The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-06.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken was for a rating assessment appeal to be considered by the Valuation Office Agency in the last 12 months.
Mr David Gauke
Based on data used to publish the latest Official Statistics, the average time taken to resolve a challenge to the rating list is 13 months for the 2005 list and 14 months for the 2010 list.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the regulatory requirements of the EU Directive on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations have been fully implemented; and which regulatory bodies are represented on the Offshore Safety Directive Regulator.
Justin Tomlinson
The regulatory requirements of the EU Directive were fully implemented in GB by the Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc.) Regulations (2015) which came into force on 19 July 2015. Northern Ireland is in the process of implementing regulations.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) are represented on the Offshore Safety Directive Regulator (OSDR).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that internet service providers and social media organisations co-operate with the police to combat 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 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on the availability of women’s refuge services of the local rate of local housing allowance being applied to tenants in supported housing.
Justin Tomlinson
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 January 2016 to Question UIN 20740
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will ring-fence housing payments for tenants in supported accommodation.
Justin Tomlinson
We value the work of the supported housing sector extremely highly and are working closely with them to ensure they are supported as effectively as possible. As part of this, we have commissioned an evidence review of supported housing. The results of this research will determine any appropriate exemptions.
In addition, the Government has agreed to put in place a year-long exception for all supported housing provided by local authorities and private registered providers from the one per cent rent reduction.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost of supporting electoral registration by (a) local authorities and (b) other groups was in each of the last 10 years.
John Penrose
Since financial year 2012/13 the Cabinet Office has provided funding to local authorities and civil society organisations to support the implementation and delivery of Individual Electoral Registration. Prior to financial year 2010/11 electoral registration policy was under the remit of the Ministry of Justice. The Cabinet Office does not hold any relevant financial data prior to 2010.
Local Authorities are under a statutory obligation to provide Electoral Registration Officers with funding and resources to support electoral registration more generally. Local Authorities are funded from a block grant that is allocated by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The table below notes the funding provided by the Cabinet Office to local authorities and other groups and organisations in Great Britain. This includes core funding to support local authorites in the transition to IER, and the upgrade of hardware, such as printers, to support the new A3 registration forms .The figures also include funding that was allocated to local authorities and other groups to support efforts to increase levels of registration between financial years 2010/11 and 2015/16.
|
2010-2011 |
2011-2012 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
2015-16 |
Total |
|
|
Local Authorities |
£0 |
£0 |
£0 |
£9,115,416 |
£39,537,279 |
£25,858,168 |
£74,510,862 |
|
Other Groups |
£0 |
£0 |
£56,545 |
£216,247 |
£1,933,759 |
£0 |
£2,191,401 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his French counterpart on initiatives by that government to convene a peace conference on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has discussed this issue with the French Foreign Minister and also with Ambassador Pierre Vimont, the French Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process. British officials have also regularly discussed the initiative with their French counterparts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding streams are available for the construction of new rail stations in the North of England.
Andrew Jones
We have made available up to £20 million towards the construction costs of new and re-opened railway stations through the New Stations Fund, details of which, including bidding criteria, will be published shortly. Promoters of new stations may also be able to bid for funding from Local Growth Deals and to seek contributions from local authorities or other third parties. Under the first round in 2013, funding was awarded to five stations, three of which are now open (New Court, Pye Corner and Lee Bridge).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will assess the balance of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme surplus-sharing arrangements.
Jesse Norman
The existing surplus-sharing arrangements have worked well to date. The presence of the Guarantee has given the Trustees, who are responsible for managing the Scheme and are independent of Government, the freedom to invest in a way that has generated surpluses and, as a consequence, bonuses to members.
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.