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  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has (a) had discussions with and (b) made referrals to the International Criminal Court on investigating possible (i) acts of genocide, (ii) war crimes and (iii) crimes against humanity in Syria and Iraq by radicalised UK citizens.

    Alok Sharma

    As the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson MP), said to the UN Security Council on 21 September, we are working with our partners in the international community to do everything we can to support the gathering of evidence which could be used by courts to bring Daesh to justice. On 19 September, the Foreign Secretary launched at the UN General Assembly an international campaign to bring Daesh to justice. As a state party to the International Criminal Court (ICC) Rome Statute and strong supporter of the ICC, the UK has regular discussions with the court on a range of issues. Any decision to refer to the ICC must be made on the basis of what will be the most effective means to bring perpetrators of atrocities and those who have assisted them to justice. In her press statement of 8 April 2015, the ICC Prosecutor set out some of the complicated issues involved in the ICC investigating Daesh, including foreign fighters who are nationals of from ICC states parties. When efforts were made to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC in 2014, it was vetoed by Russia and China.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people her Department has granted asylum to in each year from 2010 to 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Home Office publishes quarterly figures on asylum applications and initial decisions (including grants) within the Immigration Statistics release.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2016 to Question 43711, if she will take steps to increase the number of transfers to the UK of refugees in camps in Greece with family connections in the UK.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is fully committed to the efficient and timely operation of the Dublin Regulation and we are working closely with EU partners, including the Greek authorities, to identify, assess and transfer those with family connections to the UK under the Dublin family reunion process.

    We have seconded an expert to Greece to coordinate efforts on transferring unaccompanied children to the UK. We are following due process to ensure that any transfer is in their best interests and is lawful under EU legislation.

    More broadly, the UK has offered 75 expert personnel to help with the processing and administration of migrants in reception centres, act as interpreters, provide medical support and bolster our existing team assisting the Commission to ensure effective and efficient coordination.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it the policy of the Government to enable councils in England to operate combined registration districts.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There are no current plans to change the law to enable councils in England to operate combined registration districts. Under existing legislation some local authorities undertake joint working initiatives to offer improved service options, which have proved successful.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) Syrian refugees and (b) vulnerable persons from the Middle East and North African region the UK plans to resettle in the UK over each of the next four years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We intend to resettle up to 20,000 Syrians in need of protection and up to 3,000 vulnerable persons from the Middle East and North African region in the UK over the lifetime of this Parliament.

    We will continue to work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to identify appropriate cases, prioritising the most vulnerable. The numbers resettled in a particular period will depend on a range of factors including the flow of referrals from UNHCR in the field and the availability of suitable accommodation and care packages in the UK.

    We will manage the flows based on need and in support of the wellbeing of the people and communities involved, rather than rushing to meet arbitrary targets. However, we are clear that we want to help as many people as we can as quickly as possible.

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on police safety of the distinction between the offences of assault on a police officer or police community support officer and resisting arrest.

    Brandon Lewis

    I want to be clear that an assault of any kind on a police officer or Police Community Support Officer is wholly unacceptable. The choice of which is the most appropriate offence to charge an offender with is one that the Crown Prosecution Service must take.

    Sentencing guidelines already provide for assault of a police officer to be treated more severely in appropriate cases. The courts need to be able to take into account all the circumstances of each case.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total budget was for West Midlands police force in each of the last seven years.

    Brandon Lewis

    Details of core Government funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (and previously Police Authorities) are published annually in the Police Grant Report. These can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-finance Figures for 2010-11 to 2016-17 are shown below for information. Police and Crime Commissioners are required to publish annual group accounts showing the budget and expenditure for their respective police forces and their own offices, including precept and other local income. For West Midlands Police, these are available at http://www.westmidlands-pcc.gov.uk/transparency/budgetary-and-financial-information/statements-of-accounts

    Year

    Core Government funding (£)

    2010/11

    504,297,082

    2011/12

    497,784,836

    2012/13

    464,421,955

    2013/14

    472,809,895

    2014/15

    456,919,964

    2015/16

    433,573,284

    2016/17

    431,099,809

    Note: Some specific grants have been rolled into core Government funding over this period, including in 2012/13, the Neighbourhood Policing Fund and in 2014/15, the Community Safety Fund. This affects comparison between the figures over the period. Additionally, core funding previously paid by DCLG became part of Home Office core funding in 2013/14. These figures are included in all years to aid comparison.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Action Fraud.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    Action Fraud is the national reporting point for fraud and financially-motivated cyber crime. We have seen significant improvement in performance; official figures show reports of fraud have trebled since Action Fraud was rolled out nationally, addressing the concern that fraud was an under-reported crime type.

    Since it’s launch the Government has been building the capability of police forces, GCHQ and the NCA to respond to online cyber crime. Over the last year, Action Fraud has introduced an improved system which keeps victims informed of the progress of their case. The number of disseminations to local forces has also increased.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her article in the Daily Mail, entitled Too much of your money is simply stolen or squandered, published on 13 September 2016, in what areas of her Department’s spending funding is being stolen or wasted.

    Rory Stewart

    DFID has a zero tolerance approach to fraud and has a wide range of robust measures and controls in place to protect UK aid and ensure we maximise value for money. My department works in challenging areas and operates a comprehensive risk management framework which assesses and responds to the risk of fraud at every stage of the project cycle. The Counter Fraud Section responds firmly to any allegation of fraud recovering funds wherever possible. We expect our partners to account for losses from their own funds to minimise the impact on UK taxpayers and the recipients of aid.

  • David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what forecast she has made of which countries in receipt of UK aid will no longer require UK aid in (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years.

    Rory Stewart

    UK aid is supporting Britain’s interests through building a safer more prosperous world and helping countries achieve a timely sustainable exit from poverty. It is not possible to accurately predict which countries will require aid in those timeframes, but assessments of the likely trajectory of poverty in a country informs how we allocate resources. Programmes are largely focused on countries where extreme poverty currently affects a significant proportion of the population; is projected to persist over the medium term; where DFID has a comparative advantage; and, where the country itself is unable to finance their own development needs.