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  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the average earnings for (1) men, (2) women, and (3) all individuals, aged between 22 and 24 inclusive who are in possession of a first degree and who are not in full-time education in each of the 50 most populous cities in the UK.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the average earnings for (1) men, (2) women, and (3) all individuals, aged between 22 and 24 inclusive who are in possession of a first degree and who are not in full-time education in (a) the North East, (b) the North West, (c) Yorkshire, (d) the East Midlands, (e) the West Midlands, (f) East Anglia, (g) London, (h) the South East, (i) the South West, (j) Wales, (k) Scotland, and (l) Northern Ireland.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what analysis they have carried out of the average annual earnings for (1) men, (2) women, and (3) all individuals, aged between 22 and 24 inclusive who are in possession of a first degree and who are not in full-time education.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will make an announcement regarding the future regulatory framework of the independent TV production sector, and what assessment they have made of Ofcom’s recent review of that framework.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Ofcom published their review on the operation of the television production sector on the 23rd December. The Government is considering their recommendations and will make a decision in due course.

  • Baroness Berridge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Berridge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Berridge on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the ongoing problems faced by the Yazidi community and children affected by the conflict in Iraq and Syria, they will reassess the criteria for eligibility for the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme and other UK resettlement schemes.

    Lord Bates

    Under the current scheme, only UNHCR registered Syrian refugees are eligible under the Syrian Resettlement Scheme, which has been expanded to resettle up to 20,000 during this Parliament. We work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to identify cases that they deem in need of resettlement according to seven agreed vulnerability criteria for the Syrian Resettlement Scheme.

    The Syrian Resettlement Scheme is operated in addition to our global resettlement schemes: Gateway and Mandate, which are not nationality specific.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the difficulties that refugee children face in accessing legal advice or paying the fee required to register their citizenship; whether legal aid is available for those purposes; what the current fee is for registering citizenship; what proportion of that fee represents profit accumulated by the Home Office; whether they have plans to increase that fee, and if so, by how much.

    Lord Bates

    Civil legal aid remains available for advice and representation in relation to applications and appeals for asylum. The majority of unaccompanied refugee children applying for permission to remain in the UK will be seeking asylum, and legal aid will therefore be available. For non-asylum immigration matters and citizenship applications, legal aid is generally not available, although may be provided exceptionally where required by the European Convention on Human Rights.

    The Government has committed to review the legal aid provisions within the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 within 3-5 years of implementation.

    The current fee for a child to register as a British citizen is £749. The estimated unit cost to process this application is currently £223. For 2016/17 the fee will increase to £936 on 18th March 2016 with a rise in estimated unit cost to £272. The power to set fees that are higher than the cost of processing applications is contained within The Immigration Act 2014, which provides that the Home Office may take into account not just the cost of processing an application, but also the benefits and entitlements available to an individual if their application is successful and the cost of exercising any other function in connection with immigration or nationality.

    The Home Office does not provide exceptions to the requirement to pay application fees for naturalisation or registration as a British citizen. This is because the Home Office considers that citizenship is not a necessary pre-requisite to enable a person to exercise his or her rights in the UK in line with the European Convention on Human Rights.

    British nationality applications are not mandatory and many individuals with Indefinite Leave to Remain decide not to apply. A person who has Indefinite Leave to Remain may continue to live in the UK and travel abroad using their existing valid passport and residence permit, visa or travel document.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he intends to answer the letter dated 22 December 2015 from the Right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs J. Brown.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mr Iain Duncan Smith replied to the Rt. Hon. Member on 2 February 2016.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what checks his Department carries out to ascertain the (a) immigration status and (b) nationality of benefits claimants.

    Priti Patel

    Access to means-tested benefits is conditional upon satisfying the Habitual Residence Test (HRT) where claimants must provide proof of their nationality and immigration status; their employment (where appropriate) and habitual residence in the UK.

    Generally, access to disability benefits is conditional upon satisfying the Past Presence Test (PPT) where claimants must provide proof of their nationality and immigration status; their habitual residence in the UK; and presence in the UK for 2 years out of the last 3 years.

    Access to contributions-based benefits is not dependent on a residency test, but the claimant must be present in the UK and they must have made the required number of national insurance contributions.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have registered for the payment of universal credit who are not UK citizens to date.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not currently available. During 2016 we will be publishing further statistics on Universal Credit in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what safeguards his Department has in place to ensure that people with mental health problems who are unable to attend a work capability assessment or report to the jobcentre when requested due to their mental health problems do not have their benefits sanctioned as a result.

    Priti Patel

    Claimants with mental health conditions are considered “vulnerable”, therefore if they failed to attend a Work Capability Assessment, attempts will be made to contact them by telephone and, if appropriate, to arrange a “safeguarding home visit” before a decision on entitlement is made.

    The Jobcentre Plus sanctions regime has a range of safeguards for vulnerable claimants, including ensuring all requirements are reasonable and taking into account individual capability and circumstances, such as mental health conditions.