The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-EU workers hold visas to work on IT projects in the UK.
James Brokenshire
Acquiring this information would involve examining each individual case record held by UKVI for the category. To do so would incur a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Prime Minister, when he plans to reply to the letter of 26 November 2015 from the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West regarding mass executions in Saudi Arabia.
Mr David Cameron
A reply has been sent.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how his Department is working with the voluntary sector to reduce the level of rough sleeping.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Government remains committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. That is why we are maintaining homelessness funding over this Spending Review period, building on our significant investment since 2010. We will increase central investment over the next four years to £139 million for innovative programmes to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. We have also protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, through the provisional local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20.
But one person without a home is one too many, and I have had the opportunity to see first hand the vital role that voluntary sector organisations play in supporting vulnerable homeless people off the streets and into independence. I will continue to work closely with the voluntary sector and local authorities on how we improve the impact of homelessness services and break the cycle of homelessness. This includes the Department’s programme of work with Homeless Link, the national umbrella body for single homelessness organisations in England. I also host a regular forum with Chief Executives from the sector on how we best meet the needs of vulnerable homeless people, including rough sleepers, which is next meeting on 1 February.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many persons for whom the British armed forces had a duty of care have been admitted to the UK for settlement in each year since 2001; and what sums of compensation have been paid for resettlement in other countries in that same period.
Earl Howe
I am responding with figures relating to Iraqi and Afghan civilian personnel employed by HM Armed Forces and admitted for settlement to the UK. Admissions date from 2008 and have taken place under ex gratia arrangements rather than on the basis of a duty of care.
A total of 1,323 Iraqi civilians have been relocated to the UK since the locally engaged staff (LES) assistance scheme was announced in 2007. This total comprises 367 former locally engaged staff and 956 dependants.
|
Total |
|
|
2008 |
171 |
|
2009 |
627 |
|
2010 |
130 |
|
2011 |
7 |
|
2012 |
125 |
|
2013 |
139 |
|
2014 |
69 |
|
2015 |
37 |
|
2016 |
18 |
|
TOTAL |
1,323 |
Nearly 500 Afghan former LES are eligible to apply for relocation to the UK with their immediate families under the Afghan LES Ex Gratia Redundancy scheme, which was announced on 4 June 2013. 573 people, comprising 249 locally engaged staff and 324 dependants, have relocated to the UK up to the end of January 2016.
|
Total |
|
|
2014 |
55 |
|
2015 |
482 |
|
2016 |
36* |
|
Total |
573 |
*as at 31 January 2016
A number of Iraqi and Afghan former LES will have claimed asylum after entering the UK outside of the ex gratia arrangements; however, the relevant data is not held centrally.
We are not aware that any payments have been made for the resettlement of Iraqi or Afghan civilians to other countries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2015 to Question 6494, whether he has made any representations to the government of China on accusations of the harvesting of organs in that country; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of legislation to prevent UK nationals from going to China for transplants.
Mr Hugo Swire
As I said in my reply to Question 6494, I remain concerned by reports of organ harvesting. We continue to raise this issue, and the full range of our human rights concerns, with the Chinese authorities at the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue. The next round of the Dialogue is scheduled to be held in the UK in April.
The Department of Health is making constant efforts to ensure that any British citizen requiring replacement organs is able to benefit from organ transplants in the UK. It is however very difficult to prevent UK citizens travelling to less well-regulated countries to seek an organ transplant, although physicians always advise patients against this. Although numbers are not known, it is thought that very few patients in the UK choose to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the prison service of prison officers working longer before retirement.
Andrew Selous
The Alpha pension, which introduced a higher Normal Pension Age, was brought in under legislation. All consultation/negotiations with the Civil Service trade unions including the Prison Officers Association (POA) who are the trade union responsible for prison officers in the National Offender Management Service were carried out by the Pension Scheme Executive in Civil Service Pensions – Cabinet Office. The Pension Scheme Executive in 2012, held separate additional talks with the POA regarding the increase in pension age and offered a package under the Enhanced Effective Pension Age (EEPA). This provided an opportunity for staff to purchase a lower pension age, which would be subsidised by the employer. The POA membership through postal vote, rejected this offer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to close or relocate Jobcentre Plus at Westmorland House, Lytham St. Annes.
Priti Patel
The Department is in the process of reviewing all of its estates requirements as the current contract for most of the estate comes to an end in March 2018.
Commercial negotiations are underway at this time and consequently it is not appropriate to comment on any sites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2016-06-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to amend the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to deal with the mistreatment of migrant domestic workers by employers who exploit their employees’ vulnerable situation, in the light of the remarks by Baroness Hale of Richmond in paragraph 34 of the judgment on 22 June in Taiwo v Olaigbe and another [2016] UKSC31.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government is considering the Judge’s remarks in the context of the wider support available to victims of modern slavery provided for in the Modern Slavery Act.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women waited longer than two weeks for an abortion (a) in NHS hospitals and agencies and (b) with private providers in each year since 2009-10.
Nicola Blackwood
Comprehensive and comparable data is not collected centrally on waiting times for abortions performed in both the National Health Service and independent sector. Information on the average time between the two medical practitioners’ signatures is also not collected centrally.
Because of the way information is stored the number of places where abortions took place in England and Wales is only available from 2013 to 2015 and is shown in the table below. All independent sector places perform abortions under contract from the NHS (previously known as NHS agency).
Table: The number of clinics at which abortions took place, by clinic type, England and Wales 2013 to 2015
|
Year |
Total number of clinics |
NHS Hospital |
Independent Sector |
Private Hospital |
||||
|
2013 |
348 |
234 |
97 |
16 |
||||
|
2014 |
354 |
223 |
117 |
14 |
||||
|
2015 |
385 |
220 |
151 |
14 |
||||
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to implement the family test.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The Family Test policy does not apply to DFID’s work as foreign policy is outside of the scope of the Test.