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1128923

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Slavery
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many suspected victims of (a) modern slavery and (b) human trafficking who were referred into the National Referral Mechanism (i) were considered for and (ii) received safe house accommodation in each calendar year since 2008.
	tabling member constituency	Gedling
	tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
	uin	258995
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The National Crime Agency publishes statistics on referrals into the National Referral Mechanism on a quarterly basis. These reports start from 2016 and are available via the following link:<br><a href="https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications?search=&amp;category%5B%5D=3&amp;=%2Fwho-we-are%2Fpublications%3Flimit%3D15%26sort%3Dtitle%26direction%3Dasc&amp;limit=100&amp;tag=" target="_blank">https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications?search=&amp;category%5B%5D=3&amp;=%2Fwho-we-are%2Fpublications%3Flimit%3D15%26sort%3Dtitle%26direction%3Dasc&amp;limit=100&amp;tag=</a></p><p>The Victim Care Contract is outsourced to the The Salvation Army. The contract commenced operations in 2015 and any individual referred into the NRM who requires support is referred into this contract. All individuals who would otherwise be destitute or have no safe accommodation are provided with safe house accommodation.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 10/06/2019 16:43:08 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1128924

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Slavery
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will set out the individual needs that are considered during an assessment of a victim of (a) modern slavery and (b) human trafficking's eligibility for allocation to outreach services; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Gedling
	tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
	uin	258996
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The Salvation Army conducts a needs assessment for victims of modern slavery who are referred for support under the Victim Care Contract. These assessments are used to evaluate what kind of support services an individual requires during their outreach support.</p><p>There is no assessment of eligibility as both accommodation and outreach are available to any individual referred into the NRM. The needs assessment only evaluates which type of accommodation or outreach services are most appropriate to their situation.</p><p><br>The service requirements of the Victim Care Contract can be found publicly via the following link:<br><a href="https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/e03ceb15-27ad-4bad-b8ae-43dbc1e9481e" target="_blank">https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/e03ceb15-27ad-4bad-b8ae-43dbc1e9481e</a></p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 10/06/2019 15:47:41 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1129181

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Slavery
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the safeguarding of individuals accepted into the National Referral Mechanism.
	tabling member constituency	Gedling
	tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
	uin	258997
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>In October 2017, the Government announced an ambitious package of reforms to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which were developed following the 2014 Oppenheim Review, an 18-month pilot testing alternative decision-making processes, and extensive stakeholder consultation.</p><p>Adults identified in the NRM can receive specialist and tailored support through the Victim Care Contract, where they can receive accommodation, financial support, assistance in accessing mental and physical health care including counselling, and access to legal support.</p><p>Through robust contract management we ensure the safeguarding of victims of modern slavery. The prime contractor for the Victim Care Contract, The Salvation Army, is responsible for ensuring that all subcontracted provision meets the needs of victims. The Salvation Army conducts regular safeguarding reviews and it has a duty to escalate to the Home Office any safeguarding concerns that it finds. Furthermore, as part of reforms to the NRM, work is also underway to develop an independent inspection framework for care provision based on the Human Trafficking Foundation’s Survivor Care Standards.</p><p>Child victims of modern slavery are supported by local authorities under existing statutory child protection arrangements.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 10/06/2019 16:45:45 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker

1129613

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Conditions of Employment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many labour market enforcement undertakings have been served since their introduction.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
	tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
	uin	260093
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>28 labour market enforcement undertakings have been served on businesses by the three main labour market enforcement bodies: the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs – National Minimum Wage Team, since the provision was introduced through the Immigration Act 2016, in November 2016.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 10/06/2019 12:05:28 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

1128144

	registered interest
	date	23/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how much (1) the apprenticeship levy has raised in total in each of the four jurisdictions of the UK, (2) levy-paying employers have reclaimed, (3) has been used to fund new non-levy payer apprenticeships, (4) has been spent on old-style apprenticeships, and (5) has been spent on the administration of apprenticeships, in each year since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	uin	HL15958
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The apprenticeship levy is collected from all UK employers through the PAYE system by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). HMRC publish information on levy receipts in the monthly Tax and National Insurance contribution receipts publication, and in their annual reports and accounts, available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018</a>.</p><p> </p><p>In 2017-18, the first year following the introduction of the levy, £2.6 billion was collected from UK employers and HM Treasury (HMT) allocated £425m of the levy collected to the devolved administrations. Annual data on levy collected in 2018-19 will be published by HMRC, and data on 2018-19 spending will be available from Department for Education in due course.</p><p> </p><p>Skills spending is a devolved matter and HMT committed in advance to the share of the levy that would be passed to the devolved administrations in the three-year period from 2017-18 to 2019-20. HMT published these plans at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-agrees-apprenticeship-levy-funding-deal-with-devolved-administrations" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-agrees-apprenticeship-levy-funding-deal-with-devolved-administrations</a>.</p><p> </p><p>In England, levy-paying employers can use online apprenticeship service accounts to access their funds. In 2017-18, the total spend on apprentices employed with levy payers, and who started training after the levy was introduced, was £268 million. This figure represents more than the £170 million in training and assessment costs charged to levy payers’ accounts.</p><p>This is because these employers also benefit from additional payments to support certain types of learners, and extremely generous co-investment contributions for those employers that have exhausted their levy account funds. Such costs are not currently deducted from levy accounts. In 2018-19, levy-payers drew down a further £639 million representing the costs charged to levy-payers on the learners who started since the levy was introduced (and whose training is ongoing in 2018-19) as well as the costs of learners who started in the 2018-19 financial year.</p><p> </p><p>Employers’ levy funds are distinct from the department’s ring-fenced annual apprenticeship budget, which is set in advance by HM Treasury to fund apprenticeships in England. This budget has risen year-on-year, from £2.01 billion in 2017-18 and £2.23 billion in 2018-19 to over £2.5 billion in 2019-20, double what was spent in 2010.</p><p> </p><p>In 2017-18, we spent £189 million on training and assessment (including additional payments) for apprentices with employers who do not pay the levy and who started their apprenticeship since the levy was introduced. This includes apprenticeships started on both frameworks and new standards.</p><p>The ongoing cost of training and assessment for apprentices who started their apprenticeship before the levy was introduced in May 2017 was £1,065 million in 2017-18 (including additional payments as detailed above).</p><p> </p><p>In 2017-18, £40 million (equating to less than 2%) of the £2.01 billion ring-fenced apprenticeships programme budget was spent on the cost of delivering and running the programme. This includes spending by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. The department is provided a separate budget for other administrative spending, and in 2017-18 total administrative spend was £44 million. These two budgets cover the cost of running the online apprenticeship service, employer engagement work, and the promotion of apprenticeships, in addition to staffing and other costs.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton grouped question UIN HL15959 question first answered 10/06/2019 10:54:07 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe

1128145

	registered interest
	date	23/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the annual total cost of apprenticeships compared to the amount raised from the apprenticeship levy.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	uin	HL15959
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The apprenticeship levy is collected from all UK employers through the PAYE system by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). HMRC publish information on levy receipts in the monthly Tax and National Insurance contribution receipts publication, and in their annual reports and accounts, available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018</a>.</p><p> </p><p>In 2017-18, the first year following the introduction of the levy, £2.6 billion was collected from UK employers and HM Treasury (HMT) allocated £425m of the levy collected to the devolved administrations. Annual data on levy collected in 2018-19 will be published by HMRC, and data on 2018-19 spending will be available from Department for Education in due course.</p><p> </p><p>Skills spending is a devolved matter and HMT committed in advance to the share of the levy that would be passed to the devolved administrations in the three-year period from 2017-18 to 2019-20. HMT published these plans at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-agrees-apprenticeship-levy-funding-deal-with-devolved-administrations" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-agrees-apprenticeship-levy-funding-deal-with-devolved-administrations</a>.</p><p> </p><p>In England, levy-paying employers can use online apprenticeship service accounts to access their funds. In 2017-18, the total spend on apprentices employed with levy payers, and who started training after the levy was introduced, was £268 million. This figure represents more than the £170 million in training and assessment costs charged to levy payers’ accounts.</p><p>This is because these employers also benefit from additional payments to support certain types of learners, and extremely generous co-investment contributions for those employers that have exhausted their levy account funds. Such costs are not currently deducted from levy accounts. In 2018-19, levy-payers drew down a further £639 million representing the costs charged to levy-payers on the learners who started since the levy was introduced (and whose training is ongoing in 2018-19) as well as the costs of learners who started in the 2018-19 financial year.</p><p> </p><p>Employers’ levy funds are distinct from the department’s ring-fenced annual apprenticeship budget, which is set in advance by HM Treasury to fund apprenticeships in England. This budget has risen year-on-year, from £2.01 billion in 2017-18 and £2.23 billion in 2018-19 to over £2.5 billion in 2019-20, double what was spent in 2010.</p><p> </p><p>In 2017-18, we spent £189 million on training and assessment (including additional payments) for apprentices with employers who do not pay the levy and who started their apprenticeship since the levy was introduced. This includes apprenticeships started on both frameworks and new standards.</p><p>The ongoing cost of training and assessment for apprentices who started their apprenticeship before the levy was introduced in May 2017 was £1,065 million in 2017-18 (including additional payments as detailed above).</p><p> </p><p>In 2017-18, £40 million (equating to less than 2%) of the £2.01 billion ring-fenced apprenticeships programme budget was spent on the cost of delivering and running the programme. This includes spending by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. The department is provided a separate budget for other administrative spending, and in 2017-18 total administrative spend was £44 million. These two budgets cover the cost of running the online apprenticeship service, employer engagement work, and the promotion of apprenticeships, in addition to staffing and other costs.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton grouped question UIN HL15958 question first answered 10/06/2019 10:54:07 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe

1128208

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Hunting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2018 to Question 199874 on Hunting, what criteria his Department applies to ensure that scientific evidence is sufficient to (a) demonstrate that trophy hunting is an effective conservation tool and (b) is independent of the trophy hunting industry.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	257507
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>Imports of hunting trophies into the UK are subject to strict controls under the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations, which apply in the UK. All applications for permits to import hunting trophies into the UK are assessed to make sure that the import would not have a harmful effect on the conservation status of the species or on the extent of the territory occupied by the relevant population of the species. In addition, the applicant must provide documentary evidence, in the form of an export permit that demonstrates that the specimens have been obtained in accordance with the legislation on the protection of the species concerned.</p><p> </p><p>There are import suspensions in place for countries where hunting of the species concerned is not considered to be sustainable. The need for any further suspensions is kept under active review.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State held a roundtable with stakeholders last month on this issue.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey grouped question UIN 257508 question first answered 10/06/2019 10:39:39 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1128209

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Polar Bears
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2019 to Question 236523 on Polar Bears, what progress he has made on holding a roundtable discussion with organisations from all sides of the debate on whether the six species that are protected by stricter trophy hunting import controls at EU level will be maintained or extended in the event of the UK leaving the EU.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	257508
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>Imports of hunting trophies into the UK are subject to strict controls under the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations, which apply in the UK. All applications for permits to import hunting trophies into the UK are assessed to make sure that the import would not have a harmful effect on the conservation status of the species or on the extent of the territory occupied by the relevant population of the species. In addition, the applicant must provide documentary evidence, in the form of an export permit that demonstrates that the specimens have been obtained in accordance with the legislation on the protection of the species concerned.</p><p> </p><p>There are import suspensions in place for countries where hunting of the species concerned is not considered to be sustainable. The need for any further suspensions is kept under active review.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State held a roundtable with stakeholders last month on this issue.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey grouped question UIN 257507 question first answered 10/06/2019 10:39:39 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1128212

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had their deductions under universal credit reduced from the maximum rate of 40 per cent of an individual's standard allowance in the last (a) month and (b) 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	257510
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. Universal Credit already has procedures and regulations in place to protect claimants from excessive deductions. The maximum rate of deductions cannot normally exceed 40 per cent of the Universal Credit standard allowance, and from October 2019 this will be reduced to 30 per cent.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 10/06/2019 14:52:01 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Lord Sharma
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1128257

	registered interest
	date	24/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Winter Fuel Payment: Maladministration
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many occasions the winter fuel payment has been incorrectly paid; and what steps he has taken to recover those payments in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Moray
	tabling member printed	Douglas Ross
	uin	257526
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The DWP makes around 12 million Winter Fuel payments each year.</p><p>The DWP is working hard to prevent overpayments from occurring in the first place. However, these do sometimes occur due to a claimant failing to inform DWP of a change of household composition, or that they have moved abroad. Winter Fuel staff annually undertake an extensive Data Matching exercise to identify if any overpayments have occurred, and reduce the possibility of incorrect payments.</p><p>The table below shows the volume of Winter Fuel payments that were overpaid in the last 3 financial years rounded to the nearest 100. This represents less than 0.05% of the total Winter Fuel payments made.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Volume Of Winter Fuel Payments Overpaid</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>3,600</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>5,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-19</p></td><td><p>5,200</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em>*The data in this response has been sourced from internal management information. It should therefore not be compared to any other similar data subsequently released by the Department.</em></p><p /><p>The DWP has an obligation to ensure that public money is administered responsibly. Therefore, where permitted under Social Security legislation, the DWP seeks to recover any overpaid benefit. Where possible, the DWP will recover through on-going deductions from a claimant’s benefit.</p><p>The DWP ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect claimants who have deductions from their benefit to repay overpayments. There are maximum rates of deduction that are set out in legislation, and if a claimant is struggling they can contact the DWP’s Debt Management Team to discuss lowering their repayment rate.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 10/06/2019 15:06:10 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4627 label Biography information for Douglas Ross