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Tag: 2015

  • Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the steps taken by the British Virgin Islands to meet the Prime Minister’s ambition for a public register of beneficial ownership since June 2013.

    James Duddridge

    In March the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and I wrote to the Premier of the British Virgin Islands asking him to set out plans and a timetable for the implementation of a central register of company beneficial ownership, or similarly effective system, ahead of the Joint Ministerial Council. The letter included three criteria we expect BVI to meet.

  • Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Maginnis of Drumglass – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which Peers and MPs who are based in Northern Ireland were invited by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers, to her briefing on the Northern Ireland political agreement prior to her statement in the House of Commons on 19 November.

    Lord Dunlop

    There was no briefing for Peers or MP’s prior to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland’s Statement to the House of Commons on Thursday 19 November.

    An invitation to the briefing on the Northern Ireland (Welfare Reform) Bill held on Monday 23 November was circulated electronically to all Peers via the Usual Channels.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many replies to constituent correspondence from hon. Members her Department sent by (a) email and (b) letter in each of the last three years; and what the cost of using each method was in each such year.

    Karen Bradley

    The systems used to manage correspondence received from hon. Members do not record whether the response has been sent by email or letter; we are therefore unable to provide the requested breakdown or associated costs.

  • Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the progress made by the #iwill campaign towards meeting its aim of having an additional 1.5 million young people involved in social action by 2020.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Cabinet Office and Step Up To Serve commissioned Ipsos MORI to survey 2,021 10-20 year olds in September 2015 to determine the proportion of young people involved in social action in the UK. The survey helps to measure the progress of the #iwill campaign and found that 42% of 10-20 year olds took part in meaningful social action.

    Cabinet Office has pledged to support the #iwill campaign by ensuring that young people from all backgrounds have the opportunity to engage in meaningful youth social action opportunities.

    Opportunities for young people to get involved in youth social action can be found through the #iwill campaign website which sets out many of the excellent programmes that already exist in the UK.

  • Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what costs relating to the relocation of Moussa Koussa to Qatar in 2011 were met by the UK Government; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Mr Koussa’s entry into Doha was a matter for him and the Qatari authorities.

    No elements of Moussa Koussa’s travel to Qatar were paid for by the UK Government.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proposals they have to strengthen legislation in order to prevent cyber bullying.

    Lord Faulks

    Legislation that can be used to prosecute cyber-bullying related offences includes the Protection from Harassment Act 1997; the Public Order Act 1986; the Malicious Communications Act 1988; and the Communications Act 2003. The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 made changes to the relevant offences in these last two Acts which will help to ensure that people who commit them are prosecuted and properly punished.

    The Government believes that this is sufficient and therefore does not intend to introduced specific additional legislation to address the issue of cyberbullying.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of Syrian children in Europe who are (a) vulnerable to trafficking and (b) unaccompanied.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    As of 2 November the number of people arriving in Europe had reached 745,229 according to the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Of these 149,045 are children, including around 79,000 Syrian children. Humanitarian organisations are expecting that, given the rate of arrivals, a total of 225,000 children will need assistance between September and December 2015. All of these are considered to be vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what type of body is Transport for the North; who made the decision to set it up; what are its terms of reference; whether it has a constitution; what form its controlling body takes, how its composition was decided, and who are its members; whether any members of the controlling body other than the chairman receive remuneration, and if so, on what basis and how much; what is its annual budget, and from which funds that budget is derived; how many staff are employed to work for it; where those staff are based; and what property it occupies, and on what basis.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Transport for the North (TfN) membership is drawn from the North’s combined and local authority, and Local Enterprise Partnership leaders working in a unique partnership with the Government, Network Rail, Highways England and HS2 Ltd. It was established by the Government with Northern leaders in October 2014. The TfN governance framework is outlined in the Principles for Governing the Relationship between Transport for the North (TfN) and the Department for Transport (DfT) document, which is attached and is available on the TfN website. The Chairman of TfN is the only Partnership Board member receiving remuneration for this role. Building on the summer budget commitment to provide funding to TfN, the Government is committing a total of £50m (£10m per annum) over this parliament, enabling TfN to build its capacity and capability to recruit the staff it needs and get on with planning better rail and roads to deliver the Government’s ambitious programme to create a Northern Powerhouse.This is in addition to the £8.5m already provided by DfT and up to £4m committed by the members of TfN. Following the recent appointments of the Chief Executive and Chairman, the recruitment process for both permanent and temporary staff is now underway. TfN is based at temporary premises in Manchester until a permanent location is agreed.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Natalie McGarry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Glasgow and (d) Glasgow East constituency who had claimed carer’s allowance immediately prior to attaining state pension age have ceased to be eligible to claim that allowance upon their receipt of the state pension since (i) January 2015, (ii) January 2014, (iii) January 2013, (iv) January 2012, (v) January 2011, (vi) May 2010 and (vii) January 2010.

    Justin Tomlinson

    There is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, so reaching State Pension age does not automatically remove eligibility to Carer’s Allowance.

    However, both Carer’s Allowance and State Pension serve to help replace income forgone, so social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together as that would be a duplicate provision for the same need. But, if a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer’s Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer’s Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer’s Allowance, which is currently £62.10.

    Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit, currently worth up to £34.60 a week, and even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, he or she may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.

  • The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The Countess of Mar – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Countess of Mar on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 16 July (HL1538), whether, in preparing that answer, they took into account that a component of tri-cresyl phosphate (TCP) used in some engine oils is tri-xylyl phosphate (TXP), which is currently listed as a Substance of Very High Concern under Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 and as a hazardous substance under Regulation (EC) 1272/2008 because of its classification as toxic for reproduction, and that both TCP and TXP are listed as being suspected of causing harm to the unborn child or fertility.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Trixylyl phosphate (TXP) has been identified as reproductive hazard with effects on fertility based on the oral combined repeated dose and reproductive/developmental study submitted by the company Supresta Netherlands BV. The evidence in the study is derived from oral dosing of rats with various amounts of pure compound during time period of 33 to 48 days. Some effects to fertility were found in mid and high dose groups, however there was no evidence of the substance harming the development of the foetus.

    Based on the study, it is not plausible that the occupants of an aircraft would be exposed to sufficient quantities of TXP to have an impact on fertility.