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  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which humanitarian aid operations the Government has been involved in that (a) have involved other EU member states and (b) have been EU-led.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    To increase transparency and accountability, EU Member States are required to input details of all humanitarian aid allocations on to the European Emergency and Disaster Response Information System (EDRIS). Information on all humanitarian assistance provided by EU Member States globally can be found on EDRIS.

    Response to Humanitarian Emergency is led and co-ordinated by the affected country. This is the case for humanitarian emergencies that occur in EU Member States and globally. We would not expect any humanitarian response to be EU-led.

    Individual EU Member States lead on humanitarian operations within their sovereign territories but can seek EU assistance through the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism and international assistance through the UN.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what international humanitarian aid exercises her Department has been involved in that have (a) involved EU member states and (b) been EU-led.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK participated in the Triplex 2013 Exercise which was led by the International Humanitarian Partnership and co-funded by the European Union.

    The Triplex Exercise brings together EU Civil Protection Teams and Modules with the United Nations, International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) and military, to strengthen preparedness and coordination of an effective response in the first phase of a large-scale humanitarian emergency.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many claims for underpayment of the national minimum wage have been brought before employment tribunals in each of the last five years; how many such claims were successful; and how much was awarded to claimants in claims related to underpayment of the national minimum wage in that period.

    Andrew Selous

    The number of National Minimum Wage claims accepted by the Employment Tribunal in each of the last five years, including those accepted by the Tribunal since 1 July 2015, are published in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics Quarterly. The number of successful National Minimum Wage claims are also published in the quarterly statistics. The most recent report, for the period October to December 2015, published on 10 March 2016, can be viewed at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-and-gender-recognition-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2015

    The Tribunal only records and publishes awards made to claimants in discrimination cases. The amount awarded in National Minimum Wage claims in each of the last five years can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

    Information relating to the period of time an Employment Tribunal claim refers to underpayment of the National Minimum Wage for a period of more than (a) two and (b) six years is not recorded by the Tribunal and can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

    “

  • John Stevenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    John Stevenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Stevenson on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Attorney General, whether his Department plans to move any government legal services to the north of England.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Government Legal Department (GLD) provides legal services to Ministry of Justice, as well as to the majority of other government departments. GLD provides these services to Government principally from London, but also from a number of other locations including Manchester, Leeds, Warrington and Bristol. GLD is currently reviewing its location strategy, including whether it should provide further legal services from locations outside London, but has made no decision to that effect.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of trafficking have brought civil claims against their traffickers in each of the last five years; how many such claims have resulted in awards for damages; and what the value of such awards was in such cases.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested is not held centrally.

  • MiDavies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    MiDavies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ensure the adequacy of provision of screens for use as a special protection measure for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses.

    Mike Penning

    There are many provisions already in place to help victims and witnesses give evidence in court.

    Children are automatically eligible to receive special measures – such as giving evidence from behind a screen or pre-recording their evidence or giving it via video link – and these are available to other vulnerable victims and witnesses at a court’s discretion.

    We continue to work with criminal justice partners (particularly the police and the CPS) to further increase awareness and ensure the consistent use of special measures for vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses.

  • Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Stephen Hammond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of non-custodial sentences for knife crime offenders on the rate of reoffending.

    Dominic Raab

    We have made no assessment of the effect of non-custodial sentences on the rate of reoffending for those convicted of knife crimes. Sentencing is entirely a matter for our independent judiciary based on all the facts of each case.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate her Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment she has made of which of her Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants, such as ambassadors and chargés d’affaires.

    The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

    The changes proposed under the Directive should not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Treasury regularly raises these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate, risk-based approach when applying these measures.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The Government will consider supporting a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights if the Northern Ireland parties can reach a consensus on its content.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.49 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what progress the Government has made on the proposal to adapt a Voyager aircraft for the secure transport of senior ministers and the Royal Family; what adaptations will be made to the aircraft for that purpose; what estimate the Government has made of costs of those adaptations; who is responsible for making those adaptations; and when those adaptations are planned to be completed.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    We are making good progress on the proposal to adapt one of our existing Voyager aircraft so that, as well as its primary air tanking role, it can transport senior Ministers securely. The aircraft will also be available for the Royal Family. There will be a number of modifications to ensure that the Voyager aircraft can transport senior Ministers whilst still maintaining the ability to conduct its operational role, therefore delivering better value for money than the current use of charter aircraft. The aircraft will be reconfigured to have 158 seats.

    I am witholding further information at this time as its release would prejudice on going commercial negotiations.