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  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unsuccessful refugee family reunion applications during the last three years were rejected on the basis of the child being 18 years or older.

    James Brokenshire

    The family reunion policy allows those granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK to sponsor their pre-flight family members, i.e. spouse or partner and children under the age of 18, who formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country, to reunite with them in the UK.

    Information on the applicant’s relationship with their sponsor is not collated centrally. As such it is not possible to identify how many applicants have applied for family reunion as adult children aged 18 or over or what the outcome was.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has service standards in place for considering fee waiver applications.

    James Brokenshire

    There are no service standards for fee waiver applications.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was to decide applications for the change of conditions of leave granted on the basis of family or private life during the last 12 months.

    James Brokenshire

    The average time taken between January 2015 and December 2015 to consider whether an application meets the requirements to change a condition code is 83 calendar days.

    January 2015 – December 2015 was taken as the 12 month time frame to fall in line with data that is published.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was to decide fee waiver applications in the last 12 months.

    James Brokenshire

    The average time taken between January 2015 and December 2015 to consider whether an application meets the fee waiver requirements is 95 calendar days. These results represent the time taken with both asylum and non asylum based fee waiver considerations.

    January 2015 – December 2015 was taken as the 12 month time frame to fall in line with data that is published.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to publish the outcome of its consultation with local authorities on the resettling of child refugees under the Immigration Act 2016.

    James Brokenshire

    The UK Government takes it’s responsibility in all cases involving children seriously and we will continue to ensure that all unaccompanied children are provided with appropriate care, regardless of their route to the UK.

    It is important that we work with local authorities to understand their capacity to support all unaccompanied children and ensure their needs can be met. That is why my officials are working closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education to ensure consultation with local authorities is consistent and coordinated across all resettlement and relocation programmes. Consultation with local government partners will take place over the coming weeks and Parliament will be updated in due course.

    We are keen to ensure that there is a more equitable distribution of unaccompanied children across the UK and that no local authority is required to take more children than they can support.

    The Home Office provides funding to local authorities for the care of unaccompanied asylum seeking children and recently announced new enhanced rates to support the transfer scheme. We will continue to measure the impacts on local authorities, but are clear that funding for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and refugees must be aligned, regardless of the route of entry for the child.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding his Department will make available for Public Health England’s awareness campaign on the symptoms of serious infections; and what proportion of that funding will be spent on sepsis awareness.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department funds Public Health England to undertake a range of social marketing campaigns to support behaviour change and public awareness. This work will be funded within the annual budget as will the work on other infections, such as influenza, as well as non-infectious diseases. Further planning work will be undertaken to determine the budget for this activity.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report of Surrogacy UK, Surrogacy in the UK: Myth busting and reform, published on 28 April 2016, if he will take steps to publish a legal pathway document for intended parents and surrogates.

    Jane Ellison

    Surrogacy is a complex issue, the legislation about which has not been significantly addressed by respective administrations since the Surrogacy Arrangements Act was introduced in 1985. The Government recognises the arguments for the need for a review, and we have therefore asked the Law Commission, as part of the consultation on its 13th work programme this summer, to consider including a project on surrogacy.

    The Department has not issued guidance about surrogacy to professional groups or the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). The Government recognises surrogacy as an important option for some people wishing to start a family and is currently considering how best to clarify the current legal arrangements for intended parents, surrogates and their families. The CAFCASS campaign to increase awareness of Parental Orders is ongoing and targeted at health workers, local authority registration staff and surrogacy agencies. It will be evaluated in full upon completion in autumn 2016; in-campaign monitoring indicates its messaging is reaching the target audience.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS has incurred in costs for legal advice and representations at inquests, by cause of death, in each year since 2010.

    Ben Gummer

    This information is not available centrally.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason his Department decided not to proceed with the launch of a public consultation on pre-exposure prophylaxis; and when that decision was taken.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England is in the process of reconsidering its decision in relation to the commissioning of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) by the end of May. The outcome of the decision will be communicated by NHS England with stakeholders following the meeting and will determine whether NHS England will then conduct any form of public consultation on the commissioning of PrEP.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department exceeded its expenditure limit in 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    Confirmation of the spending outturn against all expenditure limits will be provided in the Department of Health’s Annual Report and Accounts 2015-16, due to be published in July 2016.