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  • Anne McLaughlin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne McLaughlin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne McLaughlin on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time was for an application for British citizenship from submission of initial application to decision in the last 12 months.

    James Brokenshire

    The average length of time taken to consider an application for British citizenship in the period 1 October 2014 to 30 September 2015 was 108.89 calendar days. This is the most recent period for which statistics on the number of applications considered have been published. The service standard for citizenship applications is to decide 98.5% of cases within 6 months (183 calendar days).

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many custody nurses were employed by the Metropolitan Police (a) in total and (b) in each London borough in each year since 2010.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of custody nurses employed by the Metropolitan Police. This information may be held by the Metropolitan Police Force.

  • Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Caroline Flint – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of her Department’s invoices for goods and services supplied by (a) private companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are completed on time; and what proportion of the (i) number and (ii) value of contracts between her Department and private companies are held by SMEs.

    Karen Bradley

    a) The Home Office is not required to compile prompt payment data in respect of private companies. To calculate such a figure would incur disproportionate costs.

    b) In the financial year 2014-15, 88% of the total numbers of all invoices to every type of supplier were paid within five working days of receipt. The total number of invoices paid within 30 working days of receipt of invoice was 97%.

    For small and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Home Office paid 80% of invoices within five working days of receipt of invoice. And 96% of invoices from SMEs were paid within 30 working days of receipt of invoice.

    i) The proportion of the number of contracts between the Home Office and SMEs is not readily available, except at disproportionate costs.

    ii) In 2014-15, the Home Office have reported 19.6% spend with SMEs. This figure is made up of 7.7% (£200 million) direct spend with SMEs and 11.9% (£310 miliion) indirect spend.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to reduce the number of fires caused by an electrical source of ignition in domestic dwellings.

    Mike Penning

    The Department’s Fire Kills campaign, run in close partnership with fire and rescue authorities in England, promotes a range of domestic fire safety messages, including on electrical fire safety, to ensure householders take appropriate action to prevent accidental fires and understand how best they can protect themselves and their families.

    Fire Kills and Electrical Safety First have a longstanding and close partnership to promote electrical fire safety messages, including through the annual Electrical Fire Safety Week, which runs in November each year.

    The campaign also supports the Register My Appliance initiative, run by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Electrical Appliances. This is designed to improve recall rates and ensure a greater number of faulty products can be traced and either repaired or removed from homes.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has for the future of its Fire Kills campaign.

    Mike Penning

    The evaluation of the recent Fire Kills Unsung Heroes campaign is currently underway and the results will be analysed and fed into future campaign development. The Fire Kills campaign is included in plans for 2016/17 subject to appropriate approvals from the Secretary of State.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what the Commission’s policy is on the allocation of service charges paid by card to (a) permanent and (b) contracted canteen and hospitality staff working on the parliamentary estate.

    Tom Brake

    Service charges paid by debit and credit cards are passed on to catering staff employed by the House of Commons in addition to their wages through the House of Commons payroll system. They are shared equally amongst staff working on a particular day in a given venue.

    Agency (contracted) workers do not receive service charge amounts as there is no mechanism for these to be paid to the individual as the agencies are paid separately to the House of Commons payroll system.

  • Paul Maynard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Paul Maynard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Maynard on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the Government plans to do to support reforms to research and development of pharmaceuticals at the World Health Organisaiton meeting in March 2016.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The meeting at the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been postponed to May 2016 and arrangements about the meeting are at an early stage. DFID officials are engaging with WHO on their plans.

    The UK Government priority is to see a Pooled Fund for Research and Development established with support from WHO Member States, especially those that have not yet provided funding for this type of work. The UK Government supports systems that separate the market incentives to produce a drug or vaccine, from the Research & Development process, prioritise public health need over profit and work in partnership with a wide range of different organisations, covering the public, private and philanthropic sectors. The UK is the second largest government supporter of product development partnerships, which prioritise need over profit, and have a proven track record in developing new products.

  • Paul Maynard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Paul Maynard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Maynard on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, who the Government plans to send as its representative to the discussions on research and development of pharmaceuticals at the World Health Organisation meeting in March 2016.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    As outlined in the response to PQ (House of Commons written), Hansard ref 27784; the meeting at the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been postponed to May 2016 and arrangements about the meeting are at an early stage. DFID officials are in discussion with WHO senior managers about UK representation at the meeting.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department plans to provide to help tackle hunger in Malawi.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    DFID has a significant programme of ongoing support in health, education, agriculture, water and sanitation and economic development, particularly in rural areas and with the private sector, for growth, jobs, incomes and food insecurity in Malawi. We support increasing access to justice for women and vulnerable groups, accountability and governance reforms.

    The UK was one of the first development partners to respond to Malawi’s international appeal for emergency aid in October 2015. The UK has now committed £14.5m through partners including the World Food Programme, UNICEF and an International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) consortium led by Save the Children. This support includes:

    • Food for over 800,000 people, including pre-positioning of food, nutrition supplies and livestock vaccines.
    • Cash transfers for up to 450,000 people who live near functioning markets but do not have the means to purchase food
    • Mass screening of up to 800,000 children to identify urgent nutritional support needs
    • Specialist supplies for over 140,000 children and others suffering from acute malnutrition
    • Vital protection support to vulnerable people, including women and girls, in displacement and refugee camps
  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department’s spending was allocated to (a) Nigerian state organisations, (b) non-governmental organisations and (c) the private sector in the last three years for which figures are available.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    No UK aid goes directly through Nigerian government systems. Our bilateral aid is delivered through commercial service providers (private sector), international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

    The table below provides a breakdown of our payments over financial years 2012-13 to 2014-15.

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    Private Sector

    £145.724m

    £185.146m

    £156.147m

    International Organisations

    £31.905m

    £52.343m

    £40.505m

    NGOs

    £22.401m

    £28.498m

    £27.667m