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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the changes in the eligibility of legal aid on the number of litigants in person and the consequential impact on the administration of justice.
Lord Faulks
We are closely monitoring the impact of the legal aid changes. The number of family cases showing self representing parties are published in Courts Statistics Quarterly (www.gov.uk/government/collections/court-statistics-quarterly). We are working towards publishing data on self representation in civil cases more widely and will include this in future publications.
Litigants in person are not a new phenomenon in our courts. Judges are used to helping persons with no legal representation, including explaining procedures and what is expected of them. We have taken steps to help people who either want or have to represent themselves in court, including publishing a revised guide for separating parents and increased training for judges. The link to the guide is:
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetLeaflet.do?court_leaflets_id=2756
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to review the arrangements for providing court interpreters in the light of recent criticism by the President of the Family Division.
Lord Faulks
The arrangements for the provision of interpreters are kept under review.
There has been dramatic improvements in performance in the last two years. The Ministry continues to manage contracts to ensure this improvement is maintained.