Blog

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to support the work of the UN High Level Panel on Access to Medicines; with reference to the Prime Minister’s comments on the pharmaceutical industry to the BBC on 2 July 2014, what recent assessment she has made of the steps to take to resolve market failure related to the development of new classes of antibiotics in that industry; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK is committed to ensuring access to low cost, effective medicines in the developing world, providing a range of significant inputs to increasing access to essential medicines.

    We support the provision of essential medicines and other health products through innovative global partnerships such as the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), UNITAID, GAVI and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). We work to strengthen systems weaknesses, such as weak supply chains or poor procurement, which deter private investment, keep medicines prices high or lead to misuse or waste of medicines. We also place a great emphasis on research and development of new vaccines, medicines and diagnostics for conditions that affect millions of poor people. A new £1 billion fund – the Ross Fund – was recently announced with the aim of developing, testing and delivering a range of new products to help combat the world’s most serious diseases, such as malaria, Ebola and TB in developing countries.

    Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance is a key priority for this Government. We are awaiting the final report of the O’Neill Independent Review on Antimicrobial Resistance later this month and the Department of Health will then lead a cross-Government response.

    We support the aims of the UN High Level Panel on Access to Medicines. For it to fulfil its potential to improve access to affordable and quality medicines, including antibiotics, it will need to take a balanced approach, building on the WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action and engaging with existing global partnerships, and use its influence to galvanise Member States, public and private sectors around a common approach to this important issue.

  • Kirsty Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Kirsty Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will make information on the House of Commons annunciator available online in real time.

    Tom Brake

    The House is currently completing a procurement process to replace the software system which enables publication of information on the annunciator service. The solution has been specified in such a way that the data will be available in an open format. The information will be published in real time and made available to connected devices.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 21679, when her Department’s investigations into applications for family reunion from Kuwaiti Bidoon people were initiated; when she expects those investigations to be concluded; whether there is a maximum length of time for which a decision will not be taken on the outstanding applications in that cohort; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    In 2014, UK Visas & Immigration in Jordan became aware of potential abuse of the Family Reunion route by individuals claiming to be the dependants of someone granted refugee status in the UK as a Kuwaiti Bidoon. Investigations commenced at this time.

    UK Visas & Immigration has concluded the majority of the applications referenced in the response to Question 21679 and continues to work through those applications that have not yet been concluded.

    UK Visas & Immigration aims to resolve all applications for UK entry clearance within published customer service standards. Where there is a problem with an individual application or if it is complex, UK Visas & Immigration write to the affected applicant to explain why the application will not be decided within the normal standard. All outstanding applications for UK entry clearance from family members of individuals granted refugee status as a Kuwaiti Bidoon which have not been concluded within published customer service standards are currently being prioritised.

  • Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who on the Government’s warnings index is known to have travelled to which destinations during the Semaphore eBorders system national power outage in June 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    Home Office systems are used for the purposes of border and national security and the detection and prevention of crime. It is longstanding policy not to discuss the specific data held on these systems, the source of the data or how it is used for national security reasons.

  • Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to consider the final report of the Home Affairs Committee’s planned inquiry into asylum accommodation before she makes her decision on whether to extend Compass asylum accommodation to 2019.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Secretary will consider the Home Affairs Committee’s report on their planned inquiry into asylum accommodation when it is published.

    The timing of any decision to extend the COMPASS contracts is subject to ongoing discussions with providers and is commercially sensitive. In deciding whether to extend the contract the Home Office will take a number of things into account, including the performance of the contracts and the value for money that they offer to the taxpayer.

  • Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) single adult men, (b) single adult women, (c) families and (d) single-parent families were in receipt of support under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 at the end of 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office publishes statistics on those supported under section 95, as at the end of each quarter, in the quarterly Immigration Statistics release.

    Of the 34,363 main applicants that were supported under section 95 as at the end of December 2015, 12,561 were single adults. Where the gender of the main applicant is recorded, 9,987 were males and 2,135 were females.

    There were 6,456 families supported under section 95 as at the end of December 2015. It is not possible to identify single parent families from the published statistics.

    The figures provided are published in table as_17_q, in volume 4 of the Immigration Statistics asylum data tables. The data provided by gender are a subset of published figures. The latest release, Immigration Statistics September to December 2015, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a public inquiry related to the miners’ strike and events at Orgreave in 1984.

    Mrs Theresa May

    I am currently considering a submission from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign containing their extensive and detailed arguments for establishing a public inquiry into the events at Orgreave and will set out the Government’s position in the near future.

  • Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to publish asylum support statistics by gender as part of the Government’s quarterly immigration statistics.

    James Brokenshire

    The information published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics is kept under review, taking into account the needs of users, burdens on suppliers and producers, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. There are currently no plans to publish data relating to asylum support statistics by gender.

    Statistics on asylum seekers in receipt of Section 95, Section 4 or Section 98 support are available in Tables as_16_q, as_17_q and as_18_q of the quarterly Immigration Statistics release, available here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015

  • Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keir Starmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times the Semaphore eBorders system has been affected by a national power outage since 6 May 2010; and when each of those power outages (a) started and (b) ended.

    James Brokenshire

    For reasons of national security we do not comment on operational issues relating to border security systems.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36490, for what reason information on the number of (a) EU and (b) non-EU nationals refused entry to the UK in each year prior to 2004 is not available.

    James Brokenshire

    Data on passengers initially refused entry to the UK were not collected by the Home Office prior to 2004.