theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_20
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_20

Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking (a) uphold the rule of law, (b) promote the UK's legal services and (c) increase access to justice. \p Sarah Sackman: The Government has made clear commitments to governing within the rule of law, and to promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law around the world. The rule of law therefore underpins the work done by the Ministry of Justice right across the justice system.

The Ministry of Justice supports the UK’s legal services internationally by working to address market access barriers and promoting the legal sector, including through the ‘GREAT Legal Services’ campaign. Legal services will also form an important part of plans for professional and business services under the Government’s Industrial Strategy, in recognition of the key role they play in driving growth. The Government recently passed the Arbitration Act 2025 as one of its first acts of legislation. This will support the growth of London and the UK as a world leading jurisdiction for arbitration.

To support access to justice, we announced in December 2024 that criminal legal aid solicitors will receive up to £92 million more a year to help address ongoing challenges in the criminal justice system and deliver justice for victims. This is in addition to the £24 million increase for criminal legal aid solicitors announced in November, in response to the ‘Crime Lower’ consultation. We are also consulting on uplifts to fees for immigration and housing legal aid. Subject to consultation, an additional £20 million will be invested in the civil legal aid sector every year in steady state.

The Department also continues to fund the activities of advice charities to bolster the delivery of essential advice and support services and improve access to legal support for people with social welfare problems. In the financial year 2025/26 we will provide over £6 million to 60 frontline organisations to help improve access to legal support
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_21
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_21

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information her Department holds on the number of assaults committed by biological males serving a custodial sentence in a women-only facility in 2024. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: No such assaults have been reported.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_22
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_22

Kim Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, as at 26 February 2025, how many applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission have been open for (a) over one year, (b) over two years, (c) over five years, (d) over ten years and (e) over fifteen years. \p Sarah Sackman: The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has provided the following information, which is unpublished management information and has not been subject to the same quality checks as Official Statistics which are published by the Ministry of Justice.

As at 26 February 2025, the CCRC had 1,158 open cases. Of these 351 have been open for over one year, 152 have been open for over 2 years, 9 have been open for over 5 years and none have been open for over 10 or 15 years.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_23
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_23

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will provide a breakdown by country of people designated as Foreign National Offenders. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: A Foreign National Offender (FNO) is someone who is not a British citizen and is, or was, convicted in the UK of any criminal offence. The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the prison population and offenders supervised by the Probation Service as part of its Offender Management Statistics Quarterly.

The requested data can be found:

Prison population (based on the prison population as at 31 December 2024; latest available published data) can be found at Table 1_Q_12 in the attached link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6799631cd4f0d327e77071ae/prison-population-31-Dec-2024.ods

Offenders supervised by the Probation Service (on 30 September 2024; latest available published data) can be found at Table 6_9_Caseload_Nationality in the attached link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67995c02636f8db3c270719c/Probation-Jul-to-Sep-2024.ods

Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and the Ministry of Justice works closely with the Home Office to pursue their deportation. Under this government, 23% more foreign national offenders were removed during the period July 2024 to January 2025 compared with the equivalent period in 2023-24, under the previous administration.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_24
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_24

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders were granted temporary release in 2024. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The number of foreign national offenders Released on Temporary Licence (ROTL) in 2024 is not available; this data forms a subset of ROTL data scheduled for future publication in April 2025. In accordance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we may not give any early indication of the contents of this statistical report.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_25
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_25

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using (a) alternatives to traditional construction methods in the construction of prisons and (b) modular and rapid deployment cells to meet long-term capacity needs; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of these proposals on the environment. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Our new prisons are being delivered through Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) which use a standardised design, allowing us to build faster and more effectively. MMC describes contemporary innovations in construction, including new technologies (such as digital tools and techniques), offsite manufacture and use of efficient processes to deliver productive, sustainable and better outcomes. Because of this, we are now delivering almost 22% faster than traditional construction methods. Additionally, these developments are required to deliver through the application of the Ministry of Justice’s sustainable construction policies, including BREEAM, which holds relevant new prison developments to the highest environmental standards.

As outlined in the 10-year Prison Capacity Strategy, published in December 2024, we are using Rapid Deployment Cells (RDCs) to deliver temporary accommodation at pace, with c.770 already delivered across 14 sites. These are modular, self-contained units with a warranty of 15 years, helping to provide an innovative solution to address the need for additional capacity. Given their temporary nature, RDCs do not apply BREEAM regulations, however, we mitigate against environmental impacts where possible, including through compliance with local planning policy and nutrient neutrality requirements. Additionally, RDCs are fully electric and meet energy efficiency targets for insulation, heating systems and general energy performance.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_26
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_26

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department made an environmental impact assessment prior to the commencement of expansion works at HMP Channings Wood; and whether baseline data on (a) air and (b) noise pollution was collected to measure the potential impact of increased traffic on local residents. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Under the previous Government, ahead of delivery at HMP Channings Wood, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) screening template was completed by our delivery partner (Cushman & Wakefield) and submitted to the council. Using this template and supporting technical assessments, the Local Planning Authority decided that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was not required. The Local Planning Authority did not consider the expansion to have significant environmental effects and therefore would not require an EIA.

An Air Quality Assessment was undertaken in support of the original planning application. The baseline assessment used published data (Teignbridge Council’s 2020 Annual Status Report (TDC 2021)) to consider the impacts of the proposed development and identify the future air quality conditions that occupants will experience. The assessment was based on measurements made during 2019 (i.e. pre-pandemic activity) to ensure worse case assessment. The future air quality conditions of the proposed development are acceptable with concentrations well below air quality objectives throughout the site. Additional traffic generated by the proposed development will be below published thresholds.

Alongside this, a Baseline Assessment of Noise was carried out on 14 October 2024 (daytime) and 15 October 2024 (nighttime) to assess ambient and background noise levels in a number of locations across the prison estate nearest to sensitive noise receptors. This has given us baseline data for noise levels from the prison.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_27
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_27

Kirith Entwistle:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the number of defendants pleading guilty because of unaffordable legal costs. \p Sarah Sackman: Defendants facing trial at the magistrates’ court or Crown Court may apply for legal aid to pay for their defence costs; this covers the cost of preparing the case and providing legal representation.

The evidence provision fee, which was introduced in 2010 alongside implementation of the Crown Court means testing scheme, applies in cases that are committed, sent or transferred for trial to the Crown Court and comprises a lower tier of £45 and an upper tier of £90. This fee remunerates defence solicitors for the extra work which may be incurred when collating evidence of the defendant’s income and capital resources required to complete the legal aid application at the Crown Court.

At the Crown Court, subject to the outcome of the financial means assessment, some defendants may be required to pay an income contribution towards their legal aid costs. This is paid on a monthly basis for a maximum six month period and will be refunded to the defendant with interest if they are acquitted or the Crown Prosecution Service withdraws due to insufficient evidence. If the defendant is convicted, they do not recoup any income contributions and may also be liable to pay any outstanding legal aid costs from their capital assets.

If a defendant does not qualify for legal aid, either because they do not pass the financial eligibility criteria or the ‘Interests of Justice’ (merits) test, they may choose to pay privately for their defence or to represent themselves. In circumstances where a privately funded defendant is acquitted or charges are dropped, they may seek to claim their defence costs back from central funds through a Defendant’s Costs Order. However, following changes introduced by the Coalition Government, the refund of defence costs has been based on legal aid rates.

There are a range of factors which may influence a defendant’s decision over whether to plead guilty. The drivers behind this decision will vary with the circumstances of each individual case.

Ministers are currently considering their preferred approach to the rules and arrangements governing legal aid financial eligibility.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_28
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_28

Michael Wheeler:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parents or young people have taken (a) Salford and (b) Wigan to appeal at a tribunal against an Education, Care and Health Plan decision in each of the last five years; and what (i) number and (ii) proportion of those appeals were (A) determined in favour of the appellants, (B) determined in favour of the local authority, (C) withdrawn, (D) conceded before the hearing and (E) still awaiting a hearing. \p Sarah Sackman: Information about appeal outcomes to SEND is published at: Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 - GOV.UK.

Appeal outcomes are not broken down by Local Authority in the published data as requested in this PQ. These data are provided for academic years September to August as follows:

Salford

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

(A) Number and proportion of those appeals determined in favour of the appellants

6 43%

20 69%

41 62%

46 62%

54 58%

(B) Number and proportion of those appeals determined in favour of the local authority

2 14%

0 0%

2 3%

2 3%

1 1%

(C) Number and proportion of withdrawn appeals

2 14%

4 14%

9 14%

18 24%

7 8%

(D) Number and proportion of appeals conceded before the hearing

2 14%

5 17%

10 15%

2 3%

14 15%

(E) Number and proportion of appeals still awaiting a hearing

0 0%

0 0%

2 3%

2 3%

15 16%

Total number of appeals to the tribunal

14

29

66

74

93

Wigan

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

(A) Number and proportion of those appeals determined in favour of the appellants

1 50%

5 28%

4 22%

10 50%

13 34%

(B) Number and proportion of those appeals determined in favour of the local authority

1 50%

1 6%

0 0%

1 5%

0 0%

(C) Number and proportion of withdrawn appeals

0 0%

3 17%

5 28%

4 20%

5 13%

(D) Number and proportion of appeals conceded before the hearing

0 0%

9 50%

9 50%

5 25%

15 39%

(E) Number and proportion of appeals still awaiting a hearing

0 0%

0 0%

0 0%

0 0%

5 13%

Total number of appeals to the tribunal

2

18

18

20

38

1 - In addition to the categories requested appeals can be struck out. This is included in the total number of appeals.

2 - (B) Is the total of cases where the appellant wins the majority of the appeal (i.e. the appellant may be successful in 2 out of the 3 sections they appeal against).

3 - The information provided has been extracted from local management information.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_29
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_29

Robert Jenrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of providing an additional 4,000 court sitting days in the 2024-25 financial year. \p Sarah Sackman: I am assuming the Rt. Honourable Gentleman is referring to the Crown Court with his question. The current Lord Chancellor increased the allocation of Crown Court sitting days for the current financial year by 2,500 additional days. This takes the total allocation for FY24/25 to 108,500, the highest number in nearly a decade.

The Government has since announced a record level of investment in our courts for the next financial year. It will fund up to 110,000 sitting days in FY25/26 within a total budget of £2.5 billion - 4,000 more days than the previous Government funded.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_30
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_30

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of emergency service control rooms will have embedded domestic abuse specialists by the end of 2025. \p Jess Phillips: The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is. We are going further than ever before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach to tackling violence against women and girls, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published this year.

In February we announced that external domestic abuse specialists have been embedded within the first five police force control rooms under Raneem’s Law, to improve the police response to domestic abuse. These forces are Northumbria, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Humberside and West Midlands.

These external specialists will work alongside staff in 999 control rooms, to advise on risk assessments, work with officers on the ground and ensure victims are referred to appropriate support services swiftly.

We intend to use learning from this first phase of implementation to develop our model and inform plans for national rollout across all 43 forces in England and Wales. Further roll-out will be announced in due course.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_31
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_31

Mr Luke Charters:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of processing times for manual Disclosure and Barring Service certificates; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of adding manual certificates to the DBS update service. \p Jess Phillips: Manual certificates are only used in rare circumstances when an automated DBS certificate cannot be issued, for example if the applicants’ name or relevant information from the Police National Computer exceeds a certain number of characters, or for certain applications which are submitted via the Sensitive applications route.

DBS aims to complete them within the usual published processing standards which can be viewed at: DBS dataset 1: DBS checks, the DBS Update Service, and disputes - GOV.UK.

Given the small numbers involved and their alignment to the automated checks processing times, there are currently no specific concerns relating to manually processed certificates. As manual certificates are produced offline, they cannot be added to the Update Service as there is no automated facility to continuously monitor the certificate status.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_32
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_32

Mr Paul Kohler:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Q16 of the oral evidence given by the Permanent Secretary to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 4 February 2025 HC 505, whether her Department has conducted horizon scanning on (a) spontaneous far-right protests and (b) child sexual exploitation by organised networks. \p Jess Phillips: The Home Office and our policing partners keep all risks of criminality under review on an ongoing basis.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_33
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_33

Kirsty Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are employed (a) full-time and (b) part-time in her Department's statelessness determination unit. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Staffing and budget of the unit working on statelessness determination cannot be disaggregated from the wider team within which it sits.

The number of people employed in the Department’s statelessness determination unit is not information that is published by the Home Office and cannot be provided.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking to account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well quality and availability of data.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_34
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_34

Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of immigration and asylum policies on poverty among migrant children. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Government keeps all immigration and asylum policies under constant review and considers support for families with children noting the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, as required by section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_35
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_35

Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to answer Question 31252 on Home Office: Equality, tabled on 12 February 2025. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Home Office answered PQ 31252 on 27 February; within the 5-day deadline for Ordinary Written Parliamentary Questions.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_36
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_36

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of smart phone thefts in (a) Slough and (b) the Thames Valley region in each of the last five years. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Set against soaring levels of snatch thefts and pickpocketing, crimes which often involve theft of mobile phones and which for too long have been neglected and not been effectively tackled, the Home Secretary recently brought together police, the National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, leading tech companies and others to drive more effective collaboration in breaking the business model of mobile phone thieves.

The Summit was hugely constructive, resulting in clear commitments from attendees to work together to tackle the scourge of mobile phone theft and the organised criminality driving it. This includes significantly boosting the sharing of data and intelligence to build a comprehensive picture of the problem, driving joint solutions. All parties will re-convene in three months’ time.

To aid police investigations and recovery of stolen goods, our Crime and Policing Bill includes a measure to give police the power to enter and search premises for stolen property which has been electronically geolocation tracked to those premises and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant without seriously prejudicing the entry and search purpose.

The Home Office does not hold data on mobile phone theft at the level requested. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides national estimates of the number of victims of mobile phone theft in England and Wales, these data are not broken down to sub-national geographies. The latest CSEW estimates, in the year to March 2024, have been published by the Office for National Statistics can be found at the following link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_37
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_37

Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on financial deficits within police constabularies in England and Wales. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The 2025-26 final police funding settlement provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1.1 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement and represents a 6% cash terms increase and 3.5% real terms increase in funding.

It is the responsibility of locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) and Chief Constables to set a balanced budget and to publish information to enable the local public to assess the performance of the police force.

PCCs in consultation with the Chief Constable are responsible for identifying and agreeing a medium-term financial strategy which includes funding and spending plans for both revenue and capital. This strategy should have regard to affordability and take into account multiple years, the inter-dependencies of revenue budgets and capital investments, the role of reserves and the consideration of risks.

The Home Office works closely with the policing sector to monitor force financial pressures, which includes reviewing the published Medium Term Financial Plans.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_38
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_38

Mr Paul Kohler:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Q32 of the oral evidence given by the Permanent Secretary to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 4 February 2025 HC 505, if she will (a) provide a detailed cost matrix for each role within the police and (b) set out how announced Government funding will support the recruitment of new officers. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Total funding to police forces will be up to £17.5 billion, an increase of up to £1.1 billion compared to the 2024-25 police funding settlement.

This includes fully covering the costs for the pay award, the increase in the employer national contributions, funding for officer maintenance and an additional £200 million to kickstart the first phase of recruitment for 13,000 additional police officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood policing roles.

For neighbourhood roles in 2025-26 we have asked forces to outline proposals for their workforce mix that is tailored to local needs and operational contexts, based on what is deliverable within their funding allocation.

This will ensure that additional neighbourhood personnel in 2025-26 are delivered in a manner that is flexible and easily adaptable to varied crime demands, allowing forces to increase the neighbourhood policing workforce at pace.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_39
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_39

Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to provide new police officers with (a) tools and (b) training to tackle violent rural crime. \p Dame Diana Johnson: This Government is committed to ensuring there are consistent, high standards for training in the police. This will help to maintain public confidence in the police and ensure the workforce is equipped to respond to the crime challenges they face every day, including in rural communities.

Rural and wildlife crimes can have devastating consequences for our natural environments and countryside communities. This Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and anyone exploiting or deliberately harming British wildlife or rural settings should face the full force of the law.

Under our Safer Streets Mission, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping. We are also committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 to fend off the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_40
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_40

Mark Pritchard:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase sanctions for people who make fake (a) bomb threats and (b) calls to the emergency services. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Making a bomb threat or other any other type of hoax phone call to the emergency services is a criminal offence. All calls to the emergency services are recorded and the number can be traced, even if withheld. Local services regularly remind the public of the serious consequences of hoax calls.

Emergency services may also request a Communications Provider to place a temporary restriction on the account of the hoax/nuisance caller. However, contact management, including the management of hoax calls, is an operational matter for services. Any decision is for the emergency authority to take.

There are existing mechanisms in place for emergency services to share information on hoax callers and where hoax calling is deliberate, policing may use legislation to prosecute persistent offenders.

The Home Office currently has no plans to review the sanctions against those making bomb threats or hoax calls to emergency services.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_41
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_41

Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on police recruitment. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The 2025-26 final police funding settlement provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1.1 billion when compared to the 2024-25 and represents a 6% cash increase and 3.5% real terms increase in funding.

This includes an additional £230.3 million of funding for territorial police forces to cover the costs of the increases to National Insurance Contributions.

The Government is committed to ensuring police forces are supported to effectively tackle crime. That’s why we have committed £200 million to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs in communities across the country.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_42
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_42

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department plans to share services between the (a) fire and rescue and (b) police services; and if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of establishing Police and Fire Service Commissioners. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Policing and Crime Act 2017 requires ambulance trusts, fire and rescue bodies and police bodies in England to consider collaboration opportunities.

These include, where appropriate, sharing estates and assets where it is considered that it would result in improved efficiency or effectiveness for one or more partner.

Police and Crime Commissioners in several areas have also taken responsibility for governance of local fire and rescue services, and the Government is bringing forward legislation to establish more mayoral authorities which could be responsible for both police and fire and rescue.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_43
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_43

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing lifetime entry bans for deported foreign national offenders. \p Dame Angela Eagle: A deportation order requires a person to leave the UK and prohibits them from lawfully entering the UK while it remains in force. The Home Office does not hold the requested data given that – by definition – anyone we know to be trying to enter the UK illegally will be refused entry.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_44
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_44

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of deportations for involvement in grooming gangs did not take place due to the individual renouncing non-UK citizenship. \p Dame Angela Eagle: I refer the Honourable Member to the Answer he was given on 28 January to Question UIN 25838.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_45
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_45

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the cost of the public purse of all illegal migrants per migrant per year, excluding asylum seekers. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Relevant data concerning Home Office expenditure on tackling illegal immigration is published on a routine basis in the Department's annual reports.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_46
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_46

Gareth Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury's oral contribution of 4 March 2025, Official Report, if she will publish the National Wealth Fund's business case to fund the £200 million investment in Grangemouth. \p Darren Jones: The National Wealth Fund has made financing available for new investment projects in Grangemouth, subject to viable proposals coming forward. This financing will help unlock Grangemouth’s full potential and secure our clean energy future. Any investment made into Grangemouth by the National Wealth Fund would be subject to the investment satisfying the National Wealth Fund’s normal requirements for investable proposals.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_47
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_47

Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) nurses, (b) teachers and (c) police offers that could be employed via an increase in spending equivalent to 0.2 per cent of GDP. \p Darren Jones: The Government values the vital contribution that public sector workers make across the UK, delivering the public services we all rely on. The Treasury does not hold information on how many additional public sector workers could be employed via a specific increase in spending, which would depend on a variety of factors, however the Government is committed to ensuring we can recruit and retain the right set of people to run our public services and has plans in place to do so. This includes a commitment to deliver 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel, deliver an additional 6,500 teachers, and refresh the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_48
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_48

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, over what time period the new funding to Ukraine under the Ukraine Bilateral Agreement will be repaid using profits from sanctioned Russian sovereign assets. \p Emma Reynolds: The Government is providing a £2.26bn loan to Ukraine as part of the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration initiative. The UK will be repaid using profits that are being generated from immobilised Russian sovereign assets in the EU.

The UK and wider G7 have committed to ensuring that Russian sovereign assets remain immobilised across our jurisdictions until Russia ceases its war of aggression and pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_49
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_49

Gareth Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury's oral contribution of 4 March 2025, Official Report, what is the process for approval by the National Wealth Fund of a proposed business case for investment; and who makes the final decision. \p Darren Jones: The National Wealth Fund considers business cases for investments on a case-by-case basis, supporting proposals that fall within the scope of its mandate and investment principles. An investment made by National Wealth Fund would need to have satisfied its investment principles and internal approval processes.

The National Wealth Fund has delegated authority to make investment decisions, subject to those investments meeting certain conditions agreed with HM Treasury.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_50
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_50

Gareth Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury's oral contribution of 4 March 2025, Official Report, what her policy is on the operational independence of the National Wealth Fund. \p Darren Jones: The National Wealth Fund is operationally independent and has delegated authority to make investment decisions, subject to those investments meeting certain conditions agreed with HM Treasury. An investment made by the National Wealth Fund would need to have satisfied its investment principles and internal approval processes.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_51
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_51

James McMurdock:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has plans to introduce new financial reporting requirements for (a) arms-length bodies and (b) Non-Governmental departments that handle significant public expenditure. \p Darren Jones: For arms-length bodies, inclusive of non-departmental public bodies, the legal authority to direct financial reporting requirements for their individual Annual Reports and Accounts is with its sponsoring department.

HM Treasury’s Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) applies directly to all government departments. Sponsoring departments may also require their arms-length bodies, including non-departmental public bodies to apply the FReM.

Financial reporting requirements outlined in the FReM are updated annually, the 2025-26 FReM has been published which will apply to relevant bodies for the 2025-26 financial year. The FReM is based on International Financial Reporting Standards-adapted or interpreted as appropriate to the public sector context.

Under section 24 of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, the Treasury is required to consult an advisory group on financial reporting principles and standards for resource accounts and Whole of Government Accounts. This role is fulfilled by the Financial Reporting Advisory Board (FRAB) who are required to agree to any changes to the financial reporting requirements included in the FReM. Reporting requirements would then apply to government departments directly as well as those arms-length bodies and non-departmental public bodies directed to follow the FReM by their sponsoring department.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_52
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_52

James McMurdock:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) arms-length bodies and (b) Non-Governmental departments have not published full financial accounts in the last five years. \p Darren Jones: For arms-length bodies, inclusive of non-departmental public bodies the legal requirement to produce financial accounts is normally set out in their founding legislation.

The Treasury monitors all Departmental accounts to ensure they are laid in a timely manner. All 2023-24 Departmental accounts have been laid in Parliament. There are no Departments which have not published audited financial accounts in the last five years.

The Treasury also lay the accounts of 21 non-ministerial departments and 8 pension schemes; all 2023-24 accounts have been laid in Parliament. There are no non-ministerial departments or pension schemes where laying is done by The Treasury which have not published audited financial accounts in the last five years.

Departments have responsibility for monitoring the publishing of financial accounts for bodies in their departmental group, including for arms-length bodies.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_53
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_53

James McMurdock:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the financial oversight delivered by (a) arms-length bodies and (b) non-Governmental bodies across Whitehall. \p Darren Jones: Managing Public Money guidance sets out the responsibilities of accounting officers in departments and in ALBs regarding the stewardship of public funds, including the requirement for public bodies and their sponsor departments to have an appropriate framework document (or equivalent) in place to provide certainty about their relationship and governance arrangements. The framework document agreed between an ALB and its sponsor department should provide for the sponsor department to exercise meaningful oversight of the ALB's strategy and performance, pay, and/or major financial transactions.

Additionally, supported by the National Audit Office (NAO), the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) independently scrutinises public funds, including providing Parliament with financial audit of the accounts of both departments and ALBs.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_54
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_54

Sir Oliver Dowden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to tackle disguised employment practices in the hair and beauty sector. \p James Murray: HMRC is committed to ensuring that the tax system operates fairly and efficiently and creates a level playing field for compliant businesses. Most businesses pay what they owe but a minority fail to register with HMRC or only declare a portion of their earnings. This minority deprive our vital public services of funding, affect fair competition between businesses, and place unfair burdens on everyone else.

We are committed to tackling false self-employment and will investigate evidence suggesting businesses have misclassified individuals for tax purposes. In these cases, we will take steps to ensure they pay the right Income Tax and National Insurance contributions.

HMRC is making it increasingly difficult for businesses to hide their earnings and have an extensive range of powers, including information gathering powers, that help build a picture of risk and identify those who are trying to abuse the system. Our approach to tax compliance includes a range of activities that aim to both detect and tackle current non-compliance and change future behaviours. Their activities include national campaigns and specialist task forces that incorporate intensive bursts of activity in targeted sectors and locations across the UK. This includes providing customer education highlighting the importance of keeping accurate records. However, we will not hesitate to use stronger sanctions against customers who deliberately choose not to comply, including potential criminal prosecutions for the most serious cases involving tax evasion.

We recognise that some customers can find it hard to understand their tax obligations, so we are developing and testing new educational material to better explain the rent a chair model to make it easy for them to get things right and intervening early to reduce mistakes. We are planning for this to be ready for publication on GOV.UK in the spring. We are continuing to work on updates to the Taxable Persons manual and these will be published in due course.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_55
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_55

Alex Brewer:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she plans to take to support small wine companies following changes to alcohol duty rates. \p James Murray: Following the end of the wine easement on 1 February some administrative work will be required for small wine companies, due to the need to make different calculations for wines of different strengths between 11.5% and 14.5% ABV to establish the level of duty. This extra step is one that was considered in detail during the consultation period.   To reduce small wine companies burdens, HMRC will accept the ABV on the label of the bottle for the calculation of duty. Whilst the new system of wine labelling allows product labelling to 0.1 per cent ABV, this is optional, and wine can still be labelled to the nearest 0.5 per cent ABV.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_56
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_56

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was paid to the EU in 2024. \p Darren Jones: HM Treasury will soon be publishing details of UK payments under the Financial Settlement in 2024 and its latest estimate for outstanding UK liabilities as at 31st December 2024, in the annual European Union Finances Statement. Publication is expected in Spring 2025.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_57
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_57

Lee Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy not to increase employee National Insurance contributions in the Spring Statement 2025. \p James Murray: The OBR’s spring forecast will take place on 26th March and be accompanied by a statement to Parliament from the Chancellor.

Ahead of the statement responding to the forecast, the Government will not give a running commentary on economic developments.

The Government is committed to not increasing the basic, higher or additional rates of Income Tax, Employee National Insurance contributions or VAT.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_58
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_58

Sir Oliver Dowden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on hair and beauty sector. \p James Murray: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations as well as an overview of the equality impacts.       The Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.
wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_59
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_59

Stuart Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on apprenticeship schemes. \p James Murray: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

The Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.

Eligible businesses can claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under-21s and under-25 apprentices.

For more information about available reliefs please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/allowances-expenses-and-reliefs-when-you-run-a-business