Tag: 2015

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implementation of the recommendations on money laundering and terrorism financing of the G7 Financial Action Task Force.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The international standards for anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing are set by the Financial Action Task Force of which the UK is a leading member. The UK has a comprehensive anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime, and we are committed to ensuring our financial system is a hostile environment for criminal finances. The UK was last assessed by the FATF in 2007 and our high level of compliance with the standards exempted us from the detailed follow-up most countries must complete. The UK will next be evaluated beginning in 2017 and the Treasury and Home Office are already making the necessary preparations for this assessment.

    To this end, the Government recently published the UK’s first National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing which is a requirement of the FATF standards. We are now preparing an Action Plan to address the findings of the NRA. The Action Plan will be a core component of our preparations for our FATF evaluation.

    The FATF has now completed fourth round evaluations of Spain, Belgium, Norway, Australia, and Malaysia to assess both technical compliance and effectiveness. These reports, and those of the previous rounds, are publicly available on the FATF website (www.fatf-gafi.org).

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Irish government on security at airport and ferry ports in the Republic of Ireland.

    James Brokenshire

    Home Office Ministers and officials have regular contact with their Irish counterparts; there is excellent government and operational level co-operation to prevent those seeking to abuse the CTA arrangement from doing so.

    In particular, we are working together to further align our respective border and visa policy processes in order to strengthen the external CTA border.

  • Greg Knight – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Knight – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the level of democratic oversight of road safety partnerships; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    None. This is a matter for the partnerships concerned.

  • David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of people who have lost money through telephone scams (a) in each region and (b) in each of the last five years.

    Mr Rob Wilson

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

  • Julian Knight – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Julian Knight – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that small businesses are able to access high speed broadband.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government has provided £780 million to support the roll-out of superfast broadband to 95 per cent of homes and businesses in the UK. In addition we are supporting seven pilot projects to explore ways to extend superfast broadband beyond 95 per cent of UK home and businesses.

  • Holly Lynch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Holly Lynch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 11117, when speed and capacity improvements will be started between Hebden Bridge and Bradford.

    Andrew Jones

    Network Rail are currently preparingadraftupdate tothe Enhancements Delivery Planfor publicationin due course. This will provide details of individual projects. Following publication,my Department will hold a short period of stakeholder consultation.The works on the Calder Valley, which include the route between Hebden Bridge and Bradford, are currently being planned. The intention is to complete the works in phases, starting at the Western end and finishing in time to provide a diversionary route such that the Transpennine Route Upgrade can be completed by 2022.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian staff support operations at RAF Waddington; and what their payroll costs were in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.

    Mark Lancaster

    The table below shows the number of civilian staff supporting operations at RAF Waddington and their payroll costs for the previous five financial years (FY).

    The information for FY2010-11 is not held centrally, and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    FY2011-12

    FY2012-13

    FY2013-14

    FY2014-15

    (£ million)

    Average paid strength

    200

    150

    130

    130

    Total Cost

    £4.880M

    £4.263M

    £3.833M

    £3.728M

    “

  • Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of cleansing the arrears balances of all existing Child Support Agency cases and establishing those costs on the 2012 statutory scheme.

    Priti Patel

    The Department is committed to closing the old child maintenance case management system. In the process of doing this the Department will bring cases up to date, correct obvious inaccuracies, and write off arrears where appropriate, for which there will be a temporary cost within the £236m outlined in the impact assessment that the Department published in 2013.

    The cost of caseworker activity to review and update arrears on the existing systems for the 1.2m CSA cases expected to have an arrears balance is estimated to be £75m. This comprises: bringing all outstanding actions on the case up to date; reviewing the outstanding balance to incorporate those actions and eliminate obvious errors; establish whether the receiving parent wishes to write off any or all of the balance and take write off action if appropriate; and take the control actions to mark the case as closed.

    Establishing those arrears on the new Child Maintenance system is estimated to cost £25m. This comprises: action to add the arrears to the schedule of amounts due produced by the 2012 system; and ensuring that where more than one receiving parent is due maintenance from the same paying parent, outstanding balances from the 1993 and 2003 schemes are correctly allocated.

  • Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) guidance she has provided and (b) information her Department holds on which age groups the Sevenoaks Annexe of Weald of Kent Grammar School, recently approved by her Department plans to serve.

    Edward Timpson

    Departmental advice for academies wishing to make a change to their existing arrangements is available on GOV.UK.

    The new annexe will serve the same age range as the existing site of Weald of Kent Grammar School, which is 11-19. The admission arrangements apply across the whole school. It is the responsibility of the academy trust as the admission authority to ensure that admission arrangements are compliant with The School Admissions Code.

    The newly expanded school will better meet the needs of school-age people in the community that it serves, with over 41% of students at the existing site already travelling from the Sevenoaks area.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Iran concerning the case of Kamal Foroughi.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are very concerned for Mr Foroughi’s health and have frequently raised this with the Iranian authorities, urging them to provide regular medical assistance and access to a lawyer. Iran does not recognise dual nationality, and so will not allow us consular access.

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), personally raised this case with President Rouhani in Tehran, and also with Foreign Minister Zarif. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has written to President Rouhani about this case. On 1 December the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), met Mr Foroughi’s family to discuss the case. We will continue to raise this with the Iranian government at every opportunity.