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  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of the overseas aid budget is being used to help combat the spread and treatment of HIV and Aids; and in which countries.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The UK government’s expenditure on HIV is provided through: UK government contributions to multilateral and global initiatives that work on HIV prevention and treatment; HIV-specific bilateral projects and programmes; bilateral support to health systems and service delivery; and by supporting HIV related research.

    The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is the principal mechanism the UK uses to finance our contribution to combat HIV. The UK has pledged up to £1 billion to the Global Fund over the next three years, of which around 50 per cent will be spent on HIV. In 2012/13 the UK provided £90.4 million to HIV-specific bilateral projects and programmes, supporting HIV prevention and treatment in 17 countries and across a number of regional programmes. Further details of these projects and programmes are available in the 2013 review of the HIV Position Paper “Towards Zero Infections" https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/261341/Towards_Zero_Infections_-_Two_Years_On_22_November_FINAL_word_version.pdf.

    Details of the total expenditure on health are published in Statistics on International Development (SID) which is available in the House Library or online at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-international-development.

    “

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the code governing detention of teenagers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act will be redrafted to ensure that 17 year olds in custody are treated as teenagers by the police.

    Damian Green

    I refer the Hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the Minister for Modern Slavery and Organised Crime of 8th April 2014, Official Report , Column 202W.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the budgets for criminal justice and emergency services will be devolved to Police and Crime Commissioners; and what the total budget is that Police and Crime Commissioners will inherit.

    Damian Green

    There are no current plans to transfer responsibility, and the budgets, for the criminal justice system or the emergency services to Police and Crime Commissioners.

    The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act contains a duty to cooperate for Police and Crime Commissioners and criminal justice partners which – although broad – sets the framework for Commissioners to play a substantial local leadership role. Commissioners are taking a prominent role in local justice matters and are, for example, taking seats (sometimes even as Chair) at their local criminal justice boards.

    The Government is further extending the remit of PCCs who will assume responsibility for commissioning local victims’ services in October 2014 – complementing their other responsibilities to respond to local views and needs when drawing up plans to cut crime.

    The Government is also driving collaboration between local emergency services to deliver more effective services and better value for money for the public. We are providing funding through the Home Office Police Innovation Fund and DCLG’s Transformation Challenge Award and Fire Transformation Fund to support emergency services collaboration projects.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces (a) handed over evidence relating to the Hillsborough disaster and (b) contacted the Independent Police Complaints Commission to inform it that they did not have any evidence relating to the Hillsborough disaster.

    Mrs Theresa May

    I wrote to all Chief Constables in England and Wales on 4 March 2014 to request
    that all police forces search their records to establish whether they possess
    any material that relates to the Hillsborough tragedy. The purpose of the
    letter was to assist the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and
    Operation Resolve in recovering any material which had not already been
    provided. I understand that all forces have now responded to the IPCC and I am
    aware that the IPCC is currently assessing these responses. I am expecting a full
    report from them in due course.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria are used to decide in which countries to have UK consular and visa offices.

    James Brokenshire

    Decisions regarding the location of our visa application centres, and the
    places in which the applications are decided, are based on a number of
    different factors, including geography, security issues, distribution of
    demand, political and economic impacts, as well as the financial cost. The
    Home Office uses commercial partners to help run its network of visa
    application centres, which are the customer-facing end of the service. Under
    new contracts which came into effect on 1 April, we will have 340 visa
    application points in 142 countries around the world. Applications submitted at visa
    application centres are then sent to one of our 32 decision-making hubs for
    consideration.

    On the Consular side, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) supports
    British nationals through the Diplomatic network of 220 Posts around the world, in 170
    countries. They also have a network of 230 Honorary Consuls who provide
    support in places where the UK is not otherwise represented. Having consular
    partners present in countries where the UK is not represented ensures British
    nationals have immediate access to assistance. There are only three countries
    in the world where there is no in country consular representation by the UK or
    any of our main consular partners (EU, Australia, Canada, US or New Zealand).

    These are Palau, Sao Tome & Principe and Tuvalu. In these cases, UK Travel
    Advice instructs British nationals to seek assistance when needed through the
    nearest country with British diplomatic representation: Philippines, Angola and
    Fiji respectively. The FCO currently advise against all travel to Syria and
    warn British nationals who travel there that the FCO will not be able to
    provide them with any assistance. The FCO also advise against all but
    essential travel to Iran and advise British nationals to seek assistance from
    any EU Member State present in the country.

  • Margaret Beckett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Margaret Beckett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Beckett on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many family visit visa applications to the UK were made between June 2013 and December 2013; and how many such applications were (a) granted, (b) refused, (c) withdrawn, (d) lapsed and (e) given the right to appeal.

    James Brokenshire

    From the 1st of June until the 31st of December 2013 there were 149,995
    applications for family visit visas. Of those applications:

    • 111,990 were issued
    • 37,370 were refused
    • 65 were lapsed
    • 330 were withdrawn
    • 4,570 were given the right to appeal

    These figures are based upon management information, and have been rounded to
    the nearest 5. Until the 24th June 2013, any family visit visa that was refused
    was given a right of appeal against that decision. The numbers above reflect
    this change to appeal rights.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time is between the expiry of a visa and (a) the person voluntarily leaving the country and (b) the forcible removal of the visa holder.

    James Brokenshire

    The information requested is not available.

  • Sir John Randall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sir John Randall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir John Randall on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make a comparative assessment of the sources, reliability and mutual compatibility of the statistics on the number of human trafficking victims from Albania given in parliamentary written answers and in the annual reports of the National Crime Agency.

    Karen Bradley

    A comparative assessment has been made.

    Parliamentary questions regularly ask for specific details about suspected
    victims of trafficking referred to the trafficking victim support service
    operated by The Salvation Army.

    The source of this data is The Salvation Army records.

    The National Crime Agency (NCA) publishes statistics each year on the number of
    potential victims who have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism.

    The source of this data is the NCA records.

    The two sets of figures measure slightly different things but are mutually
    compatible.

    Not all of the potential victims who are referred to the National Referral
    Mechanism will then be referred to The Salvation Army for victim support. Some
    might not receive a positive reasonable grounds decision and others might not
    want Government-funded support.

    We would therefore expect the number of cases referred to the National Referral
    Mechanism, reported by the NCA, to be higher than the number of cases referred
    to The Salvation Army for victim support, reported by the regular Parliamentary
    questions.

    This is borne out by our comparative assessment. The table below lists the PQs
    that have requested data about the numbers of potential victims referred to The
    Salvation Army, and lists the number of Albanian victims supported each month.

    In total, this data indicates that there were 139 Albanian adult victims
    referred to The Salvation Army for victim support in 2013 in England and Wales.

    This is lower than the 208 potential adult Albanian victims who were originally
    referred to the National Referral Mechanism in 2013 from England and Wales, as
    reported in the NCA’s annual report.

    Month

    MP

    Hansard Reference

    No. of Albanian Victims Supported

    January

    Tony Baldry

    14 February 2013, c866W

    5

    February

    Amber Rudd

    11 March 2013, c33W

    9

    March

    Margot James

    3 June 2013, c925W

    7

    April

    Robert Buckland

    3 June 2013, c927W

    14

    May

    David Simpson

    19 June 2013, c712W

    10

    June

    Chris Ruane

    10 July 2013, c276W

    9

    July

    Fiona Bruce

    6 February 2014, c325W

    12

    August

    Caroline Spelman

    28 October 2013, c358W

    9

    September

    Peter Bone

    14 October 2013, c512W

    16

    October

    Fiona Bruce

    3 December 2013, c613W

    23

    November

    John Randall

    9 January 2014, c277W

    17

    December

    Frank Field

    14 January 2014, c481W

    8

    TOTAL

    139

  • Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces failed to meet her Department’s deadline of 4 April 2014 for handing over to the Independent Police Complaints Commission any evidence relating to the Hillsborough disaster.

    Mrs Theresa May

    I wrote to all Chief Constables in England and Wales on 4 March 2014 to request
    that all police forces search their records to establish whether they possess
    any material that relates to the Hillsborough tragedy. The purpose of the
    letter was to assist the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and
    Operation Resolve in recovering any material which had not already been
    provided. I understand that all forces have now responded to the IPCC and I am
    aware that the IPCC is currently assessing these responses. I am expecting a
    full report from them in due course.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK Government Ministers have visited Lesotho since 2010.

    Mark Simmonds

    I visited Lesotho in March 2013 as part of a larger tour of the Southern African region. My visit to Lesotho was the first bilateral Ministerial visit to the Kingdom since 2002. I was delighted that the Prime Minister of Lesotho was able to visit the UK between 4-9 April, further strengthening bilateral relations and the ongoing links between our two countries. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) and I both enjoyed meeting the Prime Minister of Lesotho during his visit to the UK.