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  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether discussions are still taking place between UK and Saudi officials under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in October 2014.

    Dominic Raab

    No work has been undertaken by the Ministry of Justice as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding. No discussions are taking place between the Ministry of Justice and Saudi officials under the terms of the Memorandum.

  • Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to provide aid to Barbados; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Barbados does not qualify for Official Development Assistance (ODA) by the Department for International Development under internationally agreed ODA criteria.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what information her Department holds on the average life expectancy for girls aged 15 in sub-Saharan Africa between 2005 and 2015.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UN Population Division estimates that total average life expectancy for fifteen year old girls in Sub-Saharan Africa was 63.53 years between 2005 and 2010 and 66.12 years between 2010 and 2015.

  • Bernard Jenkin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Bernard Jenkin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bernard Jenkin on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff in her Department are working on matters related to (a) European policy, (b) the future of Europe, (c) reform of the EU, (d) the renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU, (e) the EU referendum and (f) the consequences of the EU referendum; how many full-time equivalent staff are working on such matters; what the (i) staff and (ii) other cost of such work is; what proportion of that work is undertaken by such staff on (A) communications, (B) strategy and (C) policy; whether her Department has established any specific unit or units to deal with those matters; to whom such (1) staff and (2) units report; whether her Department has issued guidelines to staff on those matters; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for Britain and secure our future. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe, including the renegotiation and referendum.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Ross Fund will include funding to tackle HIV/AIDS; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Whilst the Ross Fund is not directly focused on HIV and AIDS, the UK continues to invest in research on HIV and AIDS. This includes research into understanding the structural drivers that can increase HIV (including gender inequality, stigma and limited livelihood opportunities), HIV prevention technologies (such as microbicides and vaccines) and studies to identify cost-effective ways to deliver HIV services.

    The Ross Fund will target infectious diseases including malaria, diseases with epidemic potential, neglected tropical diseases which affect over a billion people globally, and antimicrobial resistance which poses a substantial and growing threat to global health. The goal of the Ross fund is to develop, test and deliver a range of new products (including vaccines, drugs and diagnostics) to help combat these diseases in developing countries.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for how many asylum applications initially rejected by UK Visas and Immigration did applicants subsequently make further submissions which were more than 12 months old; how many such applicants submitted a request to be allowed to work in the UK; how many of those requests to work were rejected; and how long, on average, did it take for those accepted to be given documents confirming their right to work in each year since 2009-10.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office holds reportable information on the number of failed asylum seekers who submit a further submission and how long their case remained outstanding. Permission to work requests are documented on the immigration casework database, but the information is not extractable without interrogating thousands of individual records. Therefore, the information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications for Disclosure and Barring Service checks (a) nationally, (b) in London and (c) in Hampstead and Kilburn constituency met each of the service’s published service standards for waiting times in each year since 2012.

    Karen Bradley

    The following tables shows the proportion of applications for DBS checks that met the Published Service Standards for waiting times nationally and for applications received from people residing in London postcodes in each year since December 2012:

    Table 1: All applications nationally

    Period

    Total Apps Despatched

    21 Calendar Day Target

    21 Day Achievement

    56 Calendar Day Target

    56 Day Achievement

    Dec-12 to Mar-13

    1,223,773

    85%

    89.4%

    95%

    99.1%

    Apr-13 to Mar-14

    3,948,733

    85%

    85.2%

    95%

    97.4%

    Apr-14 to Mar-15

    4,111,856

    85%

    85.3%

    95%

    95.1%

    Apr-15 to Nov-15

    2,911,934

    85%

    86.5%

    95%

    94.9%

    Table 2: Applications from London postcodes

    Period

    Total Apps Despatched

    21 Calendar Day Target

    21 Day Achievement

    56 Calendar Day Target

    56 Day Achievement

    Dec-12 to Mar-13

    124,908

    85%

    83.4%

    95%

    98.7%

    Apr-13 to Mar-14

    398,168

    85%

    80.2%

    95%

    95.9%

    Apr-14 to Mar-15

    420,783

    85%

    81.8%

    95%

    89.0%

    Apr-15 to Nov-15

    293,549

    85%

    84.1%

    95%

    86.8%

    It is not possible to provide the figure for applications from Hampstead and Kilburn constituency as this information is not collected.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was for the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to (a) process the DBS application and either scan or return to the applicant for amendments, (b) search the Police National Computer, (c) search the Children’s Barred List where appropriate, (d) search the Adults’ Barred List where appropriate, (e) search the records held by local police where appropriate and (f) print the DBS certificate and return all necessary documentation to the applicant (i) nationally, (ii) in London and (iii) in Hampstead and Kilburn constituency in each year since 2012.

    Karen Bradley

    Table 1 shows the average number of days taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to search the Police National Computer, search the records held by local police where appropriate and to print the DBS certificate and return all necessary documentation to the applicant nationally.

    Period

    Time to Search PNC (days)

    Time to search Local Police Records (days)

    Time to Print Certificate (days)

    December -12 to March -13

    1.12

    4.22

    1.28

    April -13 to March -14

    1.64

    6.53

    1.39

    April -14 to March -15

    3.04

    7.04

    2.08

    April -15 to November -15

    2.68

    8.08

    1.74

    Table 2 shows the average number of days taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to search the Police National Computer, search the records held by local police where appropriate and to print the DBS certificate and return all necessary documentation to applicants with a London postcode.

    Period

    (b) Search PNC

    (e) Search Local Police Records

    (f) Print Certificate

    December -12 to March -13

    1.25

    5.14

    1.16

    April -13 to March -14

    1.63

    8.23

    1.28

    April -14 to March -15

    2.83

    10.78

    1.90

    April -15 to Nov-15

    2.58

    14.53

    1.60

    It is not possible to provide figures for the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency as this information is not collected.

    Figures for the average processing time for scanning and returning paper applications cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

    Checks of the Children’s barred list and the Adults’ barred list are carried out in parallel to the local police checks and data on the average time taken to conduct these checks cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the British Association for Shooting and Conservation and the Countryside Alliance on the banning of hand-guns and pistols.

    Mike Penning

    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 published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis at: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent people in other EU countries who have been convicted for murder, violent assault or rape from travelling to the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    The UK has always and will continue to operate our borders securely and enforce our immigration laws. This includes carrying out full checks on all arriving passengers in order to identify any criminal, security and immigration concerns. All passengers are checked against police, security and immigration watchlists and where we are aware of individuals who pose a risk, Border Force officers can, and do refuse them entry. However, that requires other countries to inform us of individual’s criminal histories.

    This Government has also introduced a new power to enable the UK to require entry clearance applicants to provide an overseas criminal record certificate, helping to reduce overseas offenders gaining visas to enter the UK. From 1 September 2015, Tier 1 Investor and Tier 1 Entrepreneur entry clearance applicants and their adult dependents are now required to provide a criminal record certificate from the country/countries in which they have been living for the past ten years. This will be rolled out to other categories at a later stage on a phased basis.

    The UK is leading calls in Europe to improve the sharing of criminal records information between Member States, allowing us better to identify criminals before they try and enter the UK. This includes accelerating work to develop a more comprehensive system for sharing information on non-EU nationals who receive criminal convictions within the EU. In the light of the unprecedented migratory flows into Europe, the UK is leading calls for systematic and complete identification, registration and fingerprinting of those entering the EU as well as greater sharing of information about those who pose a risk. The Home Office is also leading work to progress recommendations from a project to tackle serious offending by mobile EU criminals (SOMEC Project). This project examines the threat from offenders crossing internal EU borders who pose a risk.