Category: Speeches

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from Pakistan applied for asylum under the detained fast-track procedure for reasons of religious persecution and discrimination in each of the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    The basis of an individual’s asylum claim is not recorded on Home Office systems. It is not therefore possible to differentiate Pakistani applicants claiming for reasons of religious persecution and discrimination from Pakistani applicants claiming for one or more other reasons in the Detained Fast Track (DFT) or the non-detained process.

    Certification under section 94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 is not requested by an applicant. It is applied by the Secretary of State in circumstances where the applicant’s claim is refused and considered to be so lacking in merit as to be clearly unfounded.

    The number of initial certified refusals for Pakistan main asylum applicants, from year ending September 2013 to year ending September 2015, was 604. The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications and decisions on a quarterly and annual basis. The information supplied on certified refusals is based on initial decisions which do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period.

    No assessment has been made of any difference that might exist between grant rates in respect of Pakistani applicants in the DFT process when it operated, and cases entering the non-detained process at the same time. However, as the DFT process avoided claims involving particular complexity and/or vulnerability, and prioritised cases which appeared to be late or opportunistic, it is to be expected that the DFT would have fewer grants than the non-detained process.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost to the financial services sector of compliance with money laundering regulations in each of the last five years.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government’s Anti-Money Laundering regime has a clear aim: to make the UK financial system a hostile environment for illicit finances, while minimising the burden on legitimate businesses and reducing the overall burden of regulation.

    The government conducts an impact assessment when updating the Money Laundering Regulations, which were last amended in 2012, and will shortly publish an impact assessment alongside a consultation on the transposition of the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. However, the government does not make annual assessments of the cost of compliance and the FCA, as the supervisor of the financial services sector, also does not undertake such assessments on the basis that regulated firms are generally unable to provide costs specifically for compliance with the money laundering regulations given that these costs accrue in relation to systems and controls that manage a variety of operational risks, both relating to financial crime and for other conduct and prudential reasons.

    Bearing in mind to objective of minimizing burdens on legitimate businesses, the Government has launched a review of the impact of the current Anti-Money laundering and terrorist finance regime as part of the Cutting Red Tape Review programme. The Review is specifically seeking evidence on the role of supervisors in that regime, so that regulatory activity can be made as efficient as possible. A report is expected in the coming months and this will inform the work that the government is doing to reform the regime as part of the Action Plan to address weaknesses identified by last year’s National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing risks.

  • Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of benchmarking UKTI’s performance against that of other countries’ export agencies.

    Anna Soubry

    There is considerable merit in understanding how our competitors’ export agencies are structured and the services they offer. This is something the Exports Implementation Taskforce, which the Secretary of State chairs, looked at in some depth in developing a whole-of-Government approach to exports. This included, UK Trade & Investment participating in a formal benchmarking exercise by the International Trade Centre.

    Among the key things found from these comparative reviews is that UKTI employs more people than other countries’ export promotion agencies, but deploys less resource on practical support for exporters (such as interim export managers). Learning from this, UKTI is currently developing some small-scale direct practical support services and products to see what might work in the UK.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road accidents have taken place between Junction 2 and Junction 30 of the M25 in each of the last four years.

    Andrew Jones

    The part of the M25 between Junction 2 and Junction 30 is classed as the A282.

    The number of reported personal injury road accidents occurring on the A282 between Junction 2 and 30 for the years 2011 to 2014 are as follows:

    Fatal

    Serious

    Slight

    Total

    2011

    0

    5

    39

    44

    2012

    1

    3

    35

    39

    2013

    0

    5

    44

    49

    2014

    0

    3

    41

    44

    Data for 2015 will be available in June 2016 when it is first published. Damage only accidents are not collected by the Department.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2016 to Question 31332, if he will estimate the cost of collecting information on the nationality of offenders referred to the court.

    Robert Buckland

    The nationality of offenders referred to the court is not collated centrally.

    The Ministry of Justice hold data on foreign nationals held in prisons in England and Wales and publish statistics quarterly. The data does not include those offenders who receive non-custodial sentences.

    To obtain even the limited data which is held would require the consideration of the files in all cases over the past three years where the Court of Appeal increased a sentence of imprisonment previously imposed to ascertain if they contained sufficient information for the data to be requested from the Ministry of Justice.

    The process that would have to be undertaken would incur costs above the current disproportionate cost threshold and would in any event only provide the nationality for a limited number of offenders referred to the court.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a discussion about public registers of beneficial ownership is on the agenda for the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Summit attendees will discuss a number of important issues, including beneficial ownership.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the P-8 Poseidon will be capable of carrying UK Storm Shadow and other manufactured munitions.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Department intends to bring the P-8A into service without significant modification to ensure the delivery of operational capability as soon as is practicable. There are no current plans to integrate Stormshadow or other UK manufactured weapons onto the aircraft.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which reports commissioned by her Department from external bodies between 1 January 2015 and 31 August 2016 have not yet been published; when each report was commissioned for research; what the nature of the research commissioned was; from which external body or individual person the research was commissioned; what the value was of each such piece of research commissioned; on what date each report was received by her Department; for what reasons the research has not yet been published; and when she plans to publish each report.

    Matt Hancock

    We do not hold this information centrally, and the information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding his Department has allocated to the Troubled Families programme for (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    At the Spending Review 2015 £720 million was allocated to fund the remaining four years of the programme. The funding allocated to the Troubled Families Programme is currently £230 million in 16/17, £180 million in 17/18, and £180 million in 18/19. The Department for Communities and Local Government works closely with other government departments which have an interest, including the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office, the Department for Education, the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress his Department has made on introducing loans for postgraduate study.

    Joseph Johnson

    A consultation on support for postgraduate study was launched in March of this year. The consultation sought views on the Government’s intention to introduce a new loan scheme for taught Master’s study and a review of how to broaden and strengthen support for postgraduate research. Consultation responses have been analysed and the Department is preparing its response.