The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will estimate how many and what proportion of all women with mental health issues in the UK have been internally or internationally trafficked.
Mike Penning
The Home Office do not hold data that allows us to establish how many women with mental health issues in the UK have been trafficked.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage Nigeria to tackle Fulani militia attacks on non-Muslim villagers in the central Nigeria states of Plateau, Kaduna, Bauchi, Taraba and Benue; and whether the Government has offered any assistance to people displaced by ongoing violence in Agatu in the state of Benue.
James Duddridge
We are concerned by reports of recurrent clashes involving pastoralists and local farmers over land, farming rights, grazing routes and access to water in Nigeria, in particular in the centre of the country. We continue to call on all parties to find a peaceful solution to the underlying causes of these incidents, and welcome President Buhari’s commitment to prioritise ending these attacks.
The Department for International Development’s £39 million Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP) supports a range of initiatives across Nigeria to reduce conflicts and build bridges between communities. These include programmes that bring cattle herder and farming communities together to reduce conflict and agree rules for land and water use.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what resources his Department has allocated to the Regulatory Delivery Directorate for enforcement of part G of the Building Regulations 2010 in domestic properties.
Anna Soubry
My Department has no direct responsibility for Building Regulations Part G as this falls to the Department for Communities and Local Government and is enforced through local authorities who have a general duty to enforce Building Regulations in their area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-09-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking in response to the concern expressed by the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance and Development Aid in the occupied Palestinian territory about the declining health of Bilal Kayid.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
According to an agreement made between Mr. Kayid and the Israeli Government, Mr. Kayid’s administrative detention will not be renewed past 12 December. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv regularly raises our concerns over the use of administrative detention with the Israeli authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-10-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to increase the number of skilled trade negotiators in British embassies, consulates and high commissions overseas.
Greg Hands
The Department for International Trade has already established a strong and capable trade policy team with significant negotiating experience. The team has more than doubled in size since 23 June and is still growing. We will continue to hire the brightest and best talent from within the UK civil service and from elsewhere in order to deliver the best outcomes for the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Government has received from the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived in each of the last two years.
Priti Patel
The UK allocation from the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) is €3.96m for the 2014-20 period and will be used to expand breakfast club provision in deprived areas in England. The Department for Education received interim funding of €541,216 in advance of the scheme commencing. Officials are currently exploring options for the best way for the scheme to be administered.
Since FEAD was created from within structural funds allocations and has some similarities to ESF, DWP Ministers took the initial decisions on our negotiation position on the size of the UK allocation and on the use of the funds. Responsibility for implementing the Fund now sits with DfE, and we have agreed this response with them. We will discuss with officials there whether all correspondence, PQs and so on, should now be their responsibility, or whether we retain a policy lead.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether access for disabled students will be included in measures to determine whether higher education institutions deliver effective outcomes for widening access and social mobility.
Joseph Johnson
Higher Education Institutions have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to support their students, including those with disabilities.
The Independent Office for Fair Access (OFFA) has agreed 183 Access Agreements for 2016/17 with plans for Universities to spend more than £745 million on measures to improve access and student success for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, up from £404m in 2009/10. HEIs choose their own access agreement measures and targets, in line with their own particular mission and challenges and these can include targets on disability where appropriate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will commission research on the (a) reasons for and (b) effects of the different thresholds for investigations to be initiated under section 17 and section 47 of the Children Act 1989.
Edward Timpson
Sections 17 and 47 of the Children Act 1989 have different purposes. Section 17 defines a child as being “in need” if they are unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision of services by the local authority, or their health and development are likely to be impaired (or further impaired), without the provision of such services, or they are disabled. Under this section, local authorities are required to provide a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs.
Section 47 places a duty on local authorities to make enquiries to decide whether and what action should be taken to safeguard the child from “significant harm”. This is the point at which compulsory intervention in a child’s life is justified.
Each local authority will interpret the definitions at Section 17 and Section 47 and set local thresholds, agreed by Local Safeguarding Children Boards, through their statutory function under the Children Act 2004, in discussion with all partners. This function is set out in Regulation 5 of the Local Safeguarding Children Boards Regulations 2006, as follows:
1(a) developing policies and procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the area of the authority, including policies and procedures in relation to:
(i) the action to be taken where there are concerns about a child’s safety or welfare, including thresholds for intervention;
This is also set out in the Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2015 statutory guidance. Ofsted looks at thresholds as part of its inspection process and considers whether the levels set locally are appropriate. It expects good Local Safeguarding Children Boards to monitor and understand the application of thresholds locally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she plans to take to support the provision of real and sustainable employment to young refugees in states with high youth unemployment.
Justine Greening
Over the next five years, DFID will build on its economic development work to ensure productive employment opportunities for young people are increased, including those in situations of protracted displacement.
Significant commitments to support Syrian refugees gain employment were made at the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference in London on 4 February, which was co-hosted by the UK alongside Norway, Germany, Kuwait and the UN.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many companies responded to his Department’s invitation to tender for the protection of tenancy deposit scheme; and how many of those companies were small or medium-sized businesses.
Brandon Lewis
The initial procurement exercise in 2006 inviting bids to run a custodial tenancy deposit scheme and up to three insurance tenancy deposit schemes received four bids. Two of the companies were small or medium sized businesses.
In 2015, the re-procurement exercise for a new custodial tenancy scheme also received four bids. Three of the companies were small or medium sized businesses.