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  • Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many representatives from (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales attended each meeting of the Community Engagement Forum to date.

    Karen Bradley

    In his speech on countering extremism on 20 July, the Prime MInister said that he wanted to hear directly from all those in our society who are tackling extremism. The Community Engagement Forum is one of the ways the Prime Minister plans to do this. The Forum provides a platform for people to share their experiences and learn from each other. Attendance varies from meeting to meeting to ensure Ministers can hear from a wide range of people.

    To date, the Community Engagement Forum has met on 13 October 2015 and 19 November 2015. The attendees have been from a wide range of backgrounds and were representing interests at both a local and national level.

    Further Forums are planned for 2016.

  • Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings of the Community Engagement Forum have taken place in 2015 to date; and how many such meetings are planned in the next 12 months.

    Karen Bradley

    In his speech on countering extremism on 20 July, the Prime MInister said that he wanted to hear directly from all those in our society who are tackling extremism. The Community Engagement Forum is one of the ways the Prime Minister plans to do this. The Forum provides a platform for people to share their experiences and learn from each other. Attendance varies from meeting to meeting to ensure Ministers can hear from a wide range of people.

    To date, the Community Engagement Forum has met on 13 October 2015 and 19 November 2015. The attendees have been from a wide range of backgrounds and were representing interests at both a local and national level.

    Further Forums are planned for 2016.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether additional financial support is available to local authorities who participate in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme to assist them with housing Syrian refugees.

    Richard Harrington

    The first 12 months of each refugee’s resettlement costs are met from the UK’s overseas aid budget. At the Spending Review, government committed £129m to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This is a substantial level of funding which will enable local authorities to support these vulnerable people as they rebuild their lives in safe and secure surroundings, among supportive communities in the UK.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, from which countries the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme accepts UNHCR referrals.

    Richard Harrington

    We work closely with the UNHCR to identify cases that they deem in need of resettlement. We take refugees that UNHCR have referred from the region, from Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt. This provides refugees with a more direct and safe route to the UK, rather than risking the hazardous journey to Europe.

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of 16 November 2015, Official Report, column 393, on the Paris terrorist attacks, what capabilities for Border Force maritime aerial surveillance are needed; and whether those capabilities are fewer than under the present contract.

    James Brokenshire

    For security reasons we do not disclose details of the surveillance capabilities available to Border Force. Border Force will ensure it retains appropriate air surveillance capabilities to meet continuing operational needs.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury on whether people resettled in the UK under the vulnerable persons programme will be able to access banking services.

    Richard Harrington

    Refugees who are resettled under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme are granted a five year humanitarian protection visa and can therefore access banking services in the UK.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Disclosure and Barring Service checks for (a) standard and (b) enhanced exceeded the eight week target for issuing in the last 12 months.

    Karen Bradley

    Between 1 November 2014 and 30 October 2015, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) issued over 4.19 million certificates. Of these, 6 per cent of enhanced and 0.1 per cent of standard certificates were issued after eight weeks.

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Police and Crime Commissioners have powers to instruct the police to impose fines on motorists found to be travelling at 71 mph in 70 mph zones.

    Mike Penning

    How the police enforce road traffic law, including in respect of speeding offences, is a matter for their professional judgement and operational discretion.

    Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) do not have powers to instruct the police in operational policing matters. The operational independence of the police is a fundamental principle of British policing. The Policing Protocol Order 2011, which sets out how the relationship between PCCs and Chief Constables should work, is explicit when it states that “At all times the Chief Constable, their constables and staff, remain operationally independent in the service of the communities that they serve.”

    Regardless of the PCC in office, the police have the discretion to use their judgment when deciding who to investigate or arrest, and must by law be wholly without influence of the PCC in respect of operational policing.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she intends to respond to the report of the Children’s Commissioner, Protecting children from harm, published in November 2015.

    Karen Bradley

    The report captures the findings from the first part of the Children’s Commissioner’s inquiry into child sexual abuse in the family environment. The Government will give careful consideration to the findings of the full inquiry when it is completed in December 2016.

  • Toby Perkins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Toby Perkins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to exempt people with long-term serious conditions from prescription charges for repeated renewals of their medication.

    Alistair Burt

    A person is entitled to apply for a medical exemption certificate exempting them from the prescription charge if they suffer from:

    – a permanent fistula (including caecostomy, colostomy, laryngostomy, or ileostomy) requiring continuous surgical dressing or requires an appliance

    – forms of hypoadrenalism (including Addison’s disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential

    – diabetes insipidus or other forms of hypopituitarism

    – diabetes mellitus (except where treatment of the diabetes is by diet alone)

    – hypoparathyroidism

    – myasthenia gravis

    – myxoedema

    – epilepsy requiring continuous anti-convulsive therapy

    – continuing physical disability which prevents the patient from leaving their residence without the help of another person

    – they are undergoing treatment for cancer, the effects of cancer or the effects of cancer treatment.

    There are no plans to change this list.

    Other extensive exemption arrangements are in place, in England, including those based on income, which support those who cannot afford to pay for their prescriptions. For those who need multiple prescriptions and do not qualify for exemption, Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPC) can be purchased, which allow someone to claim as many prescriptions as needed. A 12 month PPC costs £104 and benefits anyone who needs 13 or more prescriptions a year.