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1275840

registered interest
date	12/01/2021
answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
answering dept id	90
answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
hansard heading	Members' Staff: Voluntary Work
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2021 to Question 133126, for what reasons IPSA has not included the geographical restrictions of volunteer subsistence expenses within the wording of the (i) scheme as it relates to volunteers and (ii) IPSA model volunteer contract; what steps IPSA has taken to ensure that policy complies with section 5(1) of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009; where previously IPSA has published its policy of geographical restrictions of volunteer subsistence costs; when and with whom IPSA consulted ahead of introducing that policy; what steps IPSA took to communicate that policy; on what dates that communication occurred; and whether IPSA has undertaken an assessment of the appropriateness of that policy position during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	136593
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2021 answer text <p>IPSA has informed me that the arrangements for volunteer expenses were updated in March 2014 when the new model volunteer agreement was produced. This was communicated through the IPSA bulletin at the time and is available on the IPSA website. The Hon. Member is correct that there is no geographical stipulation in the volunteer expenses rules. There is a balance to strike when drawing up policy and guidance between on the one hand brevity and clarity and on the other detailing all possible scenarios. There will always be an element of judgement and interpretation when unusual situations such as the Covid19 pandemic occur.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 18/01/2021 10:14:36 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1275841

registered interest
date	12/01/2021
answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
answering dept id	90
answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
hansard heading	Members' Staff: Voluntary Work
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, on which dates in January 2021 the directors of IPSA (a) met and (b) plan to meet to discuss volunteer subsistence costs; and if IPSA will publish minutes relating to (i) those meetings and (ii) other senior IPSA management meetings in the past six months on volunteer subsistence costs.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	136594
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2021 answer text <p>There have not been any specific director meetings on volunteer expenses but the policy team and the Chief Executive of IPSA considered carefully the issue of food costs for volunteers who are working from home. A guiding principle in the stewardship of the use of public funds is that reimbursement is appropriate where there is a work-related expense that is additional to usual living costs. In this case, volunteers working on the parliamentary estate or in a constituency office would be incurring additional expense by needing to purchase food. This is not the case when the volunteer is at home as they would not incur additional food costs whilst working for an MP.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 18/01/2021 10:15:01 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1275891

registered interest
date	12/01/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals: Slough
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of free school meal packages provided to children in Slough.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	136595
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2021 answer text <p>We know there is, understandably, concern about free school meal support during the period that schools will be restricted from opening. Schools in Slough can decide how best to support eligible free school meal pupils who are at home. We have not had any direct queries regarding lunch parcels from parents of children in Slough.</p><p> </p><p>We will provide extra funding to support schools to provide lunch parcels, or locally arranged vouchers. We have also re-opened the national voucher scheme from the week commencing 18 January 2021.</p><p> </p><p>The photos of poor-quality lunch parcels shared on social media are completely unacceptable and do not reflect the high standard of free school meals we expect to be sent to children.</p><p> </p><p>We expect a high standard of free school meals to be provided to eligible pupils. We are working with caterers to ensure that they meet the standards set and are delivering high quality lunches to pupils who are eligible for benefits related free school meals and who are at home during term time.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 21/01/2021 17:36:25 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1273762

registered interest
date	06/01/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Passengers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the steps that were taken by (a) the Government, (b) the British Transport Police, (c) rail operators and (d) station and rail staff to respond to the sudden increase in the volume of passengers making use of the rail network on Saturday 19 December 2020 after the Government's announcement imposing Tier 4 covid-19 restrictions on London and the South East region on that day.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	134066
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>Following the announcement on 19 December 2020, the Government and Chief Medical Officer urged people to avoid travelling unless essential to limit the risk of transmission, and the Department updated its safer travel guidance.</p><p> </p><p>Rail operators had already taken steps to minimise the risk of overcrowding, for example by advising passengers to reserve tickets in advance and follow the safer travel guidance. Rail operators reacted quickly to the increase in passengers by adding additional carriages to trains and adding in extra trains wherever possible. In addition, extra staff were deployed quickly onto stations to help provide passenger assistance and manage the crowding that took place on a small number of central London stations for a brief period.</p><p> </p><p>The British Transport Police (BTP) deployed additional officers on 19 December 2020. The Department continues to work closely with the BTP to build on existing measures to keep passengers and staff safe and promote COVID-19 compliance.</p> answering member constituency Daventry answering member printed Chris Heaton-Harris question first answered 15/01/2021 10:34:54 answering member 3977 label Biography information for Chris Heaton-Harris
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1274004

registered interest
date	06/01/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pre-school Education: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Prime Minister on keeping early years settings open under the new January 2021 national covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	134067
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/01/2021 answer text <p>My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced on 4 January 2021 that early years settings remain open for all children during the national lockdown. Details can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home</a>.</p><p>Schools have been restricted because additional measures are needed to contain the spread of the virus. The wider significant restrictions in place as part of the national lockdown to contain the spread of the virus in the community enable us to continue prioritising keeping nurseries and childminders open, supporting parents and delivering the crucial care and education needed for our youngest children.</p><p>Early years settings remain low risk environments for children and staff. Current evidence suggests that pre-school children (0 to 5 years) are less susceptible to infection and are unlikely to be playing a driving role in transmission. There is no evidence the new strain of the virus causes more serious illness in either children or adults and there is no evidence that the new variant of coronavirus disproportionately affects young children.</p><p>PHE advice remains that the risk of transmission and infection is low if early years settings follow the system of controls, which reduce risks and create inherently safer environments.</p><p>Early years settings have been open to all children since 1 June 2020 and there is no evidence that the early years sector has contributed to a rise in virus cases within the community. Early modelling evidence from SAGE showed that early years provision had a smaller relative impact on transmission rate when modelled with both primary schools and secondary schools.</p><p>Early years childcare providers were one of the first sectors to have restrictions lifted last summer, in recognition of the key role they play in society. Childminders and nursery staff across the country have worked hard to keep settings open through the COVID-19 outbreak so that young children can be educated, and parents can work. The earliest years are the most crucial point of child development and attending early education lays the foundation for lifelong learning and supports children’s social and emotional development. We continue to prioritise keeping early years settings open in full because of the clear benefits to children’s education and wellbeing and to support working parents. Caring for the youngest age group is not something that can be done remotely.</p><p>These plans are being kept under review in the light of emerging scientific evidence. We are working with the scientific community to understand the properties and dynamics of the new variant VUI-202012/01 in relation to children and young people.</p><p>The department has been working closely with local authorities to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, setting up dedicated regional teams that are in frequent contact. Bringing together expertise from across the department, these teams monitor the challenges local authorities are facing. Our London regional team is in close contact with Havering and will be assessing the situation for early years settings in the authority.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 133730 133848 133989 134175 134225 question first answered 12/01/2021 17:12:39 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1274040

registered interest
date	06/01/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pre-school Education: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps his Department has taken to help protect early years practitioners from contracting covid-19.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	134068
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/01/2021 answer text <p>The Department for Education has worked collaboratively with Public Health England to develop a system of controls, which when implemented in line with a revised risk assessment, create an inherently safer environment where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced for children and staff.</p><p>Settings must comply with health and safety law, which requires them to assess risks and put in place proportionate control measures.</p><p>Settings should thoroughly review their health and safety risk assessment and draw up plans on re-opening, in the event that they have to close. Settings should have active arrangements in place to monitor that the controls are effective, working as planned, and updated appropriately, for example when any issues are identified, or when there are changes in public health advice.</p><p>When conducting risk assessments, settings should ensure consideration is given to staff and children with protected characteristics from groups where a disparity has been shown by the review of disparities in risks and outcomes (for example, age and sex, where someone lives, deprivation, ethnicity and/or people’s occupation).</p><p>The department has published the ‘Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak’ guidance, which provides details on the system of controls and how they work in practice. The guidance is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures</a>.</p><p>The department is working closely with the Department for Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure rapid asymptomatic testing for all early years staff, to support my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s announcement for early years settings to remain fully open.</p><p>Furthermore, regarding vaccinations, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises that the first priorities for the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of mortality and the maintenance of the health and social care systems. As the risk of mortality from COVID-19 increases with age, prioritisation is primarily based on age.</p><p>Under the priority groups for the first phase of vaccine rollout, those over 50 years of age, and all those 16 years of age and over in a risk group, would be eligible for vaccination within the first phase of the programme. This prioritisation captures almost all preventable deaths from COVID-19.</p><p>Regarding the next phase of vaccine rollout, the JCVI have asked that the Department of Health and Social Care consider occupational vaccination in collaboration with other government departments. The Department for Education will input into this cross governmental exercise.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 12/01/2021 18:10:53 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1274387

registered interest
date	06/01/2021
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	Coronavirus: Vaccination
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on prioritising teachers, school staff and early year practitioners for the covid-19 vaccine.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	134069
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2021 answer text <p>The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. For the first phase, the JCVI has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors.</p><p>If teachers are captured in phase one due to their age or clinical risk factors then they will be prioritised. However, as advised by the JCVI, we are not considering vaccinating teachers in phase one at this stage. Prioritisation decisions for the next phase of delivery are subject to the surveillance and monitoring of data and information from phase one, as well as further input from independent scientific experts such as the JCVI. Phase two of the roll-out may include further reduction in hospitalisation and targeted vaccination of those at high risk of exposure and/or those delivering key public services, such as teachers.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 18/01/2021 11:53:09 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1272925

registered interest
date	30/12/2020
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Sri Lanka: Cremation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to make representations to his Sri Lankan counterpart on the cremation in that country of covid-19 victims regardless of religious belief.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	133115
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2021 answer text <p>The UK Government is concerned about the Government of Sri Lanka's continued decision to mandate cremations for all those affected by Covid-19, and recognises the particular impact this is having on Sri Lankan Muslims and other faith communities. The Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has raised concerns about this directly with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner, most recently in December. Lord Ahmad also raised the importance of minority rights in a call with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena in November. The UK's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka has also raised concerns about mandatory cremations several times with the Sri Lankan Government, most recently in January.</p><p>The UK has shared guidance with the Government of Sri Lanka on how burials can continue to operate in a safe format, within the WHO guidelines, to ensure all religious groups can practise their rites. We will continue to engage with the Government of Sri Lanka on this important issue.</p> answering member constituency Selby and Ainsty answering member printed Nigel Adams question first answered 11/01/2021 17:55:50 answering member 4057 label Biography information for Nigel Adams
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1273020

registered interest
date	30/12/2020
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	Supermarkets: Packaging
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with supermarkets on reducing their usage of non-recyclable packaging for foodstuffs.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	133114
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2021 answer text <p>We are currently developing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging. EPR for packaging will see producers paying for the waste management costs associated with the packaging that they place on the market. In addition to this, EPR for packaging will see those costs modulated (varied) to account for various criteria, including recyclability. This will provide an incentive to producers who use recyclable packaging, as they could be paying less than those who don't. We will be consulting in early 2021 on our proposals for introducing EPR for packaging.</p><p>In developing these proposals and in preparation for the upcoming consultation, engagement with stakeholders, including supermarkets, has been a priority. As part of this focus on engagement, a joint project was recently launched to develop a key element of the new EPR for packaging system. This project is developing an approach to the modulation of producer fees and will run until July 2021. It is being led jointly between the Government and the Devolved Administrations, the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN), the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), and the British Retail Consortium (BRC). At all stages of the project, stakeholder engagement will be central to our approach.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 11/01/2021 17:07:39 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1273051

registered interest
date	30/12/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he made of the effect of the Government's decision to change the covid-19 restrictions on travel for Christmas 2020 on the number of train passengers travelling on Saturday 19 December 2020.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	133116
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2021 answer text <p>Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the railway has played a vital role in ensuring passengers can travel if required. Responding effectively to the challenges posed by this crisis meant that the government had to act urgently and make quick decisions, whilst retaining flexibility to respond to emerging information. Even before more stringent measures were implemented, the Chief Medical Officer urged people to avoid travelling unless essential, to limit the risks of transmission. Station staff were available throughout to help manage passenger movements.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Daventry answering member printed Chris Heaton-Harris question first answered 11/01/2021 15:32:44 answering member 3977 label Biography information for Chris Heaton-Harris
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi