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Tag: 2014

  • Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times an escaped person has been categorised as a high harm person and the senior management team believe there is a high risk of reputational damage to the Home Office as set out in the Home Office Guidance on Escaped Detainees at immigration removal centres in the last four years.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office does not routinely categorise immigration detainees against a
    scale of harm. They are instead subject to individual risk assessment linked
    to their suitability for placement in an immigration removal centre (IRC) which is
    based on a number of different factors.

    Where an escape or attempted escape from an IRC takes place, Criminal and
    Financial Investigation (CFI) immigration specialist teams will assist in the
    investigation where the individual is assessed to be a ‘high harm’ person, or
    where the senior management team believe there is a high risk of reputational
    damage to the Home Office.

    In the last four years the CFI team has conducted two investigations relating
    to escapes of individuals from escort who were assessed to fit the
    investigation criteria. There have not been any cases of escapes from an IRC
    which have warranted the involvement of the CFI.

    This data is management information and does not form part of published
    statistics and is not subject to the detailed checks that apply for National
    Statistics publications. It is provisional and subject to change.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national prisoners were repatriated under foreign prisoner transfer agreements to their home countries to serve their custodial sentence in each year since 2010.

    Jeremy Wright

    The tables below sets out the number of prisoners who have transferred from a prison in England andWales to a prison in their state of nationality since 1 January 2009.

    Year

    Transfers

    2009

    40

    2010

    46

    2011

    33

    2012

    40

    2013

    43

    The list includes one foreign national prisoner who was returned to a British Overseas Territory in 2011 under the Colonial Prisoners Removal Act 1884.

    We remain determined to secure compulsory Prisoner Transfer Agreements wherever possible, in order to increase the number of foreign national prisoners who are able to transfer to prisons in their home countries. In January this year we signed a compulsory transfer agreement with Nigeria and last year we signed an agreement with Albania. We expect to see prisoner transfers to both these countries before the end of this year.

    We are also working hard to increase the number of foreign nationals who are removed from prison under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) and the Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS). In 2013, we removed nearly 2,000 FNOs under ERS and under TERS, which we introduced in May 2012, we have removed 256 prisoners to date.

    The numbers reported here are drawn from a Prison Service Case Tracking System. Care is taken when processing these cases but the figures may be subject to inaccuracies associated with any recording system.

    Whereas this Government has begun to reduce the foreign national population in prison since 2010, between 1997 and 2010, the number of foreign nationals in our prisons more than doubled.

  • Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to NHS dentistry exemptions to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out in Scotland.

    David Mundell

    The Scottish Government is responsible for defining the entitlement criteria for these passported benefits. They will need to consider the current eligibility criteria and make arrangements to ensure that they can continue to deliver these benefits as Universal Credit is introduced.

    There is ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any solution is simple, fair, easy to understand and affordable.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, if the Electoral Commission will make it their policy to gather information on registration levels on an annual basis.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that they collect from every ERO, and publish, annual electoral registration statistics covering a range of topics including the number of electors on the registers, response rates to the annual canvass, numbers of additions and deletions on the registers and levels of carry forward.

    This data collection will be more frequent during the transition to individual electoral registration (IER).

    The Commission further informs me that they report periodically on the overall levels of accuracy and completeness of the electoral registers. Such studies are costly to conduct and it is not therefore feasible to conduct them annually. There are two such studies planned as part of the Commission’s approach to monitoring the implementation of IER.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Heidi Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps are being taken to better identify those personal independence payment claimants who could be assessed solely on the basis of evidence without the need for face-to-face assessments.

    Mike Penning

    We are working with our providers to ensure that all PIP claims received are reviewed and where sufficient evidence is available at that initial review we may make a decision on the claim without the need for a face-to-face consultation. Where a face-to-face consultation is needed or further evidence must be gathered, the assessment provider will undertake that activity.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department has spent on funding for trade union representatives studying Trade Union Congress (TUC) learning aims in (a) each of the last five years and (b) 2014-15; and what his estimate is of funding in (i) 2015-16 and (ii) any future years for which budgets are available.

    Matthew Hancock

    I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer given by my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Universities and Science (David Willetts), on 11 July 2011, Official Report, column 195W.

    Further education (FE) colleges and training organisations receive a post-19 funding allocation each academic year at the programme level (for example budgets for adult skills, adult safeguarded learning and/or offender learning and skills).

    As funding is not allocated at the learning aim level, the amount of money spent on TUC learning aims is not reported centrally by the Skills Funding Agency.

    From the 2011/12 academic year a single adult skills budget was introduced. This will provide FE colleges and training organisations with the flexibility to offer the range and balance of programmes, from basic skills to higher-level skills, in the mode of delivery that will best meet the needs of learners, employers and communities (classroom, workshop, online and in the workplace).

  • Caroline Flint – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Caroline Flint – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the (a) type and (b) value of support provided by UK Export Finance was for projects, goods or services supplied to the coal mining sector in this financial year to date.

    Matthew Hancock

    The table below shows the value and type of export credit financing support provided under its medium and long term products by UK Export Finance for projects in the coal mining sector in each year between 2010/11 and 2013/14.

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    Value (£)

    0

    13,551,029

    53,627,280

    0

    0

    Type of support

    N/A

    Guarantee

    Guarantee

    N/A

    N/A

    Further details of the support provided were published in UK Export Finance’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2011/12 and 2012/13.

    Under its products aimed at supporting exports of goods and services sold on short terms of credit (e.g. light manufactured items), UK Export Finance does not routinely record the sector of the overseas buyer. However, to the best of its knowledge, UK Export Finance has not provided support under these products that directly relates to the coal mining sector.

  • Damian Collins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Damian Collins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Damian Collins on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support the Arts Council has given to organisations in Folkestone and Hythe constituency since 2010.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Arts Council England has invested the following in organisations in Folkestone and Hythe constituency since 2010:

    Year

    GIA

    Lottery

    Total

    2010/11

    £86,209

    £613,928

    £700,137

    2011/12

    £73,279

    £129,242

    £202,521

    2012/13

    –

    £101,700

    £101,700

    2013/14

    –

    £917,909

    £917,909

    2014/15

    –

    £137,616

    £137,616

    Total

    £159,488

    £1,900,395

    £2,059,883

    Arts Council England funding supports a number of arts organisations in Folkestone and Hythe constituency including the Creative Foundation (which received £500,000 Grants for the Arts funding for the Folkestone Triennial 2014) and Strange Cargo Arts Company (which received £95,000 Lottery funding in 2014/15).

  • Philip Hollobone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Philip Hollobone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether his Department has received any expression of interest in pursuing shale gas development and exploration in (a) Northamptonshire and (b) the borough of Kettering.

    Matthew Hancock

    There are currently no petroleum licences in effect in any part of Northamptonshire. We launched a new round of onshore licensing last year and received applications in October. I cannot comment on the nature of the bids or the locations for which plans might be being considered while DECC’s assessment of the applications continues. However we are aiming to be in a position to announce licence offers shortly.

  • Robert Flello – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Robert Flello – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission trials of the Siemens eHighway in the UK similar to those conducted in California.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Highways Agency is currently investigating the feasibility of inductive wireless power transfer technology that meets the needs of all vehicles. This is in alignment with the work defined as part of the Innovation funding in the Roads Investment Strategy. There are currently no plans to trial other technologies.