The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time staff are employed in the Older Live Cases Unit.
Karen Bradley
There were 332 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff employed by OLCU at the end of
Q1 2014. FTE means that part time employees are counted by the proportion of
full time hours they work, so that staff working half the time of an equivalent
full time colleague would count as 0.5 FTE.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for emergency travel documents for children have been received by the Passport Office since 16 June 2014.
James Brokenshire
As at 6 July 2014, 151 emergency travel documents (ETDs) have been issued to
children free of charge as a result of the measures announced by the Home
Secretary on 12 June 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department issues to companies which carry out the required checks on individuals applying for spouse visas on the appropriate amount of time for those checks to be completed.
Karen Bradley
The Department does not contract with any companies to carry out checks on
people applying for spouse visas.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the Exchequer of the asylum and immigration system once fee income has been deducted has been in each of the last seven years.
Karen Bradley
Because of several restructures over the past seven years this information is
not available in line with the question posed. Published accounts for the
former UK Border Agency break down income and expenditure information since
2009 and further information is available in the Home Office Report and
Accounts for 2013-14.
These can be accessed from the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/321446
/ARA_web_enabled_18_June.pdf
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage more rape victims to report that crime to the police and to ensure that they are treated appropriately when they do so.
Norman Baker
Rape and sexual violence are devastating and unacceptable crimes. The
Coalition Government’s continued approach to tackling such violence and abuse
is set out in our Violence against Women and Girls Action Plan, updated in
March 2014. Supporting victims is at the heart of this approach, which
includes giving victims more confidence to report crimes, and it is encouraging
that police recorded crime figures show more victims are having the confidence
to come forward.
We want every report of rape to be treated seriously from the point of
disclosure, every victim to be treated with dignity and every investigation and
every prosecution to be conducted thoroughly and professionally.
We have ring-fenced funding for 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers to
provide appropriate and independent support for victims.
We have supported the publication of data on rape for every police force in the
country as a basis for improving recording and investigations of rape and
ensure that guidance on investigating and prosecuting rape is implemented in
every police force area. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary is
inspecting the recording of rape as part of a wider crime recording audit, and
the police and Crown Prosecution Service have published a joint action plan to
improve how these cases are handled within the criminal justice system.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passports have been issued under the Government’s new passport fast-tracked free policy since that policy came into effect.
James Brokenshire
As of 13 July 2014, 12,325 passports have been fast-tracked as a result of the
measures announced by the Home Secretary to the House of Commons on 12 June
2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications by overseas-based British citizens for the extension of an existing passport for one year have been received by the Passport Office since her recent announcement on changes in passport policy.
James Brokenshire
As of 13 July 2014, 1,721 applications by overseas-based British citizens for
the extension of an existing passport for one year have been received by the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what monitoring her Department carries out on the amount of time taken by its contractor companies to carry out the required checks on people applying for spouse visas to the UK.
Karen Bradley
The Department does not contract with any companies to carry out checks on
people applying for spouse visas.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of UK aid to Burma is channelled through Burmese government-approved organisations or mechanisms.
Mr Alan Duncan
The UK does not provide funding directly to the Burmese government. We publish details of which organisations receive DFID funding, and how much they have received, on the gov.uk Development Tracker.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2014-06-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of cases in which compulsory mediation and information meetings would have been appropriate in 2013-14; and what funding is being made available in 2014-15 to provide that service.
Simon Hughes
We do not have the data to allow us to assess how many family court applications filed in 2013-14 might have been appropriate for a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) in comparison with the number of MIAMs actually attended. In 2013/14 13,354 couples attended a publicly funded MIAM (that is, where at least one of the parties was legally aided).
Implementation of the Children and Families Act 2014 on 22 April 2014 means that attendance at a MIAM is now compulsory for the potential applicant.
Public funding (legal aid) remains in scope for family mediation for those who qualify on means and merits, and the budget for legal aid for mediation is uncapped. In 2013/14, the LAA spent £9m on mediation. If one party is funded the other will be covered for the MIAM as well. Legal help with mediation is also available for the funded party and includes help from a lawyer with applying to the court for a consent order based on the agreement reached in mediation.