The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-06.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many rating assessment appeals are outstanding with the Valuation Office Agency.
Mr David Gauke
The information requested can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-challenges-and-changes-experimental
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he expects there to be universal access to superfast fibreoptic broadband in Easington constituency.
Mr Edward Vaizey
In the Easington constituency we estimate that around 90% will benefit from superfast broadband coverage through commercial roll out. According to current forecasts a further 7% will have access under the publicly funded Superfast Broadband Programme by the end of September 2018. As announced by the Prime Minister on 7 November, the Government intends to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation in this Parliament. A four-week consultation on the Government’s proposed approach to taking this work forwards was published on 23 March.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of existing legislation for tackling incidents of cyber bullying and harassment.
Mike Penning
As part of the arrangements for the collection of police recorded crime data the Home Office has introduced an ‘online flag’ allowing police forces to record online instances of crimes such as stalking and harassment. These data are still being developed but will be published once the data are considered to be of sufficient quality. In October 2015, the Office for National Statistics introduced new fraud and cyber questions to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. These new questions mean that we will be able to identify those crimes that had an online component and hence be able to provide estimates of cyber crime. This data will be published in due course.
Legislation is in place to deal with internet trolls, cyber-stalking and harassment, and perpetrators of grossly offensive, obscene or menacing behaviour. Through the Criminal Justice Act 2015, we improved two communications offences which can be used to prosecute misuse of social media: section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988, and section 127 of the Communications Act 2003, giving the police longer to investigate either offence, and increasing the maximum penalty for the former to two years imprisonment.
Engagement with the industry is essential, and the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) brings together industry, law enforcement, academia, charities, parenting groups, and government departments (Home Office, Department for Culture, Media & Sport, and Department for Education), to work in partnership to help to keep children and young people safe online. As part of this work, the UK’s Communications regulator, Ofcom, recently led a working group to develop good practice guidance for providers of social media and interactive services. Its purpose is to encourage businesses to think about “safety by design” to help make their platforms safer for children and young people under 18. This guidance was published in December 2015. A wide range of partners contributed to this project, including Twitter, Facebook, Google, Ask.FM, MindCandy and Microsoft.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had on introducing new duties on local authorities to assess the level of need for wheelchair accessible homes and set appropriate targets in local development plans.
Brandon Lewis
Local authorities are best placed to understand the housing needs in their area. We expect them to work closely with key partners and their local communities in deciding what type of housing is needed.
National policy sets out clearly the need for local authorities to plan for the housing needs of all members of the community and that planning should encourage accessibility. The introduction of optional requirements for accessibility in the Building Regulations provides local authorities with the tools needed to ensure that new homes are accessible and that in particular the needs of disabled people are met.
Local authorities are held accountable for their housing delivery via their Local Plans which are tested by local independent planning inspectors and are scrutinised via yearly Authority Monitoring reports which set out progress on delivery against Local Plan targets. In addition local authorities must determine individual decisions in line with the development plan and other material considerations, such as the National Planning Policy Framework and having regard to viability considerations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to provide new swimming facilities in Easington constituency.
David Evennett
Sport England is currently supporting Durham County Council to conduct a review of its sports facilities strategy to ensure the provision of facilities for grassroots sports in the area, including swimming, can meet the needs of the local community.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the Government intends to encourage electoral registration officers to prepare and execute strategies to maximise the proportion of (a) 16 and 17 year olds, (b) FE and HE students and (c) people aged 25 years and under registering to vote.
John Penrose
Electoral Registration Officers have a statutory duty to maintain the completeness and accuracy of their registers and are held accountable for meeting performance standards by the Electoral Commission. This includes implementing public engagement strategies to target under registered groups which includes young people. The Government has made available a range of free online learning resources on voter registration. These have been promoted to EROs using channels such as newsletters and Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) meetings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of improving metro services in the North East and extending such services into Easington constituency.
Andrew Jones
My Department is supporting Nexus in delivering an 11 year programme of works to renew and improve the Tyne and Wear Metro. This work is being funded with over £300 million of grant from DfT and includes refurbishment of the Metrocar fleet, modernisation of 60 stations, introduction of new ‘smart’ ticketing machines, barriers and technologies, and a new communications system. Nexus is also overhauling and maintaining structures such as bridges and tunnels, track and overhead power lines.
As part of the North East Devolution Deal, Nexus will be submitting a business case shortly that covers the replacement of the existing rolling stock and signalling as well as any proposals for expanding the Metro network.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had about funding the construction of a new rail station at Horden.
Andrew Jones
Officials from Rail North met with Durham County Council on 21 April to discuss its aspirations for a new station at Horden and potential funding sources, including the New Stations Fund. The new station may also be included in the draft Rail North Single Investment Plan.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make available to the hon. Member for Easington, in electronic form, (a) all Local Government Pension Scheme pooling bids and (b) the investment cost data provided by CEM Benchmarking which have been used to calculate investment costs under each fund and that underpin each bid in each of the last three years.
Mr Marcus Jones
I will place copies of the final proposals on local government pension scheme pooling in the Library of the House.
Investment cost data was provided by CEM Benchmarking to the individual administering authorities and is not held by my Department.
The speech made by Grahame Morris, the Labour MP for Easington, in Westminster Hall, the House of Commons, on the 13 December 2022.
It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. I will endeavour to heed your advice about the timings. I thank my good and honourable friend and comrade, the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens), for securing this important debate. I also congratulate him on his assiduous work in questioning Ministers, both in the Chamber and with the use of written questions. I also thank him for sharing the figures that he has discovered—the constituency-based figures—with other Members.
In my remarks, I will first go over the purpose of universal credit and look at the level of sanctions. I also want to stress the human cost of sanctions. Universal credit is the last line of the social security safety net. It is set at a level no one should fall below. By any standard, it is set at a very low level. Let us just remind ourselves that for a single person under 25 the standard allowance—this is a monthly allowance not a weekly allowance—is £265.31. There are additional premiums for disability and so on, but the standard allowance is intended to cover council tax, utilities, food, clothing and other bills. Sometimes the housing element does not meet the full rent, so there is a top-up element for rent as well.
For a couple over 25, the standard allowance is £525.27. In a functioning economy, housing, heat and food should not be scarce commodities. They should be readily available, whether an individual is retired, employed —many people are in low-paid, insecure employment—or in receipt of social security. Universal credit should alleviate poverty. Instead, sanctions are entrenching hardship and destitution. It is a terrible shame that the Government do not put the same effort into hunting down tax evasion and apply sanctions against the very wealthy individuals who evade payment of many millions of pounds in the tax that they owe.
The level of sanctions is excessive. I thank again the hon. Member for Glasgow South West for highlighting the figures and sharing them. He mentioned that throughout the whole country the figures are as follows: in June 2020, there was over £34 million in sanctions; in July 2022, a little under £35 million; and in August 2022, £36,397,000—£36.5 million basically. If we total those together, sanctions at that level is almost half a billion pounds a year.
Where is the one-nation, caring and compassionate Conservative party, if the Government force people into poverty and destitution, particularly those who are vulnerable? My right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) quoted the figures for his constituency, but the figures are worse for my constituency of Easington. Deductions amount to roughly £75,000 a month from people who are in the direst hardship before the deductions for advance payments, for bedroom tax, or overpayments caused by administrative error or neglect.
The hon. Member for Glasgow South West made a great point about digital exclusion and the number of people who simply cannot access the system because they do not have even a basic smartphone or the wi-fi connectivity to be able to do that. The consequence is rising poverty, growing queues at food banks, and now the need for the voluntary and community sector to create warm spaces to accommodate people and at least give them a hot drink and some shelter, particularly in this terrible cold weather that we are experiencing. Sanctions harm society and can have tragic consequences.
I want to quote a BBC article dated 10 May 2021. It is a moving piece entitled “Deaths of people on benefits prompt inquiry call”. The article states:
“Cases where people claiming benefits died or came to serious harm have led to more than 150 government reviews since 2012”.
It highlights cases, including this one:
“Ms Day, 27, who had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, had previously said her benefit claim left her feeling ‘inhuman’, her sister told the BBC.”
After Ms Day’s death, the inquest concluded that the authorities made 28 errors in managing her case.
In another case:
“Errol Graham starved to death in 2018 while seriously mentally ill. His benefits were stopped when he failed to attend a work capability assessment and did not respond to calls, letters or home visits from the DWP. When his body was found, Mr Graham weighed four-and-a-half stone (30kg) and his family said he had used pliers to pull out his teeth.”
We need to end the sanctions culture. It harms society, leaves the poorest in destitution and places the sick, the ill and the disabled in extreme circumstances in which they can often see no way out. The Minister can act by introducing a moratorium on sanctions. Sanctions should not be used routinely; they should instead be reserved as a last resort for the most extreme circumstances and cases. This is a matter of life and death. The Minister has an immense responsibility to safeguard those in need and the vulnerable. I urge him not to fail them as his predecessors have failed them, and to end the sanctions culture we have today.