The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-03-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the penalties for driving a motor vehicle without insurance.
Baroness Kramer
If taken to court, an offender faces a maximum fine of up to £5,000 and up to 8 penalty points on his/her driving licence.
There is a fixed penalty of £300 for this offence which also carries 6 penalty points.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-03-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, during the shortlisting of the bid from Keolis and Eurostar to operate the East Coast Main Line franchise, they made representations to the government of France in respect of allowing United Kingdom companies to bid for passenger franchises on the French rail network.
Baroness Kramer
The UK Government continues to support the opening of rail markets across the European Union.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2014-03-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to recognise passports issued by Russia to residents of Crimea following the annexation of that territory from Ukraine as valid travel documents.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
The Government is clear that the UK does not recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea which we view as illegal.
Some residents of Crimea already hold Russian nationality, and were in possession of a valid Russian passport before Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. Subject to any travel ban imposed upon an individual, the UK will continue to recognise any legitimate holder of a Russian passport with a valid UK visa or entry clearance as eligible to travel and seek entry to the UK.
In terms of UK visa applications, those applying for visitor visas can apply at any location. Applications for visas in other categories should, in line with paragraph 28 of the Immigration rules, be made in the country or territory in which they are living. Therefore, Russian passport holders living in Crimea would be able to apply for a visit visa anywhere in the world, including Russia; but any non-visit applications would need to be made in Ukraine.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2014-03-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the compatibility of Feronia’s registration in the Cayman Islands with sustainable economic development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Baroness Northover
CDC is a public limited company with an independent Board and takes individual investment decisions independent of DFID. Information about the investment and its expected development impact is available on CDC’s website http://cdcgroup.com/Media/News/CDC-invests-US181m-in-agribusiness-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo/.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2014-03-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the work of Feronia fits with the National Development Strategy of the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Baroness Northover
CDC is a public limited company with an independent Board and takes individual investment decisions independent of DFID. Information about the investment and its expected development impact is available on CDC’s website http://cdcgroup.com/Media/News/CDC-invests-US181m-in-agribusiness-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo/.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2014-03-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what development impacts are expected from the use of United Kingdom official development assistanceto purchase part of the agribusiness company Feronia through CDC.
Baroness Northover
CDC is a public limited company with an independent Board and takes individual investment decisions independent of DFID. Information about the investment and its expected development impact is available on CDC’s website http://cdcgroup.com/Media/News/CDC-invests-US181m-in-agribusiness-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo/.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2014-03-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the current legislation against female genital mutilation provides sufficient protection against the practice, whether carried out in the United Kingdom or abroad.
Lord Faulks
The Government is committed to tackling and preventing the harmful and unacceptable practice of female genital mutilation.
The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 extended significantly the protection that the law affords to victims of this unacceptable practice. However, to deal with perpetrators of these offences, cases must be reported to the police and the evidential and public interest tests for prosecution must be met. At the time of mutilation, victims may be too young and vulnerable, or too afraid, to report offences. They may also be reluctant to implicate family members. These barriers to prosecution cannot easily be overcome. Therefore it is important to find ways of building a case that do not necessarily rely on the testimony of child victims.
As part of cross-government work, the Ministry of Justice is already considering suggestions made by the Director of Public Prosecutions for strengthening the criminal law on female genital mutilation to make successful prosecutions more likely.
We welcome the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into this area and will give careful consideration to any additional recommendations for legislative change that may be made by the Committee when it reports in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2014-03-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many former unaccompanied children who have exhausted their appeal rights have been served with removal directions in each of the last five years, and to date in 2014.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
For the purpose of answering this question, ‘unaccompanied children’ has been interpreted as unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
The following table gives data on the number of removal directions (RD) set for formerunaccompanied asylum seeking children who have exhausted their appeal rights from 2009 to 2013.
|
Year Removal Direction was set |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
Total |
|
Individuals with Removal Direction set |
29 |
82 |
188 |
146 |
158 |
603 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2014-03-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individuals who came to the United Kingdom as unaccompanied children between 2005 and 2010 (1) eventually settled in the United Kingdom, (2) left voluntarily, and (3) were removed.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
The number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) granted indefinite leave to remain between 1st October 2006 and 31st December 2010 is 661.
Numbers of voluntary removals of UASC by year from 1st October 2006 to 31st December 2010:
|
Year of application |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
Total |
|
Total |
7 |
28 |
23 |
14 |
14 |
86 |
Numbers of enforced removals of UASC by year from 1st October 2006 to 31st December 2010:
|
Year of application |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
Total |
|
Total |
9 |
29 |
28 |
21 |
9 |
96 |
Please note:
• ‘Unaccompanied children’ have been interpreted as unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) in answering this question.
• All figures quoted above are management information which has been subject to internal quality checks.
• Data on UASC was not formally recorded on the Home Office’s Case Information Database until 1st Oct 2006.
• The above data does not necessarily relate to individuals who arrived in the UK in the period specified. The action referred to in the response may relate to a person who arrived in the UK in a previous year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2014-03-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is (a) undertaking or (b) plans to undertake a review of the check-off union subscription provision.
Mike Penning
DWP is undertaking a review of check-off, along with other Departments. We have not reached a conclusion on this matter, but it is under active consideration.