Category: Speeches

  • Keith Vaz – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many marriages were reported to the Home Office as suspicious or sham in each year since 2009.

    Karen Bradley

    Sections 24 and 24A of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 place a duty on
    registration officers to submit a report to the Home Office where they have
    reasonable grounds to suspect that a marriage or civil partnership is a sham
    being entered into for immigration purposes. Table 1 shows the
    number of section 24/24A reports received in each year since 2009. Same sex
    marriages only came into effect this year there is therefore no data relating
    to this period, or for civil partnerships before 2011.

    The Home Office Intelligence Management System (IMS) records allegations from
    the public regarding immigration-related offences. Since 30 September 2012 we
    have recorded the following numbers of reports relating to sham marriage as set
    out in Table 2.
    These figures relate to reports identified by the public as possible sham
    marriage.

    Table 1

    Year

    Number of section 24/24A reports

    Of which refer civil partnerships

    2009

    561

    2010

    934

    2011

    1,741

    28

    2012

    1,891

    28

    2013

    2135

    25

    Table 2

    Year

    Number of reports relating to sham marriage recorded on IMS

    2012 (from 30 September)

    984

    2013

    6909

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department collects on the number of (a) men and (b) women in prison who had alcohol-related issues prior to conviction.

    Jeremy Wright

    Prisoners are assessed on entry to prison for addiction problems and there is a package of support available to them. The MoJ’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme will provide individual support to all released prisoners. This will include identifying risks and needs for individual ex-prisoners, and providing services to address them.

    The Ministry of Justice does not collect these data centrally on a regular basis. However, a survey of 1,435 adult prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in 2005 and 2006 (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction – SPCR) provides self-reported estimates for each question.

    The full reports can be accessed on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr

    “

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total amount is of the financial risk provision within the Joint Strike Fighter programme budget.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The financial risk provision within the UK Joint Strike Fighter Programme has been calculated in line with Ministry of Defence policy. The Department does not publish its financial risk provision as to do so could undermine its commercial position.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people and what proportion of the working age population have been in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance for over (a) two years, (b) five years and (c) 10 years in each region of England.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is shown in the tables below.

    Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants in each Region in England by duration of claim and as a percentage of the working age population – as at August 2013

    Region

    All

    %

    Duration of 2 to 5 years

    %

    Duration of 5 to 10 years

    %

    Duration of over 10 years

    %

    North East

    77,400

    4.9

    14,330

    0.9

    300

    –

    50

    –

    North West

    166,260

    3.8

    22,990

    0.5

    1,400

    –

    180

    –

    Yorkshire and The Humber

    140,760

    4.3

    23,660

    0.7

    810

    –

    110

    –

    East Midlands

    87,700

    3.2

    12,900

    0.5

    630

    –

    40

    –

    West Midlands

    141,210

    4.2

    23,410

    0.7

    1,490

    –

    120

    –

    East of England

    93,300

    2.6

    13,370

    0.4

    420

    –

    50

    –

    London

    191,590

    3.5

    30,990

    0.6

    1,420

    –

    250

    –

    South East

    107,830

    2.1

    13,550

    0.3

    610

    –

    80

    –

    South West

    68,750

    2.2

    8,530

    0.3

    180

    –

    50

    –

    Source: DWP IGS 100% WPLS and ONS Mid-2012 Population Estimates

    Notes:

    1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages are shown rounded to one decimal place. “ – “ denotes nil or negligible.
    2. Working age population figures are defined as males aged 16-64 and females aged 16-59.

    “

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she has taken to (a) improve the security of humanitarian aid goods and workers and (b) speed up customs processes for humanitarian aid shipments in South Sudan.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The UK has been at the forefront of efforts to press for safe and unhindered access for humanitarian goods and workers in South Sudan. At the Humanitarian Conference on South Sudan in Oslo on 20 May, which was attended by both the South Sudanese Government and the Opposition, I called on all parties to facilitate safe and speedy access, including accelerated customs clearance. The FCO Minister for Africa raised humanitarian access with senior Ministers when he visited Juba in April.

    The UK is also providing practical support to help improve security. For example we are funding well-coordinated and security-aware transportation of goods and staff, including emergency air evacuations, through the World Food Programme Logistics Cluster. We are also supporting the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which works to increase understanding of, and respect for, International Humanitarian Law by all parties to the conflict. UK officials raise our concerns about the humanitarian situation and the need to improve access regularly in Juba and Addis Ababa.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Executive on the closure of the Independent Living Fund.

    Mike Penning

    The devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland have been informed of the decision to close the Independent Living Fund on 30 June 2015. I will be writing to Ministers with further details shortly.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when (a) he and (b) officials in his Department first heard about allegations of misconduct at the Park View Educational Trust.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The allegations made in relation to Park View Educational Trust in Birmingham are very serious and are being investigated. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, made a statement to the House on 9 June 2014 on the allegations.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what customer, user and satisfaction surveys were conducted in the last 12 months in the Cabinet Office and the agencies that report to it; which of them have been reported to the management board in the last 12 months; and which were commissioned by the management board.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The Cabinet Office uses a range of tools and methodologies to evaluate customer feedback on products and services provided by our agencies. Results are not reported systematically to the Cabinet Office Board.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David T. C. Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will bring forward proposals to encourage households off the mains gas grid to use condensing boilers.

    Michael Fallon

    The Government fully recognises that Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and oil, like other fossil fuels, will continue to play a part in the UK’s energy mix, while the way we heat our homes changes. DECC has introduced the domestic renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme to support renewable heating systems. The domestic RHI is targeted predominately at off gas-grid households, by compensating for the additional costs faced when replacing an oil boiler with a renewable heating system. New incentives for oil and LPG boilers would undermine the balance struck in the design of the RHI, and potentially cause confusion for consumers.

    The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) will continue to support oil and LPG condensing boilers for low income and vulnerable households. By February this year around 320,000 households were helped under ECO. We are making changes to ECO to provide a greater incentive for targeting measures at off-gas grid households.

  • James Wharton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    James Wharton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Wharton on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Honours and Decorations Committee’s report from its last meeting to consider the recommendations of Sir John Holmes will go forward for final approval.

    Francis Maude

    The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) met in January 2014 and considered a number of recommendations put forward by Sir John Holmes regarding the rules for awarding military medals. The Committee’s report is now in the process of being formally approved.