Category: Speeches

Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure religious minorities are protected in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Syria’s conflict has developed from peaceful protests against the government in 2011 to a violent insurgency that has complex international angles. Asad’s brutal actions have fuelled sectarian violence and the growth of Daesh. His regime is ultimately responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. We support the efforts of the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan De Mistura, to seek agreement on a process of political transition in Syria. We are clear that there can be no military solution to the conflict. The UN led negotiations remain the best opportunity to end the conflict and achieve political transition away from Asad, leading to an inclusive government which can represent all Syrians.

The UK, as a core member of the International Syria Support Group has agreed that protecting the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination is fundamental. This means seeking to ensure that Syrian minorities are included and safeguarded as the political process progresses. We are supporting non-governmental efforts to promote dialogue between different ethnic and sectarian groups in Syria, as we seek further progress on a political settlement.

01/01/2023
Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-07-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many immigration offenders, excluding failed asylum seekers and foreign national offenders, have been removed in each of the last five years for which figures are available, and how many of those first arrived in the UK on a student visa.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK within Immigration Statistics on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release.

The information requested regarding Foreign National Offenders and total returns is available in the tables attached.

The Home Office is unable to provide data as requested for those who first arrived in the UK on a student visa as this would involve cross checking databases and incur disproportionate costs.

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01/01/2023
Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the range of therapy available on the NHS to people with autism.

David Mowat

Local authorities and their partners including the National Health Service are currently completing a self-assessment exercise on the progress they are making in implementing the Adult Autism Strategy. The assessment includes answering questions on the type of support being provided to people with autism. Public Health England expects to publish the results of that exercise in March 2017.

01/01/2023
Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to expand the role of the National Crime Agency in (a) West Africa and (b) the Sahel region.

Mike Penning

The National Crime Agency (NCA) engages with a range of overseas partners in the both West Africa and the Sahel Region to tackle serious and organised crime threats to the UK, including drugs trafficking, money laundering, organised immigration crime and child sexual exploitation and abuse. This engagement is subject to continuous review by the NCA and is being expanded to enable the UK to respond to changing or emerging threats such as organised immigration crime. The Prime Minister announced the creation of a new multi-agency Organised Immigration Crime (OIC) Taskforce in June to tackle people smuggling in June and as part of this Taskforce the NCA has expanded its coverage in West Africa from where it also covers the Sahel.

01/01/2023
Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that the police are adequately trained to tackle online criminal activity involving young people.

Mike Penning

The last Parliament invested £860 million over five years through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) to increase the cyber security of the UK. The Chancellor also announced on 17 November that we plan to almost double investment in cyber security, including cyber crime, to £1.9 billion over the next five years. This will enable us to continue to invest in training at the national, regional and local levels. NCSP funding is being used to deliver specific training for officers in the National Cyber Crime Unit within the National Crime Agency (NCA), cyber teams within each of the Regional Organised Crime Units and local police officers and staff to increase their capabilities to tackle this issue.

For example, the second Phase of the Mainstream Cyber Crime Training course was launched on 30 September 2015 by College of Policing to police officers and staff on cyber, digital and social media issues. The College and police forces also deliver a classroom-based course to police investigators, which includes bespoke modules on how young and vulnerable people become victims of cyber and digital crime online and what police can do to help, including preventing them from becoming victims.

The National Cyber Crime Unit in the National Crime Agency has also recently launched a communications campaign to deter young people, particularly young males aged 12-15 with an interest in computer gaming, from becoming involved in cyber criminality. The campaign, launched on 8 December, is aimed at parents, teachers and young people to educate them about the risks of becoming involved, and the career opportunities for those with cyber skills.

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of probation service delivery across the West Midlands; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Our probation reforms are designed to make sure almost all offenders will receive support on release including, for the first time, those sentenced to less than 12 months. These reforms will help to reduce reoffending, cut crime and improve public safety.

We hold Community Rehabilitation Companies to account for their performance and seek continuous improvement. We have identified some areas of strength and some areas for improvement. Staffordshire and West Midlands Community Rehabilitation Company have reassured us that they are making the necessary improvements and we are closely monitoring progress.

01/01/2023
Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many meetings her Department has had with representatives of Tidal Power Ltd on the proposed Solway Firth Tidal Lagoon project.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government is currently in a bilateral negotiation with Tidal Lagoon Power Ltd regarding a possible Contract for Difference for their proposed project in Swansea Bay and there have been numerous meetings with the developer to discuss this project.

01/01/2023

Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how (a) much funding has been paid to and (b) many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the Advisory. Conciliation and Arbitration Service in each year since 2009-10.

Nick Boles

Set out below is the amount of funding paid to Acas and is full-time equivalent staff for each year since 2009-10.

Financial year	Staff no. (FTE)	Grant in Aid (£’000)
2009-10	880	55,687
2010-11	876	47,200
2011-12	827	48,009
2012-13	787	46,450
2013-14	787	45,800
2014-15	784	44,240
2015-16	782 (end Feb)	44,478

01/01/2023

Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations have been received from students and student groups by the taskforce on reducing violence against women and girls on university campuses.

Joseph Johnson

The Government asked Universities UK to establish a taskforce to explore what more can be done by the higher education sector to prevent, and respond effectively, to incidents of violence and sexual harassment against women, hate crimes and other forms of harassment. The taskforce is expected to report its findings in the autumn.

To date Universities UK have received 59 written representations from universities, plus additional evidence from a wide range of agencies and organisations.

Universities UK has published an update of the recent taskforce meeting, which addressed the Zellick guidelines. The Government looks forward to receiving the taskforce’s final report in due course.

01/01/2023
Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of progress in addressing the UK’s concerns over human rights abuses in Ethiopia since his meeting with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros in January 2016.

James Duddridge

We remain deeply concerned about the handling of demonstrations in Oromia, including the reported deaths of a number of protestors, and about those detained under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. We have repeatedly made representations to the Ethiopian Government over the situation in that region. Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for International Development, raised our concerns with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on 21 January and Her Majesty’s Ambassador last raised the issue with Prime Minister Hailemariam on 26 April.

I met with Dr Tedros at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 27 January. I raised the UK’s concerns with regards to the human rights situation. We will continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Ethiopia both through our bilateral engagement, most notably through our ongoing Human Rights Dialogue, as well as jointly with our international partners.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been appointed to look into the handling of the protests in Oromia. We will not pre-judge the outcome of their investigation and we await the publication of their report. We will continue to urge the EHRC and the Government of Ethiopia to ensure that their report is credible, transparent and leads to concrete action. We will take a view on what further lobbying, if any, might be appropriate following the publication of the EHRC report.

01/01/2023