Tag: 2015

  • David Davis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Davis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Wilson Doctrine has been consistently applied to the communications of the hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden; and whether he has been subject to surveillance.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.

    As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.

    The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and, electronic surveillance and equipment interference, when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.

    It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the reasons are for his proposal to exclude taught masters students who are over the age of 30 from the new postgraduate loans scheme proposed for England.

    Joseph Johnson

    A consultation on the proposed postgraduate Master’s loan scheme was held earlier in the year. The consultation covered proposed terms and conditions, including an age eligibility criterion and the eligibility of distance learning. Consultation responses are currently being analysed and the Department will respond in the autumn.

  • 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 2015-10-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people have received the disability students’ allowance in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Joseph Johnson

    Information on students awarded and paid Disabled Students’ Allowance is published annually by Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Support for Higher Education England’. The latest statistics are available at the following link: http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded/england-higher-education.aspx

    Payments to full-time undergraduate students are presented in table 3b on page 21 and payments to part-time undergraduates and postgraduates in tables 5a and 5b on page 31.

    “

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that reviews into Ofsted’s conduct are conducted by an independent body.

    Nick Gibb

    Ofsted has well-established policies and procedures to investigate thoroughly and objectively any concerns received about its work. From August 2015, when a complaint about an Ofsted inspection is escalated to internal review, the handling of the case will also be assessed by a new scrutiny committee. For added independence, the scrutiny committee will include an external panel member who is a senior education practitioner or other sector leader not involved in carrying out inspections for Ofsted.

    If a complainant remains dissatisfied after this process, they can request an external review of the handling of their concerns by the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted.

  • Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Egypt.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office published its annual Human Rights and Democracy Report on 12 March 2015, which provides an assessment of the situation in Egypt. The report is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/human-rights-and-democracy-report-2014/human-rights-and-democracy-report-2014

  • 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 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that arms exports to the parties to the conflict in Yemen are compliant with the Arms Trade Treaty and UK domestic law.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The UK operates one of the most thorough and robust export control and licensing systems in the world. All applications for strategic export control licences for military and dual-use goods are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Government’s Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, in a manner consistent with the UK’s international obligations, including under the Arms Trade Treaty.

    The Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria were updated in March 2014 before the UK’s ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty to ensure they were consistent with both the Treaty and the EU Common Position on Arms Exports. A licence will not be issued if doing so would breach the Criteria.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many ambulance calls were responded to by the (a) police and (b) fire service in (i) England, (ii) Greater Manchester and (iii) Denton and Reddish constituency in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The information requested is not available in the format requested.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, Official Report, columns 11-12, whether her Department’s planned proposals on tackling hate speech and extremism will affect Christian ministers’ ability to preach biblical values in non-religious locations.

    Karen Bradley

    Nothing that the Government is doing or planning to do to tackle hate speech and extremism will affect Christian ministers’ ability to preach biblical values in non-religious locations. Our work will protect the freedom to exchange religious ideas – a fundamental part of our thriving democracy – against the extremists and hate preachers who shut down debate and condemn anyone who disagrees with them.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department plans to work in partnership with (a) communities and (b) other Government departments on tackling hate crimes and challenging extremism which leads to violence.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy was published on 19 October. This sets out how all parts of government will work together to tackle all forms of extremism.

    To defeat extremism, we must work in partnership with communities. The strategy sets out how we will develop a network of civil society groups and individuals who share our commitment to defeat extremism and protect communities.

    The Prime Minister also recently announced that as the Government had promised in 2016 UK Police Forces across England and Wales will record Anti Muslim Hatred alongside other religious hate crime as a specific categorised offence.

    The New Cross-Government Hate Crime Action Plan is currently being developed by the Home Office in partnership with other Government departments, policing colleagues and external stakeholders.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what account was taken of local transport links in Walsden, Portsmouth and Todmorden in the consultation on the Provision of Court and Tribunal Estate for both victims and those on trial.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The consultation proposals included information on approximate travel times for each regional consultation paper.

    No decision has been taken to close any court. The consultation closed on 8 October and we are considering all responses carefully.