Tag: 2015

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average response time was for a 101 call in each year since that service’s launch; and what the average response time was for 101 calls made to the Humberside Police from (a) North Lincolnshire and (b) East Yorkshire in the last 12 months.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the average response times for 999 calls. Information on average 101 call waiting times since April 2014, provided by forces, including Humberside Police, can be found at: www.Police.uk

    The Home Office does not hold information on call waiting times for individual forces which pre-dates April 2014 or about calls made to forces from local areas. This information is held by forces.

    “

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about the arrest and interrogation by Israeli police of Palestinian children in East Jerusalem, in particular regarding reports that children aged between six and 12 have been arrested and interrogated without a parent present.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We consistently raise the issue of detention of minors with the Israel government. On 27 August our Ambassador in Tel Aviv lobbied the Israeli Military Advocate General on Children in Detention where the issue of child detention was discussed. We are aware of cases when the Israeli police have detained children under 12, and subsequently released them once their age has been verified. When officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this with the police, they were told that the police do not hold children under the age of 12 but are not always aware that a particular child is below age.

    According to the law, the police may hold a child over the age of 12 suspected of involvement in a security offence without allowing his/her parents to be present at the time of his/her arrest and interrogation. This is true for both Israeli and Palestinian minors held on security offences. We continue to lobby for the Israeli authorities to consider changing the law for the sake of the well-being of the child.

  • Jenny Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jenny Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jenny Chapman on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cautions have been given for any offence in each police force area in each of the last three years.

    Mike Penning

    The number of cautions recorded in each police force area during 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 are provided in the attached table. These are based on data published by the Home Office which are available by police force area and offence type at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

    Cautions data published by the Home Office are based on the number of offences recorded by the police that resulted in cautions by the police.

    The Ministry of Justice publish caution data based on the number of offenders cautioned which are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/428954/data-behind-interactive-data-tools.zip

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many directly employed government staff currently receive less than the Living Wage.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Every employer in the country will pay the National Living Wage, including all Government departments and their contractors.

    The latest data available suggests that 867 current Civil Servants will benefit directly from the National Living Wage from April 2016 as announced by the Chancellor. We estimate that over 20,000 employees will benefit by the end of this parliament.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will consider the proximity of the Irish Republic to the UK when developing his policy on early release of prisoners domiciled outside the UK which is contingent on returning to their country of origin.

    Andrew Selous

    Foreign criminals who break our laws should be properly punished but not at the expense of the British taxpayer. In the last year we have returned more than 5,000 foreign prisoners to their home country, and are committed to ensuring that all means possible are explored to make sure that criminals who have no right to stay in this country are removed.

    Under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS), which has operated in prisons in England and Wales since 2005, foreign national offenders may be removed from prison and deported up to a maximum of 270 days (9 months) before their normal release date. Citizens of the Republic of Ireland are not, as a matter of longstanding Home Office policy introduced in by the Labour government in 2007, deported from the UK other than in exceptional circumstances. Only foreign nationals who are subject to removal by Immigration Enforcement may be removed under ERS and, for that reason, Republic of Ireland nationals are not generally removed under the scheme unless a decision has been taken exceptionally by the Home Office to deport them.

    Foreign national offenders who are not going to be removed by Immigration Enforcement are not eligible for ERS and do not leave prison early; they serve their sentence and are released in the same way as domestic prisoners.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her objectives are for the UN Climate Change Summit in Paris relating to (a) emissions and (b) monitoring emissions performance against targets set.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The UK Government is committed to securing an ambitious, legally binding, global deal on climate change at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 in Paris.

    The UK is working with other countries to secure a deal with ambitious mitigation commitments from all parties that together keep the global goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees within reach. We also want an agreement that includes a regular review of targets to increase ambition over time, a global long term goal that sets out a tangible pathway towards our 2 degrees objective and a robust, legally binding rules framework to ensure transparency and accountability of commitments to help the world track progress, improve competitiveness and provide business certainty.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what account his Department has taken of the performance of Arriva Transport in its patient delivery contract in Greater Manchester in its work to ensure that Arriva Rail North fulfils its contractual obligations.

    Andrew Jones

    At the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire stage of the bidding process we assess applicants to ensure they have the right approaches and capabilities to operate a rail franchise. This includes assessment of their management approaches to safety/culture etc. and requires them to provide evidence of these practices. We assess purely on this evidence and if the applicant is successful, they will be able to compete for a franchise. Applicants are also required to inform us as the authority if circumstances change. We do not comment on the specific evidence provided to us as part of this process as it is commercially sensitive, however we are content that Arriva Rail North are an appropriate company to operate the franchise.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) cost effectiveness and (b) value for money of Rural Community Councils.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra funds Rural Community Councils via the annual grant it allocates to Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), the national voice for the 38 rural community councils. ACRE allocates this grant using a well-established funding formula. It reports back to Defra on how the grant is spent through quarterly reports and meetings with officials, and in its annual report and accounts. We will review the benefits of this spend in setting levels of grant for future years.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department’s publication, Mandatory Programmes official statistics: May 2011 to August 2015, published on 25 November 2015, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the difference between the number of people referred to the Mandatory Work Activity scheme and the number of people who subsequently joined the programme during this period.

    Priti Patel

    Mandatory Work Activity is a supportive programme designed to help claimants who need extra support from a short work placement to re-focus their job search activity and gain further experience of work. Unemployed Jobseekers Allowance or Universal Credit claimants are referred for up to 4 weeks work experience and will participate on the placement for up to 30 hours a week.

    The number of referrals and starts is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/pre-work-programme-and-get-britain-working.

    An impact assessment of Mandatory Work Activity was published in 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mandatory-work-activity–2) which considered referrals to the programme in the period May to July 2012. An evaluation of Mandatory Work Activity also published in 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-mandatory-work-activity-rr823) which included a telephone survey of participants who had been referred to and started an Mandatory Work Allowance placement.

    The evaluation and impact assessment were conducted in 2012 and does not cover the period of the Official Statistics from May 2011 to August 2015.

    “

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to communicate the requirements of the European Commission’s Interpretative Notice on indication of origin of goods from the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, published on 11 November 2015, to (a) businesses, (b) importers and (c) consumers.

    George Eustice

    The principal feature of the Interpretative Notice is a recommendation that goods imported into the EU which originate from Israeli settlements in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967 should bear an indication which makes that provenance clear. That recommendation was included in technical advice to UK retailers and importers concerning labelling agricultural produce from the West Bank that was issued by Defra in 2009. We are currently in discussion with other Departments to consider whether revisions need to be made to the 2009 advice in the light of the Interpretative Notice.