UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect 16 and 17 year olds from child sexual exploitation.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual exploitation is a top priority for this Government. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice.

    Significant progress has been made since the launch of the “Tackling CSE” report in March 2015. We have delivered the vast majority of a £7 million funding programme to support non statutory organisations that have experienced a surge in demand on their services. This funding is to support the victims and survivors of sexual abuse, including children of all ages.

    Furthermore, £1.6 million has been provided over four years (April 2012 – March 2016) for 13 Young People’s Advocates providing direct and dedicated support to young people who have been victims, or are at risk of, sexual and domestic violence and/or sexual exploitation. Funding of £1.72 million per year has also been committed to part fund 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers posts until March 2016.

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many reports have been made on the assessed material state of HMS (a) Astute, (b) Ambush and (c) Artful.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    A range of reports are generated on the material state of all Royal Navy submarines. Given the broad range of reporting that is undertaken and the large range of highly complex engineering systems reported on, this information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents have moved to direct pay since the introduction of the 2012 child maintenance scheme.

    Priti Patel

    As at the end of August 2015, 82,600 cases were paying via Direct Pay.

    More details can be found on page 6 of the Child Maintenance Scheme quarterly summary of statistics which can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-aug-2015-experimental.

    Notes:

    1. This figure only includes cases that are live with a payment that is due.
    2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

    “

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what joint trade missions have been undertaken by the UK and the Republic of Ireland since 2010.

    Lord Maude of Horsham

    Since 2010, UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and Enterprise Ireland have organised a joint trade mission to the Singapore Air Show in February 2014.

    Her Majesty’s Government is committed to helping UK business succeed overseas, including in the Republic of Ireland where UKTI is represented and is actively promoting trade and investment between our two countries.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all GPs are trained in awareness of learning disabilities.

    Ben Gummer

    It is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC) to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified general practitioners are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training in awareness of learning disabilities.

    Higher Education Institutions are responsible for ensuring the programmes they provide allow healthcare students to meet the outcomes set out by the GMC upon graduation.

    The royal colleges, for example the Royal College of General Practitioners, also have responsibility for developing curricula for general practitioners, in particular postgraduate curricula.

    Health Education England (HEE) works with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the royal colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients.

    HEE is undertaking a review of curricula of all National Health Service commissioned training programmes to include recognised areas of health including learning disability, mental illness, physical illness and physical ill health and social support needs. HEE will work with regulatory bodies including the GMC to agree the standards and content for education and training; this is anticipated to be completed by April 2017.

  • Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will estimate the proportion of rebel ground forces in Syria which could be considered moderate.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Prime Minister, the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) stated in Parliament in December 2015 that we assessed at that time that there were around 70,000 non-extremist fighters in Syria, standing up to both the tyranny of the Asad regime and the poisonous and murderous ideology of Daesh. Since the time of that assessment, there have been significant shifts on the ground, particularly as a result of Russia’s military escalation, the majority of which has directly targeted the moderate opposition.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel regarding the use of the roof of the Hebron Emergency Health Centre as a military base and the closure of its entrance to Palestinian patients.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Whilst we have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli authorities, we are clear that medical staff should have the protection that allows them to do their jobs in safety. Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority on the urgent need to de-escalate the tensions.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-06-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what legal resources they are providing to refugees in the camps in Calais and Dunkirk to make asylum applications to the UK.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Asylum seekers cannot claim asylum in the UK if they are in France. If a person requires international protection they should claim asylum in France, which is bound by the same EU and international obligations as the UK.

    If after claiming asylum in France it is established that the UK is the state responsible for examining their claim on the basis of Dublin Regulation, including under its family unity provisions, a take charge request may be submitted to the Home Office.

  • Jeffrey M. Donaldson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jeffrey M. Donaldson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeffrey M. Donaldson on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the deadline for the receipt of applications for Armed Forces Day 2018 will be.

    Mike Penning

    Applications for the National Event are accepted at any time, though should typically be submitted by the end of March in the preceding year, so March 2017 for the 2018 event.

  • Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria she is adopting to select refugees from the camp in Calais for resettlement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The EU’s Dublin Regulation clearly sets out the criteria for transferring asylum claims between Member States. The Government wishes to reaffirm that migrants in Calais have not yet been determined as refugees, and furthermore, the Dublin Regulation is the EU’s mechanism for transferring asylum claims, rather than a resettlement route. Section 67 of the Immigration Act sets out that ‘unaccompanied refugee children’ will be relocated to the UK. In respect of Calais, the Government has been clear that unaccompanied children will be prioritised if they meet the Dublin criteria.

    We work closely with the French authorities and their partner agencies to ensure all those who come to the UK from the camps in Calais are eligible under the Dublin Regulation. All individuals are referred to the UK authorities by the NGO France Terre D’asile (FTDA) and are then interviewed by French and UK officials. Basic security checks are conducted on all individuals prior to arrival, with further verification carried out once in the UK.

    Where credible and clear documentary evidence of age is not available, criteria including physical appearance and demeanour are used as part of the interview process to assess age. Where we believe someone is significantly over 18, they will be refused. The Home Office does not use dental x-rays to confirm the ages of those seeking asylum as they have been described by the British Dental Association as inaccurate, inappropriate and unethical.

    Since June the Home Office has been working closely with local authorities and Strategic Migration Partnerships across the UK to ensure that we have the structures in place to support the transfer of unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children, both within the UK and from Europe.