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  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of how the ongoing conflict in Western Sahara affects the ability of Al Qaeda to recruit disaffected youth in Western Sahara.

    Hugh Robertson

    We monitor the security situation in the region from a number of sources. We are aware of frustration in both Western Sahara and the Tindouf refugee camps at the lack of progress in the political process and at the socio-economic conditions in the camps. However, we are not aware of any evidence to suggest increased radicalisation of Sahrawi youth by terrorist or criminal gangs.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s capacity to discharge its statutory duties to survey and inspect (a) domestic and (b) international shipping.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)’s current business plan has an operational priority (OP) entitled: “OP2 – Ensuring our ship survey, inspection and certification capability, and the parallel work in relation to seafarers, meets our domestic and international obligations”. Progress against this operational priority is monitored on a monthly basis by the MCA Executive Board using a balanced score card system. By this method the MCA is able to assess its capacity to discharge its statutory Survey and Inspection duties.

    The MCA monitors its capacity to discharge its statutory duties to survey and inspect (a) domestic (Flag State responsibility) and (b) international (Port State responsibility) shipping through a system of activity monitoring. Performance against these Survey and Inspection activities feed into the Balanced Score Card for OP2.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) services and (b) jobs within the Passport Office were transferred to the private sector in the last five years; and when those transfers took place.

    James Brokenshire

    No jobs have been transferred from Her Majesty’s Passport Office to the private
    sector in the last five years.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to address the current backlog of applications within the Passport Office.

    James Brokenshire

    On 12 June, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Home Secretary set out to the House the
    measures HM Passport Office is putting in place to respond to the exceptional
    current levels of passport demand.
    I refer the Hon. Member to the answer of 12 June 2014, Official Report, columns
    693 and 694 for details.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passport (a) applications and (b) renewal applications were received by the Passport Office in each (i) month and (ii) year of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    The following table provides the requested information.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of rail freight access and path allocation over the Welwyn Viaduct beyond January 2018; and what discussions he held with rail freight (a) operators and (b) industry groups regarding future freight access over the Welwyn Viaduct before he approved the InterCity East Coast invitation to tender.

    Stephen Hammond

    The East Coast Main Line franchise was the subject of a full consultation prior to the issue of the Invitation to Tender. The Freight Operating Companies and the Rail Freight Group were included in this consultation and at least two of the Freight Operating Companies responded.

    The primary responsibility for the allocation of paths on the rail network rests with Network Rail. However, Network Rail needs to take account not only of the Department’s requirements in its franchise specifications but also of existing track access rights held by other train operators, passenger and freight, subject to the ORR’s responsibilities as independent regulator.

    The Department is represented on the cross-industry planning (the IPG) group that has been established to review future capacity requirements of all operators on the route.

  • John Glen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Glen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will allow universities offering Initial Teacher Training programmes to apply for additional places when they fill their annual allocation.

    Mr David Laws

    On 5 June 2014 the National College for Teaching and Leadership announced that a limited number of additional postgraduate places in certain subjects have been made available to higher education institutions (HEIs). Places will only be allocated to the HEIs that have already filled their courses or are close to doing so and have extra candidates looking to train with them.

  • Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to tackle election malpractices.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The integrity of elections is crucial to our democracy. The Government is introducing measures to strengthen the electoral system through the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration which will make the register more accurate and secure.

    The Government will carefully consider any findings by the Electoral Commission in relation to the 22 May 2014 elections to determine whether any further measures may be needed to support electoral integrity.

  • Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in relation to suppression of the marking of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations by the government of China.

    Baroness Warsi

    We are concerned at reports of detentions in relation to the 25th anniversary of Tiananmen Square and raised our concerns about this with the Chinese authorities during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue on 20 May. The Minister of State, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), raised this issue with the Chinese authorities on 19 May and made a statement on this issue on 21 May. We also fully support the EU statement of 28 May calling for the release of all those imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their views. We were pleased to see that on 5 June, the Chinese authorities released a number of those arrested after attending an event to commemorate the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989.

  • Lord Beecham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Beecham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have received, and from whom, about the proposal to establish a secure college for young offenders.

    Lord Faulks

    The Government’s Transforming Youth Custody consultation in 2013 attracted 238 responses from statutory organisations, charities, private companies and individuals. In addition, more than 400 young people responded to the young person’s consultation on Transforming Youth Custody. These submissions informed the Government’s consultation response, published in January 2014. The Ministry of Justice continues to engage with stakeholders as the programme develops.