Category: Speeches

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees were referred to her Department by the UN High Commission for Refugees under (a) the Gateway Protection Programme, (b) the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme and (c) the Mandate Refugee Scheme in each year since 2009-10; and how many such refugees in each year and for each scheme her Department refused after carrying out checks.

    James Brokenshire

    We do not report on how many people have been identified for resettlement in the UK under these schemes. Not all referrals translate into arrivals for a variety of reasons. In some instances, refugees choose to withdraw, for example, following the death of a family member, marriage or childbirth. Furthermore the Home Office also retains the right to reject individuals on security, war crimes or other grounds. In addition we do not currently differentiate between cases that are refused or withdrawn and therefore do not hold the information on refusals in the format requested.

    Notwithstanding this, the Home Office is committed to publishing data on arrivals through the resettlement programmes in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 25 February 2016 and will cover the period October-December 2015. These numbers will be updated each quarter.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Government’s response to the Foreign Affairs Committee’s First Special Report of Session 2015-16, published on 11 February 2016, HC816, when he expects the internal review of his Department to be completed; what the key priorities of his Department are on which that review will be focussed; and if he will publish the conclusions of that review.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The internal review is expected to be completed in the Spring. Its remit is to advise on how the FCO can be more expert, agile and focused on the Department’s key priorities. I expect the review to set out a vision of the organisation the FCO should be by 2020. The review is internal. No decision has yet been taken on publication.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much school deficit has remained with local authorities after schools have converted to academy status.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department does not hold this information on local authority budgets

    Deficits for schools which convert to become sponsored academies remain with the local authority. It is right that these deficits remain with their local authority as these schools were the responsibility of the authority when they were found to be failing or underperforming and it is the authority’s responsibility for ensuring the school managed its expenditure satisfactorily.

  • Kirsty Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kirsty Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance he has issued to HM Courts and Tribunals Service on minimum standards for keeping appellants updated of future court dates and waiting times for those dates.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Tribunal Procedure Rules require HMCTS to notify appellants of their hearing date, time and place upon listing. If there is any change to a hearing date, such as a postponement or adjournment, HMCTS issues a further notice in writing to confirm the change. If an appellant has any questions or concerns about their hearing date they can contact the Tribunal via the HMCTS Contact Centre.

  • Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Tugendhat on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost was for maintaining his Department’s properties classified as void in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

    Mark Lancaster

    Information on the cost of maintaining Service Family Accommodation (SFA) on Ministry of Defence (MOD) properties classed as void prior to 2014-15 is not held.

    For 2014-15 the cost was £5.590 million and for 2015-16 the cost was £5.714 million. This covers the standard cost of retaining SFA when it is vacant, regardless of whether any maintenance is required.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate his Department has made of how long it will take to negotiate the UK’s membership of the World Trade Organisation when the UK leaves the EU.

    Mark Garnier

    The UK is a Member of the WTO in its own right. However, in leaving the EU, we will need to update the terms of our WTO membership where, at present, our commitments are applied through the EU as a whole.

    We recognise the need to work with the EU and with other WTO Members in order to ensure a smooth transition which minimises the disruption to our trading relationships with other WTO Members, including developing country Members and our closest trading partners.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the report entitled Ethnic Penalties in Motor Insurance Premiums by Webber Phillips, published in July 2016, what assessment her Department has made of concerns raised in that report that some car owners may be being charged higher premiums due to their ethnicity.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society and sets out the different ways in which it is unlawful to treat someone. There are specific exceptions for providers of financial services such as insurance companies, which allow them to use a person’s age as a factor in assessing risk and charging for their products. However, insurers are not able to use a person’s race as a factor in assessing risk and charging for their products.

    The pricing of risk is a commercial decision for individual insurers, and differences in premiums reflect different insurers’ experience of claims and other industry-wide statistics. While insurers are not required by the Financial Conduct Authority to be transparent about pricing decisions, it expects firms to comply with relevant legislation, including the Equality Act 2010, and can undertake its own enquiries to better understand what the firm is doing and whether any of its regulatory requirements have been breached.

  • Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many representatives were present at the recent UN Support Mission in Libya conference in London.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Over 150 representatives attended the UK and UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) meeting held on 19 October in London on international support for a new Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA). 36 women accepted the invitation to attend the meeting, drawn from 40 countries, UN Agencies, and international bodies. The UK recognises that female participation in politics and civil society is an essential component of restoring stability in Libya, and our Libya Office in Tunis, working closely with UNSMIL, made a particular effort to ensure female Libyan participation. Four of the 17 independent Libyan delegates were women. The meeting was co-chaired by Jane Marriott, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Directorate in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

  • Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Hodgson of Abinger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any of those staff at the Department for International Development involved in small business grant funding have hands-on experience of business development.

    Baroness Verma

    DFID employs cadres of sector-specific technical experts in a range of disciplines in order to provide intellectual and professional rigour to underpin our poverty reduction work. DFID has a cadre of over 80 private sector development advisers who lead our work to support private sector growth, including small business grant funding. Over 80% of private sector development advisers have worked in the private sector, bringing to DFID a first-hand understanding of business development.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who had been wrongfully released from English prisons were recalled in 2013.

    Andrew Selous

    The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. My hon friend has very recently written to me about a specific case and I will reply to him shortly.