Category: Speeches

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Deech on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Iran following the announcement by the Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon that Iran will pay $7,000 to the families of suicide bombers and other terrorists who die in the process of attacking any Israeli.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We raised the issue of payments to families of suicide bombers with the Iranian government, and are seeking clarification over the reported remarks about providing funds to the families of suicide bombers. We condemn any support for groups which pursue an ideology of violence that directly undermines the prospects for peace in the region.

  • Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many new cases have opened after the establishment of the Complex Casework Directorate; and how many such cases were resolved by way of granting a leave.

    James Brokenshire

    Complex Casework Directorate was set up to be responsible for the remaining un-concluded asylum cases where the initial asylum application was lodged before March 2007. The work to review and communicate decisions to the cohort of older asylum cases was completed by the end of December 2014, other than for a small number of cases that were on hold, although work continues to progress the removal of applicants who received a negative decision from the Home Office and who otherwise have no lawful basis to remain in the United Kingdom.

    As of 31 December 2015 there were 524 older asylum records requiring review, and a further 742 were on hold. These cases were on hold for legitimate process reasons. There are no dormant records.

    The older asylum records relate to asylum applications made prior to 5 March 2007, and there are therefore no new cases, although cases that are reopened following contact with an individual whose record was previously closed are added to the cohort of older live asylum records. It is not possible to say how many reopened cases were subsequently granted leave without incurring disproportionate cost.

    Information relating to older asylum records is published as part of the Asylum Transparency Data. This data includes the work in progress, on take of people who enter the cohort and the number of individuals granted leave.

  • Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to work together with the French government to ensure that unaccompanied children have access to high quality legal assistance to submit claims for family reunion in the UK, and to fund improved measures for identification of, and support for, unaccompanied minors in Calais and Northern France.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Under the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK and France have committed to ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively. To assist the handling of such cases the two governments have established a permanent official contact group, agreed single points of contact within respective Dublin Units and the UK seconded an asylum expert to the French administration to facilitate the improvement of all stages of the process of identifying, protecting and transferring relevant cases to the UK. The Home Office will review the existing arrangements as part of the work to implement the relevant provisions of the Immigration Act 2016.

    To assist with the identification of potential victims of trafficking and exploitation (including unaccompanied children) in Calais the UK has funded a project run by a French non-governmental organisation which aims to identify and direct these vulnerable people to the appropriate support services in France.

    The UK and France are running regular joint communication campaigns in northern France which informs individuals (including unaccompanied children) of their rights to claim asylum in France and gives them information on family reunification. The frequency of these campaigns has been increased in line with the Joint Declaration signed in August 2015.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the preliminary ceasefire recently agreed in South Sudan.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) condemned the violence and called on all sides to cease fighting. The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) and senior members of Her Majesty’s diplomatic service have also been in touch with regional colleagues on how to bring an immediate end to the crisis. At the UN, we are pressing for action at the Security Council including on securing an arms embargo to tackle the flow of weapons and ammunition to those pursuing violence.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff employed by his Department are non-UK nationals.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The total Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) workforce as at 31 March 2016 was 12,563 comprising 4,295 FCO UK based staff and 8,268 FCO local staff. The Aliens’ Employment Act 1955 makes it a requirement that all UK-based staff must be British nationals or dual nationals where one of those nationalities is British. We do not collect centrally details of the nationality of our staff employed locally overseas.

  • Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to consult clinicians on his policy on access to off-patent drugs.

    George Freeman

    Our policy on generic prescribing has been in place for a number of years. The policy helps ensure that patients can access the medicine that best meets their needs and it has been a key driver in the National Health Service making maximum use of off-patent drugs which are also known as generics. We have the best prescribing rate for these drugs in Europe.

    To support clinicians who may want to prescribe a product off-label for a patient to and improve the flow of research evidence into clinical practice, the Department hosted a Roundtable Event in February 2015. Attendees included the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Breast Cancer Now and other charities and discussions helped determine those non-legislative measures that could be undertaken. The Government is committed to this work and is holding a further roundtable event with charities.

  • David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will call on his Ethiopian counterpart to allow peaceful protest in the Oromia region and withdraw paramilitary forces.

    James Duddridge

    The UK Government is deeply concerned about the current situation in Oromia and in particular about the reported deaths of a number of students. The Department for International Development Parliamentary Under Secretary of State raised our concerns with the Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister on 11 December and urged the authorities to exercise restraint. We will continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Ethiopia, including on the use of force.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what coordination he is undertaking with other EU member states on the deployment of military assets to rescue migrants and refugees at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Royal Navy is not currently involved in a Search and Rescue Mission in the Mediterranean. However, HMS Enterprise, which is currently deployed as part of the EU Naval Forces Operation in the Mediterranean, will coordinate with assets from other EU member states in order to respond to vessels in distress.

    In addition, a Royal Marine force protection team is deployed on board the Border Force chartered vessel MV VOS GRACE currently in the Aegean Sea, supporting the EU’s FRONTEX-led search and rescue operation.

    In total, the UK has rescued over 12,500 people in the Mediterranean.

  • Craig Mackinlay – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Craig Mackinlay – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Mackinlay on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes HM Revenue and Customs have (a) registered and (b) approved in each financial year since 6 April 2012.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not currently publish information on the number of Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes applications received and accepted.

    Official statistics on the number of companies raising funds, the number of subscriptions and amounts raised under SEIS in 2012-13 and 2013-14 are available to view at www.gov.uk/government/statistics/enterprise-and-seed-enterprise-investment-schemes-january-2016.

    The first official statistics for 2014-15 will be published in April 2016, alongside statistics for the Enterprise Investment Scheme. HMRC plans to publish new statistics within this release on the number of companies applying for the scheme and the number of those who are successful.

  • Lord Pendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Pendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the process by which the World Anti-Doping Agency informs athletes of the drugs added each year to the list of banned substances.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    WADA issues communications to a range of stakeholders to ensure that everyone knows the timeframes by which the Prohibited List is published and when it takes effect. This information is freely available on WADA’s website.

    In the UK, Athletes and Athlete Support Personnel receive information about changes to the Prohibited List through communications from UK Anti-Doping. This is done via the respective National Governing Bodies of sport in advance of the changes coming into place, as well as through information given on the UK Anti-Doping website, social media channels and the Clean Sport App.

    However, it is ultimately the responsibility of athletes and their support personnel to be aware of the annual changes to the Prohibited List.