Tag: 2015

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will discuss with the government of Turkey measures to slow the rate at which refugees and migrants leave Turkey, and the feasibility of their having European interviews before they leave that country.

    Lord Bates

    The Government has strong bilateral relations with Turkey and regularly discusses a number of issues, including migration. The Government recently announced that the UK will resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over the lifetime of this Parliament – this will include a number from Turkey. The Government supports Turkey’s efforts to manage the flow of illegal migration, and maintain an effective border between Turkey and the EU. Turkey is responsible for refugees on its territory and EU Member States are responsible for interviewing and deciding asylum claims lodged on their territories. There are no plans to create a mechanism to allow asylum interviews to be conducted in Turkey on behalf of EU countries.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to tackle online fraud.

    Mike Penning

    The Government takes fraud including online fraud incredibly seriously. That is why we established the Economic Crime Command and the National Cyber Crime Unit in the National Crime Agency to tackle the most sophisticated international cybercriminals and fraudsters. We have also made significant investment in Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, both operated by City of London Police, to improve our intelligence on fraud and provide a better disruption response.

    We are also investing in regional and local police capabilities to tackle fraud. This includes, establishing cyber teams at a regional level to support the National Crime Agency and local forces in more complex digital investigations, training police officers and staff in how to identify and secure evidence on digital devices, and launching a network of police officers to offer advice on cybercrime and fraud to individuals and businesses across the country.

    Furthermore, as the Chancellor announced on 17 November, we plan to almost double investment in cyber security, including cyber crime, to £1.9billion. Many successful frauds and cybercrimes could be prevented. Through the most recent phase of our Cyber Streetwise campaign, we are helping to educate the public and businesses on the importance of adopting simple security measures, such as installing security software and stronger passwords.

    Industry also has a role to play in fraud and cyber crime prevention. That is why we are working with the banking sector and law enforcement agencies to more effectively disrupt fraudsters and protect victims. This work will be a key part of the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, which the Government intends to publish next year.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce mandatory training on disability awareness for bus drivers, and if so, when.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We do not plan to mandate disability awareness training for bus drivers at this time. Disability Awareness Training remains available to all drivers as part of the periodic Certificate of Professional Competence training syllabus and the industry has reported that virtually all drivers have now undertaken the training.

  • Meg Hillier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Meg Hillier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and (b) Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) hearing centres are projected to close in (i) London and (ii) the UK in the next five years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    There are currently no plans to close any First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum hearing centres.

  • Lord Turnberg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Turnberg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conversations they have had with the government of Iraq about the recent attacks on Camp Liberty.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We strongly condemn the attack against the civilian residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq on Thursday 29 October. Officials from our Embassy in Baghdad raised the attack with the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office on Friday 30 October and made clear the importance of an urgent and comprehensive investigation into the incident and that all those responsible are brought to justice.

    In all of our engagement with the Government of Iraq on this issue, including at Ministerial level and in our statements, we have emphasised the importance of the Iraqi government doing everything possible to ensure the safety of the residents of Camp Liberty. We support the UN calls for more to be done to protect the residents.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many monthly Child Maintenance Service new applications from January 2015 were (a) former Child Support Agency (CSA) cases affected by reactive CSA case closure, (b) former CSA cases affective by proactive CSA case closure and (c) other new applications.

    Priti Patel

    From January 2015 to August 2015 there have been approximately 75,200 applications made to the Child Maintenance Service.

    6,800 of these were made by former CSA cases affected by reactive case closure, 22,000 were made by former CSA cases affected by proactive case closure and 46,400 were new applications.

    Notes:

    1. Total Child Maintenance Service applications can be found in table 1 of the Child Maintenance Service 2012 Scheme Experimental Statistics https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme
    2. A system issue has been identified which impacts New Application Intake figures. Investigations have been carried out which identified incorrect duplication of New Applications. Figures have been adjusted to account for these duplicates
    3. Cases have been linked between CSA systems and CMS Systems using the paying and receiving parents national insurance numbers.
    4. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

    “

  • Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mark Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when his Department introduced the Welsh Language Scheme; when that scheme was last updated; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of that scheme.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government is enthusiastically committed to the Welsh language and to providing Government services in the Welsh language where there is demand for them.

    The Cabinet Office is improving the quality of service for Welsh speakers through user research, conducted jointly by the Wales Office and the Government Digital Service (GDS), as well as feedback from subject matter experts in governmental Welsh Language Units.

    GDS has liaised with government departments on a user needs-based review of current Welsh-language content on GOV.UK. The content in Welsh will be more prominently promoted from the equivalent English-language pages.

    “

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people receive employment and support allowance in the work-related activity group on grounds of mental or behavioural disorders.

    Priti Patel

    The information available is in the table below:

    As at May 2015

    Work Related Activity Group

    Caseload (Thousands)

    Mental and Behavioural Disorders

    240.64

    Notes:

    The extract is as at May 2015 which is the latest data available.

    Source:

    DWP Tabulation Tool http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html

    “

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on recipients of the expiry of the Small Business Rate Relief scheme at the end of March 2016; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is continuing to consider representations, which included business rates reliefs, to inform decisions on reform of the business rates system. The Government has confirmed the review will conclude by the end of the year.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he will respond to the submissions to his Department’s consultation, Parking reform: tackling unfair practices, of March 2015.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    We are currently analysing responses to the discussion paper ‘Parking reform: tackling unfair practices’ issued earlier this year. The suggestion to establish a standards setting body with a code of practice and an appeals service for all accredited trade associations for the management of parking on private land was made in some responses, and we are actively considering this point as part of our wider work on parking. We will publish our response to the discussion paper in the New Year.