Category: Speeches

  • Dominic Raab – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dominic Raab – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dominic Raab on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date her Department began to record details of sponsorship of non-EU nationals entering the UK on student visas.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The sponsorship of non-EU students was introduced in three stages:

    Educational Institutions were able to make an application for a licence to sponsor non-EU students under Tier 4 of the Points Based System from July 2008.

    Non–EU student applications under Tier 4 of the Points-Based System were introduced on 31 March 2009, and from this date onwards institutions had students linked to their sponsor licence.

    From 22 February 2010 all non-EU Tier 4 student applications had to be supported by a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies, an electronic document assigned by a Tier 4 sponsor, which institutions are required to monitor and report against, and this activity was recorded by the Home Office.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-11-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the development of Watchkeeper.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Development costs are not separately identified as they are included within the main Demonstration, Manufacturing and Initial Support contract with Thales UK. The current total financial approval for development and delivery of Watchkeeper to Full Operating Capability is £927 million.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether opposition to the death penalty remains a key human rights priority for them, in the light of the UK’s candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Our UN pledges renew our enduring commitment to promoting universal human rights. This includes work to abolish the death penalty. As I have said repeatedly in this House, this Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and we continue to call on all states to abolish it.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22430, if his Department will consider new collaborative funding proposals for further research into rehabilitative therapies for veterans with Gulf War illnesses.

    Mark Lancaster

    As stated in my answer to Question 22430, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has funded extensive research into Gulf War Illness, including some research into rehabilitative therapies for those veterans with persistent symptoms. There are no plans to fund any further research.

    The MOD has no plans to issue guidance on treatment best practice to healthcare professionals or partners in the military charity sector in respect of veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf Conflict. Neither do we have any plans in January 2016 to communicate the findings of independent research on the 1990-91 Gulf Conflict, published in the UK or overseas, to UK veterans.

    There is a wide range of support already available to veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf conflict. This can be accessed through MOD’s Veterans UK website and free help line.

  • Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations were made to ministers and officials on the subject of lobbying by charities between May 2010 and February 2016 by organisations other than the Institute of Economic Affairs.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Government has received a range of representations since 2010 on charities’ lobbying, campaigning and political activities, including from charities themselves. There is no central record that categorises the different representations received.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to announce new mast sites for the Emergency Service Mobile Communications Programme’s Extended Areas Service project.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office led Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) is in ongoing discussions with EE as the supplier of Network Services for the new Emergency Services Network (ESN).

    The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme’s Extended Area Service is planning a number of new mast sites across the UK. The location of new mast sites will be announced in due course, once all the relevant permissions have been granted.

  • Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2016 to Question 32065, if his Department will collect data on the number of former workers of Remploy factories in the Cynon Valley constituency are (a) looking for work, (b) in work, (c) retired, (d) in receipt of employment and support allowance, (e) in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance and (f) in receipt of universal credit.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department collected management information on former Remploy disabled employees that gave consent to be tracked during the 18 month People Help and Support Package (PHSP). Although this package ended in August 2015, former Remploy disabled employees that continue to need support can continue to access the specialist employment support that is available for all disabled people including Work Choice and Specialist Employability Support.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has received representations from professionals working in criminal justice on the appropriate punishment for young people who have committed cyber crimes.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Home Office have not received any representations from professionals working in criminal justice on the appropriate punishment for young people who have committed cyber crimes.

    The Computer Misuse Act 1990 provides the legislative framework for cyber offences and sets out the sentencing for each of the five offences. Determination of sentencing guidelines is a matter for the Ministry of Justice.

  • Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to apply the pay to stay provisions of the House and Planning Act 2016 in all areas regardless of the levels of market and social rents.

    Brandon Lewis

    My officials are considering how the policy should apply to properties where market and social rents are close and the cost of operating the policy may be greater than the additional rent collected. We will be setting out the approach in detail in the pay to stay regulations and guidance will be provided to local authorities to support them through the implementation of the policy.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether special case funding to meet exceptional needs costs of resettled Syrian refugees beyond their first year of resettlement in the UK will be included as part of the UK’s Official Development Assistance contributions.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Official Development Assistance (ODA) can only be used to meet the first year post-arrival costs of each refugee, as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) rules do not permit usage past the first year.

    We do though have an additional exceptional needs sum of money, available from our years 2 to 5 funding, amounting to 15% of the total funding available each year.