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Tag: 2015

  • Stephen McPartland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Stephen McPartland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend section 62 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to apply additionally to the possession of child abuse written material; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Coalition Government created a new criminal offence criminalising the possession of material that contains advice or guidance about abusing children sexually in the Serious Crime Act 2015. The offence is subject to a 3 year maximum prison sentence.

  • Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for visitor visas have been (a) granted and (b) refused to citizens of Eritrea in each year since 2010.

    James Brokenshire

    The information requested is given in the attached table.

    The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, April-June 2015’, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics

  • Angela Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Angela Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the cross-compliance inspection regime in reducing soil erosion.

    George Eustice

    Defra commissioned research, published in 2012, to evaluate the implementation of the Soil Protection Review (SPR). The research took the form of a telephone survey of 800 claimants, with 30 in-depth interviews across a sample of farms by region, farm type and size.

    Following recommendations by the Farming Regulation Task force, a review of the SPR was conducted. In January 2015, new national standards for agricultural soils under cross compliance were introduced. These rules require farmers in receipt of payments under CAP to prevent soil erosion, to maintain soil cover and to protect the level of organic matter in their soils.

    The Government will continue to monitor the implementation of the new rules.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Israeli government on the planned demolition of the village of Umm al-Hiran.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Government is deeply concerned about the proposals to demolish Bedouin villages in Israel. I visited the Khan al Ahmer Bedouin during my visit in October 2014 and saw the devastating impact resettlement plans had on the communities. Officials at our Embassy in Tel Aviv are monitoring the situation of Umm al-Hiran closely. Embassy officials have also been in contact with the Adalah Legal Centre who continue to provide updates on the legal situation. They have also been in contact with organisations that work within the Bedouin community, such as Itach-Maaki and The Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation-Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development, to help inform the UK’s lobbying of the Israeli authorities on this issue. On 10 September, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised their concerns about the Bedouin with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether any grant monitoring forms in relation to funds awarded by his Department to Action on Smoking and Health were submitted late.

    Jane Ellison

    Action on Smoking and Health provided grant Monitoring Reports on completion of each project. The timing of the submission of these reports was agreed with the Tobacco Control policy team.

  • Barbara Keeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barbara Keeley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish a new national strategy for carers.

    Alistair Burt

    On 1 July 2015 my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Mr Jeremy Hunt) announced that I will develop a new carers’ strategy.

    The cross-government strategy, led by the Department, will examine what more we can do to support existing carers and new carers.

    Our intention is to publish the new strategy towards the close of 2016. Development of the strategy will include consideration of the evidence about the economic impact of caring and its relationship with the health and care sectors and wider society as whole. It will also include consideration of both international and national good practice about support for carers. Work to develop the strategy will include seeking views from carers and stakeholders.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to reduce the time taken to process asylum applications.

    James Brokenshire

    We have an ongoing recruitment campaign to ensure we maintain our levels of decision makers and have also began work to further improve on the efficiency of our interview and decision-making process across case work teams. We have significantly improved our suite of guidance on considering asylum claims, including key instructions on asylum interviews and assessing credibility. We have also streamlined processes by reducing the volume of paperwork required and cutting duplication in the asylum process, including improvements to the way in which decisions are explained to applicants in correspondence to make it easier to understand. These changes are designed to support caseworkers to improve decision quality and efficiency to ensure we grant protection where it is needed whilst refusing unfounded claims more quickly, whilst also ensuring a more customer focused approach. We aim to decide straightforward asylum claims within six months.

  • Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what groups of people will be prioritised by the new Health System Strengthening Framework.

    Grant Shapps

    DFID’s health systems strengthening framework will set out how the UK should support countries to build strong, resilient health systems in future, both through its own resources and through its partner organisations. This will help countries to make sustainable progress towards the global goal of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. A strong health system recognises the links between different health issues and provides integrated services to address them. Sustained financing is essential to good quality service provision and the framework will include support for greater domestic resource mobilisation and better public financial management. It will prioritise those who would otherwise be left behind, including the poorest, the most marginalised and those who are hardest to reach.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for (a) Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and (b) Defence on supporting international efforts to protect UK ships against pirates.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Secretary of State for Transport has not had direct discussions recently with either the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the Secretary of State for Defence on the subject of piracy.

    The UK’s response to piracy involves many Government departments and the different teams working within them. Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for Business Innovation & Skills, Home Office, Department for Transport and Ministry of Defence work closely together in supporting international efforts to protect UK ships against pirates.

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office lead the UK’s policy on piracy whilst my Department is responsible for the UK’s policy on maritime armed security guards.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what effect the introduction of Universal Credit will have on funding for care available to older people with a disability whose principal carer is engaged in education for more than 21 hours per week.

    Justin Tomlinson

    People in full-time education, including those with caring responsibilities, are not normally entitled to benefits. Rather they are supported through the educational maintenance system, via its range of loans and grants. Support may also be available through local councils and health services.

    Students undertaking a part-time course have access to carer related benefits in the usual way.

    People with a disability can claim benefits in their own right in order to meet their needs. Depending on individual circumstances, such financial support can be through universal, extra costs benefits and/or means-tested benefits. Means-tested benefits, such as Pension Credit, include an additional amount for people with a severe disability (currently £61.85 a week for a single person) which can be paid to a disabled person to help meet the costs of caring if their carer is not receiving Carer’s Allowance.