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1277633

registered interest
date	18/01/2021
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: Allowances
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 18 January 2021 to Question 136593, whether Members' staff working on the parliamentary estate or in a constituency office incur a work-related expense that is additional to usual living costs by needing to purchase food at that location.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	139115
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2021 answer text <p>As is common in most employment arrangements, Members' employees are expected to provide for their own nourishment and refreshment at work, whether they purchase that or bring it in from home. The position is different for volunteers as they are not employed and provided with a salary from which to provide that sustenance. For that reason, volunteers can claim for the additional costs associated with volunteering for an MP, for example when on the parliamentary estate or in a constituency office (which includes food) which Members' staff cannot.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 21/01/2021 09:36:44 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1277642

registered interest
date	18/01/2021
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 18 January 2021 to Question 136594, for what reasons IPSA recognise that Members' staff incur additional costs while working at home through introducing a monthly working from home payment, but do not consider volunteers to be similarly incurring additional costs while volunteering from home for an hon Member.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	139116
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2021 answer text <p>The payment the Hon Member refer's to is IPSA's administration of the tax-free allowance which can be paid to employees who are required to work from home, under HMRC rules. As a tax mechanism, this does not apply to people who volunteer.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 21/01/2021 09:37:49 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1277122

registered interest
date	15/01/2021
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	Additional Restrictions Grant
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 assessment he has made of the adequacy of financial support available to businesses affected by the covid-19 outbreak that are not eligible for an Additional Restrictions Grant.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	138486
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2021 answer text <p>The Government understands the considerable difficulties faced by UK businesses that have been adversely affected by a drop in business or closure due the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>In November, at the beginning of the second national lockdown, the Government made available £1.1bn in discretionary funding allocated to each local authority to support businesses via the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). This was topped up with a further £500m in January 2021. Local authorities have significant discretion in the businesses they support and the amount of grant funding per business based on local priorities.</p><p> </p><p>Since March 2020, we have made available a range of business support measures including loans, small business grants through local authorities, mortgage holidays and VAT deferral.</p><p> </p><p>We have also updated the support available to fit the restrictions necessary: we have increased the overall level of the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme grant to 80% of trading profits covering November to January for all parts of the UK.</p><p> </p><p>We have also extended the Bounce Back Loan Scheme application deadline to the end of March 2021, to further support eligible firms who need it during this ongoing period of difficulty.</p><p> </p><p>We would always encourage businesses that have not been able to access support, or who are unsure about what support is available, to contact their nearest Business Growth Hub for advice. Government has established a network of 38 of these hubs, one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area in England. Businesses of all sizes are able to access free, tailored guidance from expert advisers who make up the Hub teams. All contact details are online at <a href="http://www.lepnetwork.net/local-growth-hub-contacts/" target="_blank">www.lepnetwork.net/local-growth-hub-contacts/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The free Business Support Helpline offers impartial advice to businesses across England (FREEPHONE 0800 998 1098) provides with free, impartial business support.</p><p> </p><p>Firms based in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can access business support through their devolved Governments.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 20/01/2021 16:42:57 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1277124

registered interest
date	15/01/2021
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	Marine Protected Areas: Fisheries
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban supertrawlers from Marine Protected Areas.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	138487
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2021 answer text <p>We are reviewing our policy on access for supertrawlers. This review will be driven by evidence. We will need to consider how any measures fit with our obligations under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU and avoid taking any action against individual vessels which could be construed as discriminatory.</p><p>Under the Fisheries Act 2020, vessels permitted to fish in UK waters have to be licensed and comply with UK rules and regulations including those on sustainability. Licence conditions set by UK Sea Fisheries Authorities apply to both UK and foreign vessels alike.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 20/01/2021 12:42:23 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1277125

registered interest
date	15/01/2021
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Leasehold
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on leasehold reform.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	138488
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2021 answer text <p>The Government remains committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service</p><p><br> Legislation to set future ground rents to zero will be brought forward in the upcoming session of Parliament. This is the first part of seminal two-part reforming legislation in this Parliament. We will bring forward a response to the remaining Law Commission recommendations, including commonhold, in due course.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 20/01/2021 13:26:18 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1276417

registered interest
date	13/01/2021
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	Mental Health Services: LGBT+ People
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of mental health support made available to LGBT people during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	137287
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/01/2021 answer text <p>The National Health Service has provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all-age urgent mental health helplines across the country and we have given more than £10 million of additional grant funding to support mental health charities during the pandemic. We are also raising awareness of the resources and guidance available to adults, children, parents and carers, including the LGBT community, through our Wellbeing and Mental Health Support Plan for COVID-19 and the ‘Every Mind Matters’ platform.</p><p>However, we know there were pre-existing inequalities in access, experience and outcomes of mental health care for LGBT people. The NHS recently published its Advancing Mental Health Equalities Strategy to support local health systems to better address inequalities in mental health services. Implementation of the strategy will be overseen by the Advancing Mental Health Equalities Taskforce.</p> answering member constituency Mid Bedfordshire answering member printed Ms Nadine Dorries question first answered 19/01/2021 12:14:52 answering member 1481 label Biography information for Ms Nadine Dorries previous answer version 75022 answering member constituency Mid Bedfordshire answering member printed Ms Nadine Dorries answering member 1481 label Biography information for Ms Nadine Dorries
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

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

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