Tag: 2016

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people in the UK on a tier 2 visa who will not have their visa renewed when new rules requiring them to be paid at least £35,000 per annum or the going rate in the relevant UK Border Agency Code of Practice, whichever is higher.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. PhD level roles and those in shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold.

    Applicants who are not paid the appropriate rate for their occupation, as set out in UK Visas and Immigration codes of practice, cannot be granted an initial Tier 2 visa. The appropriate rate test has applied to settlement applications since 2011.

    The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This is available on the gov.uk website at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on community cohesion of the introduction of fixed-term local authority tenancies.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Continuing to provide lifetime tenancies to households that may only experience temporary need compounds the situation that sees 1.2 million households on social housing waiting lists, and 236,000 social tenants forced to live in overcrowded conditions due to lack of suitably sized properties, while 380,000 households occupy social housing with two or more spare bedrooms. This is not a good use of scarce social housing and it is not likely to lead to strong and cohesive communities.

    The provisions in the Housing and Planning Bill require that towards the end of the fixed term the landlord must review the tenant’s circumstances. Where they are broadly unchanged, the landlord will be able to grant a further tenancy in the same home.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chuka Umunna – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many children were housed in temporary accommodation for longer than the six-week legal limit in (a) the London Borough of Lambeth, (b) London and (c) England and Wales in each year since 2010-11.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    We do not collect data on the numbers of children in temporary bed and breakfast style accommodation for longer than 6 weeks.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 March 2016 to Question 31790, what categories of information his Department holds on people that apply for employment and support allowance.

    Priti Patel

    No information other than overall volumes of claims and appeals are held centrally on applicants to Employment and Support Allowance.

    However the information we have in respect of the number of people in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance by main disabling condition is published and can be found at:

    https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

    Guidance for users can be found at:

    https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

    “

  • Alan Whitehead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Whitehead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with British Crown Dependencies on the status of such territories for the purpose of awarding Contracts for Difference to projects that benefit the UK’s electricity supply.

    Andrea Leadsom

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not met with British Crown Dependencies on the status of such territories for the purpose of awarding Contracts for Difference to projects that benefit the UK’s electricity supply.

  • Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gavin Shuker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Shuker on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the operational readiness of St Helena Airport; and when she expects commercial operations at that airport to commence.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    The St Helena Airport was certificated by Air Safety Support International on 10 May 2016 and is open. As a result of turbulence and wind shear identified on the northern approach, the certification confirms the airport is classed as Category C, which requires certain conditions to be met by airlines and aircraft proposing to use the airport. Work is underway to establish commercial air services.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hate crimes were committed against disabled people in each of the last five years.

    Sarah Newton

    The Home Office has collected disability hate crime data from the police since 2011/12.

    In 2011/12, the police recorded 1,748 disability hate crime offences, 1,911 in 2012/13, 2,006 in 2013/14 and 2,508 in 2014/15.

    Further information on hate crime can be found in Hate Crimes, England and Wales, 2014/15, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2014-to-2015

    Data for 2015/16 are due to be published in October 2016.

    As stated by the Office for National Statistics, action taken by police forces to improve their compliance with the National Crime Recording Standard has led to improved recording of crime over the last year, especially for violence against the person offences. Together with a greater awareness of disability hate crime, and improved willingness of victims to come forward, this is likely to be a factor in the increase in disability hate crimes recorded by the police.

    This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many investigations have been conducted by the Competition and Markets Authority into the bus industry over the last 10 years and how the total number compares to other sectors in the transport industry.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    In the last ten years there were 43 investigations involving bus companies, 15 for rail, 11 for airports, 2 for trams, 1 for cars and 1 other.

    These figures include investigations carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority’s predecessors (the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission).

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much companies contracted by his Department to operate (a) detention centres, (b) prisons, (c) young offender institutions and (d) secure training centres have paid in fines in each of the last five years; and what the reason was for each such fine imposed.

    Andrew Selous

    This department does not hold information relating to (a) detention centres as these are managed by the Home Office.

    Information regarding (b) prisons, (c) young offender institutions can be located in PQ answer 24385 which was answered on 4 April 2016.

    Information on (d) Secure Training Centres can be located in PQ answer 26793 which was answered on 9 February 2016.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether funding will be provided to NHS Trusts as part of the Operational Delivery Network model to fund hepatitis C treatment services through either (1) a block contract, or (2) a tariff.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) provide expert specialist oversight of prescribing decisions on hepatitis C. Funding has been provided via Commissioning and Quality Innovation Payment (CQUIN) and it is NHS England’s intention to continue with CQUIN funding in 2016/17 and 2017/18.

    When a patient attends NHS services for treatment of hepatitis C, their attendance is included in the national tariff.

    Depending on the specific nature of their healthcare need, their care may be paid for by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) or by NHS England’s specialised services hubs according to coding and whether the care they receive is defined as a prescribed specialised service.

    Some patients may have aspects of their hepatitis C treatment provided by other services (such as drugs and alcohol services) which are not funded by the NHS.

    NHS England is the responsible commissioner for hepatitis C drugs. These are high cost drugs and so are excluded from the national tariff.

    NHS England’s plan for future hepatitis C funding is being finalised at the moment. As NHS England are working with ODN clinical leads to plan to ensure that patients with unmet clinical need are treated via hepatitis C ODNs in a planned way over the coming years.