The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rooker on 2014-06-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to move responsibility for planning policy to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
No.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-06-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to continue enforced removals to Mogadishu, Somalia, pending the publication of an official decision on the country guidance case and an official statement by the Home Secretary; and, if so, why.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
There are no existing court judgments that have found that all removals to Somalia are unsafe or should be suspended. An existing country guidance judgment promulgated in November 2011 recognised that many but not all Somalis returning to the country after a significant time abroad would be at risk on return. However, the determination also recognised that the country situation was improving and each case needed to be considered on its individual merits.
We are awaiting a country guidance determination on the country situation in Somalia. However, the High Court has previously ruled that automatic stays on removal simply because a country guidance case is pending are not necessary. A stay of removal is at the discretion of the courts in each particular case and on its own facts.
We will continue to assess each case on its individual merits against the latest country information and existing, relevant caselaw.
We will only enforce the return of Somali nationals who we, and the courts, are satisfied are not at risk on return and who do not elect to leave voluntarily.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mel Stride on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on increasing the number and quality of apprenticeships for 16 to 18 year olds.
Matthew Hancock
We are on track to deliver 2 million apprenticeships over this Parliament.
We continue to focus on quality, insisting that all apprenticeships are jobs, have a minimum duration of a year, include on the job training and meet the needs of employers. As a result the number of ‘full’ 16-18 apprenticeship starts – those with a planned duration of a year – have doubled.
Apprenticeship reforms will further increase quality and simplify the system, making it easier and more desirable for employers to offer more apprenticeships in the future.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they have made to support press freedoms in Sudan; and what role they consider such freedoms can play in the promotion of the National Dialogue process.
Baroness Warsi
Freedom of expression and an independent media are vital components of a genuinely open and transparent National Dialogue process. Our Embassy in Khartoum regularly raises this in discussions with the Sudanese Authorities, and jointly with the British Council is funding the Thompson Foundation programme to build capacity for Sudanese journalism. Examples include media training and a sponsored visit to London by Sudanese newspaper editors. During his visit to Sudan in January the Minister for Africa, my Hon Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mr Simmonds), met Sudanese journalists and editors and stressed to senior members of the Sudanese government the importance of open democratic space and respect for fundamental freedoms.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thornton on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what monitoring they are conducting on the effect of the increase in tribunal costs on cases being brought concerning harassment in the workplace.
Lord Faulks
The Justice Secretary is committed to reviewing the impact of the introduction of fees in the employment tribunals system. The Ministry of Justice is currently finalising arrangements for the timing and scope of this review, to enable the impacts to be properly assessed, and we will be making an announcement in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the dismissal of the United Kingdom’s challenge to the proposed financial transaction tax at the European Court of Justice, whether they have any plans to re-examine the extent of European Union competence in respect of United Kingdom taxation; and whether they consider that the application of such a tax would trigger a referendum under the terms of the European Union Act 2011.
Lord Deighton
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruling on 30 April deemed the UK challenge to the FTT was premature, but confirmed that the Government could challenge a future FTT Implementing Directive.
The introduction of the FTT under the Enhanced Cooperation Procedure would not be a relevant transfer of sovereignty or power for the purpose of the “referendum lock” in the UK’s EU Referendum Act.
The extent of European Union competence in respect of United Kingdom taxation was set out in the Balance of Competences Review, published 22 July 2013, and available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/taxation-report-review-of-the-balance-of-competences.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the proposed reduction in the salaries of dental foundation trainees will have on the financial circumstances of young dentists.
Earl Howe
The Department is still considering the responses received to the recent consultation on the dental foundation trainee salary. One of the factors the Department will take into consideration will be the impact the proposed change will have on the financial circumstances of trainee dentists.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Priti Patel on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding from the public purse was provided to support victims’ services in each of the last 10 years.
Damian Green
The Government is committed to ensuring victims of crime are fully supported and is making more money available than ever before for victims’ services. The table below shows the funding provided by the Ministry of Justice to organisations supporting victims of crime since the Department was formed in 2007.
|
Financial Year |
Total funding to victim’s services1 |
|
2007/08 |
£38.17m |
|
2008/09 |
£39.32m |
|
2009/10 |
£40.52m |
|
2010/11 |
£48.43m |
|
2011/12 |
£49.6m |
|
2012/13 |
£50.45m |
|
2013/14 |
£55.57m2 |
1 includes receipts from offenders through the Victim Surcharge (since 2007/08), increased Penalty Notices for Disorder and motoring Fixed Penalty Notices (since 2013/14), and Prisoners’ Earning Act Income (since 2011/12).
2This figure does not include the PEA contribution as this has not yet been finalised and published. In addition, £20.8 million was made available to Police and Crime Commissioners in 2013/14, because it was provided late in the financial year only £4.95m of funding was able to be spent, however, the unspent amount remains available for PCCs to spend in 2014/15. Additionally, a small number of payments due to be made in 2013/14 had to be accrued for and were paid at the beginning of 2014/15.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment she has made of the gender balance amongst chairs and presidents of (a) learned societies and (b) research councils.
Mr David Willetts
The National Academies, the UK’s leading learned societies, are independent, self-governing bodies. Ministers have no role in Academy appointments but we encourage them to embed equality and diversity in everything they do. Professor Dame Ann Dowling is expected to be confirmed as the first female President of the Royal Academy of Engineering in September. The current Presidents of the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Society of Biology are all female.
Ministers in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) appoint Chairs to the Research Councils and these appointments are regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. BIS Ministers are committed to the principle of public appointments on merit through an open and transparent process and to providing equal opportunities for all, irrespective of race, age, disability, gender, marital status, religion, sexual orientation, transgender and working patterns. There are seven Research Councils, the Chairs of which are currently male. The Research Councils are committed to improving diversity in their public appointments and held a workshop in March 2014 to agree an action plan to increase the diversity of each Council. The action plan will be published on the RCUK website and disseminated to all Council members.
The BIS Board, which provides collective strategic leadership of the Department, has endorsed a plan of activity and a number of actions to help the Department not only to improve its position on gender-diversity during 2014/15 but to reinforce its continued commitment to attracting a strong and diverse field of candidates to public appointments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2014-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many approved partners of the Start Up Loans programme there are in each region.
Matthew Hancock
The number of approved partners of the Start Up Loans programme by region are as follows:
England (National): 15
Greater London: 11
North West: 8
North East: 4
East Of England: 2
Yorkshire And Humberside: 6
West Midlands: 5
East Midlands: 4
South East: 4
South West: 2
Northern Ireland: 5
Wales: 6
Scotland: 5