Written questions by Opher.

Whether her Department has plans to repeal the Illegal Migration Act 2023.

The Government has made clear the that the migration partnership with Rwanda will end. Consequently, the Government is considering all options connected with ending that partnership, including for the entirety of the Illegal Migration Act 2023. Legislative plans will be published in due course.I refer the Honourable Member to PQ 4812.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle abuse in immigration detention centres.

We expect all suppliers operating on behalf of the Home Office to treat detained individuals with decency and respect, behaving in line with the high standards outlined in the Detention Centre Rules, published operating standards and service delivery contracts. A range of safety and security safeguards operate in all IRCs to ensure the safety of all detained individuals, staff and visitors. The Home Office is reviewing current processes in relation to violence prevention and use of force and have introduced a programme focused on improving the overall culture in IRCs. A new staffing model delivers a considerably improved ratio of custodial staff per detained individual. This is tailored to each centre’s requirements and layout, deploying staff where they are most needed as they support detained individuals in their journey through detention.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to introduce a statutory time limit on immigration detention.

There are currently no plans to introduce a time limit on immigration detention. This would risk significantly weakening our ability to remove those who have breached our immigration laws or who refuse to leave the UK voluntarily.

Whether she plans to publish the criteria for determining which individuals seeking asylum will be subject to detention.

The Home Office has published guidance for determining who can be detained under immigration powers including those who are seeking asylum.‘Detained Asylum Casework’ sets out for the criteria for our caseworkers to determine under which circumstances asylum claimants may be detained, and their claims routed for consideration and decision under the process. This is available at the link below:detained-asylum-process-v5.0.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk).‘Detention: general instructions’ sets out the criteria for making detention decisions and deciding whether to maintain detention. This is available at the link below:Detention: general instructions (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of legislating to enable local authorities in England to adjust council tax rates by increasing them for higher-band properties while limiting increases for lower-band properties.

The government does not have any plans to reform council tax. In line with OBR forecasts made under the previous government, the government will maintain a core 3% referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept in 2025-26.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to promote cross-departmental work to strengthen community cohesion.

The Government has made £15 million available to the places most severely affected by disorder through the Community Recovery Fund to support the immediate recovery. Officials from my department have also carried out an extensive engagement process with these places to understand and address the underlying causes of the unrest.The disorder that affected communities across the UK following the Southport tragedy this summer has made clear that a new approach to community cohesion is urgently needed. This is a priority for the Government and I have stood up a cross-government Communities & Recovery Steering Group to oversee this work.We are listening to communities across the country to understand the challenges they face and this will inform how this government works to empower communities and build greater cohesion.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to prohibit a landlord from (a) demanding and (b) accepting more than one month’s rent in advance in respect of a (i) tenancy and (ii) licence of residential accommodation tenancy.

The government recognise that demands for extortionate rent in advance place a considerable financial strain on tenants and can exclude certain groups from renting altogether.We are very clear that the practice of landlords demanding large amounts of rent in advance must be prohibited.Although it might be argued that the interaction of the new rent periods in clause 1 of the Renters’ Rights Bill, which are a month or 28 days, and the existing provisions of the Tenant Fees Act 2019, relating to prohibited payments, provide a measure of protection against requests for large amounts of advance rent, we believe there is a strong case for putting this matter beyond doubt.The government is therefore giving careful consideration as to how best that might be achieved through the Renters’ Rights Bill.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of grassroots sports programmes in strengthening mental health (a) literacy and (b) resilience of men and boys.

Grassroots sports programmes provide important opportunities to bring communities together and to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of participants. Active lifestyles are also associated with 375,000 fewer people being diagnosed with depression.The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and can maximise the benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.The Government has committed to continue funding for grassroots facilities through the £123 million UK-wide Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme throughout 2024/25. The evaluation of this programme, which has already published a first interim report and will publish a further two reports in April 2025 and 2026, will consider the impacts on mental wellbeing and physical health. These future reports will seek to demonstrate a causal link between the programme and positive outcomes for mental wellbeing.The latest report from Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey (November 2022-23) notes that there is a positive association between activity levels and mental wellbeing, and provides data split by gender. Being physically active can improve mood, decrease the chance of depression and anxiety and lead to a better and more balanced lifestyle.The Active Lives Adult Survey (November 2022-23) survey shows 14.9 million men who are active have higher mental wellbeing scores than those who are inactive. Active Lives Children and Young People Survey (Academic year 2022-23) indicates that boys are more likely than girls to have three or more positive attitudes towards sport and physical activity.

Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing further regulations on X to tackle the spread the of (a) disinformation and (b) misinformation.

The Online Safety Act will require all in-scope services, including X, to tackle mis- and disinformation where it is illegal or harmful to children. The Act will also hold Category 1 services to account over the enforcement of their terms of service, including those on mis- and disinformation. Our immediate focus is getting the Online Safety Act implemented quickly and effectively. Social media companies have a clear responsibility to keep people safe on their platforms, and this is a government priority.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Cycle to Work Scheme in improving cycle ownership among people on low incomes.

The Cycle to Work scheme is a benefit-in-kind provided by employers to their employees. A benefit-in-kind is a form of non-cash remuneration provided by employers to their employees. Income tax and National Insurance contribution relief is provided on the scheme to both employers and their employees via salary sacrifice arrangements.Employees earning at or near the National Minimum Wage (NMW) cannot access salary sacrifice if the arrangement will take their contractual salary below the relevant NMW rate. The Government is not currently considering changing the NMW legislation to apply to an employee’s salary after deductions have been made for salary sacrifice.HMRC has commissioned an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Cycle to Work scheme and will publish its findings in due course.

What assessment he has made of the potential health benefits of improving access to cycles for people on low incomes.

We know that reducing physical inactivity is beneficial for everyone and evidence suggests that cycling has positive physical and mental health benefits. Public Health England’s cycling and walking evidence review, published in 2018, found mixed evidence for whether increasing cycling in deprived socioeconomic status groups is more beneficial than in the general population. This review is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bf41840e5274a2af47c464e/Cycling_and_walking_for_individual_and_population_health_benefits.pdfThe Department of Health and Social Care is currently working with the Department for Transport, and Active Travel England, on an updated evidence review, which will further examine active travel’s impact on mental health, physical health, and health inequalities. Findings are expected by mid-2025.

Communities and Local Government, if she will set out her timeline for the implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November (HCWS244) which sets out further detail on implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. It also clarifies government's plans to reform leasehold and commonhold.

If her Department will take steps to ensure that households that do not have driveways can access (a) on-street and (b) domestic EV charging infrastructure.

The Government is dedicated to ensuring EV drivers can charge across the country, wherever they live. Through the Local EV Infrastructure Fund, local authorities in England are being supported to install tens of thousands of chargepoints.For those without off-street parking, the Government also offers the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant for Households with On-Street Parking. Eligible applicants can get up to £350 off the cost of installing a domestic chargepoint, when paired with a cross-pavement solution.Going forward, the Government confirmed in the October 2024 Budget that it will be investing over £200 million in 2025-26 to accelerate EV chargepoint rollout, including funding to support local authorities to install on-street chargepoints across England.

If he will make it his policy to strengthen employee rights for those who were employed by an employer that has become insolvent.

When an employer enters insolvency, the Government’s Redundancy Payments Service (RPS) can pay statutory amounts owed to employees from the National Insurance Fund. These include redundancy pay, holiday pay, arrears of pay, compensatory notice pay and pension contributions. In 2023-24 RPS paid out more than £490 million in redundancy and related payments, with claims processed in an average of 10 days. It is important to ensure that employees are not left in vulnerable situations where their employer has become insolvent. It is also important to ensure that the framework provides good value for taxpayers.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory codes of practice for businesses to reduce litter.

The Government is not, at this time, planning to make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory codes of practice for businesses to reduce litter.We want to see businesses recognising what they can do to discourage the littering of their products and packaging, and the potential benefits to their brand of being associated with tackling, rather than causing, litter. Local councils do, however, have powers to intervene where needed. These include Community Protection Notices which can be used to require the owner of premises to take certain actions to tackle litter created by their activities. Planning guidance also clarifies the powers available to councils to ensure new hot food takeaways do not increase the impact of litter on local communities.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to bring empty homes back into use.

I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 6686 on 14 October 2024.

If she will make it her policy to amend the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to classify driving instructors as a position of trust.

This Government is committed to protecting children and young people from sexual abuse. We have robust legislation in this area, and “position of trust” offences were reviewed and updated in 2022. We continue to keep this important area of law under review.

What steps has her Department is taking with the Teacher's Pension Scheme to reduce the time taken to provide pension valuations for teachers undergoing divorce proceedings.

The department is aware of a backlog with the number of outstanding Cash Equivalent Transfer Value figures that are used by members in divorce proceedings. The backlog has arisen as a result of the Transitional Protection (McCloud) remedy and the need for complex guidance to be provided before affected cases could be processed by the scheme administrator. The scheme administrator has undertaken IT development to help expedite these cases in order to increase capacity. Discussions are ongoing regarding any additional efficiencies and resource that can be used, as the department appreciates the impact that a delay has on members in these circumstances.

Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with UNESCO on the proposed application for Dr Edward Jenner's house in Berkeley to receive world heritage statue.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for nominating sites across the United Kingdom to UNESCO for World Heritage status. The Department last updated the Tentative List of prospective World Heritage nominations in 2022/23 and it is not due to be updated until at least 2033.Following the conclusion of this exercise, guidance was published on GOV.UK, which sets out the process for sites seeking World Heritage status and emphasises that the UK is looking to reduce the amount of World Heritage nominations that we submit to UNESCO.Recognising the important contribution that Dr Edward Jenner’s house makes to our country’s heritage, Historic England, as the body in England responsible for designating heritage assets, is best placed in the first instance, to advise on and explore the range of potentially suitable heritage designations.

Communities and Local Government, whether her department has any plans to review the 10% commission charge applied to the sale of park homes by site owner.

The park homes sector is an important part of the housing market and must be a safe and secure place for residents.The Government recognises that there are longstanding concerns about the requirement to pay site owners a commission upon sale of a park home.The Government will set out its position on this matter in due course.