The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether meetings of Rail North will be held in public.
Andrew Jones
Whether Rail North holds its meetings in public is a matter for that organisation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals work for the European External Action Service; and what proportion of the total number of employees in that service they represent.
Mr Philip Hammond
The European External Action Service (EEAS) has not published statistics on numbers of permanent staff by nationality since 2013, when a total of 133 British citizens were working for the EEAS. As of April 2015, our records show there were a total of 119 British citizens working for the European External Action Service, representing 4.8% of approximately 2500 total staff (excluding approximately 1000 local agents in Delegations) employed by the EEAS in 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will estimate how much revenue will be accrued from business rates in each local authority in each financial year to 2020.
Mr Marcus Jones
Local authority estimates of business rates yield for 2016-17 are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/500899/NNDR1_2016-17_drop_down.xlsx
Estimates for future years are not available.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will press to agree a definition of the term foreign fighter with his EU counterparts.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
I and the Home Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), have been actively working with our EU counterparts to agree an appropriate definition of the term foreign fighter. All member states agree on the need to tackle this threat and the Presidency is seized of the importance of agreeing a definition within the coming months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Berry on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps Border Force has taken to identify and assist potential victims of trafficking and modern slavery at ports across the UK.
James Brokenshire
Combating modern slavery, which includes human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour, is a leading priority for Border Force. All frontline Border Force Officers have access to comprehensive guidance on modern slavery and must complete mandatory training on identifying victims of modern slavery.
Additionally, Border Force has specialist teams at ports across the country which receive additional, in depth, training to increase their levels of expertise. This allows Border Force to maintain a high degree of vigilance to identify and protect those who may be a victim of modern slavery and to identify those seeking to exploit them. Border Force officers follow established processes and referring all identified child and consenting adult potential victims to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which acts as the UK’s identification and support process for victims.
Border Force staff also receive mandatory training also takes places on how to refer potential victims to NRM. Working in close partnership with police forces, social services and the UK Human Trafficking Centre, Border Force also carries out intelligence led exercises to tackle the threat of trafficking at the border.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Judith Cummins on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have waited longer than (a) three, (b) six and (c) 12 months for a work capability assessment from the date of making a claim for employment and support allowance in Bradford South constituency in each of the last three years.
Penny Mordaunt
Information on Employment and Support Allowance, outcomes of Work Capability Assessments and Mandatory Reconsiderations are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/statistics.
Constituency level information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-10-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether there has been a recent change to the policy that the Government would take a 25 per cent equity stake in Tata Steel’s UK assets if a sale was necessary to secure the future of UK steel.
Mr Nick Hurd
There has been no change in the Government’s policy
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about the demolition of the homes of Palestinian suspects as an act of collective punishment and deterrence.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We regularly raise the issue of demolitions with the Israeli government. Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv raised the issue most recently with the Israeli Commander of Government Activities in the Territories, General Mordechai, on 26 October, and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General on 28 October. Our Consul-General to Jerusalem also raised the issue of demolitions with the Mayor of Jerusalem on 28 October.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Stewart on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contribution the Road Investment Strategy has made to increasing the housing supply.
Andrew Jones
The Road Investment Strategy (RIS), announced in December 2014, is the biggest upgrade to England’s motorways and major ‘A’ roads in a generation. As part of the RIS, a new £100 million fund dedicated to Growth and Housing was announced. This allows Highways England to help accelerate the progress of key housing and mixed-use sites that have secured planning consent but are not progressing due to the strategic road infrastructure improvements they require.
In addition, many of the major schemes announced in the RIS support economic and housing growth. These include the A5-M1 Link Road, a new Junction 10a on the A14 at Kettering and the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme. Together, these two A14 schemes support delivery of over 20,000 homes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the size is of the area of land available for the direct commissioning site for housing at Lower Grayling Well.
Brandon Lewis
The planning process is ongoing for these sites. This will be completed in due course working closely with the local communities and local authorities.