The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2016-02-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will represent them Government at the World Humanitarian Summit in May.
Baroness Verma
Decisions on who will be in the delegation will be taken nearer the time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-03-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps Ofsted is taking to ensure that home schooled children are (a) taught about British values and (b) integrated into British society.
Edward Timpson
Ofsted has no powers or duties in respect of home education with regards to specific children who are being educated at home. We recognise that parents may choose to home school their children and may do a good job, but that education must be of a suitable quality.
If parents do educate children at home, a local authority may intervene if it appears to the authority that the parents are not fulfilling their duty. When Ofsted inspects children’s services in local authorities under section 136 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, it considers the effectiveness of the authority’s arrangements for dealing with children missing education, a category which includes any children who are home educated but not receiving a suitable education.
We are taking steps to ensure the system is as robust as it can be when it comes to protecting young people, while at the same time safeguarding the rights of parents to determine how and where to educate their children.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to tackle the reduction in investment for renewable energy projected between 2017 to 2020 in the most recent National Infrastructure Pipeline, published on 23 March 2016.
Andrea Leadsom
Nearly £52 billion has been invested in renewables since 2010. The average annual investment in renewables has more than doubled in the last 5 years, with an average of £9bn invested each year in UK-based renewables. Indeed, 2015 was another record year with £13bn invested in renewable electricity.
In order to support further investment in renewables, we announced in the 2016 Budget funding for three further Contracts For Difference allocation rounds, worth £730m of annual support. We have also announced that the Renewable Heat Incentive budget will continue to March 2021, when it will reach £1.15 billion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-05-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any assessment of the Housing First policy implemented in Utah as a means to tackle homelessness.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
One person without a home is one too many which is why we have increased central investment to tackle homelessness over the next four years to £139 million.
Homelessness is rarely the result of a personal housing crisis alone and we know that many rough sleepers and homeless people have complex needs, such as mental health difficulties or substance misuse, which result in poor life chances.
That is why we announced at Budget 2016 that we are developing a new £10 million national Social Impact Bond programme, to help homeless people with complex needs off the streets. We want to drive innovative ways to support those with the most complex needs, including ‘Housing First’. In doing so, we will look to learn from how other countries have delivered, including the United States and elsewhere.
This work forms part of our wider approach to preventing and reducing homelessness, which also includes a new £10 million rough sleeping programme and an additional £100 million of funding for move-on accommodation for those leaving hostels and refuges.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-07-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to help self-employed people.
Jane Ellison
To reduce the tax burden for millions of self-employed people, the Government has announced that it will abolish Class 2 National Insurance – paid by the self-employed – in April 2018. This will see 3.4 million self-employed people gain £134 on average in 2018-19.
Self-employed people have also benefitted from the successive increases to the income tax personal allowance, with a typical taxpayer paying over £1,000 less income tax in 2017-18 compared to 2010.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Israeli authorities on the demolition of structures inhabited by Palestinians in the West Bank.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
On 7 September, during a meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Lieberman in London, I raised our concerns about demolitions. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv also regularly raise our concerns on this issue with the Israeli authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have about the number of persons brought to justice for trafficking in persons, enslavement, forced prostitution, labour exploitation, and other similar crimes in the last three years, both in the UK and in other jurisdictions.
Lord Bates
The number of perpetrators of ‘slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour’, ‘human trafficking for sexual exploitation’ and ‘human trafficking for non-sexual exploitation’ found guilty and sentenced in each of the last three years is available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014
The ‘Outcomes by Offence Tables’ should be selected, and can be filtered for each of the three offences listed above. The UK Government does not hold information on the numbers brought to justice in other jurisdictions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and which local authorities have returned childcare grant funding to the Exchequer in each of the last five financial years.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Funding to local authorities for the early years entitlement for two, three and four-year-olds is made via the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). In the last five years, the Department has not recovered money allocated through DSG from any local authority.
Prior to April 2013, funding for the entitlement for two-year olds was paid to local authorities through the Early Intervention Grant and no money allocated by this means was recovered by the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effects of plans to restrict housing benefit for 18 to 21 year olds on those people; and which groups of young people will be exempted from those restrictions.
Justin Tomlinson
Removal of automatic housing support for 18 – 21 year olds, announced in the Summer Budget 2015, will be introduced in April 2017. The Department is liaising with a range of key stakeholders as we develop the detail of the policy. Once this work has been completed we will bring forward detailed proposals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Clancarty on 2016-02-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether UK advisers have highlighted to the government of Saudi Arabia the status of Yemeni cultural heritage, including the list of sites provided by the International Committee of the Blue Shield to the Ministry of Defence.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We remain concerned about any damage to cultural property in Yemen and are aware of reports of alleged damage by actors in the conflict. Yemen and many members of the Saudi-led coalition are parties to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict and to the 1972 World Heritage Convention. We have raised our concerns regarding protection of cultural property with both the Government of Yemen and the Saudi Arabian government.