UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2015

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what humanitarian support the Government is offering in refugee camps in (a) Lesbos, (b) Idomeni, (c) Calais, (d) Dunkirk and (e) other locations.

    James Brokenshire

    Asylum seekers and refugees in other Member States are the responsibility of the authorities of those countries. Member States, furthermore, are bound by EU and international legal obligations to provide adequate care and reception to asylum seekers and refugees within their territory.

    The UK, nevertheless, continues to provide practical support to other Member States and both France and the UK are committed to finding a sustainable solution to the situation in Calais. Under the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August, the UK committed to providing a £3.6 million (or €5 million) per year for two years to help support a range of work to manage the migrant population in Calais, in particular to provide support and facilities elsewhere in France. Additionally, the UK has provided £530,000 (€750,000) to fund a project to identify those in the camps at risk of trafficking and exploitation, to transfer them to places of safety; and to provide them with appropriate support within the French system.

    In addition to our work with France, we are also providing practical support to Greece through the European Asylum Support Office by deploying UK asylum experts to the border control ‘hotspot’ in Lesbos to assist with the swift screening of asylum applicants arriving there. We stand ready to provide further such assistance where necessary.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for the 25 year plan on biodiversity; and what estimate she has made of the costs of implementing that plan.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra is working closely with Treasury and others on the development of the 25 year Environment Plan. A high level framework for the Plan will be published early next year and the detailed content of the plan will be developed over the course of 2016, including an estimate of implementation costs.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.16 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, where the ground-based Ballistic Missile Defence radar will be based; and when that radar will enter operation.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    We have not yet made decisions as to the exact capabilities required of the radar or where it will be sited – this will be determined in due course.

  • Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the Government’s Visa and Entry Clearance Office in Dakha, Bangladesh is being relocated to New Delhi, India.

    James Brokenshire

    Decision making on UK visa applications lodged in Bangladesh was moved from Dhaka to New Delhi in September 2014. Logistical changes like this are made for operational reasons and to refine the longstanding hub and spoke structure of the visa network, where applications are decided at regional decision making centres. UKVI retains a small team in the British High Commission, Dhaka to carry out local checks and the remote printing of some visas. There has been, and will be, no change to the customer experience when applying for a visa in Bangladesh. Customers are still able to apply in the same Visa Application Centres (Dhaka and Sylhet) and applications are decided within the same global customer service standards (15 working days for non-settlement or 60 days for settlement).

  • 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 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2015 to Question 17199, when she will publish the outcome of her Department’s review of animal licensing legislation; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    The Government’s proposals on the review of the animal licensing legislation will be made available shortly.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what decision his Department has made on the use of the £6 billion of funding allocated for the implementation of phase 2 of the Care Act 2014 now that the implementation of that phase has been postponed.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government recognises that social care is vital to enabling people to live healthy and independent lives.

    Funding decisions for 2016/17 onwards, including on adult social care, are subject to the forthcoming Spending Review.

    Officials in the Department and across government are working hard to understand pressures on the care system and will consider adult social care expenditure and future demand as part of this process.

  • John Mann – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    John Mann – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many crossings there are on the A1.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England are responsible for about 705 road, foot, equestrian, river and farm bridge crossings of the A1 from the junction with the M25 to the England/Scotland border.

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce variations in the quality of at-home care given by carers’ agencies across the UK.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government is committed to improving the quality of adult social care. We have taken a number of recent steps to do so.

    In October 2014, we introduced a tougher inspection system by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Following inspections, CQC now also awards each service a single quality rating, with providers rated as “Outstanding”, “Good”, “Requires Improvement” or “Inadequate”. Services rated “Inadequate” are being placed into Special Measures. They will have access to a range of resources to help them to improve, but if they fail to do so, they could face closure.

    These new ratings and other information about the type and quality of care at every care home and homecare service in the country are now available on NHS Choices and the MyNHS Transparency website, making it much easier for people to compare the quality of services.

    This year we introduced a Certificate of Fundamental Care, now known as the Care Certificate. This will help ensure that care workers can deliver a consistently high quality standard of care.

    The Department is funding and working with a number of organisations including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Skills for Care, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association on a range of projects to help adult social care organisations and staff improve the quality of care. These resources include new NICE Quality Standards and Guidelines which bring clarity to what excellence looks like in care and Commissioning for Better Outcomes – A Route Map* that sets out a series of commissioning standards that will

    be used as part of local government sector-led improvement to drive best practices in local authority commissioning under their new duties in the Care Act 2015.

    *Available at http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/5756320/Commissioning+for+Better+Outcomes+A+route+map/8f18c36f-805c-4d5e-b1f5-d3755394cfab

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the total value of student loans likely to be written off in each of the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

    Joseph Johnson

    More people than ever before are now able to benefit from higher education. The student loan system ensures that access to finance should not be a barrier to participation in higher education.

    For students starting their Higher Education course prior to the 2020-21 academic year the nominal value of student loans that are written off in each of the next 10 years is forecast as follows:

    Financial year

    2015-16

    2016-17

    2017-18

    2018-19

    2019-20

    2020-21

    2021-22

    2022-23

    2023-24

    2024-25

    Write-off amount (nominal; £m)

    220

    140

    190

    230

    310

    350

    390

    450

    520

    520

    Source: BIS Student Loan Repayment Model. Figures are rounded to the nearest £10m.

    This table includes loans written-off due to any of the following circumstances: a) if the loan borrower started their Higher Education course prior to 2006-07 academic year and has reached the age of 65; b) the borrower has died; or c) the borrower becomes disabled

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much she expects to be top-sliced from the (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17 police grant; and from what areas that funding will be top-sliced.

    Mike Penning

    Reallocations from central Government funding to the police are set out in a Written Ministerial Statement published alongside the Police Grant Report each year. Decisions on funding for 2016/17 will be taken after the Spending Review reports later this month and reallocations will be published in the usual way.

    For 2015/16, reallocations totalled £177 million (rounded to the nearest £1million) and are listed below for your reference.

    In addition, a further £564 m illion was allocated in respect of counter-terrorism policing.

    Police Innovation Fund 70

    Police Knowledge Fund 5

    Independent Police Complaints Commission (for the transfer of integrity functions) 30

    College of Policing (for direct entry schemes) 5

    City of London National and International Capital City Grant 3

    HMIC (for PEEL inspection regime) 9

    Police Special Grant 15

    Major Programmes 40