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1127541

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	answering body	Department for International Development
	answering dept id	20
	answering dept short name	International Development
	answering dept sort name	International Development
	hansard heading	Yemen: Humanitarian Aid
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking with with other donor countries help ensure the funding gap for the 2019 humanitarian response to the crisis in Yemen is closed.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
	tabling member printed	Dan Carden
	uin	256344
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>We are very concerned by the potential funding cliff edge the UN is facing in June. The UN’s 2019 humanitarian appeal for Yemen is the largest in the world at $4.2 billion. The Geneva Pledging Conference in February of this year saw $2.6 billion pledged, approximately 20% of which has been disbursed to date.</p><p> </p><p>The UK is actively engaging with other large donors to encourage the rapid disbursement of funding to the UN to enable it to cover urgent needs.</p><p> </p><p>The UK has also brought forward funding and we will have disbursed over half of our £200 million pledge for this financial year (2019/2020) by the beginning of June. This included funds for UNICEF to respond rapidly to a spike in cholera. As a result, cholera cases have declined for four weeks in a row and we hope a wider outbreak has been avoided.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 23/05/2019 09:56:05 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	4651 label Biography information for Dan Carden

1127545

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	answering body	Department for International Development
	answering dept id	20
	answering dept short name	International Development
	answering dept sort name	International Development
	hansard heading	Yemen: Humanitarian Aid
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans the Government has to increase the amount of humanitarian aid for Yemen in 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
	tabling member printed	Dan Carden
	uin	256348
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>On 24 February, the Prime Minister announced that the UK will provide an additional £200 million in response to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen for the next financial year (2019/2020). This was the third largest amount pledged at the UN 2019 Yemen Pledging conference and brings the total UK commitment to Yemen to £770 million since the conflict began in 2015.</p><p> </p><p>We are encouraging other large donors to disburse promptly and are confident that if this happens the UN and NGOs will be able to deliver a strong humanitarian response. The Geneva Pledging Conference in February of this year saw $2.6 billion pledged, approximately 20% of which has been disbursed to date.</p><p> </p><p>The UK has brought forward funding to cover urgent UN funding gaps and will have disbursed over half of our £200 million funding by the beginning of June. We will release our remaining funds promptly and in line with our partners’ funding requirements.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 23/05/2019 09:57:29 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	4651 label Biography information for Dan Carden

1127531

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	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	Workplace Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals for the introduction of collective defined contribution schemes.
	tabling member constituency	Hove
	tabling member printed	Peter Kyle
	uin	256341
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>This Government has recently published a response to a Collective Defined Contribution schemes consultation, and have engaged extensively with key stakeholders. In this response we have committed to facilitate Collective Defined Contribution schemes and have stated that the Government will bring forward Primary legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.</p><p> </p><p>The response can be viewed here:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/789051/response-delivering-collective-defined-contribution-pension-schemes.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/789051/response-delivering-collective-defined-contribution-pension-schemes.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 23/05/2019 16:15:36 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4505 label Biography information for Peter Kyle

1127559

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	West Midlands Police: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to increase funding for West Midlands Police to tackle violent crime.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Ladywood
	tabling member printed	Shabana Mahmood
	uin	256279
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government is determined to do everything it can to tackle knife crime and break the deadly cycle of violence that devastates the lives of victims, families and communities.</p><p>We are taking action to address these increases on a number of fronts in support of our Serious Violence Strategy. This includes providing the police with the powers and resources they need to take effective action in all areas of the country. Through the Offensive Weapons Act we are tightening the law in relation to knives, including making it an offence to possess certain offensive weapons in private, and stopping knives being sent to residential addresses after they are bought online unless the seller has arrangements with a delivery company to verify age. We are also introducing new Knife Crime Prevention Orders, requested by the police to help them to tackle young people who are on the cusp of serious violence, to help them make more positive lifestyle choices. We also continue to support the police national weeks of action against knife crime under Operation Sceptre.</p><p>The police funding settlement provides the police with the biggest increase in funding since 2010, and in addition we are providing the additional £100 million to tackle serious violence announced in the Spring Statement on 13 March, which includes £80m of new funding from the Treasury. £63.4 million of this funding has already been allocated to 18 police forces most affected by serious violence to pay for surge operational activity, including increased patrols, and £1.6 million to help improve the quality of data on serious violence, particularly knife crime, to support planning and operations. West Midlands has been allocated £7.62m from this fund. A full list of the forces and the funding they have received from the serious violence fund is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/police-granted-funding-boost-for-action-on-serious-violence." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/police-granted-funding-boost-for-action-on-serious-violence. </a></p><p>The remaining £35m from the Serious Violence Fund will be invested in Violence Reduction Units, which will support the local response in a number of areas worst affected by serious violence. VRUs will bring together a range of agencies including health, education, social services and others, to develop a multi-agency approach to preventing serious violence altogether. We are working closely with local partners to develop proposals for Violence Reduction Units, and will be seeking to make announcements on this funding in early June.</p><p>We are also raising awareness among young people of the dangers of carrying a knife through our national media campaign - #knifefree – and supporting early intervention through the £22 million Early Intervention Youth Fund, which is already supporting 29 local projects, including around £2m allocated to the Police and Crime Commissioner in the West Midlands to target young people identified as being most at risk, particularly those at risk of exclusion from school, and those already engaged in crime and violence.</p><p>We have also introduced the £200 million Youth Endowment Fund, which will be delivered over the next 10 years to support interventions with children and young people at risk of involvement in crime and violence, focusing on those most at risk. The charity Impetus, working in partnership with the Early Intervention Foundation and Social Investment Business, is now operating the Fund.</p> answering member constituency Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner answering member printed Mr Nick Hurd question first answered 29/05/2019 14:23:19 answering member 1561 label Biography information for Mr Nick Hurd
	tabling member	3914 label Biography information for Shabana Mahmood

1127669

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Exiting the European Union
	answering dept id	203
	answering dept short name	Exiting the European Union
	answering dept sort name	Exiting the European Union
	hansard heading	Vox
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have met with representatives of the Spanish political party Vox.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	256411
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>No members of the Department for Exiting the European Union have met with representatives of the Spanish political party Vox on DExEU business or in a Ministerial capacity. During his time as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, the Honourable Member for Daventry met with representatives of Vox in a political capacity. DExEU was not involved in the meeting.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 23/05/2019 14:37:57 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1127445

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Vocational Education
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to work with UK businesses to address any gaps in the education and training of vocational skills.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL15856
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/06/2019 answer text <p>The department is working with employers to jointly design and deliver policies and programmes which will make the skills system more responsive to employer needs, whilst giving individuals the skills they need to succeed.</p><p> </p><p>T levels are being designed to better meet the needs of businesses and to help young people to move successfully into skilled employment. Over 200 employers have been involved in defining the content of T levels to ensure that they reflect current industry requirements. Students’ experience on industry placements will be ‘hands on’ so they will leave their course with the skills employers are looking for.</p><p> </p><p>Employers are leading on the design of new apprenticeships standards, putting them in the driving seat to give apprentices the skills that businesses really need. Across all sectors, they are being designed and driven by industry, creating higher quality training that will lead to a more skilled and productive economy. We are working closely with employers to help them take advantage of apprenticeships and grow their programmes.</p><p> </p><p>Employers are central to traineeships, which are an education and training programme supporting social mobility by providing quality training for young people who need to develop their skills and experience in order to enter the labour market. They consist of a high quality work placement with an employer; work preparation training; and English and maths support for those who have not achieved a GCSE grade A* to C or equivalent with a training provider.</p><p> </p><p>We are establishing a National Retraining Scheme, driven by the National Retraining Partnership, which brings together the Confederation of British Industry, Trades Union Congress and the government to set the scheme’s strategic direction and oversee its development. This partnership will work together to ensure that the voices of businesses and workers feed directly into the development of the scheme so that it will genuinely make a difference.</p><p> </p><p>Skills Advisory Panels (SAPs) aim to bring together local employers and skills providers to pool knowledge on skills and labour market needs. They aim to work together to understand and address key local challenges, including helping to tackle local skills shortages. SAPs will address both immediate needs and challenges and look at what is required to help local areas adapt to future labour market changes and to grasp future opportunities. This will help colleges, universities and other providers deliver the skills required by employers, now and in the future.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 03/06/2019 13:05:19 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1127476

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Visas: Mental Health
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department takes to safeguard visa applicants from stress and other mental health problems which occur as a result of delayed decisions and other complications in the application process.
	tabling member constituency	Streatham
	tabling member printed	Chuka Umunna
	uin	256324
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>Comprehensive guidance is published on GOV.UK on the visa application process. This includes information regarding our Customer Service Standards (CSS) timescales for processing visa applications.</p><p>If an application is complex or delayed for any reason, Visas &amp; Citizenship staff contact the applicant and inform them if it is anticipated that the CSS will not be met.</p><p>Applicants can contact V&amp;C should the need arise. Contact details are published on the GOV.UK website here: <br><a href="https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk</a></p><p>If V&amp;C are made aware of any compelling or compassionate circumstances, consideration will be given to expediting assessment of the application, where appropriate and possible.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 29/05/2019 14:26:29 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4128 label Biography information for Chuka Umunna

1127674

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	Vegetables: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage children to eat green vegetables.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	256416
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government recommends that children over the age of five years eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day as part of a healthy balanced diet. This advice is reflected in the United Kingdom’s national food model, the Eatwell Guide at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-eatwell-guide" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-eatwell-guide</a></p><p>Start4Life and Change4Life, Public Health England’s social marketing programmes, promote consumption of vegetables, including green vegetables, as part of 5 A Day fruit and vegetable messaging through: the Food Scanner app, Change4Life and Start4Life websites, the fruit and vegetables boost email programme, regular update emails to the Change4Life database of 340,000 families and a public information radio advert.</p><p>The school food standards for England state that one or more portions of vegetables or salad must be served every day. The Government’s School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme aims to ensure all children in Key Stage 1 in England receive a piece of fruit or vegetables every day.</p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 29/05/2019 11:03:20 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1127650

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Unpaid Work
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that interns are paid at least (a) the national minimum wage and (b) the national living wage.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	256245
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>The law is clear that any individual performing work is entitled to receive the National Minimum and National Living Wage (NMW). The Government is committed to enforcing this right. In 2018/19 HM Revenue &amp; Customs (HMRC) identified a record £24.4 million in arrears for over 220,000 workers and issued over £17 million in penalties to non-compliant employers. The budget to enforce the NMW stands at its highest ever.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC have contacted over 2,000 employers found to be advertising unpaid internships online to ensure they are compliant with the law. They have also issued over 15,000 letters to employers in industries where internships are common to remind them of their responsibilities.</p><p> </p><p>Earlier this month my hon Friend the Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) (Digital Policy) (Margot James) and I co-hosted a roundtable on internships with employers and organisations in the creative industries. Discussion focused on how Government can work better with employers to raise the profile of existing rules and ensure that interns are paid in accordance with NMW law. The event provided important insight which will be used to improve compliance with the law across all sectors.</p><p> </p><p>Anyone who feels they are being underpaid the NMW should contact Acas for free impartial advice or make a complaint directly to HMRC through their online form. HMRC follow up on every worker complaint received, even those which are anonymous.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 23/05/2019 13:54:49 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1127562

	registered interest
	date	20/05/2019
	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: West Midlands
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the introduction of universal credit on trends in the level of household debt in the West Midlands.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Ladywood
	tabling member printed	Shabana Mahmood
	uin	256280
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2019 answer text <p>We do not hold data on the levels of household debt.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to ensuring that people, especially those who are experiencing financial difficulties, have access to the information and guidance they need to make effective financial decisions throughout their lives.</p><p> </p><p>Once fully rolled out, Universal Credit is forecast to be £2 billion per year more generous than the legacy system it replaces.</p><p> </p><p>The Money and Pension Service has replaced three providers of government-sponsored financial guidance – the Money Advice Service, the Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise – which has brought together the provision of debt advice, money guidance and pension guidance for the first time, streamlining the services offered and reducing confusion for members of the public on who they should contact.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 29/05/2019 12:05:36 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	3914 label Biography information for Shabana Mahmood