families: washing hands and using tissues when they sneeze, just as they would with flu. We also have posters up at every international airport advising travellers on what to do should they develop symptoms, and we provide regularly updated guidance for the public at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-information-for-the-public The Department works closely with Public Health England and NHS England in all aspects of our response. We have also been working across government and with our partners in the devolved administrations since the beginning of the outbreak. We have coordinated cross governmental Ministerial and officials’ meetings to ensure and formulate a coherent response. These include the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Department for Transport, Foreign Office and Home Office amongst many others. We have collaborated with European Union partners on repatriation flights. 11 UK entitled persons were repatriated on a French flight and we have helped to bring a number of Spanish nationals out of Wuhan on the first of our two repatriation flights. We are also in regular contact with colleagues in the EU through meetings such as the Global Health Security Initiative and the Early Warning and Response System (EWRS). Public Health England ensure that someone with coronavirus does not put others at risk by treating them in isolation and carefully investigating who they had close contact with. The Department has made £40 million available to fund Covid-19 related research and speed up the development of a vaccine. However, as the incident remains ongoing it is too early to state the total cost to the public purse and more broadly the number of staff and or equipment required to respond to the incident. Mr Toby Perkins: [14699] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of NHS preparedness for an outbreak of the coronavirus in the UK. Jo Churchill: The United Kingdom is extremely well prepared for these types of outbreaks – we are one of the first countries in the world to develop a test for the new virus. The National Health Service is always ready to provide world class care to patients whether they have a common illness, or an infectious disease never seen here before. The NHS has expert teams in every ambulance service and a number of specialist hospital units with highly trained staff and equipment ready to receive and care for patients with any highly infectious disease. Since April 2013, NHS England has commissioned a total of 15 adult respiratory extra corporeal membrane oxygenation beds from five providers in England, with further provision in Scotland. In periods of high demand, capacity can be increased.

Coronavirus: Disease Control Mr Toby Perkins: [14700] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether additional funding is being allocated to NHS trusts in preparation for a potential outbreak of the coronavirus. Jo Churchill: We are investing £40 million in vaccine research, are working with international efforts on therapeutics, as well as the immediate launch of a capital facility to support any urgent works the National Health Service needs for the coronavirus response, such as the creation of further isolation areas and other necessary facilities. The United Kingdom is also ramping up efforts to fund ground-breaking research into vaccines, diagnostics and cures to fight against the threat of future viruses.

Department of Health and Social Care: Offshore Funds Tulip Siddiq: [654] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department monitors the cash held by its subsidiaries in offshore bank accounts; and how frequently those subsidiaries report those balances to his Department. : The majority of subsidiaries in the Department are owned by NHS Providers, while Porton Biopharma Ltd (PBL) is a private limited company wholly owned by the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Health. Public Health England oversees the management of Porton Biopharma Ltd and monitors the cash held by PBL at its monthly Board meetings. The only bank account used by PBL is held with the Government Banking Service. NHS England and NHS Improvement collect monthly information from NHS Providers, including cash held by subsidiaries which are consolidated into the Provider Group accounts. Subsidiaries are not shown separately, and do not contain analysis of offshore bank accounts. Diabetes: Health Education Jim Shannon: [14714] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of diabetes among (a) young people and (b) the general public. Jo Churchill: The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NDPP) is a partnership between NHS England and NHS Improvement, Diabetes UK and Public Health England and works closely together to raise awareness of diabetes with patients, public and healthcare professionals. Diabetes UK provide the ‘patient voice’ for the programme by leading on user involvement activities and ensuring the programme is tailored to service users’ needs. One output of the NDPP has been an annual Diabetes Prevention Week, which NHS England and NHS Improvement, Diabetes UK and Public Health England run as a joint campaign, undertaking a range of targeted activity to raise awareness of type 2 diabetes, the complications associated with the condition and how to prevent it. In March 2016, Public Health England (PHE) launched One You, a campaign targeted at men and women aged 40-60 to encourage them to make healthy changes such as increasing physical activity, improving diet, stopping smoking and reducing alcohol consumption, to reduce the risk of conditions such as diabetes. Additionally, PHE’s Change4Life campaign encourages families across England to ‘eat well, move more’. Type 2 diabetes is highlighted in the campaign as a potential health consequence of poor diet and inactivity.

Diabetes: Medical Equipment Paul Girvan: [745] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on people with diabetes of the slow-down in production and shipping of Freestyle Libre glucose monitoring sensors from Abbott; and if he will make statement. Jo Churchill: The Department is aware of current supply issues with the Freestyle Libre glucose monitoring sensors and it is maintaining regular contact with the supplier Abbott to re- establish the reliable supply of this product. This is a temporary disruption caused by increases in demand and we have already seen steady progress to improve the situation over the recent weeks. The information provided refers to the National Health Service in England only. Diabetes: Skin Diseases Jim Shannon: [14713] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have a diagnosis of diabetic bullous. Jo Churchill: This information is not held centrally.

Eating Disorders: Children Jonathan Ashworth: [14710] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children aged 17 and under accessed community mental health treatment for eating disorders in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018 and (e) 2019. Ms Nadine Dorries: The data is not available in the format requested.

Electronic Cigarettes: Children Mr Ranil Jayawardena: [765] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of whether vaping shops are fulfilling their legal requirements to verify age and not sell to children. Jo Churchill: E-cigarettes in the United Kingdom are tightly regulated by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR) and the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 (NIP). These regulations include preventing sale to under 18s, restrictions on mainstream TV and radio advertising, and limit both tank sizes and nicotine content. Local trading standards have powers for enforcement of both regulations. The Government has also funded the Chartered Trading Standards Institute to undertake a review of compliance of nicotine vaping products. The latest report, ‘The Tobacco Control Survey for England 2018/19: A Report of Trading Standards Service Activity’ reports that 34 councils were able to report the number of visits with volunteer young people where sales had occurred. 90 test purchase attempts resulted in an underage sale being made. This results in a 40% test-purchase-to-sale rate. We are monitoring youth use closely and will take action, if necessary, to ensure that regular use among children and young people does not increase, and that e- cigarettes do not become a gateway to tobacco use. We continue to keep the evidence base on e-cigarettes under review and the next Public Health England annual review is due to be published next month. Electronic Cigarettes: Safety Mr Ranil Jayawardena: [766] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department (a) is aware of all substances used in vaping liquids and (b) has assessed the safety of all such substances. Jo Churchill: Electronic cigarettes and nicotine-containing refill containers (e-liquids) are regulated under the Tobacco and Related Product Regulations 2016. A notification must be submitted to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for each product prior to launch. This must include a list of ingredients and information on their toxicology and emissions. The regulations prohibit ingredients that cause harm to human health, including respiratory sensitisers and substances known to cause cancer, cause mutation in cells or are toxic to reproduction. The notifier bears full responsibility for the quality and safety of their product and the MHRA checks all notifications to ensure the absence of prohibited substances.

Genito-urinary Medicine Elliot Colburn: [634] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to publish its national sexual health and reproductive health strategy. Elliot Colburn: [635] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to hold its stakeholder roundtable events on the national sexual health and reproductive health strategy. Jo Churchill: Work on the development of a new national sexual and reproductive health strategy is underway with the Department working with Public Health England, NHS England and Improvement, local government and other partners. Some initial engagement with stakeholders has already taken place and we are also considering the responses to the Green Paper ‘Advancing our Health’ and the suggestions for priority areas for the new strategy we received through the consultation process. Details of the strategy’s scope, plans for more formal engagement with external organisations, including roundtables, timing of publication and implementation will be announced in due course.

Hinckley Hospital: X-rays Dr Luke Evans: [632] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on returning X-ray facilities to Hinckley hospital. Edward Argar: X-ray facilities will be returning to Hinckley and District Hospital to provide much needed services to the local population, after funding was secured from University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. In addition, the local area will benefit from the Government’s £7 million sustainability and transformation partnerships capital investment to refurbish Hinckley Health Centre, which includes works to accommodate diagnostics (x-ray and ultrasound) machines.

HIV Infection: Drugs Elliot Colburn: [636] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure access for all to PrEP prior to routine commissioning starting in April 2020. Elliot Colburn: [637] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish further information on how (a) routine commissioning of PrEP will be (i) implemented and (ii) funded and (b) local health commissioners will be supported during the rollout of that routine commissioning. Jo Churchill: Anyone requesting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) through the Impact Trial must meet the agreed eligibility criteria. A core function of the trial’s Community Advisory Board (CAB) is to raise awareness and uptake of PrEP in key populations. Further information about PrEP Impact Trial CAB activities and participating community groups can be found at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/blood-and- infection-group-f/f03/prep-trial-updates/ The Impact Trial website includes a map showing the distribution of the 154 clinics level 3 Sexual Health Services participating in the trial at the following link: www.prepimpacttrial.org.uk The Department is continuing to work closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Public Health England and local authorities to plan for routine commissioning of PrEP from April 2020. NHS England and NHS Improvement have already agreed to fund the on-going costs of drugs for PrEP going forward. We will provide information on how other elements of the programme will be funded and how commissioners will be supported very shortly. Sarah Champion: [691] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, of 28 January 2020, Official Report column 658, what steps he is taking to ensure that PReP is accessible to women; and how the roll-out of PReP to women is monitored by his Department. Jo Churchill: A core function of the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) Impact Trial Community Advisory Board (CAB) is to raise awareness and uptake of PrEP in key populations, including women. Further information about PrEP Impact Trial CAB activities and participating community groups can be found at the following links: https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/blood-and- infection-group-f/f03/prep-trial-updates/ https://www.prepimpacttrial.org.uk/faqs A subgroup of the PrEP CAB aims to specifically address PrEP Impact Trial access for women. The subgroup has developed a questionnaire to use with women attending sexual health clinics in order to increase knowledge and awareness among women and to aid discussions about PrEP with health workers. More information can be found at the following link: https://sophiaforum.net/index.php/women-and-prep/ In addition, Public Health England’s Innovation Fund has supported a number of community based projects aimed at increasing PrEP awareness in women; information on the projects funded in 2018 can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/innovative-hiv-prevention-projects-reached- 170000-people-in-2018 As at October 2019, places filled by women and other groups account for over 4% of total trial participants. As of 12 February 2020, all participating Trial clinics were open to recruitment for women, trans men and heterosexual men. Information on the enrolment status of participating clinics is regularly updated on the PrEP Impact Trial website at the following link: https://www.prepimpacttrial.org.uk/join-the-trial

Hospitals: Discharges Rosie Cooper: [565] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that patients have timely access the care require to leave hospital in order to ease pressure on the NHS from delayed discharge from hospital. Edward Argar: The Department is clear that no one should stay in a hospital bed longer than necessary. The jointly set Better Care Fund (BCF) plans focus on reducing delayed transfers of care (DToCs). All local health and care systems must adopt the centrally- set expectations for reducing or maintaining rates of DToC during 2019-20 in their BCF plans. The Government provided £240 million in 2019-20, pooled in the BCF, to support local health and care systems to manage demand pressures on the National Health Service. This includes interventions that support people to be discharged from hospital to access the appropriate social care to help promote their independence. The last available published figures for delayed transfers are for December performance. These show that since the peak in February 2017, there has been a reduction in the average number of delayed days per day of over 1,800.

Learning Disability: Diagnosis Mr Richard Holden: [14753] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with intellectual disability are not wrongly diagnosed as having dementia. Helen Whately: Diagnosis for dementia is only undertaken by clinical professionals. For example, a general practitioner (GP) in the first instance. If the GP is unsure about the diagnosis, they will refer the individual to a specialist for further tests. To help promote and maintain best practice for diagnosing dementia, and ensure accurate diagnoses, NHS England has developed and published guidance aimed at GPs and practice nurses, as well as guidance on what good quality assessment and dementia diagnosis looks like. The guidance is available at the following links: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/dementia-revealed- toolkit.pdf https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/implementation-guide-and- resource-pack-dementia-guide.pdf

Mental Health Services: Waiting Lists Jonathan Ashworth: [14709] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to implement maximum waiting times for adult inpatient mental health care; and what progress he has made on the maximum waiting time pilots. Ms Nadine Dorries: NHS England has committed in the interim report of the Clinically-Led Review of Access Standards to testing a range of new access standards for mental health, including for crisis services in the community and liaison psychiatry services, four week waiting times for children and young people who need specialist community mental health services and four week waiting times for adults and older adults to access community mental health teams. Testing of these new access standards are underway in pilot areas. An update on the testing of the new mental health access standards will be set out in the final report of the Clinically-Led Review of Access Standards to be published later this year. Once recommendations are made, following field-testing of the proposals within the National Health Service, the Government has committed to studying them carefully.

Prescription Drugs Mr Richard Holden: [14752] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) tackle the over-prescribing of medicines and (b) ensure reviews of prescriptions are carried out for people who have been on medication for prolonged periods of time. Jo Churchill: The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has asked Dr Keith Ridge, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, to carry out a review into overprescribing of medicines. The review is due to report in spring 2020. It will align with and build on the emerging Medicine Safety Programme and Public Health England’s independent review into ‘dependence and withdrawal associated with some prescribed medicines’, published in September 2019, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prescribed-medicines-review-report To support appropriate prescribing, the 2020/21 GP contract will introduce new requirements for primary care networks (PCNs) to undertake Structured Medication Reviews (SMRs), which will help to address overprescribing of medicines. From 1 April 2020, each PCN will use appropriate tools to identify and prioritise patients who would benefit from an SMR.

Prostate Cancer: Screening Carla Lockhart: [666] To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits on introducing routine prostate cancer screening. Jo Churchill: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has commenced work to review the evidence to offer population screening for prostate cancer as per its three-yearly cycle. A three-month public consultation will take place in summer 2020 where a recommendation will be made. Further information and how to participate in the consultation will be available at the following link: https://legacyscreening.phe.org.uk/screening-recommendations.php HOME OFFICE

[Subject Heading to be Assigned] Andrew Rosindell: [14971] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drug-related crimes were reported in Havering in each year since 2010. : The Home Office collects and publishes data on crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, including drug possession and drug trafficking-related offences. Figures for offences recorded within the Havering Community Service Partnership Area can be found in the published tables found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Asylum Scott Benton: [699] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of failed asylum seekers still living in the UK. Kevin Foster: Information regarding the number of failed asylum seekers still living in the UK can be found on tables OLCU_01, OLCU_04 and ASY_03 of the most recently published Asylum, UK Visa & Immigration Transparency Data: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-august-2019

Asylum: Deportation Scott Benton: [681] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of failed asylum seekers who have absconded before deportation in each of the last five years. Kevin Foster: The Home Office does not hold the information you have requested. Scott Benton: [682] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many failed asylum seekers have been deported in each of the last 10 years. Kevin Foster: The Home Office publishes data on returns from the UK in the ‘. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release Data on the number of returns, by year, type of return and asylum and non-asylum related returns are published in table Ret_05. Asylum-related returns relate to cases where there has been an asylum claim at some stage prior to the return. This will include asylum seekers whose asylum claims have been refused, and who have exhausted any rights of appeal, those returned under third country provisions, as well as those granted asylum/protection, but removed for other reasons (such as criminality). Therefore not all ‘asylum’ cases will relate to failed asylum seekers. The term 'deportations' refers to a legally-defined subset of returns which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. Information on those deported is not separately available and therefore the published statistics refer to all enforced returns. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2019. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the. https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and- statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5 D=home-office&order=release-date-oldest Scott Benton: [683] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to locate failed asylum seekers who have absconded prior to deportation. Kevin Foster: The Home Office takes a number of steps to re-establish contact with Failed Asylum Seekers (FAS) who have absconded. Our dedicated tracing team conducts a full range of checks which cannot be detailed for security reasons.

Domestic Violence: LGBT People Sarah Champion: [674] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding was allocated to the specialist LGBT+ sector for the provision of domestic abuse services in each year between 2016 and 2020. : The Home Office has provided over £980,000 of funding to specialist LGBT+ organisations for the provision of domestic abuse services between 2016 and 2020. The financial year breakdown spend is as follows: FY 2016-2017 – £120,000 FY 2017-2018 – £120,000 FY 2018-2019 – £370,000 FY 2019-2020 – £370,000 This includes £120,000 of funding each year since 2016 for the National LGBT Domestic Abuse helpline, which provides emotional and practical support for LGBT+ people who are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse. It also includes £500,000 funding provided to Galop, a specialist LGBT+ domestic abuse service. This funding includes the provision of training and consultancy to deliver knowledge and understanding of the needs and experiences of LGBT+ victims of domestic abuse to statutory organisations that work with victims of domestic abuse.

Firearms and Knives: Liverpool Ian Byrne: [618] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the rates of (a) gun and (b) knife offences in Liverpool. Kit Malthouse: The Government is committed to tackling gun crime and knife crime across England and Wales. Through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 we have introduced a ban on certain rapid-firing rifles and we are also introducing greater regulation of antique firearms to prevent their misuse by criminals. We have also consulted on statutory guidance on firearms licensing to improve standards and the consistency of police licensing decisions, and we have established a multi-agency national firearms threat assessment centre to improve our capability to disrupt the supply and use of illegal firearms by criminals and Organised Crime Groups. This unit works closely with Merseyside police and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit. The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 will also give the police with more powers to tackle knife crime and make it more difficult for young people to get hold of knives in the first place. The Act also introduces Knife Crime Prevention Orders which will give the police an important new tool to help them to help to steer those most at risk away from serious violence and knife crime. Funding for Merseyside Police increased by £18.3 million last year and the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner has set out her plans to use this funding to recruit 80 more police officers. In addition, the Home Office has provided £100 million in 2019/2020 through the Serious Violence Fund. Of this, Merseyside Police has been allocated and additional £4.2 million this year from the Home Office Serious Violence Fund to pay for a surge in police operational activity against serious violence, and a further £3.37 million to develop Merseyside’s Violence Reduction Unit. This is a non-statutory partnership which offers leadership and strategic coordination of the local response to serious violence by bringing together police, local government, health and education professionals, community leaders and other keypartners to identify the drivers of serious violence and agree a multi-agency response. The Government has announced a further £35 million to continue funding Violence Reduction Units next year, and Merseyside has been allocated a further £3.37 million for 2020/21 as part of this. The Government has also provided Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner with £700,000 over two years through our £22 million Early Intervention Youth Fund for an early interventions programme targeting young people aged 8-19, to tackle serious violence and criminal exploitation. Under year 3 of the anti-knife crime Community Fund (2019-20), we have funded 5 community-based projects in Liverpool and Merseyside totalling £132,550. We are also providing a targeted £25million to tackle county lines drugs gangs, given the links between drugs, county lines and serious violence.

Free Movement of People: Musicians Kate Osamor: [721] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to maintain freedom of movement for live performing and touring musicians after the end of the transition period. Kate Osamor: [722] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of a musicians’ passport for live performing and touring musicians after the end of the transition period. Kevin Foster: Free Movement will end on 31 December 2020 with the end of the Transition Period. Following the end of the Transition Period EEA and Swiss nationals will be able to continue to travel to the UK for holidays or short-term trips, without needing a visa. The current Immigration Rules, including those for visitors, contain a wide range of provisions to cater for artists, entertainers and musicians. The Home Office is currently engaging with other government departments, including DCMS, to ensure the future immigration system continues to support the thriving cultural sector in the UK.

Home Office: Work Experience Seema Malhotra: [713] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people aged (a) 16 and under and (b) over 16 years old undertook work experience in his Department in each of the last three years. Victoria Atkins: The Department does not offer any formal work experience opportunities to individuals aged 16 and under. The Department participates in a number of programmes open to individuals over 16 years old. The Summer Diversity Internship Programme is a six to nine-week paid internship for individuals in their last year of undergraduate study, organised by Cabinet Office. The Early Diversity Internship Programme is a one-week shadowing opportunity for first year undergraduates, organised by Cabinet Office. There is also a shorter Work Experience programme for individuals aged 17 to 18, organised by Cabinet Office. We also participate in Movement to Work, a work experience programme for young people (18-30 years old) who are not in education, employment or training. In 2019 we also ran a Smart Futures programme for young people (16-17 years old). Placements numbers for the last three years are detailed in the below table:

PROGRAMME 2019 2018 2017

Summer Diversity 24 23 22 Internship Programme

Early Diversity 12 8 8 Internship Programme

Work experience 2 0 2 programme

Movement to Work 5 5 0

Smart Futures 10 0 0

Immigrants: Health Services : [582] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration health surcharges have been paid by overseas (a) doctors and (b) nurses. Kevin Foster: The Home Office does not collate or publish the information requested.

Immigration: EU Nationals Seema Malhotra: [648] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain on the grounds of long residency her Department received in each month over the last two years; and how many of those applications submitted prior to 30 June 2019 are yet to be processed. Kevin Foster: We do not publish this data for this specific group of applicants but as per the In- Country migration statistics published in August 2019, 98.2% of settlement applications were decided within the six-month service standard. This figure will include applications made by those seeking Indefinite Leave to Remain on the grounds of long residency. The data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country- migration-data-august-2019.

Knives: South Leicestershire Dr Luke Evans: [678] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle knife crime in (a) Hinckley and (b) Bosworth; and what progress has been in the last 12 months. Kit Malthouse: This Government is determined to turn the tide on knife crime in all areas, wherever it occurs. Across England and Wales, we are recruiting 20,000 more police officers over the next three years and increasing sentences for violent criminals. We have made it easier for the police to use enhanced stop and search powers and we will introduce a new court order to make it easier for the police to stop and search those who have been convicted of knife crime. We will also ensure that anyone charged with knife possession will appear before magistrates within days and we are also making £10 million available to the police to equip more officers with tasers. In addition, we have legislated through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 to give the police more powers and to ensure knives are less likely to make their way on to the streets and we will also be introducing the Serious Violence Bill to place a duty on the police, councils and health authorities to work together to prevent and tackle serious violence. Over the last 12 months, we have increased police funding, by £1 billion this year and announced that the amount of funding available to the policing system in 2020 to 2021 will increase by more than £1.1 billion. We have also announced a targeted £25 million to tackle county lines drug gangs, given the links between drugs, county lines and serious violence and we have provided the £100 million Serious Violence Fund to provide support to the 18 police force areas most affected by serious violence. This has seen an extra £1.4 million provided to Leicestershire Police for operational, surge activity against serious violence, and £880,000 this year to the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, with a similar amount next year, to develop a Violence Reduction Unit to help build capacity across the area to tackle serious violence. In addition, the first grant round of the Youth Endowment Fund has also taken place, with 23 successful projects across England and Wales are sharing £17.1m over 2 years for work to support children and young people most vulnerable from becoming involved in crime and violence. This includes £486,000 to Leicestershire County Council for an Advanced Lifeskills project across schools in Leicestershire. In addition, through our Early Intervention Youth Fund, the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner has received £347,272 to help fund a project in the most deprived areas of Leicester and Leicestershire where serious violence is most prevalent, and under year 3 of the anti- knife crime Community Fund two community based projects in Leicester have received funding support.

Lancashire Constabulary: Stop and Search Scott Benton: [701] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of the usage of stop and search powers by Lancashire Police; and if her Department will take steps to encourage that police force to increase its use of stop and search powers to help tackle crime in that area. Kit Malthouse: The police have the government's full support in the fair and targeted use of stop and search to crack down on criminality and violent crime. That is why, last year, we started a national pilot to test a relaxation of voluntary restrictions on "no suspicion" Section 60 powers, used when the police anticipate serious violence. Stop and search in Lancashire increased 39% in 2018/19 compared with 2017/18, the first year-on-year increase since 2010/11. This is similar to the national trend. The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of stop and searches conducted by each police force in England and Wales on an annual basis. Results are published in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, the latest of which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england- and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2019

Offences Against Children Jim Shannon: [502] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of child sexual abuse in each of the last five years. Victoria Atkins: The Home Office collects and publishes data on crimes recorded by the police, including crimes related to child sexual abuse. These are published quarterly in the Office for National Statistics bulletin “Crime in England and Wales”. The latest data are available here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/cri meinenglandandwales/yearendingseptember2019 The ONS have recently published additional statistics and commentary on child sex abuse. There are available here https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/child sexualabuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2019. The most recent survey estimates that in the year ending March 2019, approximately 3.1 million adults aged 18 to 74 years experienced child sexual abuse before the age of 16 years. This is equivalent to 7.5% of the population aged 18 to 74 years. : [695] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on its research on the profiling of the perpetrators of child sexual exploitation. Victoria Atkins: The Home Office has considered evidence from a range of sources including existing research, published and unpublished data, and insight from investigators and safeguarding professionals to better understand the characteristics of group-based child sexual offending. These include the nature and modus operandi of the networks involved, the backgrounds and motivations of individual offenders, and the characteristics of victims. Emerging findings have been shared with relevant partners in law enforcement agencies. In early 2020 the Government will publish a national strategy, the first of its kind, to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse. Our new strategy will set out our whole system response to tackling child sexual abuse, including group-based sexual offending drawing on this internal work. It will set out how we will work across government, law enforcement, safeguarding partners and industry to root out offending, protect victims and help victims and survivors rebuild their lives. We will work tirelessly to tackle all forms of sexual abuse; there will be no no-go areas.

Special Constables: Conditions of Employment : [580] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of benefits and compensation for special constables. Robert Halfon: [583] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of special constables being paid. Kit Malthouse: Special constables are not paid for their duties but receive out-of-pocket expenses and forces may work with local partners to provide discretionary benefits such as free local travel or council tax rebates. Many special constables, like volunteers in other parts of society, are not motivated by financial reward. It is important that we recognise the contribution of special constables and we continue to work with policing partners to ensure they feel valued and supported.

Special Constables: Equality Robert Halfon: [578] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the rate of diversity in relation to special constables. Kit Malthouse: Police forces that reflect the communities they serve are crucial to tackling crime in a modern diverse society. The police have worked hard to improve equality and diversity in policing and the workforce is more representative than ever before. The Special Constabulary are currently the most ethnically diverse part of the police workforce. As of 31 March 2019, approximately 11 per cent of all special constables who have stated their ethnicity identified as black and minority ethnic background. This compared with 6.9 per cent of regular police officers who have stated their ethnicity in the same period. Females accounted for 29 per cent of all special constables, slightly lower than for full-time police officers where 30.4 per cent are female.

Special Constables: Recruitment Robert Halfon: [573] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to increase the number of special constables. Robert Halfon: [575] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on increasing the number of special constables in England. Robert Halfon: [577] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the application process to increase the number of special constables. Robert Halfon: [586] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential (a) merits of increasing the number of special constables and (b) effect of such an increase on levels of crime. Kit Malthouse: Special constables bring diverse and valuable skills to police forces that strengthen policing and help forces to develop important links with communities. Recruitment and eligibility criteria of special constables are set locally at the discretion of Chief Officers. The Home Office Employer Supported Policing (ESP) scheme is a partnership between employers and the police service aimed at encouraging employers to enable their staff to volunteer as special constables in the communities they serve. The Home Office will continue to work closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Citizens in Policing Programme and the College of Policing to support the development of a national approach to the attraction and training of special constables. Special Constables: Training Robert Halfon: [579] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of online modules in the teaching of the Special Constabulary curriculum. Robert Halfon: [584] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of using online education for training special constables. Robert Halfon: [585] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on improving educational opportunities for special constables. Kit Malthouse: We continue to work closely with National Policing leads to ensure consistency across forces in order to strengthen the national approach to special constables, including their development. It is the responsibility of individual police forces to ensure that special constables receive the training required to carry out the role and decisions on how to train Special constables are taken locally by the Chief Constable. The College of Policing provides bespoke training programmes for special constables as well as national guidance on police standards, including training, which forces can access.

Visas: Research Daniel Zeichner: [624] To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to create new endorsing bodies for the new global talent visa to enable science and technology companies in (a) Cambridge and (b) the UK to access the global talent that they need to innovate and grow. Kevin Foster: On 27 January, the Government announced details of the reformed Global Talent visa, including a new fast-track scheme for top scientists, researchers and mathematicians, which would be managed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). These changes are part of an initial phase of wider reforms to enable those with world-class specialist skills to come to the UK. The Government will continue to work closely with the existing Endorsing Bodies, including UKRI, and the wider scientific community. As part of this development we will discuss the inclusion of additional endorsing bodies. HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

[Subject Heading to be Assigned] Andrew Rosindell: [14970] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to assess the viability of flat-pack housing as a means of tackling housing shortages. : This Government is committed to supporting modern methods of construction (MMC), including modular and panellised systems. It is well recognised that new technology and innovation have improved productivity, quality and choice across a range of sectors and we are keen to see the same happen in housing. Homes England provide development finance to developers using MMC and have also invested directly into an MMC factory using the £4.5 billion Home Building Fund. Our Local Authority Accelerated Construction programme aims to increase the speed of build out and encourage widespread use of MMC. Homes England currently has contracts in place with local authorities for over 7,400 units, all of which include some aspects of MMC. Andrew Rosindell: [14974] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that new council housing is of adequate quality. Luke Hall: All new housing, including council housing, must meet the requirements of the building regulations and any development plan policies on design quality through the planning system. Andrew Rosindell: [14978] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to enforce building regulation inspections to help ensure the quality of housing builds. Luke Hall: Building Regulations set standards for the design and construction of new homes and the primary responsibility for compliance with these requirements rests with the person carrying out the building work, such as the developer or builder. The Building Act 1984 provides local authorities with a general duty to enforce compliance with building regulations and formal enforcement powers for dealing with breaches of the Building Regulations. The Government agreed with the recommendations in Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review of the building regulations and fire safety system and is committed to putting stronger accountability at the heart of a more effective system. As part of our reforms to building safety, we are establishing a new Building Safety Regulator which will provide enhanced oversight of the building safety regulatory system - driving competence amongst professions and trades working on buildings, as well as leading oversight of the tougher regime for high risk buildings.

Clarion Housing Group Rushanara Ali: [538] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many complaints about poor services by Clarion Housing Group were received by the Housing Ombudsman Service in (a) 2018-19 and (b) the first three financial quarters of 2019-20; and how many of those complaints (i) have been determined, (ii) are under investigation and (iii) are awaiting allocation to an adjudicator for an investigation. : In relation to Clarion, the Housing Ombudsman Service received; a) in 2018-19; 444 complaints b) in the first three financial quarters of 2019-20; 347 complaints Of these, 84 and 43 respectively entered their formal remit, 127 in total. Of these formal complaints, i) 95 have been determined, ii) 6 are under investigation and iii) 26 are awaiting allocation.

Disabled Facilities Grants Rosie Cooper: [567] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure access to the Disabled Facilities Grant for older tenants and their landlords in the private rented sector. Luke Hall: Anyone can apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant, including people living in private rented accommodation, subject to a means test and an assessment of need. Tenure should not impact a person’s ability to access the home adaptations they need. The Government also funds Foundations, the national body for home improvement agencies. Foundations works closely with local authorities to promote best practice in the delivery of home adaptations, including providing information and advice to older people living in private rented accommodation and their landlords.

Economic Growth Henry Smith: [570] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local growth in (a) Crawley and (b) the UK. Luke Hall: The Government is committed to levelling up the entire country and giving towns, cities and communities across the UK real power and investment to drive the growth of the future and unleash their full potential. We have taken action to encourage local growth in Crawley that includes: • The opportunity to receive up to £25 million from the Towns Fund as one of the 100 places selected to develop a Town Deal with Government; • £24 million from the Local Growth Fund, supporting infrastructure, regeneration and skills projects; • Advice and support to 40 Crawley small businesses in the last financial year from Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership’s Growth Hub. Across the UK the Government is supporting local partners to deliver local economic growth and prosperity through: • £12 billion of investment by 2021 through the Local Growth Fund in England in infrastructure, skills and innovation projects; • Devolving powers and funding to eight Metro Mayors, with ongoing negotiations for new devolution deals across the North; • Commitments to the Northern Powerhouse, Midlands Engine and Oxford- Cambridge Arc, as well as local industrial strategies being developed by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) across England to drive growth across their areas; • Town Deals from the £3.6 billion Towns Fund and investment in our High Streets; • City and Growth Deals worth £10 billion in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; • Developing a UK Shared Prosperity Fund to tackle inequality and deprivation in each of our four nations.

Flats: Insulation Steve Reed: [14698] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent progress his Department has made on the release of funds to cover the cost of the remediation of unsafe aluminium composite material cladding on privately owned blocks of flats in London. Christopher Pincher: Information on the progress of applications to the Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund is reported in the monthly building safety programme data releases, available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/aluminium-composite-material- cladding#acm-remediation-data.

Freehold: Fees and Charges John Healey: [14608] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to protect freeholders against service charges and other fees and charges. Christopher Pincher: The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service. The Government is aware that homeowners could be subject to a possession order or the granting of a lease of their home by the rentcharge owner over rentcharge arrears. As part of our leasehold reform work, we are moving forward with legislation to repeal Section 121 of the Law of Property Act 1925 to ensure homeowners are not subjected to unfair possession orders. Furthermore, where people pay estate rentcharges, it is not right that these homeowners have limited rights to challenge these costs. That is why the Government intends to legislate to give freeholders on private and mixed-tenure estates equivalent rights to leaseholders to challenge the reasonableness of estate rent charges. The Government also asked the Regulation of Property Agents working group, chaired by Lord Best, to look at how service charges for leaseholders - and estate rent charges for resident freehold homeowners - could be made more transparent. The group also considered in what circumstances other fees and charges, such as administration charges or permission fees which affect both leaseholders and freeholders, are justified or whether they should be capped or banned. The working group published its final report to in July 2019 ( https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulation-of-property-agents-working- group-report ). We are considering the report’s recommendations and will announce next steps in due course.

Fuel Poverty: Older People Rosie Cooper: [569] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support people aged over 60 who live in fuel poor households and (b) improve the energy efficiency of those households. Christopher Pincher: We believe everyone should be protected against the cold in their home and the best long-term solution to addressing fuel poverty is to improve household energy efficiency. The Energy Efficiency Regulations 2015 sets a minimum energy efficiency standard of Energy Performance Certificate Band E for private rented properties. Pensioners also receive financial support to ensure they can keep their homes warm. Winter Fuel Payments provide pensioners with between £100 and £300 to keep their homes warm during the winter. Those on Pension Credit also receive a £140 Warm Home Discount rebate. Housing: Construction : [13934] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance is Department issues to local authorities on building proposals for new homes on flood plains. Christopher Pincher: The National Planning Policy Framework states that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be directed away from areas at highest risk, including floodplains. If new homes are necessary in a flood risk area, and no suitable sites at lower risk are available, the local authority should ensure that the development will be safe and will not increase flood risk elsewhere. Where those tests are not met, development should not be allowed. John Redwood: [13935] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure an equitable distribution of investment in new housing between the north and the South East of England. Christopher Pincher: We are committed to building more of the right homes, in the right places across the country, and ensuring the housing market works for everyone. The Government has so far allocated circa £3 billion from the Housing Infrastructure Fund across every English region, to unlock the development up to 272,862 homes across the country. Furthermore, the Government has allocated £3.4 billion in Growth Deals to areas in the Northern Powerhouse - supporting locally determined projects to unlock economic growth. John Redwood: [13936] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of Government proposal on migration on the required level of new home builds in the next five year. Christopher Pincher: There is a consensus that housing supply needs to be significantly higher than its historical average, which is why it is this Government’s ambition to deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s. : [14771] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities are able to use the New Homes Bonus to fund refuse services; and how many local authorities use the New Homes Bonus for revenue spending. Christopher Pincher: The New Homes Bonus is an unringfenced grant, this allows local authorities to use the funding as they see fit, as the Government recognises that authorities are in the best position to make decisions about local priorities. Authorities are expected to engage with their local community to decide how the money is spent. The Department does not monitor how individual authorities spend their allocations. Rosie Cooper: [568] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that new homes are built to the lifetime homes standard. Christopher Pincher: Part M (Access to and Use of Buildings) of the Building Regulations sets minimum access standards for all new buildings. The M4(2) standard for accessible and adaptable homes, set out in statutory guidance, is broadly equivalent to the independent Lifetime Homes standard. Planning guidance on housing for older and disabled people published last summer strengthened the link between plan making and requirement M4(2) for new homes. Government will also consult shortly on raising accessibility standards, recognising the importance of suitable homes for older and disabled people. Mr Richard Holden: [610] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the joint-venture approach to housing development and regeneration; and if he will visit the Genesis Project in North West Durham constituency. Christopher Pincher: The Government’s estate regeneration national strategy published in 2016 outlined the various ways in which the public and private sectors might work together to implement property development and regeneration projects. It is important that each of the options, and any variations, are properly considered and tested for a given opportunity. Each route will have implications for financing, procurement and project management. In many cases, the challenge of how to structure delivery is likely to be addressed by a combination of different approaches.

Housing: Domestic Abuse Stella Creasy: [14678] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to extend automatic priority need for housing to survivors of domestic abuse in need of a safe and permanent home. Luke Hall: This Government believes it is vitally important that domestic abuse victims who are homeless, or are at risk of homelessness, are supported to find an accommodation solution that meets their needs and reflects their individual circumstances. In April 2018, the Homelessness Reduction Act came into force, which puts prevention at the heart of the local authorities’ response to homelessness, irrespective of whether they are a family or single person, what has put them at risk, or if they have a local connection to the area. This means that all victims of domestic abuse who are at risk of homelessness should be provided with an offer of support from their local authority to find appropriate accommodation. Under homelessness legislation a person who is pregnant, has dependent children, or is vulnerable as a result of having to leave accommodation due to domestic abuse already has priority need for accommodation. These duties, alongside new duties under the Domestic Abuse Bill, will ensure that all victims of domestic abuse are supported to find accommodation that meets their needs.

Housing: Multiple Occupation : [14747] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what powers are available to local authorities to prevent family homes being turned into houses of multiple occupation. Christopher Pincher: Change of use to a larger House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) housing more than six people always requires an application for planning permission. Such larger HMOs also require a license in order to operate. For houses up to six people who share facilities, nationally set permitted development rights allow a dwellinghouse (C3) to change use to a House in Multiple Occupation (C4) without the need for a planning application. This enables the change of use without placing unnecessary burdens on landlords and local planning authorities. Where there is sufficient evidence that it is necessary to protect local amenity or the well-being of the area, a local planning authority may withdraw a permitted development right in a specific area using an Article 4 direction, after consultation with the local community.

Housing: Romford Andrew Rosindell: [494] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many families were recorded as living in overcrowded conditions in Romford constituency in (a) 2015 and (b) the most recent date for which data is available. Luke Hall: The Government does not hold this data. The 2018-19 English Housing Survey does estimate levels of overcrowding, based on three-year averages, but not at a constituency level. The local authority or local authorities who cover the Romford constituency may be able to provide this information. Local authorities have a legal duty to keep housing conditions in their area under review. Local Plans John Healey: [14609] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of local authorities have an up-to-date local plan. John Healey: [14610] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what deadline he has set for all local authorities to have an up-to-date local plan. Christopher Pincher: It is essential for Local Planning Authorities to have up to date plan policies in place to plan for our housing needs and to provide clarity to communities and developers about where new homes should be built. It also helps ensure that development is planned for and is sustainable rather than the result of speculative applications. There are 9 Local Planning Authorities (3 per cent) without an Local Plan adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 Act that have not yet submitted their first plan for Examination. Once plans have been adopted, it is down to Local Planning Authorities to determine if these are up to date. This is to ensure that policies remain relevant and effectively address the needs of the local community. The Planning Inspectorate publishes Local Plan progress information at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-plans#monitoring-local-plan-progress.

Planning Permission Anthony Browne: [14758] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications have been granted through the Permission in Principle application route to date. Christopher Pincher: We do not currently collect data on Permission in Principle applications. However, from April 2020 local planning authorities will be required to provide data on Permission in Principle applications which will be published as part of the national planning quarterly statistical release.

Private Rented Housing: Liverpool Ian Byrne: [622] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason his Department did not extend the landlord licensing scheme in Liverpool; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure the protection of tenants in the private rental sector in (a) Liverpool West Derby constituency and (b) Liverpool. Christopher Pincher: Liverpool City Council made an application for selective licensing under the condition of low housing demand across the whole city. The evidence provided by the local authority was carefully considered against all the relevant statutory conditions, including those contained within section 80(4) of the Housing Act 2004. The application did not meet the statutory tests because it did not sufficiently evidence the existence of low housing demand in every ward in the city, nor that every ward in the city would become an area of low housing demand. Selective licensing is part of wider robust enforcement powers available to councils to protect vulnerable tenants, tackle rogue landlords and support responsible landlords in the private rented sector, including civil penalties and banning orders for the most serious offences.

Private Rented Housing: Reform Rosie Cooper: [566] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timeframe is for bringing forward legislative proposals for a Renters Reform Bill. Luke Hall: The Government is committed to enhancing renters’ security and improving protections for short-term tenants. We will bring forward a Renters’ Reform Bill as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Temporary Accommodation: Children Rachel Hopkins: [737] To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of children living in temporary accommodation in Luton. Luke Hall: Time spent in temporary accommodation means people are getting help and it ensures no family is without a roof over their head. However, the Government is also committed to reducing the number of households in temporary accommodation and has already invested over £1.2 billion in tackling homelessness. This includes supporting Local Authorities in the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act, increasing access to the private rented sector for families in temporary accommodation and supporting London boroughs to procure temporary accommodation more efficiently. In December 2019 the Government announced a further £263 million in funding to Local Authorities to support them to deliver services to tackle homelessness and help households into accommodation. This is an increase in overall funding for homelessness of £23 million on the previous financial year. Nationally, the number of children living in temporary accommodation is down from its peak in June 2006 at 134,470, with 127,370 in June 2019. The figures for children living in temporary accommodation in Luton are in the published local authority level tables available here from 2018 onwards: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness Prior to 2018, the figures for children living in temporary accommodation in Luton can be found in the individual LA level tables (listed under discontinued tables): https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on- homelessness#discontinued-tables

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

[Subject Heading to be Assigned] Andrew Rosindell: [14975] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of the Government of Tanzania on aid to that country. James Duddridge: The UK Government engages regularly on overseas development assistance with representatives of the Government of Tanzania. These discussions take place at all levels of government, from national to local. This is to ensure that our aid is targeted, impactful and in line with national priorities. Andrew Rosindell: [14979] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to help developing countries tackle tax avoidance and evasion. James Duddridge: DFID’s support is helping developing countries to collect more taxes from where they are due. The aim is to build self-sustaining economies that can generate their own financing through increased tax revenue and private investment. In addition to providing capacity building support in-country through bilateral support programmes, this includes providing £10.3 million to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to assist developing countries to implement international tax standards to tackle international tax evasion and avoidance. For example, through this funding we are supporting the ‘Tax Inspectors Without Borders’ initiative, which assists developing countries with issues such as complex international audits. This programme has generated an additional $100 in revenue for every $1 spent on operating costs.

Department for International Development: Offshore Funds Tulip Siddiq: [14002] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether his Department’s (a) anti-fraud and (b) anti-money laundering procedures review (i) payments by his Department to offshore accounts and (ii) the use of offshore accounts by his Department's (A) suppliers and (B) senior staff. James Duddridge: There are robust anti-fraud and anti-money laundering measures in place for all DFID expenditure. The following controls are in place: (A) For suppliers, relevant corporate assurance assessments and due diligence checks are completed by programme teams before new suppliers are added to the system, and the Treasury and Banking team are required to select the destination country for bank templates. In addition, the team check that the final destination account does not differ from that in the payment request. (B) All our staff are governed by DFID’s Standards of Behaviour and Conduct including the Civil Service Code for staff and the seven Principles of Public life for office holders. As part of this, both staff and office holders are required to declare any conflicts of interest including private investments. Tulip Siddiq: [14004] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much money his Department paid into offshore bank accounts in financial year 2018-19. James Duddridge: The information requested is not easily accessible and the cost to extract would be disproportionate. Tulip Siddiq: [14005] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether (a) members of his Departmental Board and (b) senior executives in his Department are required to disclose their offshore bank accounts and holdings. James Duddridge: All DFID staff are governed by the Civil Service Code and core values, the 7 Principles of Public life, and DFID’s staff code of practice. These require that both staff and office holders declare any conflicts of interest, including those involving private or personal business and financial concerns.

Developing Countries: Children Rosie Cooper: [530] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the effect of funding replenishment for (a) Gavi, (b) the Vaccine Alliance and (c) Nutrition for Growth on ending preventable child deaths by 2030. : The UK’s ambition to end the preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns and children by 2030 is supported by our commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and addressing malnutrition through Nutrition for Growth. The UK’s £1.44 billion of support to Gavi between 2016-2020 has saved 1.4 million lives from vaccine-preventable diseases in 68 of the world’s poorest countries. The UK-hosted pledging conference for Gavi on 3-4 th June 2020 is an opportunity for the UK to use its global leadership to secure Gavi the funds it needs to immunise 300 million more children and save at least 7 million lives between 2021 and 2025. The 2020 Nutrition for Growth Summit will be an important opportunity to secure new commitments to nutrition, to set the world on a better track to achieve the Global Goals and to help achieve our ambition of ending preventable deaths by 2030.

Developing Countries: Fossil Fuels Tulip Siddiq: [14011] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of trends in the level of fossil fuel usage in developing countries on levels of poverty in those countries. James Duddridge: Energy is essential for development and poverty reduction, and there are many assessments that show that poor countries will need to increase investments in energy in the coming years to increase economic growth and improve the lives of poor people. Two recent examples of such assessments include the 2019 Sustainable Development Goal 7 Energy Progress Report, and Sustainable Energy for All’s ‘Energising Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2018’. The science is clear that the world must reduce its emissions if we are to avoid dangerous climate change, which risks undermining development gains and pushing more people into poverty. This will need to be a collective global effort, from all countries, and the UK is leading by example, setting a target to reach net zero by 2050. The UK is providing support to developing countries to think about their choices and how to best to secure the energy they need.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance Rosie Cooper: [14628] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on ensuring that universal health coverage is central to the replenishment period and strategy review with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Wendy Morton: Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) is a UK priority and an overarching goal for DFID’s contribution to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The UK’s £1.44 billion of support to Gavi between 2016-2020 has saved 1.4 million lives from vaccine- preventable diseases in 68 of the world’s poorest countries. The UK is proud to be hosting the Gavi Replenishment Conference on 3-4 th June, to secure Gavi the funds it needs to immunise 300 million more children and save at least 7 million lives between 2021 and 2025. The UK’s commitment to Gavi is central to our work to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns and children by 2030. In its next strategic period, Gavi is committed to reaching every child with essential vaccines, to improve intra-country equity and coverage. Immunisation is often a child’s first point of contact with their health service. By extending routine immunisation to reach the underserved, particularly zero-dose children who have never been vaccinated, Gavi is building a foundation for UHC.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: Finance Rosie Cooper: [14627] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will allocate an adequate level of funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to provide for stronger health systems. Wendy Morton: The UK is proud to be hosting the Gavi Replenishment Conference on 3-4th June, to secure Gavi the funds it needs to immunise 300 million more children and save at least 7 million lives between 2021 and 2025. We recognise the importance of the UK’s funding to Gavi; our £1.44 billion of support to Gavi between 2016-2020 has saved 1.4 million lives from vaccine-preventable diseases in 68 of the world’s poorest countries. The UK’s commitment to Gavi is also central to our work to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns and children by 2030. Gavi’s next strategic period is critically important for the UK as we work together to improve intra-country equity and coverage. Immunisation is often a child’s first point of contact with their health service. By extending routine immunisation to reach the underserved, particularly zero-dose children who have never been vaccinated, Gavi is building a foundation for stronger national health systems. The UK will also prioritise ensuring our investment in Gavi is sustainable by supporting countries to effectively transition from Gavi support to increased domestic funding.

Overseas Aid Caroline Lucas: [14659] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the October 2019 report of The Independent Commission for Aid Impact on mutual prosperity, what steps he is taking to ensure that Official Development Assistance spending across all Departments (a) remains focused on (i) poverty alleviation, (ii) developing and least developed countries and (iii) and leaving no one behind and (b) is fully transparent and accountable. James Duddridge: The UK is a global champion for aid spending and humanitarian relief. As the Independent Commission for Aid Impact report highlights, this Government is building mutually beneficial partnerships that go wider than aid, towards the trade and business relationships that can deliver quality investment, drive growth and create the jobs that developing countries need to lift millions out of poverty. The aim is to build self-sustaining economies that can generate their own financing through increased tax revenue and private investment. This approach to international development is a key example of how the government is bringing together all our capabilities to end extreme poverty. To support this, DFID is working with other government departments to ensure all Official Development Assistance meets the requirements of the International Development Act and the Government’s transparency commitment.

Private Infrastructure Development Group: Fossil Fuels Tulip Siddiq: [14009] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when his Department last made an assessment of the environmental effect of fossil fuel projects financed by his Department through the Private Infrastructure Development Group. James Duddridge: The Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) prioritises investments in renewables wherever possible. PIDG does not have any active fossil fuel extraction projects, and PIDG’s strategy rules out any investments in coal. PIDG conducts an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment on all projects before approving any investment. Each investment must comply with PIDG’s Environment, Social, Health and Safety standards, which are based on the internationally recognised International Finance Corporation Environment and Social Performance Standards. This includes minimum requirements in areas such as use of natural resources, biodiversity, labour standards and land resettlement. Tulip Siddiq: [14010] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what environmental impact assessments his Department has made in relation to fossil fuel extraction projects financed by the Private Infrastructure Development Group. James Duddridge: The Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) does not have any active fossil fuel extraction projects, and PIDG’s strategy rules out any investing in coal. In 2004, PIDG did provide one-off funding of $500,000 (£273,000) for technical assistance to the Government of Mozambique on the feasibility of establishing a coal mine in the town of Moatize in Mozambique. However, no follow-on funding was provided to support this project. PIDG is also not able to invest in the exploration, extraction or refining of oil, natural gas or liquid petroleum gas. PIDG conducts an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment on all projects before approving any investment. Each investment must comply with PIDG’s Environment, Social, Health and Safety standards, which are based on the internationally recognised International Finance Corporation Environment and Social Performance Standards. DFID monitors compliance with these policies as part of its ongoing role as a PIDG Owner.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Renewable Energy Seema Malhotra: [738] To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what official development assistance his Department is allocating to the production of sustainable energy in sub- Saharan Africa. James Duddridge: DFID has a substantial and growing portfolio of programmes supporting sustainable energy in Africa. This includes providing finance for off-grid energy systems to reach the rural poor in Africa, technical assistance to improve African countries’ renewable energy policies, and investing in clean energy research and innovation such as the Faraday Battery Challenge and the Ayrton Fund. CDC, the UK’s development finance institution, also invests in sustainable energy companies, for example in the world’s largest pay-as-you-go solar company, Kenya’s M-Kopa Solar, as well as Mettle Solar in South Africa, and PEG in Ghana. The commitment that the UK will double its spend on international climate finance to £11.6 billion by 2026 will lead to increased UK commitment to the provision of sustainable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia Caroline Lucas: [14658] To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the letter dated 26 January 2018 from the Panel of Experts on Yemen mandated by Security Council resolution 2342 (2017) addressed to the President of the Security Council, what steps she has taken to retake the decision to grant the licences for the transfer of components manufactured by EDO MBM Technology Limited UK as required by the Court of Appeal judgment of 20 June 2019. : The Government continues to carefully consider the implications of the Court of Appeal Judgment for decision making and is progressing the work to enable the re- taking of decisions on the correct legal basis. No specific timetable has been set for this work to be concluded. We disagree with the judgment and have submitted a Notice of Appeal to the Supreme Court. Trade Agreements: Mexico Andrew Rosindell: [498] To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the publication of negotiation objectives for trade deals with Mexico. : The UK is committed to seeking to ensure trade continuity with Mexico after the Transition Period ends on 31 December 2020. We continue to discuss with Mexico how to transition the EU-Mexico Global Agreement so that it functions in a bilateral context from 1 January 2021. In August 2019 my Rt Hon Friend the Foreign Secretary () visited Mexico to sign the UK-Mexico Partnership for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth. This Partnership Agreement underlines an intention on behalf of the UK and Mexico to seek an even more ambitious trading relationship in the future.

Trade Agreements: Tanzania Andrew Rosindell: [497] To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Government of Tanzania on a bilateral trade deal. Conor Burns: The Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act enables the UK to put in place a UK trade preferences scheme for developing countries. This will grant duty-free quota-free access to UK markets for Least Developed Countries, including Tanzania. The UK hopes to discuss the possibility of a trade agreement in East Africa with Tanzanian partners in the near future.

JUSTICE

[Subject Heading to be Assigned] Bill Wiggin: [14965] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans undertake a review the cases of prisoners serving sentences for imprisonment for public protection. : Our primary responsibility is to protect the public. Prisoners serving IPP sentences will be released only when the independent Parole Board concludes that the risk to the public is capable of being safely managed in the community under probation supervision. Many of these prisoners pose a high risk of committing further violent or sexual offences, and it would be wrong to simply release them en masse. For that reason, we have no plans to abolish IPP sentences or make other legislative changes. We are committed to providing IPP prisoners with opportunities to progress to the point at which they are safe to release. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) continue to review the cases of post tariff IPP prisoners who have failed to achieve release or progression to open prison conditions, despite two or more parole reviews, as well as those who received a tariff of 2 years or under. These Case File Reviews (CFRs) enable HMPPS Psychology Services to consult with Offender Managers in order to shape their pathway towards progression. To date, over 1,500 CFRs have taken place, with 284 IPP prisoners from this cohort having achieved release, and a further 355 a progressive move to open conditions. The CFRs are one of the actions in the HMPPS and Parole Board Joint Action Plan, which aims to support prisoners serving IPP sentences. Through the joint Action Plan, HMPPS prioritise post-tariff prisoners in accessing rehabilitative interventions, and deliver a number of initiatives, including the establishment of Progression Regimes at four prisons across the country. Progression Regimes work with prisoners serving indeterminate sentences, who are struggling to achieve release through the usual routes. There is clear evidence that these measures are working. IPP prisoners are being released in large numbers, and have a high chance of a positive outcome from Parole Board hearings. As of 31 December 2019, the number of unreleased IPP prisoners who have completed their minimum tariff was 1,985. This is down from 2,255 on 31 December 2018.

Coroners Caroline Lucas: [14656] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to create a national oversight body to ensure recommendations from inquests and Prevention of Future Death reports made by coroners are collated, monitored and implemented; and if he will make a statement. Lucy Frazer: A person (or body) who receives a coroner’s report to prevent future deaths has a statutory duty to give a written response with details of any action that has been taken or proposed, along with a timescale for implementing this; or an explanation as to why no action is proposed. For deaths in state custody, the Ministerial Board on Deaths in Custody brings together the relevant government departments, agencies and stakeholders to improve policies and processes for keeping those in custody safe. There are currently no plans to create a wider national oversight body along the lines suggested for all prevention of future death notifications. Caroline Lucas: [14657] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Prevention of Future Death reports his Department has received from coroners relating to deaths in prison in the last three years; and what assessment he has made of whether the recommendations from those reports were collated, reviewed and implemented; and if he will make a statement. Lucy Frazer: Since January 2017 85 Prevention of Future Death (PFD) reports have been addressed to my Department by Coroners following inquests held into deaths occurring in prison custody. We are committed to learning from the findings of inquests into deaths in custody, and I am grateful to Coroners who make PFD reports after them. All such reports addressed to my Department are collected centrally in HMPPS, and careful consideration is given to the matters of concern raised in them. The Director General for Prisons responds personally to the Coroner in each case, explaining how the concerns raised have been, or will be, addressed, locally in the establishment, and at national level where there is wider learning to be shared or a policy issue has been raised. Any local actions are taken by the Governor and monitored by the Prison Group Director, and wider learning is disseminated nationally by the central prison safety team and incorporated into the relevant guidance and policy at the earliest opportunity.

Counter-terrorism Andrew Bowie: [14000] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to restructure the counter-terrorism programme. Lucy Frazer: Following the two recent attacks at Fishmongers’ Hall and HMP Whitemoor, the Government announced a package of funding and legislative changes, including major investment in counter terrorism resources in prisons and probation, which is overseen by the Joint Extremism Unit (JEXU) a joint Home Office and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation (HMPPS) unit. The package of measures include: • Tougher sentences for the most serious terrorist offenders, which will mean dangerous terrorist offenders who receive extended determinate sentences serve their entire sentence • Doubling the number of Counter-Terrorism specialist probation staff. These specially trained staff will deliver a set of new, intensive national standards for managing terrorists on licence; • These new standards will mean terrorists are subjected to closer monitoring and reporting requirements. • An increase in the resources dedicated to training front-line prison and probation staff and; • The introduction of polygraph testing. • An independent review of our Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Following the attack on 2 February in Streatham, the government announced emergency legislation to ensure an end to terrorist offenders getting released automatically, having served half of their sentence with no check or review.

Courts: Digital Technology Yasmin Qureshi: [14653] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what risk assessments took place to ensure that workplaces were suitable and safe for the introduction of digital working in court rooms using the (a) Digital Markup Service and (b) common platform. Yasmin Qureshi: [14655] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many court rooms have been assessed for (a) general health and safety standards and (b) their suitability for digital working in the last 12 months. Lucy Frazer: I am answering these questions together. HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s Health and Safety policy requires that a trained general risk assessor inspects each court room on a quarterly basis to ensure it is compliant with health and safety standards, and to report any non-compliance so that remedial work can be undertaken. Where Display Screen Equipment is used, including courtrooms across the estate into which we are continuing to introduce digital ways of working as part of our Reform Programme, the policy requires that workstations must comply with the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (as amended). Accordingly, the designated Senior Person on Site at all of our court and tribunal buildings is required to ensure that each workstation is routinely assessed; any non- compliance is reported and remedied; and any risk is appropriately mitigated. We do not collate centrally details of the numbers of courtroom assessments that have taken place over particular periods. Instead, the HMCTS Corporate Safety & Security team seeks and receives regular assurance from senior managers about compliance with these and wider requirements.

Crimes against the Person: Prosecutions Carla Lockhart: [14735] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many third parties have been prosecuted under Section 59 of the Offences Against the Persons Act 1961 in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018, and (e) 2019. : Data on the number of prosecutions that have occurred in England and Wales for offences under section 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 is available in the Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool (select table entitled HO code (principal offence), then select Offence Code filter – 01402). Annual statistics for the year ending 31 December 2019, will be available in May 2020.

Crimes of Violence: Sentencing : [512] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people convicted of violent offences did not receive an immediate custodial sentence in each of the last two years. Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on convictions and sentencing in England and Wales, up to December 2018. This information, relating to specific offences, can be found using the Outcomes by Offence data tool. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm ent_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx Filter by offence group to ’01: Violence against the person’. The number of individuals a) convicted, b) sentenced and c) received a sentence other than immediate custody are shown in rows 25, 26 and 27-35. The rate for each disposal can be calculated by dividing the number of individuals sentenced to that disposal by the number sentenced.

Debts: VAT Yasmin Qureshi: [587] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2020 to Question 9643 on Debts: VAT, when his Department plans to publish guidance on the circumstances and manner in which a cost equivalent to VAT may be recovered from the debtor under the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) 2014. Lucy Frazer: As Chris Philip set out in his Answer of 6 February 2020 to Question 9643, the Ministry of Justice intends to publish guidance on the circumstances and manner in which a cost equivalent to VAT may be recovered from a debtor under the Taking Control of Goods legislation, as soon as possible. Driving: Disqualification Philip Davies: [13959] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences was for driving when disqualified for a person convicted of a further driving when disqualified offence in each of the last three years; how many of those people were not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent such offence in each such case. Lucy Frazer: Data on the highest number of previous cautions and convictions for driving when disqualified for a person convicted of a further driving when disqualified offence; how many people convicted of a further driving when disqualified offence were not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for their most recent such offence, year ending March 2017 to year ending March 2019, can be viewed in the attached table.

Attachments: 1. Table [Copy of PQ 13959 table.xlsx]

Fraud : [14816] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to introduce a corporate offence of failure to prevent fraud and money laundering. Lucy Frazer: The Government is considering the case for reforming the law on CCL and will publish a response to the Call for Evidence in due course.

Grandparents: Access Darren Jones: [613] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans the Government has to bring forward legislative proposals to introduce statutory access rights for grandparents to their grandchildren. Lucy Frazer: The Government understands the difficulties that some grandparents face in continuing relationships with their grandchildren following disputes arising from parental separation. We also recognise the importance of ensuring that the child’s welfare is paramount in court decisions regarding future arrangements for them following parental separation. We wish to understand the outcome of the President of the Family Division’s consultation – which concluded last year - on recommendations for reforming how child arrangements cases are dealt with by the family court before deciding whether any specific proposals are needed in respect of child arrangements and grandparents.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Sick Leave Yasmin Qureshi: [14654] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many days off sick HM Courts & Tribunals staff took in each month of (a) 2018 and (b) 2019. Lucy Frazer: We have provided the number of working days lost due to sickness, however, this figure does not take into consideration those who work part time, so we have also included the Working Days Lost by Full Time Equivalent (FTE), which takes this into account and is a more accurate reflection. As well as short absences, this includes those on long term sickness and any other unplanned, unavoidable leave such as family bereavements etc. The table below provides the sick leave per calendar year for 2018 and 2019.

2018

Jan-18 Feb- Mar- Apr-18 May- Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug- Sep- Oct-18 Nov- Dec- 18 18 18 18 18 18 18

Worki 15150 12935 12673 10920 10846 9612 10228 10283 9666 12330 12381 11245 ng Days Lost

WDs 13064. 11127. 10974. 9387.9 9403.4 8342.4 8959.8 8980.1 8268.1 10559. 10639. 9663.1 Lost x 17 27 75 6 7 8 6 3 9 87 77 4 FTE

2019

Jan-19 Feb- Mar- Apr-19 May- Jun-19 Jul-19 Aug- Sep- Oct-19 Nov- Dec- 19 19 19 19 19 19 19

Worki 13226 11099 10817 9976 9669 9719 11019 9705 10519 10280 12163 11942 ng Days Lost

WDs 11409. 9601.4 9222.9 8589.9 8256.5 8337.5 9493.5 8485.6 9050.3 8814.9 10446. 10336. Lost x 74 79 49 58 05 92 36 07 86 63 83 58 FTE

Homicide: Reoffenders Philip Davies: [14641] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been murdered since 2017 by people who were previously convicted of murder and then released having served their prison sentences. Lucy Frazer: Serious further offences are very rare. Fewer than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision are charged with a serious further offence. Anyone convicted of murder is sentenced to a mandatory life sentence. The convicted murderer is eligible for release on life licence only once he has completed the minimum term (tariff) specified by the Court at the point of sentence. It falls to the independent Parole Board to determine whether to release a life sentence prisoner who has completed his minimum term and the Board will direct release only where it is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the purposes of public protection for the prisoner to remain confined. Section 21 of Criminal Justice Act 2003 sets out the starting point for the sentencing Judge to impose a whole life tariff in cases where an offender has been previously convicted of murder. Whole life orders are the most severe form of punishment, such sentences have no tariff and no possibility of parole board release. Since 2017, three 1 2 people have been murdered by offenders subject to supervision on a life licence for murder at the time. This figure includes two victims who were included in the data provided to answer PQ 140689 from the last session. 1. This figure only includes convictions for murder by life sentence prisoners on supervision that have been notified to HMPPS. 2. Data Sources and Quality. We have drawn these figures from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Knives: Crime Philip Davies: [14638] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of all sentences for (a) possession of and (b) threatening with a knife were custodial sentences in the last 12 months for which figures are available. Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has published information on offenders sentenced to custody for possession of and threatening with a knife, up to December 2018, which is available in the detailed offences ‘HO Code data tool’, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm ent_data/file/804510/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2018.xlsx In each case, in the field labelled ‘Detailed Offence’, filter by: 1. ‘Having an article with a blade or point in a public place’, ‘Having an article with a blade or point on school premises’ and ‘Unauthorised possession in prison of knife or offensive weapon’ 2. ‘Threaten with a blade or sharply pointed article on school premises’ and ‘Threaten with blade/sharply pointed article in a public place’ The proportion of those sentenced who received a custodial sentence can be found by dividing ‘Immediate Custody’ (Row 41) by ‘Sentenced’ (Row 33).

Legal Systems: Islam Philip Davies: [14645] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has allocated funding from the public purse to sharia councils in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has not funded the operation of sharia councils in the last three years, as these organisations are not part of the justice system. Community organisations may apply to various Government Departments for a range of grants for particular purposes. A list of grant schemes run by government departments can be found at gov.uk.

Life Imprisonment Philip Davies: [13955] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that prisoners released on parole from life sentences are ineligible for parole again in the event that they re-offend. Lucy Frazer: Where a life sentence prisoner receives a further sentence for offences committed having been released on life licence, they must serve the custodial part of any new sentence that is imposed by the courts. Where the offender is assessed to be a risk to the public, they will also be recalled to custody on their life sentence and will remain in prison for as long as the independent Parole Board considers their detention necessary for the protection of the public. The Board will take into account any further offending that was committed in their determination. Where an offender receives a second murder conviction, Schedule 21 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 provides for a starting point of a ‘Whole-life Order’. That is the most severe punishment available to the courts and means the offender will never be released on licence. It is also open to the courts to impose a whole-life order in other circumstances if they decide that it is warranted by the seriousness of the offence. The Government has brought forward measures to make sure that serious and dangerous offenders, including terrorists, will serve longer in prison to help keep the public safe. We intend to publish a White Paper on sentencing reform that will include further measures to ensure that the most serious violent and sexual offenders spend the time in prison that matches the severity of their crimes.

Offences Against Children: Convictions Philip Davies: [509] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders convicted of cruelty to children in the last 12 months for which information is available were (a) men and (b) women. Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on convictions and sentencing in England and Wales, up to December 2018. This information, relating to specific offences and defendant characteristics, can be found using the Home Office code principal offence data tool. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm ent_data/file/804510/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2018.xlsx (then filter by offence ’11 Cruelty to or Neglect of Children’. Then drag the ‘Sex’ filter into the rows field. The number of a) males, b) females and c) individuals of unknown sex convicted of this offence are shown in rows 36, 37 and 38, respectively). The proportion of male and female convictions can be calculated by dividing the number of a) males and b) females by the total number of convictions (shown in row 156).

Offences against Children: Sentencing Philip Davies: [13957] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) men and (b) women convicted of sexual activity with a child received a prison sentence in each of the last five years; and what the average prison sentence was for (i) men and (ii) women.

Chris Philp The Ministry of Justice publishes information on convictions and sentencing in England and Wales. This information, relating to specific offences, can be found using the Outcomes by Offence data tool. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm ent_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx • Filter by offence to include the following offences: 21.1 Sexual activity with a child under 13 - indictable only 21.2 Sexual activity with a child under 13 - offender aged under 18 - triable either way 21.3 Sexual activity with a child under 13 - offender aged 18 or over or age of offender unspecified - triable either way 22.1 Sexual activity involving a child under 16 - indictable only 22.2 Sexual activity involving a child under 16 - offender aged under 18 - triable either way 22.3 Sexual activity involving a child under 16 - offender aged 18 or over - triable either way 22A.1 Causing sexual activity without consent - penetration 22A.2 Causing sexual activity without consent - no penetration • Add the ‘Sex’ filter to the rows field below ‘Values’ The number of males, females and defendants where sex is not known who were a) convicted, b) sentenced, c) sentenced to custody and d) their average custodial sentence length will then be shown in rows a) 32-34, b) 36-38, c) 76-78, and d) 152- 154. The proportion of those sentenced who received a custodial sentence can be found by dividing ‘Total Immediate Custody’ by ‘Sentenced’.

Offensive Weapons: Sentencing Philip Davies: [13472] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences of theft from a shop or stall was for people convicted of that offence and not given a sentence of immediate custody in each of the last three years; and what the sentence was for the most recent offence in each of those cases. Philip Davies: [13960] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences was for possession of a (a) blade and (b) point for a person convicted of a further possession of each weapon offence in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent such offence in each such case. Philip Davies: [13961] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences was for assault for a person convicted of a further assault offence in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent offence in each case. Philip Davies: [13962] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences for possession of an offensive weapon was for a person convicted of a further possession of an offensive weapon offence in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent offence in such case. Philip Davies: [13967] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences for sexual assault was for a person convicted of a further sexual assault offence in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent offence in each case. Philip Davies: [13968] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences for theft was for a person convicted of a further theft offence in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent offence in each case. Philip Davies: [13969] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences relating to the Public Order Act 1986 was for a person convicted of a further offence under that Act in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent offence in each such case. Philip Davies: [14632] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences for robbery was for a person convicted of a further robbery offence in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent such offence in each such case. Philip Davies: [14633] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences for burglary was for a person convicted of a further burglary offence in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent such offence in each such case. Philip Davies: [14634] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences for fraud was for a person convicted of a further fraud offence in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent such offence in each such case. Philip Davies: [14635] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences relating to drugs was for a person convicted of a further offence relating to drugs in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent such offence in each such case Philip Davies: [14636] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous offences for criminal damage was for a person convicted of a further criminal damage offence in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent such offence in each such case. Lucy Frazer: Data on the highest number of previous cautions and convictions for a specified offence for offenders convicted of that specified offence and given a sentence other than immediate custody, and the sentence given for the most recent specified offence, year ending March 2017 to year ending March 2019, can be viewed in the attached table.

Attachments: 1. Table [Copy of PQs 13472 13960 to 13962 13967 to 13969 14632 to 14636 grouped response table.xlsx]

Open Prisons Philip Davies: [14640] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for which offences were prisoners in open prisons or open wings of closed prisons serving their sentence as at 1 January 2020. Lucy Frazer: Re categorisation to security category D and allocation to open prison is not a right or an automatic progression. Only prisoners who have been risk assessed as manageable in very low security conditions will be transferred to an open prison. In cases of life sentenced or indeterminate sentenced prisoners the Parole Board will make a recommendation as to suitability for open conditions. The attached document shows a table of Sentenced prison population recorded as having a Category D individual-level security category as at 31 December 2019, England & Wales. This includes 'Female Open' and 'YOI Open' categorised prisoners. It should be noted that whilst the majority of these prisoners would be held in open conditions (either in open prisons, or on open wings within closed prisons) a number of these prisoners would be in non-open conditions while awaiting transfer to open conditions.

Attachments: 1. Attachment [PQ 14640 - Philip Davies - List of offences (1).pdf]

Pregnancy: Alcoholic Drinks Mr Ranil Jayawardena: [764] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the findings of the study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology on 29 January 2020, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the effect of drinking alcohol during pregnancy on children's (a) intelligence and (b) weight; and if he will take steps to criminalise excessive drinking of alcohol during a known pregnancy. Lucy Frazer: No discussions have taken place between the Justice Secretary and Health Secretary on this matter. Any decision on whether to criminalise excessive drinking of alcohol during a known pregnancy would be a matter for the Department for Health and Social Care.

Pre-sentence Reports Philip Davies: [13952] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of pre-sentence reports presented to magistrates’ courts contained a sentence recommendation of (a) immediate custody, (b) suspended custody and (c) a community order in the last year for which information is available. Lucy Frazer: The information requested has been provided in the table below showing the number and proportion of recommendations in pre-sentence reports prepared for Magistrates courts between October 2018 and September 2019 where the sentence proposed was Community order, Immediate custody or Suspended Sentence. It should be noted that these figures are based on all pre-sentence reports for which a sentence was given and that the total number of proposed sentences also includes instances where a fine was the proposed sentence.

COMMUNITY IMMEDIATE SUSPENDED ALL PROPOSED ORDER CUSTODY SENTENCE SENTENCES

Number 65,908 1,681 320 69,586

Percentage of all 95% 2% 0% proposed sentences

Philip Davies: [13953] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect on trends in the level of sentencing of pre-sentence reports not including the option of a suspended sentence. Lucy Frazer: Following the Sentencing Council’s 2017 guideline on the Imposition of Community and Custodial Sentences, which noted the status of suspended sentence orders as a custodial sentence, guidance was issued to National Probation Service staff. The guidance instructed staff that suspended sentence orders should not be recommended as a distinct option from custodial sentences, when requested to deliver a pre-sentence report to the court. Since the change in guidance, there was a decline in the proportion of suspended sentences in 2018. However, the determination of the most appropriate sentence for an offender remains a matter of judicial discretion, based on the offender before the court and having regard to sentencing guidelines. It is not possible to attribute the change in guidance to the trends in sentencing outcomes. Prison Service: Staff Ian Lavery: [532] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing levels in prisons. Lucy Frazer: We recognise the need to recruit and retain staff to keep our prisons secure. We have invested significantly in increasing staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,581 (full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and September 2019, surpassing our original target of 2,500. Since April 2017, governors have been empowered to manage workforce planning locally, and set their own staffing arrangements, including the number and grade of operational prison officers and other staff to be employed within their financial resource envelope. A ‘detached duty’ scheme is also in place to ensure that those prisons with urgent staffing needs can be prioritised. We will continue to recruit officers and we are investing £100 million to bolster security, to ensure prisons are safe and decent for both staff and prisoners.

Prisoners Philip Davies: [14637] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the trends in the prison population of (a) male and (b) female prisoners over the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. Lucy Frazer: The table below contains annual male and female prison population as at 30 June each year since 2010.

DATE MALES FEMALES TOTAL

30-Jun-10 80,735 4,267 85,002

30-Jun-11 81,189 4,185 85,374

30-Jun-12 81,925 4,123 86,048

30-Jun-13 79,989 3,853 83,842

30-Jun-14 81,580 3,929 85,509

30-Jun-15 82,289 3,904 86,193

30-Jun-16 81,272 3,862 85,134

30-Jun-17 81,856 4,007 85,863

30-Jun-18 78,970 3,803 82,773 DATE MALES FEMALES TOTAL

30-Jun-19 78,940 3,770 82,710

The data are based on snapshots and do not provide an indication of all prisoners who have entered custody within the timescales shown. The data are derived from the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) which is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly All data shown are based on the prison population at 30 June of each representative year. This tool has been designed for high level analytical purposes only. The detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. While the figures shown have been checked as far as practicable, they should be regarded as approximate and not necessarily accurate to the last whole number shown in the tables. They are fit to be used for comparing the relative magnitude of components. We keep the prison population and capacity under careful review to ensure that there are always sufficient spaces for those sentenced to custody. In August the Prime Minister announced an investment of up to £2.5bn to transform the prison estate and provide 10,000 additional prison places, on top of the 3,360 already being delivered at Wellingborough and Glen Parva.

Prisoners' Release Philip Davies: [13948] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offences were committed by prisoners on temporary release in the last 12 months. Philip Davies: [13949] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offences were committed by prisoners released from prison on temporary licence to work in the last 12 months; what those offences were; and which of those offences were of each type in the violence against the person category. Lucy Frazer: In the year April 2018 to March 2019 (the latest year for which the relevant data is available) there were 18 recorded temporary release failures where the reason given was “alleged offending”. These are not necessarily proven offences, prisons are required to record any instance where a prisoner is arrested for an offence allegedly committed whist on ROTL. Of these 18 incidents, only one took place whilst the prisoner was on work-related temporary release. The alleged offence was “shoplifting”, not a violent offence. There were 376,343 temporary releases in 2018 and the evidence shows the vast majority of prisoners given temporary release abide by the conditions attached to the licence, with the compliance rate standing at well over 99%. Non-compliance is, and will continue to be, dealt with robustly. Philip Davies: [514] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders sentenced to custody have served less than half their full sentence term due to early release in the most recent 12 months period for which such information is available. Lucy Frazer: Currently, prisoners sentenced to a standard determinate custodial sentence must be released automatically at the halfway point of their sentence and serve the second half on licence. Those sentenced to at least 12 weeks but less than four years may be released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC) up to 135 days before the halfway point, depending on sentence length. They must meet strict eligibility criteria and will be liable to recall to prison if they fail to comply with strict electronic monitoring and other conditions attached to their release. HDC is a robust scheme which allows prisoners to work towards rehabilitation and resettlement in the community, while remaining subject to strict conditions. If they breach these, they face being returned to custody. Research on early release with electronic monitoring has shown no increase in re-offending despite the early release. Children sentenced to a Detention and Training Order (DTO) serve the first half in custody, and the second half in the community. Most children serving a DTO of 8 months or more can be released one or two months earlier (depending on the DTO length) than the normal mid-point of sentence. In 2018 the number of people released on HDC in England Wales was 14,769, which is 21 % of all prisoners released that year. The number of people released early from a DTO was 215, which is 0.3% of the total number of releases that year. Prisoners may also be released early before having served half the sentence under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS). Under this scheme offenders liable to removal from the United Kingdom who have served at least a quarter of the sentence may be released before the halfway point solely in order to facilitate their deportation. Prisoners may also be released early on compassionate grounds (ERCG) before they have served half the sentence. Relevant data on releases under ERS and ERCG are not collated centrally. Philip Davies: [519] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were released on temporary licence in each month in the last three years. Lucy Frazer: The attached table shows the number of individuals who were released on temporary licence each month in 2016, 2017 and 2018. All offenders must meet strict criteria and pass a thorough risk assessment before being considered for release on temporary licence (ROTL). Research published in 2018 indicates that ROTL helps to reduce re-offending. It helps offenders to build and maintain family ties and find work, which are a critical aspect of reducing the £18 billion annual cost to the taxpayer of reoffending.

Attachments: 1. Table [Copy of Copy of PQ 519.xlsx]

Prisoners' Release: Christmas Philip Davies: [14647] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serving prisoners were not in prison accommodation over the latest Christmas period for which information is held; what offences were committed by each such offender; and how many such offences were in which category of violent offences against the person. Philip Davies: [14648] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serving prisoners were not in prison accommodation overnight on the latest New Year's Eve for which information is held; what offences were committed by each such offender; and how many such offences were in which category of violent offences against the person. Lucy Frazer: The attached tables show the number of individuals who were in the community on 25 December and 31 December 2018, having been released on temporary licence. The data is broken down into offence groups determined by the main offence for which the individual was sentenced, with a more detailed offence breakdown for those with a main offence in the violence against the person group of offences. By providing opportunities to work, learn and build family ties, temporary release from prison helps ensure offenders don't return to crime when they leave prison. All offenders must meet strict criteria and pass a full risk assessment before being considered for release on temporary licence (ROTL).

Attachments: 1. Table for PQ 14647 [Copy of PQ 14647 final.xlsx] 2. Table for PQ 14648 [Copy of PQ 14648 final.xlsx]

Prisoners' Release: Curfews Philip Davies: [13954] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been released from prison on a Home Detention Curfew in each month in each of the last two years; and what offence each person released on that curfew had committed. Lucy Frazer: The attached table shows the number of people released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC), in 2017 and 2018, the latest years for which data is available, by offence group. HDC is a robust scheme which allows suitable, risk assessed, prisoners to work towards rehabilitation in the community, while remaining subject to strict monitoring and other conditions. If they breach these, they can be returned to custody.

Attachments: 1. Table [Copy of Copy of PQ 13954 final.xlsx]

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals Philip Davies: [14639] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national prisoners from each country were convicted of each offence type in the last year for which figures are available. Lucy Frazer: Any foreign national who comes to our country and abuses our hospitality by breaking the law should be in no doubt of our determination to punish and deport them. More than 51,000 foreign national offenders have been removed from the UK since 2010, and in the last financial year more than 5,000 were removed from prisons, immigration removal centres, and the community. The table attached provides the information on the offence types for foreign national prisoners.

Attachments: 1. Table [Copy of 14639 Philip Davies MP. 001 (002).xlsx]

Prisoners: Homosexuality Philip Davies: [14649] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) male prisoners are gay and (b) female prisoners are lesbian. Philip Davies: [14650] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many individuals in (a) male and (b) female prisons are recorded as being transsexual. Lucy Frazer: The attached table provides a breakdown of prisoners who have identified as gay or lesbian. Data on the number of transgender prisoners is released as part of the Offender Equalities Report 2018/19. The most recent figures were released in November last year and noted that there were 163 transgender prisoners as at the end of March 2019, representing less than 0.2% of the total prison population at that time. Transgender prisoners were defined as those individuals known within prison to be currently living in, or are presenting in, a gender different to their sex assigned at birth and who have had a case conference (as defined by PSI 17/2016 The Care and Management of Transgender Offenders). Further information can be found at the following link; https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm ent_data/file/848759/hmpps-offender-equalities-2018-19.pdf We are committed to ensuring that gay, lesbian and transgender prisoners are treated fairly, lawfully and decently, with their rights and safety properly respected. Regardless of where an individual is being held, we expect that they will be respected.

Attachments: 1. Table [Copy of PQ14649_Mr Philip Davies_Feb 2020_FINAL.XLSX]

Prisoners: Parole Philip Davies: [13956] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to limit the right of prisoners to be eligible for parole on multiple occasions. Lucy Frazer: Once a prisoner has served the custodial part of their sentence ordered by the sentencing court, their case must be referred to the independent Parole Board to determine whether their continued detention is necessary for the protection of the public. If the prisoner is not released by the Board, their case will be reviewed again, normally within two years. If the prisoner is serving an indeterminate sentence, they may be held indefinitely until the Board is satisfied that it would be safe to release them. If they are serving a fixed term sentence the prisoner will be reviewed at regular intervals by the Board during their parole eligibility period. If not released during that period, they will be released when they reach their automatic release date. The assessment of a prisoner’s risk will change over time and so regular parole reviews are necessary to determine whether they may be safely released. These measures ensure detention cannot become arbitrary or disproportionate to the purpose and aims of sentencing. The Government made a commitment in its manifesto to conduct a ‘root and branch’ review of parole and the release arrangements for prisoners to improve accountability and public safety; and to give victims greater access to the process. The nature and scope of the review is yet to be finalised and no decisions have been made on whether any legislative changes will be required. The review will aim to build on the reforms to the parole system introduced in 2019 in the wake of the John Worboys case. Prisons: Crimes of Violence Philip Davies: [513] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence for assaulting a prison officer in each of the last two years; and what the average custodial sentence was for those offences. Lucy Frazer: These offences can be dealt with in the courts, or in many cases, through prisons themselves. Centrally held court data (including for the new offence of Assaults on Emergency Workers and broader violent offences) does not identify the location of the offence or occupation of the victim, so it would only be possible to identify these from court data with a manual search, incurring disproportionate costs. Philip Davies: [518] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many adjudications there were per 100 (a) male and (b) female prisoners in the last 12 months for which such information is available; and how many of those adjudications related to incidents of violence. Lucy Frazer: The prisoner discipline system upholds justice in prisons and ensures incidents of prisoner rule-breaking have consequences. The Ministry of Justice monitors adjudication outcomes by offence, age, gender, ethnicity, religion and type of adjudication, this data is published quarterly. The information requested can be found in the table below:

NUMBER OF ADJUDICATION OUTCOMES, BY SEX; PER 100 PRISONERS (USING THE PRISON POPULATION AVERAGE for Q4 2018 to Q3 2019); Q4 2018 - Q3 2019, England and Wales

Male Female

Adjudication Prison Rate per Adjudication Prison Rate per 100 outcomes population 100 outcomes population prisoners prisoners

Total 202,810 79,033 257 11,423 3,806 300

Violence 35,083 79,033 44 1,715 3,807 45

Data sources and quality

The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Source: PQ 518 (Ministry of Justice; DASD-JSAS)

Rape: Convictions Philip Davies: [14646] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the conviction rate for rape involving (a) female and (b) male victims was in the last 12 months for which information is available. Lucy Frazer: Rape and sexual violence are devastating crimes that can have a long-lasting impact. We are committed to ensuring that these appalling crimes are tackled effectively and victims have access to high quality support services that meet their needs. The Ministry of Justice publishes information on convictions and sentencing in England and Wales, up to December 2018. This information, relating to specific offences, can be found using the Outcomes by Offence data tool. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm ent_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx Filter by offence to include the following offences: 1. 19C Rape of a female aged 16 or over. 19D Rape of a female aged under 16. 19E Rape of a female child under 13 by a male. 1. 19F Rape of a male aged 16 or over. 19G Rape of a male aged under 16. 19H Rape of a male child under 13 by a male. The number of individuals prosecuted will be shown in row 24 and the number of individuals convicted will be shown in row 25. The conviction ratio can be calculated by dividing the number of individuals convicted by the number proceeded against – note that this is a simple ratio of the number of convictions in the year with the number of prosecutions and so is not ‘matched’, ie. Many convictions in a year will relate to prosecutions figures that will be counted in earlier years. Reoffenders Mr Gregory Campbell: [11459] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who were released from prison following a decision by the Independent Parole Board were subsequently convicted and imprisoned for a further offence in the last three years. Lucy Frazer: This Government is committed to reducing reoffending by ensuring that all offenders have the tools they need to turn their backs on crime. Prisons and probation must provide the opportunity for prisoners to rehabilitate, which will ultimately reduce reoffending and protect the public. The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of offenders released following a Parole Board decision who were subsequently convicted and imprisoned for a further offence. However, a breakdown of the total number of reoffences following release after serving an indeterminate sentence is published. A breakdown of these is included below: Table 1: Total number of reoffences following release from custody after serving an indeterminate sentence

INDETERMINATE SENTENCE REOFFENDING COHORT

April 2015 – March 2016 April 2016 – March 2017 April 2017 – March 2018

Indeterminate sentence for 141 191 231 public protection

Mandatory life prisoner 10 17 27

Other life 1 27 37 21

1. ‘Other life’ category includes discretionary and automatic life sentences

Reoffenders: Alternatives to Prosecution Philip Davies: [14644] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of participation in out-of-court disposals on re-offending rates. Lucy Frazer: The latest statistics for adult re-offending rates following police cautions can be found at tab C1a https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm ent_data/file/861981/proven-reoffending-jan18-mar18-3-monthly.ods Note that reoffending rates are not available on the full range of Out of Court Disposals (OOCDs). The Ministry of Justice supported pilots (2014-2015) by police around greater use of OOCDs with conditions attached. We published an evaluation of these pilots which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm ent_data/file/718947/adult-out-of-court-disposal-pilot-evaluation.pdf and an additional 12-month follow-up proven reoffending analysis report which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/out-of-court-disposals-pilot-cautions- reoffending-analysis Philip Davies: [14651] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to place the offences committed by offenders who participate in out-of-court disposals on the Police National Computer and make them available to courts dealing with any future offending. Lucy Frazer: Simple and Conditional Cautions and Penalty Notices for Disorder are recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC). Police cautions (simple or conditional) issued for recordable offences appear on court file disclosures. There is currently no mechanism for recording other out of court disposals (OOCDs) on the PNC system. However, other OOCDs, including Community Resolutions, are currently held on the Police National Database (PND). A new information recording system for police forces, the Law Enforcement Data Service (LEDS) is being developed which will hold a fuller range of OOCD data nationally.

Reoffenders: Community Orders Philip Davies: [13947] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to commence section 151 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to allow courts to use community orders instead of fines for repeat offenders of low-level offences. Lucy Frazer: There are no current plans to commence Section 151 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which allows courts, in certain circumstances, to use community orders for repeat offenders who might otherwise expect to receive fines. Section 143(2) of that Act requires courts to treat previous convictions as an aggravating factor when sentencing. In cases involving significant persistent offending, the community and custodial thresholds may be crossed even though the offence otherwise warrants a lesser sentence. Reoffenders: Sentencing Philip Davies: [13958] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous convictions was for a (a) man and (b) woman convicted of a further offence in each of the last three years who was not given a sentence of immediate custody; and what the sentence was for the most recent offence in each case. Lucy Frazer: Data on the highest number of previous cautions and convictions for (a) a man and (b) a woman convicted and given a sentence other than immediate custody, and the sentence given for their most recent offence, year ending March 2017 to year ending March 2019, can be viewed in the attached table. Sentencing is a matter for our independent courts, who take into account all circumstances of the case, including any aggravating and mitigating factors. We are clear that sentencing must match the severity of a crime.

Attachments: 1. Table [Copy of PQ13958_response table v3DD.XLSX] Philip Davies: [515] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders had the time spent on tagged curfew deducted from their subsequent prison sentence in the most recent 12 months period for which such information is available. Philip Davies: [516] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average amount of time deducted from an immediate prison sentence was for offenders who had been on a tagged curfew prior to their sentence being handed down in the most recent 12 months period for which such information is available. Lucy Frazer: Data relating to bail conditions including tagged curfew is not held centrally on court systems.

Sentencing Philip Davies: [13950] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders that received a (a) first and (b) second or subsequent immediate custodial sentence have previously served (i) no, (ii) between one and four, (iii) between five and nine and (iv) more than 10 community sentences in the latest year for which figures are available. Lucy Frazer: Data for the year ending March 2019 on the numbers and proportions of offenders receiving their first, or a second or subsequent, immediate custodial sentence, broken

down by the number of previous community sentences they had previously served, can be viewed in the attached table.

Attachments: 1. Table [Copy of PQ 13950 Response Table (002).xlsx] Philip Davies: [14642] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent research his Department has commissioned on the cost implications of increasing magistrates sentencing powers to 12 months for a single offence; and if he will make a statement. Philip Davies: [14643] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to increase magistrates' sentencing powers to 12 months for a single offence; and if he will make a statement. Lucy Frazer: The Government has no current plans to increase magistrates’ custodial sentencing powers and has made no recent assessment of the impact of doing so.

Sexual Offences: Prosecutions Neil Coyle: [14774] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on ensuring more effective prosecutions of cases involving (a) rape and (b) other sexual offences. Lucy Frazer: The Secretary of State for Justice and the Director of Public Prosecutions meet regularly to discuss a number of joint workstreams in the Criminal Justice System, including rape prosecutions, and most recently met in January. Both the Secretary of State for Justice and the Director of Public Prosecutions are committed to working together to ensure rape and other sexual offences are prosecuted more effectively. It is encouraging that the CPS is working with the police to develop new ways of working to improve case progression, digital capability and disclosure, expertise, supporting victims, and stakeholder engagement.

Tenants' Associations: Tribunals Justin Madders: [14817] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases resulted in a tribunal hearing under the Tenants’ Associations (Provisions Relating to Recognition and Provision of Information) (England) Regulations 2018 in the first 12 months since that statutory instrument came into force; and in how many of those cases was a tenants' association recognised by the tribunal. Lucy Frazer: The table below shows the number of cases that resulted in a First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) hearing under the Tenants’ Associations Regulations 2018 in the first 12 months of it coming into force and the number of tenants’ associations recognised by the Tribunal.

NUMBER OF TRIBUNAL HEARINGS THAT TOOK PLACE UNDER TENANTS’ ASSOCIATIONS NUMBER OF TENANTS’ ASSOCIATIONS REGULATIONS 2018 RECOGNISED BY THE TRIBUNAL

6 5

Data source: Operationally Sourced Case Management Data The above data was generated on a different date to the information contained in quarterly published statistics and was produced specifically for this enquiry. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, and is the best data that is available at the time of publication.

Terrorism: Prisoners' Release Philip Davies: [13437] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners convicted of terrorist- related offences were released on temporary licence in each of the last three years. Lucy Frazer: Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) enables offenders to participate in activities outside of prison, directly contributing to community resettlement, helping with their rehabilitation and development of a purposeful, law-abiding life. There is no entitlement to ROTL. It is discretionary and only allowed following a robust risk assessment of each offender. Following the Fishmongers’ Hall attack, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) acted quickly to strengthen safeguarding measures around ROTL. No terrorist or terrorist-risk offender will be released on temporary licence (ROTL) until their risk has first been assured by the Home Office and Ministry of Justice Joint Extremism Unit. We will continue to review this policy moving forward. The requested information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Please find a table showing the number of people in custody for terrorism-related offences between September 2016 and September 2019.

NUMBER OF PERSONS IN CUSTODY FOR TERRORISM-RELATED OFFENCES (GREAT BRITAIN)

30 Sep 2016 30 Sep 2017 30 Sep 2018 30 Sep 2019

Total 169 213 224 224

Young Offenders: Reoffenders Philip Davies: [507] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of cases of 16 and 17 year olds being convicted of committing a second or subsequent knife offence resulted in the perpetrator receiving the mandatory four months Detention and Training Order in each of the last three years. Philip Davies: [508] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of cases in adult courts of those being convicted of committing a second or subsequent knife offence resulted in the perpetrator receiving the mandatory six months imprisonment in each of the last three years. Lucy Frazer: Data on the number and proportion of cases of 16 and 17 year olds and adults being convicted of committing a second or subsequent knife offences who received a 4 months detention and training order and the mandatory six months imprisonment can be viewed in the attached table.

Attachments: 1. Table [Copy of PQs 15507 and 15508 table.xlsx]

Young Offenders: Sentencing Philip Davies: [506] To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of young offenders previously sentenced to (a) up to five, (b) from five to 10 and (c) more than 10 Youth Rehabilitation Orders (YRO) were sentenced to another YRO for a further offence in the most recent year for which information is available; and for which offence that further YRO was given in each such case. Lucy Frazer: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Voting Rights: Scotland Kenny MacAskill: [13002] To ask the Leader of the House, whether he plans to commemorate the scottish political martyrs of 1820 for supporting universal suffrage. Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: The specific matter raised does not fall within my ministerial responsibilities, however the Hon member may wish to raise the issue with the House of Commons Commission directly. NORTHERN IRELAND

Brexit: Northern Ireland Stephen Farry: [13541] To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what meetings (a) he and (b) his officials have held with representatives of Border Communities against Brexit. : Neither my officials nor I have met representatives of Border Communities Against Brexit.

Equality Commission for Northern Ireland Carla Lockhart: [14801] To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the cost has been to the public purse of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, in each of the last three years. Mr : The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland does not have a role in the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland’s budget. The Equality Commission is sponsored by the Executive Office, which approves its budget. The Commission’s published annual reports and accounts can be accessed via their website, at https://www.equalityni.org/Home.

Northern Ireland Office: Work Experience Seema Malhotra: [715] To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many people aged (a) 16 and under and (b) over 16 years old undertook work experience in his Department in each of the last three years. Mr Robin Walker: During the last three years there has been no formal work experience undertaken in the Northern Ireland Office by anyone over 16 years old. Informal work experience for people below the age of 16 was undertaken on seven occasions over the last three years.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland Stephen Farry: [13542] To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much funding will be allocated to the Troubles-related incident Victims Payment Scheme. Brandon Lewis: In 2014, the NI parties agreed further work would be undertaken to seek an acceptable way forward on the proposal for a pension for severely injured victims in Northern Ireland. The Executive Formation Act required the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to lay regulations for a Victims Payment Scheme, which he did on Friday 31 January. The Northern Ireland Civil Service is continuing to work to explore the full costs of the scheme.

SCOTLAND

Scotland Office: Work Experience Seema Malhotra: [710] To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many people aged (a) 16 and under and (b) over 16 years old undertook work experience in his Department in each of the last three years. Mr : In each of the last three years, the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland has offered a small number of work experience opportunities to people under and over the age of 16. Due to the small numbers involved, specific details cannot be provided to protect the privacy and identity of the individuals concerned.

TRANSPORT

[Subject Heading to be Assigned] Sir Graham Brady: [14957] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the announcement of 4 February 2020 by the Sustainable Aviation Group on ensuring UK aviation meets a net zero target by 2050, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to a wider range of production methods. : As acknowledged and welcomed in the “Sustainable Aviation Fuels Road-Map”, announced by the Sustainable Aviation coalition on 4 February, the Government is encouraging the production and use of sustainable alternative aviation fuels in the UK by making these eligible for reward under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO).

The Department is considering the aviation industry’s request to extend the scope of the RTFO to include Recycled Carbon Fuels (RCFs), which is repeated in the “Sustainable Aviation Fuels Road-Map”. RCFs are fuels produced from fossil wastes that cannot be reused, recycled or avoided. The Department has commissioned two independent research reports to examine the potential greenhouse gas savings that RCFs could achieve. These are “Low carbon fossil fuels sustainability risks and accounting methodology” published in January 2018 and “Work Package 1-743 Waste Disposal Outcomes and Diversion Impacts” published in August 2019. Further to this research, the Department is developing a greenhouse gas assessment methodology for RCFs and have engaged on this with industry representatives. The Department hopes to consult later this year on legislative proposals.

Aviation: Emergencies Carla Lockhart: [672] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many flights have declared an emergency in UK air space in each of the last five years. Grant Shapps: In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 376/2014, safety-related events which endanger or which, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person have to be reported to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The Regulation requires that the reporting, analysis and follow-up to such occurrences remain confidential. However, the Regulation does permit information to be released on request to interested parties that have a genuine safety related need for the information. An application can be made at www.caa.co.uk/srg1605.

Bus Lanes: Ambulance Services : [690] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward a nationwide exemption to permit ambulances to use bus lanes. Grant Shapps: The Department has made no such assessment. Ambulances on emergency business are already generally allowed to use bus lanes through an exemption in the underlying Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) which creates a bus lane. Local authorities can extend this to ambulances on non-emergency business if they wish, but will need to consider whether the vehicles are easily identifiable for enforcement purposes, and the impact on the operation of the lane for buses. Local authorities are best placed to judge how best to operate bus lanes on their road networks. Bus lanes are provided to give buses priority over other traffic, particularly at congested times of day, and to provide bus passengers with a more reliable service. Allowing more vehicle types to use a bus lane may start to erode this priority. Bus Services: Kirklees Mr Barry Sheerman: [13943] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the provision of bus services serving Kirklees. Grant Shapps: The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding service provision are primarily a commercial matter for bus operators. However, the Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities need to improve local bus services and increase passenger numbers. Of the £30 million of additional funding announced to improve current services and restoring lost services, West Yorkshire Combined Authority has been allocated £1,086,414 which will be available from April 2020 if the funding requirements are met. This is from the £220 million Better Deal for Bus Users package to transform bus services. The Government’s ambition is to secure a long term, sustained improvement in bus services underpinned by a National Bus Strategy for England which will be accompanied by a long-term funding settlement. Announced last week there will be £5billion of new funding to overhaul bus and cycle links for every region outside London which may benefit bus services serving Kirklees.

Bus Services: Passengers John Redwood: [13938] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the average number of passengers on a public service bus route. Grant Shapps: The average bus occupancy on local bus services was 12.5 in England in 2018/19, an increase from 12.2 in 2017/18 and 11.7 in 2009/10.

Department of Transport: Work Experience Seema Malhotra: [707] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people aged (a) 16 and under and (b) over 16 years old undertook work experience in his Department in each of the last three years. Grant Shapps: The Civil Service aims to increase opportunities for people of all backgrounds and create a Civil Service fit for 21st century Britain through work experience, internships and apprenticeship schemes. For people aged 16 years and over there was the following number of work experience placements offered through the Summer Diversity (SDIP) and Autism Exchange (AEP) Internship Programmes, and the Fast Stream Early Talent Work Experience Social Mobility Programme (FSET).

PERIOD SDIP AEP FSET*

2017 10 2 No data available

2018 14 2 6

2019 11 1 5

*FSET is also open to 15 year olds.

Electric Vehicles Eddie Hughes: [14808] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that electric cars have a range equivalent to petrol cars by 2035. Grant Shapps: Improving the range of electric vehicles is primarily a matter for vehicle manufacturers, and this is something that is continuously being improved. Government will continue to support industry in doing this, we have committed £274m from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to the Faraday Battery Challenge to advance electric vehicle battery technology. This funding is supporting battery R&D from the Faraday Institution’s academic research, through Innovate UK’s programme of collaborative applied R&D, to scale-up in the cutting-edge UK Battery Industrialisation Centre. The aims of the Faraday Battery Challenge include improving the energy density of batteries, improving our understanding of temperature effects on range, and reducing battery costs which will make longer range electric vehicles more affordable. Eddie Hughes: [14809] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the level of (a) accessibility to and (b) affordability of maintenance processes for electric vehicles. Grant Shapps: In the Road to Zero strategy, the UK Government committed to working with the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) to ensure the UK’s workforce of mechanics are well trained and have the skills they need to repair electric vehicles safely. Last year the Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) endorsed IMI’s TechSafe professional standards and register for electric vehicle technicians. People will be able to use the register to check the electric vehicle competencies of technicians at their garage, supporting consumer confidence in this growing market. OLEV has also endorsed the National Franchised Dealers Association’s Electric Vehicle Approved scheme to recognise expertise and promote industry standards in electric vehicle retail and aftersales. Today, owners of electric vehicles can have substantially lower fuel and maintenance costs compared to those with conventional vehicles. 100% electric vehicles are designed to be as efficient as possible and there are generally three main components powering the vehicle: the on board charger, inverter and motor. This means there is less wear and tear on the vehicle and little stress on the motor, with fewer moving parts sustainable to damage. This means electric vehicles have reduced servicing requirements and the running and repair costs are minimal. Eddie Hughes: [14811] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to increase the affordability of electric cars. Grant Shapps: We are currently investing nearly £1.5bn between April 2015 and March 2021, with grants available for plug in cars, vans, lorries, buses, taxis and motorcycles to reduce the up-front purchase price of electric vehicles, as well schemes to support charge point infrastructure at homes and workplaces and on residential streets. Purchasers of electric vehicles also benefit from lower Vehicle Excise Duty and company car tax rates from April. As part of our consultation on bringing forward the end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans, we are asking what the accompanying package of support will need to be to enable the transition and minimise the impacts on businesses and consumers across the UK, building on the significant demand and supply side measures already in place.

Electric Vehicles: Batteries Eddie Hughes: [14812] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the safe large-scale disposable of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. Grant Shapps: Electric vehicle battery recycling is covered by the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009, which ban the disposal of automotive and industrial batteries to landfill and incineration. This also establishes take-back and recycling obligations for industrial battery producers. The UK’s £274 million Faraday Battery Challenge is playing a leading role in promoting the reuse and recycling of battery components. This includes several industry led collaborative R&D projects and the Faraday Institution’s £10m ‘ReLib’ research project. ReLib is developing the technological, economic and legal infrastructure to allow high percentages of the materials in lithium ion batteries at the end of their first life to be reused or recycled. The Faraday Institution also participate in the Global Battery Alliance – a World Economic Forum initiative which aims to accelerate action towards a socially responsible, environmentally sustainable and innovative battery supply chain. Electric Vehicles: Charging Points Eddie Hughes: [14807] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequate provision of high-kilowatt charging infrastructure for the rapid charging of electric cars. Grant Shapps: In collaboration with industry the Government will invest £1 billion in charging infrastructure – making sure that everyone is within 30 miles of a rapid charging station for electric vehicles. The first £70 million of the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund will create 3,000 new rapid chargepoints, more than doubling the number of rapid chargepoints across the UK by 2024. Highways England has commitment of £15m to ensure there are chargepoints (rapid where possible) every 20 miles on 95% of the Strategic Road Network by 2020. We will set out a vision by Spring 2020 for a core infrastructure network of rapid and high powered chargepoints along England’s strategic road network. Eddie Hughes: [14813] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequate provision of charging infrastructure for electric cars in towns and villages by 2035. Grant Shapps: We are currently investing nearly £1.5bn between April 2015 and March 2021, with grants available for plug in vehicles, as well schemes to support charge point infrastructure at homes and workplaces and on residential streets. Government and industry have supported the installation of over 17,000 devices providing over 24,000 publicly available chargepoints. This includes over 2,400 rapid chargepoints – one of the largest networks in Europe. Our grant schemes and our £400m public-private Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund will see thousands more electric vehicle chargepoints installed across the UK. The first £70 million of the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund will create 3,000 new rapid chargepoints, more than doubling the number of rapid chargepoints across the UK by 2024. Along with the private sector, the Government will invest £1 billion in charging infrastructure – making sure that everyone is within 30 miles of a rapid charging station. On 21 January, we announced that Government has doubled the value of the On-street Residential Charging Scheme for 2020-2021 to £10 million to support the provision of up to 3,600 chargepoints for those that don’t have off-street parking.

Heathrow Airport: Railways Chris Elmore: [14818] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Heathrow Airport Ltd’s Initial Business Plan, published in December 2019, committing funding to new rail links to that airport, if the Government will confirm (a) funding from the public purse to and (b) approve the Western Rail Link to Heathrow Airport. Grant Shapps: It is helpful that Heathrow Airport has been clear in its Initial Business Plan that it sees the Western Rail Link being delivered in all scenarios. Government has always been clear that its support for the development of the scheme is subject to the successful agreement of terms with the Heathrow Aviation industry. Chris Elmore: [14819] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timescales are for the progress of rail access projects to Heathrow Airport. Grant Shapps: Network Rail is finalising work on the Western Rail Link to Heathrow (WRLtH) Development Consent Order and will be prepared to submit to the Planning Inspectorate following the agreement of terms between the Government and the Heathrow Aviation industry on an appropriate financial contribution to the project. Network Rail has been advised to expect to submit the application for Development Consent no later than summer 2020, which will mark the next major milestone for the project. On Southern Access to Heathrow (SAtH), my Department has been working to develop an appropriate ‘market involved’ commercial model. Following Ministerial approval and alignment to the upcoming HM Treasury Infrastructure Finance Review, the Department intends to provide further guidance regarding the commercial approach later this year. Chris Elmore: [14820] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to deliver the Western Rail Link to Heathrow Airport. Grant Shapps: My officials are working closely with Heathrow Airport Limited and the Civil Aviation Authority to reach agreement on acceptable terms, which are essential to the delivery of the scheme. Subject to a successful conclusion of these negotiations, Network Rail will submit the scheme’s application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Iron and Steel Jessica Morden: [559] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will use UK-produced steel for the HS2 project. Grant Shapps: The Government’s guidance on the procurement of steel was published in November 2015 and subsequently updated in December 2016. All major government projects are required to take cognisance of the Crown Commercial Service Procurement Policy Note 11/16: “Procuring Steel in Major Projects - Revised Guidance” (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-1116- procuring-steel-in-major-projects-revised-guidance ). Whilst HS2 Ltd. does not directly buy steel, it does apply a strategic and transparent approach to the sourcing of steel for the HS2 Programme through its Tier 1 contractors and their supply chains. HS2 Ltd ensures a fair procurement process which complies with UK procurement law and the Government policy on the procurement of steel.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Wendover Robert Butler: [692] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of the proposals for a mined tunnel in Wendover; and if he will publish the results of that assessment. Grant Shapps: The Wendover Mined Tunnel was considered in detail during the passage of the Phase One Bill in both the Commons and Lords committees. Cost comparisons of the consented scheme and the tunnelled alternatives were considered in evidence to both committees during the Bill process and the primary conclusion was that the now consented scheme would be less expensive than the tunnelled alternatives. Since then, DfT officials and HS2 Ltd have been challenged by Wendover Parish Council and your predecessor, Sir David Lidington, over these decisions and have presented further reports by OTB and Michael Byng (mbpc) challenging the consented scheme. In each instance, it has been concluded that the Wendover Mined Tunnel would be harder to construct, is costlier and involves a significantly greater degree of risk to the consented scheme. The Department and HS2 Ltd remain convinced that the Select Committee made the right decision when they accepted that there was a significant difference in cost between the mined alternative schemes and concluded that the HS2 Ltd scheme should be retained. Even if the alternative mined schemes were broadly comparable in these respects, the subsequent costs of seeking legislative consent for the detailed design change and the consequential cost of delaying the introduction of HS2 services do not represent good value for money or an effective use of public money. Robert Butler: [693] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the hydrological effect of the construction of the green tunnel at Wendover on the potential risk of flooding in Aylesbury. Grant Shapps: The Environmental Statement assessed the impact of the scheme on Water Resources (Volume 5 WR-002-010) in the Wendover area and specifically the impact of the green tunnel construction on water receptors. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140613022805/http://assets.dft.gov.uk/ hs2-environmental-statement/volume- 5/water/vol5_CFA10_Water_resources_and_flood_risk_ass_Water_resources_asses sment_WR-002-010.pdf HS2 Ltd advises that the scheme is now entering the detailed design phase. My officials will respond to you shortly with further details on this matter.

High Speed Two Robert Butler: [694] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that valid compensation claims by (a) residents and (b) businesses are paid on time and in full by HS2 Ltd. Grant Shapps: The High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) 2017 Act sets out the compensation arrangements for the compulsory purchase and temporary possession of land and property on Phase One of the route. The Secretary of State has also introduced a range of statutory and non-statutory property compensation schemes across the three phases of HS2 to support people and businesses affected by the programme. In applying all the property compensation schemes, HS2 Ltd aims to ensure that the compensation arrangements adhere to the Compensation Code. The Code provides for the payment of fair compensation to property owners whose land is acquired as part of HS2. HS2 Ltd applies the standards set out in the Compensation Code and its own internal targets for the payment and completion of compensation claims. Their performance is monitored and overseen by the HS2 Ltd Executive in accordance with the published HS2 Development Agreement and the HS2 Ltd Framework Document. However, as the Prime Minister announced earlier this month, going forwards, there will be changes to the way HS2 is managed. A Minister will be given the full-time job to oversee the project and I am clear of the need for the Company to continue to raise its game in how it treats communities affected by the project along its line of route.

Pedestrian Crossings Alberto Costa: [14732] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of guidelines for the provision of pedestrian crossings. Grant Shapps: Provision of pedestrian crossings is a matter for local traffic authorities. In December 2019 the Department published updated guidance on pedestrian crossing assessment and design, in Chapter 6 of the Traffic Signs Manual. It is available to download from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-signs-manual.

Private Roads Mr Richard Holden: [14754] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what schemes are available to help communities which have a high number of unadopted roads, due to the closure of large industry, get adopted status for those roads. Grant Shapps: The respective owners of private roads are responsible under legislation for ensuring that these roads are brought up to the required standard before local highway authorities can ‘adopt’ them and then maintain them at public expense. In cases where there are large areas of unadopted roads due to the closure of large industries, these may be improved by new developers as part of their development projects or the local authority can bid for Government funds through various programmes like the Local Growth Fund.

Railways: North West Ian Byrne: [621] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to establish new rail links (a) in Liverpool West Derby constituency and (b) the North West. Grant Shapps: To help communities across the country, we have pledged £500m to start reopening lines closed following the Beeching report, reconnecting smaller towns, regenerating local economies and improving accessibility to jobs, homes and education. I encourage MPs, to work with local authorities and community groups in their constituency to come forward with proposals to reinstate axed local services and stations. This funding will help develop these proposals, and accelerate the delivery of schemes that are already being considered for restoration.

Roads: Capital Investment John Redwood: [13937] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timeframe is for the next funding round for improvements to strategic local roads. Grant Shapps: The most important local roads have been assigned Major Road Network status and are eligible for a new programme of funding. Scheme proposals for the first five years of Major Road Network and Large Local Majors funding were submitted in summer 2019. A second announcement of a further six schemes for development funding, in the North and South West, was made on 11 February by the Prime Minister. The timing of further announcements for funding scheme development and construction will be phased depending on how individual schemes progress.

Traffic Lights John Redwood: [13933] To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effect of traffic lights at four-way junctions where only one light is green at any time on (a) capacity and (b) flow at those junctions. Grant Shapps: The management of traffic light junctions, including operational strategies and timings, is a matter for local traffic authorities. As such, the Department does not carry out such assessments. The Department has always advocated the use of traffic responsive systems, and junction designs that optimise operation to reduce unnecessary delays and maximise junction capacity as far as possible. The Department has recently updated its guidance on the design of traffic light junctions, in Chapter 6 of the Traffic Signs Manual. This makes clear that the most efficient way to operate a junction is to adopt sequences and techniques that allow one or more arms to run at the same time, to keep traffic moving safely. Chapter 6 is available to download from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-signs-manual

TREASURY

[Subject Heading to be Assigned] Steve McCabe: [14953] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to (a) tackle high care costs faced by people affected by dementia and (b) increase investment in dementia care. Steve Barclay: At the 2019 Spending Review, the Government provided an additional £1bn funding for social care in 2020-21. In addition the Government has committed to urgently seek a cross-party consensus to bring forward proposals and legislation for long-term reform of adult social care. Bill Wiggin: [14967] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to lower the duty on (a) beer and (b) cider. Steve Barclay: Alcohol duties, and tax rates, are kept under review. The impact of a change in duty is considered at each fiscal event. Bill Wiggin: [14968] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans use household income to assess payment of the high income child benefit tax charge. : The Government introduced the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) from January 2013 to ensure that support is targeted at those who need it most. It applies to anyone with an individual income over £50,000, who claims Child Benefit or whose partner claims it, regardless of the make-up of their household.

Basing HICBC on household incomes would mean finding out the incomes of everyone in each of the eight million households eligible for child benefit. This would effectively introduce a new means test, creating significant administrative costs and placing a disproportionate burden on the majority of families who receive Child Benefit.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties : [603] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse was of the (a) freezes and (b) reductions in alcohol duty in each year since 2012. Steve Barclay: Based on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) published policy costings, we estimate the cumulative loss to the Exchequer from the successive alcohol duty freezes and cuts from financial year 2013-14 to the current financial year 2018-19 to be around £5.2bn. The annual impacts on the Exchequer are reported in the table below.

(£M) 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20

Exchequer -170 -505 -685 -770 -820 -1,059 -1,217 Impact

These past decisions will also incur future losses to the Exchequer in years beyond 2019-20. The OBR’s costings of previously announced policies currently extend to 2023-23, and the future impact of these announced freezes and cuts in the alcohol duties to that year is estimated to be around £5.2bn. The future annual impacts are set out in the table below.

(£M) 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23

Exchequer Impact -1,246 -1,282 -1,320 -1,361

The OBR’s policy costings are available at the following link: http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/download/policy-measures-database/

Average Earnings: North East Chi Onwurah: [599] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of trend in the level of average earnings in the North East. : In 2019, the North East’s median weekly wages grew by 5.1%, the fastest of any region and nation in the UK in that year. We are investing in a £3.6 billion Towns Fund to level up our regions and create places where people want to live and thrive. As part of this, we are supporting towns across the North East – including Hartlepool, Redcar, and Middlesbrough – which have already been shortlisted to be eligible for funds targeting economic growth and regeneration.

Beer: Excise Duties John Healey: [14612] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the economic effect of small breweries relief on small brewers. John Glen: We are conducting a review of Small Brewers Relief, and further announcements about this will be made in due course.

Bridges: Irish Sea Stephen Farry: [762] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse has been of assessing the viability of a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland to date; and what funding has been allocated to that work. Steve Barclay: The government is committed to upgrading our infrastructure, and we are looking at a range of options to level up the country and support growth and productivity in every region. We will set out more details on our plans to increase investment in infrastructure at the Budget.

Child Benefit Stephen Farry: [760] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the operation of the high income child benefit charge. Stephen Farry: [761] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of applying the high income child benefit charge to the higher-earning parent regardless of which parent takes main caring responsibility. Jesse Norman: The Government introduced the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) from January 2013 to ensure that support is targeted at those who need it most. The latest published figures on the operation of HICBC can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-income-child-benefit-charge- data/high-income-child-benefit-charge.

Dementia: Social Services Paul Bristow: [14746] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the provision of increased funding for dementia care in Budget 2020. Steve Barclay: At the 2019 Spending Review, the Government provided an additional £1bn funding for social care in 2020-21. In addition the Government has committed to urgently seek a cross-party consensus to bring forward proposals and legislation for long-term reform of adult social care. In line with successive administrations, the details of Ministerial discussions are not normally discussed.

Digital Technology: North East Chi Onwurah: [601] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the forecasted growth of the digital sector in the North East. John Glen: Since 2010, output of the information and communication sector in the North East has grown by 55.4%, which is the third fastest growth rate for this sector across all UK regions and nations. The Government is taking steps to build on the UK’s highly competitive digital economy. For example, the government’s commitment since 2016 to invest an additional £7bn by 2022 in R&D is the largest increase on record. And the £21m invested in Tech Nation’s regional network is helping tech entrepreneurs across the UK to scale their businesses. The Digital Catapult Centre is helping local businesses in the North East boost productivity by encouraging the adoption of emerging technologies.

Employment: Taxation David Duguid: [14763] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of proposed changes to IR35 rules from April 2020 on trends in the level of employment in the oil and gas sector in Scotland. Jesse Norman: The off-payroll working rules (commonly known as IR35) are designed to ensure that an individual who works like an employee, but through their own limited company, pays broadly the same Income Tax and National Insurance contributions as other employees. The rules do not apply to the self-employed or stop anyone working through their own company. The Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published in July 2019 sets out HMRC’s assessment that the reform to the off-payroll working rules is expected to affect 170,000 individuals; this is a UK-wide figure. The TIIN can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april- 2020/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020. Owen Thompson: [687] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what independent research his Department has commissioned on the administrative costs for SMEs of the roll-out of the off payroll working rules. Jesse Norman: The reform of the off-payroll working rules in April 2020 will apply only to medium and large-sized businesses, minimising administrative burdens for the vast majority of engagers. The existing rules will continue to apply to the smallest 1.5m businesses. The Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published in July 2019 sets out HMRC’s assessment that the reform to the off-payroll working rules is expected to affect 170,000 individuals. The TIIN can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april- 2020/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020. Owen Thompson: [689] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps the Government has taken to support the private sector for the roll-out of the IR35 rules. Jesse Norman: The Government is committed to working with organisations to ensure changes to the rules are implemented correctly. HMRC is undertaking an extensive programme of education and support to help organisations prepare for the reform. This includes: • Offering one-to-one support to more than 2,000 of the UK’s biggest employers, and writing directly to 43,000 medium sized businesses and other organisations. • Providing large and medium sized businesses, public bodies, and charities with factsheets to share with their contractors, and publishing this factsheet on gov.uk. • Holding workshops with small tax agents, recruitment agencies, charities, and public bodies. • Holding webinars at least weekly, with small tax agents, recruitment agencies, charities, public bodies and contractors. • Publishing an enhanced version of the Check Employment Status for Tax online tool in November 2019 to help individuals and organisations make the right status determinations and apply the off-payroll rules correctly.

Farmers: VAT Paul Girvan: [743] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the judgment of Shields and Sons Partnership v The Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs [2017] UKUT 0504, whether he plans to reinstate farmers that have been excluded from the flat rate VAT Scheme as a result of obtaining a greater benefit from that scheme than a VAT registration. Jesse Norman: The Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme (AFRS) is intended for use by small agricultural businesses and was designed to provide relief for those businesses facing administrative burdens from standard VAT obligations. Following the judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the Upper Tribunal, Shields & Sons Partnership was reinstated to the AFRS. Other agricultural businesses removed from the scheme did not appeal HMRC’s decision and subsequent appeals are out of time. These businesses will not be automatically reinstated to the scheme.

Funerals: Children Jim Shannon: [503] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Government on establishment of a child funeral fund to support bereaved families. John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have regular discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on matters of importance to the economy across the UK, including on funding for justice issues. Matters of justice are devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. It is for them to set their own priorities and determine the allocation of funds to deal with justice issues from within their own budgets.

Gambling Mr Ranil Jayawardena: [609] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2020 to Question 8391 on Gambling and Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of monies raised by gambling duties to meet the costs to the public purse associated with gambling. Steve Barclay: No assessment has been made. The Government has committed an extra £33.9 billion every year by 2023/24 for the NHS as part of its Long-term plan, which has been enshrined in law. The NHS Long-term plan includes a commitment to expand the coverage of NHS services for people with serious gambling problems, which includes plans to open around 15 clinics by 2023/24.

High Speed 2 Railway Line : [697] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of High Sped Two's construction costs will be recouped through (a) VAT, (b) corporation tax, (c) income tax and (d) National Insurance being levied on (i) the bodies contracted to construct the project and (ii) their employees. Jesse Norman: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are unable to provide estimates on how much will be recouped from High Speed Two's construction costs. HMRC publish aggregate level statistics on annual and monthly revenue on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk

National Insurance Dr Rupa Huq: [14794] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many children born in the UK have not been issued with a National Insurance number since 2013. Jesse Norman: The requested information is not available. In order for a child to be issued a National Insurance Number (NINO) automatically, the child must be part of a live Child Benefit claim when they are 15 years, 9 months old. If a child has been part of a claim, but is not part of a claim when they are 15 years, 9 months old, HMRC can be contacted to request a NINO. If a child has never been part of a Child Benefit claim (or a claim for a childcare service administered by HMRC) HMRC will have no record of them. An application can be made to DWP to obtain a NINO.

Ports: Infrastructure Kevin Hollinrake: [14814] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to build infrastructure at ports for undertaking customs checks on (a) vehicles and (b) goods coming from the EU from 1 January 2021. Jesse Norman: HMRC will continue to engage with port authorities at key border locations to understand the constraints on different sites, and to discuss how to ensure that ports are operationally ready for the end of the transition period. HMRC will also continue to keep their plans for additional infrastructure under review, depending on what is needed as part of the future trading relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Revenue and Customs: Offshore Funds Tulip Siddiq: [14768] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money HMRC paid into offshore bank accounts in financial year 2018-19. Jesse Norman: This information is not held centrally within government and would involve disproportionate costs to collect and collate. Tulip Siddiq: [14769] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) members of HMRC's departmental Board and (b) senior executives in HMRC are required to disclose offshore bank accounts and holdings. Jesse Norman: HMRC’s departmental Board and senior executives are not required to disclose offshore bank accounts and holdings. All Civil Servants must uphold the standards of conduct as set out in the Ministerial Code and Civil Service Code respectively, as well as the seven principles of public life. As regards the latter, all Civil Servants regardless of grade are contractually bound by the terms and conditions of the Civil Service Code of conduct and associated Civil Service Terms and conditions and Conduct at Work policies. All employees must take all possible steps to protect themselves and HMRC from any allegation or perception of impropriety and are legally bound to deal with their own tax affairs and must comply with personal tax obligations and make returns or declarations directly in a personal capacity. HMRC Non-Executive Director (NED) Board members are also contractually bound to declare to the Lead Non Executive and Chief Executive any personal or business interest they may have or acquire during the term of their appointment which may, or may be perceived (by a reasonable member of the public) to influence their judgement in performing their role as Non-Executive Director. These interests include (without limitation) personal direct and indirect pecuniary interests, and they are required to make full disclosure throughout the term of their appointment. Tulip Siddiq: [14770] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC’s (a) anti-fraud and (b) anti- money laundering procedures monitor (i) payments made by HMRC to offshore accounts and (ii) the use of offshore accounts by HMRC's (A) suppliers and (B) senior staff. Jesse Norman: HMRC have extensive anti-fraud and anti-money laundering procedures in making payments, including verifying the identity of suppliers and staff, and the validity of payment details. HMRC do not, however, make any differentiation between payments made to onshore and to offshore accounts. All suppliers and public office holders are expected to comply with the law as it applies to offshore banking activity.

Social Services: Children Jim Shannon: [501] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether has plans to allocate additional funding to the Department for Education for the provision of children's services. Steve Barclay: The government recognises the importance of children’s services. Decisions on funding for children’s services beyond 2020/21 will be considered in full at the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Tax Avoidance Owen Thompson: [685] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many promoters of loan charge schemes have been (a) charged and (b) fined in relation to their activities. Jesse Norman: A key part of HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) strategy in tackling promoters of disguised remuneration and other tax avoidance schemes is to change their behaviour so that they stop this activity altogether. HMRC have a range of legislative powers to tackle promoters, under three main regimes: Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS), Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes (POTAS), and the Enablers penalty. Penalties can be charged for various failures to comply with the requirements of these regimes. HMRC’s Counter-Avoidance directorate, created in 2013, is responsible for applying these penalties in cases of marketed tax avoidance. Fewer than five penalties have been charged under DOTAS by the Counter- Avoidance team since 2013. Before then a further 11 penalties were charged for more historic DOTAS failings. In addition, there are four litigation decisions received since 2017, all in relation to disguised remuneration (DR) avoidance arrangements, which confirmed HMRC’s view that the schemes are notifiable under the DOTAS regime. Penalty action is being considered in each case. No penalties have to date been issued under the POTAS or Enablers legislation. These regimes have had a positive impact in changing the behaviour of some promoters. As a result of HMRC’s concerted action under these regimes, a number of major promoters have now cooperated with HMRC and have either stopped selling schemes or ceased business altogether. Owen Thompson: [686] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure the proportionality of his Department's policy on (a) promoters and enablers of loan charge schemes and (b) people who have been mis-sold a financial arrangement. Jesse Norman: The Government is determined to continue to tackle promoters of tax avoidance schemes. The Government announced measures to reduce the scope for promoters to market tax avoidance schemes in its response to the independent Loan Charge Review. Further detail of the measures will be set out at Budget, and new legislation will be scrutinised by Parliament during the passage of the 2020/21 Finance Bill. In 2019/20 HMRC are doubling their resource involved in tackling promoters and have committed to publish a revised strategy for tackling promoters of tax avoidance schemes by the end of March 2020. While the Government empathises with anyone who believes they were misled into using a disguised remuneration scheme, it is an individual’s responsibility to ensure the accuracy of their tax return and to understand the consequences of their decisions. It remains right that the Government takes action to tackle tax avoidance, which is unfair to the vast majority of taxpayers who pay the correct tax. The Government does recognise the importance of taxpayers being able to get reliable tax advice and announced, in response to the Review, a call for evidence on what steps the Government can take to raise standards in the tax advice market to give taxpayers more assurance that the advice they are receiving is reliable.

Temporary Employment: Taxation Owen Thompson: [688] To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if the Government will undertake a review of the tax system to improve support for contingent workers. Jesse Norman: The Government keeps all elements of the tax system under review and aims for the tax system to support all sections of the workforce effectively. Specifically, the Government has announced that it will review how it can better support the self-employed, including by making the tax system easier to navigate as well as improving access to finance and credit.

WALES

Infrastructure: Wales Ruth Jones: [642] To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on the resilience of infrastructure in (a) Newport West constituency and (b) Wales. : I have discussed a range of issues with the Welsh Government including how we can work together on infrastructure in Wales. I reaffirmed the Government’s commitment and desire to see the M4 relief road go ahead which I know would have a major impact in the Newport West constituency.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Department for Work and Pensions: Work Experience Seema Malhotra: [712] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people aged (a) 16 and under and (b) over 16 years old undertook work experience in her Department in each of the last three years. : The Civil Service aims to increase opportunities for people of all backgrounds and create a Civil Service fit for 21st century Britain through work experience, internships and apprenticeship schemes.

This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost due to the time and the cost to gather this data as it is not collated centrally.

Housing Benefit: Older People Rosie Cooper: [596] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) support older renters and (b) increase the uptake of pension age housing benefit. : The rates of pensioner benefits, including Housing Benefit (HB), tend to be higher than some working-age income-related benefits, as pensioners as a group are likely to be reliant on benefits for a longer period and less able to change their circumstances or improve their income through work. Local Authorities are responsible for administering HB and the take up of HB by pensioners is shown to be higher than the take up of Pension Credit. The Department publishes an annual report detailing latest available statistics regarding the estimated take-up of HB and other income-related benefits. The latest version can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take- up-financial-year-2016-to-2017 The next report containing 2017/18 data will be published in due course.

Local Housing Allowance Stella Creasy: [14677] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of uprating local housing allowance in line with inflation in areas where private rents have risen above CPI. Will Quince: From April 2020 Local Housing Allowance rates will be uprated by inflation – an increase of 1.7% in line with wider benefit uprating. This means around 900,000 people across the UK could see their Housing support payments rise from April.

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations Marion Fellows: [13966] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2020 to Question 9726 on Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations, for what reasons information on the number of audited health assessment reports by audit grade carried out by Capita was not provided in that answer. : Please find below the number of Audited files for Capita and Independent Assessment Service by audit grade for 2018 and 2019 in raw number format. The audits are a random selection and are undertaken in order for the department to measure contractual quality service levels. Note the numbers are unpublished and rounded to the nearest 10.

ROUNDED

IAS Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- May- Jun- Jul-18 Aug- Sep- Oct- Nov- Dec- (L1&3) 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18

A 610 630 680 620 610 630 650 630 630 640 600 590

AF 190 160 160 150 180 170 160 170 150 140 160 220

AA 130 130 100 150 130 130 120 140 160 170 190 150

U 60 50 40 70 70 60 40 30 40 30 30 20

Total 980 980 980 980 990 980 980 970 970 980 980 980

Capita Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- May- Jun- Jul-18 Aug- Sep- Oct- Nov- Dec- (Lot 2) 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18

A 290 300 310 310 310 320 330 300 310 320 290 310

AF 80 80 70 70 60 70 70 100 100 80 100 100

AA 90 80 80 80 80 70 70 70 70 70 90 60

U 30 20 20 30 30 20 10 10 10 10 10 10

Total 490 480 480 480 480 490 490 480 480 490 490 480

IAS Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- May- Jun- Jul-19 Aug- Sep- Oct- Nov- Dec- (L1&3) 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19

A 640 630 630 640 670 620 610 610 560 640 650 670

AF 180 180 150 160 150 170 150 170 170 150 140 140

AA 130 140 160 160 130 140 190 150 200 150 150 140

U 30 30 40 20 30 50 40 50 50 50 40 30

Total 980 980 980 980 980 980 980 980 980 980 980 980

Capita Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- May- Jun- Jul-19 Aug- Sep- Oct- Nov- Dec- (Lot 2) 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19

A 320 300 320 330 320 300 300 310 320 330 340 330

AF 70 80 80 60 80 80 80 90 70 70 70 50

AA 80 90 70 80 70 80 90 80 80 70 60 90

U 20 20 10 20 20 30 20 20 30 20 20 20

Total 480 480 490 490 490 490 490 490 490 490 490 490

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: [733] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring all personal independence payment assessments to be recorded. Justin Tomlinson: I refer the Rt.Hon Member to the answer I gave on 10 February 2020 to Question UIN 12293.

Universal Credit Sir Mark Hendrick: [14616] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the quarterly payment schedule of student finance on universal credit calculations for claimants who are responsible for one or more children; and whether she plans to halt the reduction of payments for those claimants whilst the fluctuations in income are adequately assessed. Will Quince: Most full-time students in education do not qualify for Universal Credit. Students are able to access funding to support their education courses through various loans and grants, which are the responsibility of the Department for Education. It is important that Universal Credit does not duplicate this support, which is designed for their needs unlike the social security system. Exceptions are made only where students have additional needs that are not met through the student support system. The full year’s award of student’s maintenance loan/grant is averaged out over the academic year. This average usually covers 10 monthly Assessment Periods as no student income is taken into account during the summer break. The amount taken into account is subject to a £110 disregard in each of these Assessment Periods, which is equivalent to that provided under Legacy Benefits, which includes an amount to cover the cost of books, travel and equipment. Mr Toby Perkins: [14695] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants who transferred from (a) severe disability premium and (b) enhanced disability premium payments to universal credit are waiting for their payments to be (i) reinstated and (ii) backdated. Mr Toby Perkins: [14696] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timescale is for all universal credit claimants who previously received (a) severe disability premium and (b) enhanced disability premium to (i) have their payments reinstated and (ii) receive backdated payments. Justin Tomlinson: Disabled people are some of the biggest beneficiaries of Universal Credit, with around 1 million disabled households having on average around £100 a month more on Universal Credit than they would have had on the legacy benefits. When designing Universal Credit, a choice was made not to replicate every aspect of the disability provision in the previous system, including the Enhanced Disability Premium. The Severe Disability Premium (SDP) gateway has been in place for over a year to prevent those claimants entitled to the SDP as part of their legacy benefit from claiming Universal Credit. We have successfully identified eligible former SDP claimants who have already moved to Universal Credit due to a change in circumstances, providing them with monthly payments and a lump sum in arrears, where appropriate. As of 17 January 2020, 15,397 claims have been paid an SDP transitional payment. The median value of the lump sum payments is £2,280. To date, over £51.5m has been disbursed to support former SDP claimants, including the recurring payments that have now commenced. Positive progress has been made and caseload growth has now slowed, however, in the event a new case is discovered payments will be in place quickly. It is not possible to estimate when we will have paid everyone who is entitled as some people become entitled to these payments retrospectively, and therefore the caseload is not a fixed number.

Mr Toby Perkins: [14697] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of legal challenges to her Department's policy to remove (a) severe disability premium and (b) enhanced disability premium payments from claimants transferring to universal credit. Justin Tomlinson: The Government remains committed to ensuring everyone receives the support they need, which is why we currently spend a record £55 billion a year to support people with disabilities. Universal Credit is a simpler system than its predecessor. By not replicating the SDP and other premiums, we have been able to target additional support to a wider group of claimants and create a more streamlined system. It is important that the Government can design policy and challenge court decisions, where appropriate, that seek to change that policy.

As at 13 February 2020, the Department has spent £215,846.89 on legal costs defending and appealing the cases in relation to people formerly in receipt of Severe Disability premium that have transferred to Universal Credit. These figures include Government Legal Department litigation fees, counsel’s fees and other disbursements, as well as VAT where payable. Ian Byrne: [614] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for universal credit lapsed or were withdrawn due to the death of the applicant in (a) Liverpool West Derby constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) England since the introduction of universal credit. Will Quince: The breakdown requested is not available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs. However, in the 12 months to end of 2019, 2,300, or less than 0.07 per cent, applications were made to Universal Credit where the claimant passed away and the claims closed after the declaration, but prior to receiving the first payment. Universal Credit can be claimed by a range of working age people, some of whom have health conditions or disabilities, which may be degenerative or life limiting. The decision to claim Universal Credit can be prompted by a range of a factors, including when someone is terminally ill, so mortality figures should not be viewed in isolation. Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: [726] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of giving in-work universal credit claimants the option to move their assessment period to reflect more closely the dates on which they receive their earnings. Will Quince: The Department has been working closely with HMRC since Universal Credit went live in 2013 to support and inform employers who report earnings to emphasise the importance of timely reporting via RTI system. Employers should already record on HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Real Time Information (RTI) system the date a salary is scheduled to be paid, rather than the date it is paid, where it is earlier due to a weekend, bank holiday or at Christmas. HMRC have updated their guidance to reiterate to employers the importance of reporting accurate dates and the impact on payment cycles; the Financial Secretary to the Treasury is also working closely with HMRC and employers to do this. Universal Credit takes earnings into account in a way that is fair and transparent. The amount paid reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period. This allows Universal Credit awards to be adjusted on a monthly basis, ensuring that if claimant’s incomes falls, they do not have to wait several months for a rise in their Universal Credit award. Currently there are no plans to change assessment periods. Claimants can discuss queries about how fluctuating income effects Universal Credit with their case managers and work coaches, who can also signpost to services appropriate to individual circumstances.

Universal Credit: Vulnerable Adults Dr Matthew Offord: [13977] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional financial support his Department provides to vulnerable people that claim universal credit. Will Quince: Millions of people who move onto Universal Credit from legacy benefits are better off, including around a million disabled households who will gain on average around £100 per month. The Department takes seriously the need to support vulnerable claimants, and wants the application process for Universal Credit to be as quick and easy as possible, ensuring that claimants receive money at the earliest opportunity. Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland have supported over 180,000 individuals through the ‘Help to Claim’ provision since April 2019, offering tailored and practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. ‘Help to Claim’ is available online, on the phone and face-to-face in multiple locations including Jobcentres and Citizen’s Advice Bureaux. We have listened to feedback on how we can improve Universal Credit to support our claimants and acted quickly, making improvements such as extending advances, removing waiting days, and introducing housing benefit run on. These changes are giving support to those who need it most, whilst at the same time helping people get into work faster.

Universal Credit: Wales Ruth Jones: [644] To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect on low-income families of the roll-out of universal credit in (a) Newport West constituency and (b) Wales. Will Quince: Universal Credit will provide an extra £2.1bn a year once full rolled out, compared to the legacy benefits it replaces. Claimants receive better support to prepare for work, move into work, or to increase earnings. The Universal Credit Work Allowance was increased by £1,000 in April 2019 and means that 2.4m households will keep an extra £630 of income each year. MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Big Ben: Festivals and Special Occasions Mr : [2442] To ask the hon. Member representing the House of Commons Commission, what the cost was of Big Ben chiming on (a) Remembrance Sunday 2019 and (b) New Year's Eve 2019. An error has been identified in the written answer given on 16 January 2020. The correct answer should have been: Sir : The costs associated with striking Big Ben on Remembrance Sunday and New Year's Eve in 2019 were £14.2k including VAT in total.on each occasion. The striking of Big Ben on these occasions was coordinated around the planned works so as to minimise the impact on the project costs and to ensure it did not result in any delay. If the project team are required to strike the bell with less notice, the costs would substantially increase due to the unexpected impact on the project schedule.