Category: Speeches

  • Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of report by the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration of the critical system vulnerabilities in Semaphore and Warnings Index; and what steps she took in response to that report.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office has responded to the report on Exporting the border?: An
    inspection of e-Borders. This response can be found at:
    http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/inspections/inspection-reports/2012-inspec
    tion-reports-2/.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for (a) passport renewal and (b) new passports were received by the Passport Office in each month between (i) 1 January and 31 May 2013 and (ii) 1 January and 31 May 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    Table A sets out the requested information in respect of how many telephone
    calls were received during the requested periods.

    Table B shows income received in fees for premium and fast track services.

    Table C provides information on the number of full time equivalent staff
    employed by HM passport Office on 31 December for each of the years from 2010 –
    2013.

    Table D sets out the number of first time passport applications and the number
    of passport renewals received during each month between January 2013 and May
    2014.

    In the period between 1 January and 31 May 2014, 31,188 straightforward
    passport applications processed by Her Majesty’s Passport Office were not
    processed within the 3-week target.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Student Loans Company database has been used for purposes of maximising student registration.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that the Student Loans Company (SLC) database was used during two data matching pilot projects which were organised by the Cabinet Office and evaluated by the Commission.

    These pilots aimed to test the usefulness of giving Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) access to information held on national, public databases in order to improve the accuracy and completeness of their electoral register by identifying unregistered people.

    In their evaluation of both pilots the Commission concluded that the Student Loans Company data was of limited use in identifying unregistered people.

    The Commission’s two evaluation reports can be found here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/146836/Data-matching-pilot-evaluation.pdf

    http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/156189/Data-mining-pilot-evaluation-report.pdf

    “

  • Michael McCann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Michael McCann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael McCann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much public interest lawyers have received in legal aid for cases against the Home Office in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases against the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. Opponents are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.

    The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past ten tears were:

    Financial Year

    Net Payments

    FY2003-2004

    £139,620.72

    FY2004-2005

    £158,282.52

    FY2005-2006

    £251,844.27

    FY2006-2007

    £299,667.99

    FY2007-2008

    £577,263.60

    FY2008-2009

    £628,527.75

    FY2009-2010

    £267,433.88

    FY2010-2011

    £439,268.02

    FY2011-2012

    £331,238.85

    FY2012-2013

    £50,633.27

    These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.

  • Mr Russell Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mr Russell Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Russell Brown on 2014-03-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the average weekly hours worked since the first quarter of 2008 to date.

    Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the EU on firearms’ control and the European Firearms’ Pass.

    Norman Baker

    Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of
    international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public
    and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
    Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis
    and are subsequently published on the Gov.uk website:
    http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office

  • Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-03-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many non-EU students (a) came to the UK and (b) departed the UK in the last period for which figures are available.

    Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of traffic jams.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    This Government is investing £24 billion on strategic roads in England across this Parliament and the next six years. This includes £317 million, before April 2015, on Highways Agency pinch point schemes tackling congestion and supporting economic growth. We are also providing, before April 2015, £265 million from the Local Pinch Point Fund for 112 projects across England aimed at relieving congestion and supporting economic growth.

    In England, subject to approval, ‘Permit Schemes’ are available to local authorities in England so that anyone wanting to dig up the road must first apply for a permit to work. This provision gives authorities the power to better challenge how long those works take, to impose conditions, and to co-ordinate works. They can also charge ‘over-run’ charges to utility companies. The Department is also currently trialling Lane Rental in two highway authority areas, which enables them to charge for works taking place on the busiest roads at the busiest times.

    Outside of England, measures to reduce the incidence of traffic jams are a matter for the respective devolved administration.

  • Jenny Chapman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jenny Chapman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2014-03-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Darlington constituency currently receive independent living fund payments.

    Mike Penning

    The Independent Living Fund records data by post code or local authority rather than by constituency and therefore, does not hold the information in the format requested. As at 13 March 2014 there are 63 ILF recipients in the area covered by Darlington Borough Council.

    The ILF publishes data by local authority quarterly on its website: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/ilf/publications/corporate-publications/statistics/index.shtml

    “

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much of the Government’s Council Tax Relief Fund for people whose homes have been flooded has been (a) allocated to local authorities and (b) received by residents to date.

    Brandon Lewis

    As at 2 June 2014, 4,031 households were in receipt of a council tax discount from their local authority as a result of the impact of flooding. There are no set or advance allocations to councils. The fund works by councils retrospectively claiming back the cost of the council tax relief (in the same way, for example, as the Bellwin Scheme has always worked). Local authorities recently submitted the first round of claims for reimbursement. Subject to data checking, we expect reimbursement payments in the region of £1.8 million to be made shortly.

    Further information on the available flood support schemes is available on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flood-support-package-for-homeowners-and-businesses

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