Category: Speeches

Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to relax the Government’s position on the settlement of refugees in Calais to allow the settlement of unaccompanied children in the UK.

James Brokenshire

Individuals in France in need of international protection should claim asylum there in line with established EU and international principles. Once asylum has been claimed in France or in any other European country participating in the Dublin Regulation the UK will uphold all obligations to consider requests to take charge of an application on the grounds of family unity. Asylum must be claimed in France to begin this process and we have no plans to change our position on this.

The UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August has committed our two governments to establishing a permanent official contact group focused on ensuring that the efficient and effective use of the Dublin Regulation, including the provisions on family unity.

A senior Home Office official has been seconded to the Interior Ministry’s Dublin Unit in Paris in part to assist with the identification of potential requests for the UK to take charge of asylum seeking children in France and to bring them into the Dublin Regulation procedure without delay.

01/01/2023

Earl Attlee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Earl Attlee on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent by them or Trinity House on the E-LORAN navigation system in each of the last 10 years.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Expenditure on the eLoran navigation system by the Trinity House Research and Radio Navigation department for each of the last 10 years is as follows:

	Exp (£000)	Income (£000)	Net Exp (£000)
07/08	194	-188	7
08/09	256	0	256
09/10	411	-234	176
10/11	606	-141	466
11/12	708	-200	508
12/13	573	-200	373
13/14	937	-200	737
14/15	1,001	-100	901
15/16	576	-100	476
Total	5,263	-1,363	3,900

The vast majority of funding for Trinity House, and therefore the R&RNAV department, is met by the General Lighthouse Fund.

01/01/2023

Baroness Hooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hooper on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Colombia about the dangers faced by defenders of human rights and leaders of land restitution claims, and the case for enhancing their protection.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are concerned by the increase in violence towards human rights defenders (HRDs) in Colombia. Reports from the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Somos Defensores indicate that 63 HRDs were killed in 2015, a 13 per cent increase from 2014. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), raised this issue during his meeting with President Santos on 12 May. During his visit to Colombia in April, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), also raised human rights concerns with the Colombian Deputy Foreign Minister, Patti Londoño-Jaramillo.

Ensuring protection and support for HRDs, including leaders of land restitution claims, is a priority area for our Embassy in Bogotá. As well as monitoring specific cases, the UK raises our concerns with the Colombian government at every possible opportunity. Our Ambassador to Colombia recently joined an international community initiative called “Ambassadors with Defenders” that aims to raise awareness of the situation of HRDs and follow up on specific cases. Earlier this year, the Ambassador accompanied the Colombian Minister of Interior to a regional human rights roundtable, where the role of local authorities in taking effective action on HRD cases was discussed. The UK was the only member of the international community invited to this event.

With regards to increased protection, on 26 April, President Santos announced the creation of a high level group in charge of investigating threats and killings against HRDs. He invited human rights organisations to appoint five representatives to participate in this group. The Attorney General’s Office has prioritised the investigations of these cases.

01/01/2023
Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps he plans to take during negotiations on leaving the EU to seek continued UK participation in the European Research Council after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr David Jones

The Department is leading the UK’s negotiations to leave the European Union and establish the future relationship between the EU and the UK. We need a UK approach and clear objectives for negotiations. The process for leaving the EU and determining our future relationship will clearly not be brief or straightforward, so we need to take time to think through our objectives and approach.

The Government will ensure that the UK remains a world leader in international research collaboration, and will expect close collaboration between the UK and the EU in science to continue. UK businesses and universities should continue to bid for competitive EU funds while we remain a member of the EU. The Government will work with the European Commission to ensure payment when funds are awarded, and will underwrite the payment of such awards even when specific projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU.

01/01/2023
Rupa Huq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rupa Huq on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children the UK has accepted from the Jungle near Calais; and what estimate the Government has made of the number of such children the UK will take as a consequence of the Dubs amendment.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Between 1 January and 1 October 2016 over 80 children from France were accepted for transfer under the Dublin Regulation on the basis of close family links, of which nearly all have arrived in the UK.

On 10 October, the Home Secretary met with French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to discuss a range of issues, including the proposed clearance of the camp in Calais.

The UK Government has made clear its commitment to transfer from Europe to the UK unaccompanied refugee children under the 2016 Immigration Act, and ensure those with close links to the UK are brought here using the Dublin Regulation, where it is in their best interests. Home Office teams are being deployed to France over the coming weeks to work with the French authorities to speed up the identification and transfer of eligible cases. We continue to work with the French authorities to establish the number of children who may be eligible.

01/01/2023
Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of progress on Total Transport pilots.

Andrew Jones

In March this year 37 rural local authorities in England were allocated £7.6m funding to pilot Total Transport Schemes in their areas. This initiative is examining how existing resources can be allocated and co-ordinated more efficiently.

The pilots are being run over a two-year period and individual schemes are currently in progress. There will be a review around April next year.

01/01/2023
Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 20054, what funding was allocated to the Winter Weather Repair Fund in 2014-15.

Andrew Jones

In 2014/15, the Government provided £950 million to local highway authorities for highways maintenance, including £168 million to specifically tackle potholes across the country.

In March 2014, the Government provided an additional £183.5 million to help repair local highway infrastructure damaged by the winter floods of 2013/14. This funding was spent by local highway authorities in 2014/15.

Overall, between 2010 to 2015, local highways maintenance funding was 27% or £1billion higher than under the previous Labour administration.

01/01/2023
Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when defects were first noted in the pulsion system of the Type 45 destroyer.

Mr Philip Dunne

The decision to procure the Rolls Royce WR21 was taken in November 2000 by the then Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon. In announcing the decision, he accepted this decision "presents a greater degree of risk to the programme."

Following that decision a number of issues with the Type 45 Integrated Electrical Propulsion (IEP) system were identified when the First of Class, HMS Daring was launched in 2006.

From 2006 to the launch of the sixth and final Type 45 in October 2010, the Type 45 Destroyer class had around fifty minor design alterations directly attributable to the development of the Type 45 IEP system identified. The subsequent implementation process for acceptance of these alterations is necessarily rigorous to maintain safety and system design intent. As a result, the majority of Type 45 IEP alterations were implemented after the launch of the last of class.

A report was commissioned in 2011 to examine the reliability of the power and propulsion system in greater detail. This work was re-assessed in 2013 to examine the extent to which the issues identified in the report had been dealt with, (by changes to operating procedures and training) and establish which were not simply the problems associated with a new complex system.

As part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 the Government is committed to improving the Type 45’s power and propulsion system an ongoing Equipment Improvement Plan is successfully making further alterations to the existing power and propulsion system.

Over the last two years, Type 45 Destroyers have been routinely deployed to the Gulf to maintain a destroyer presence in the region, including HMS Defender’s support to US Carrier operations against Daesh.

01/01/2023
Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional funding she plans to commit to tackling illegal immigration; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

The Chancellor the Exchequer announced the 2015 Spending Review to Parliament on 25th November 2015. Home Office ministers are in the process of allocating budgets for the next financial year to ensure that the department supports its key objectives of preventing terrorism, cutting crime and controlling immigration.

01/01/2023
Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.

Karen Bradley

The Home Office’s finance system has no record of the Department receiving funds from the European Social Fund.

01/01/2023