Tag: 2016

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of the People’s Republic of China about releasing all human rights lawyers detained since July 2015, ceasing the harassment of lawyers and activists, and upholding the rule of law.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have repeatedly raised our concerns with the Chinese authorities about the detention, arrest and disappearance of Chinese lawyers and human rights defenders. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Mr Sharma), raised their cases most recently with the Chinese Ambassador on 1 August. We urge the Chinese authorities to release the detained lawyers and ensure all detainees have access to legal counsel of their choice.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the capacity of his Department to negotiate future trade deals with multiple countries and trading blocks at the same time; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Hands

    The Department for International Trade has already established a strong and capable trade policy team with significant negotiating experience. The team has more than doubled in size since 23 June and is still growing. We will continue to hire the brightest and best talent from within the UK civil service and from elsewhere in order to deliver the best outcomes for the UK.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to increase collection charges for the 2012 child maintenance scheme for the (a) parent with care and (b) non-resident parent.

    Priti Patel

    The level of the application charge and collection charges for parents with care and non-resident parents will be included in the statutory 30 month review of charging, which is due to be completed by December 2016. There are no current plans to increase the application fee or collection charges.

  • Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much is paid in benefits to claimants who are citizens of each of the 27 other EU member states, and how many such claimants there are from each of those countries.

    Lord Freud

    Information on benefit receipt by nationality is not available.

    The Department has published statistics on working age benefit recipients claiming within 6 months of National Insurance Number (NINO) registration. This information is known as “Nationality at point of National Insurance number registration of DWP benefit claimants” and is included in the “Statistical Bulletin on National Insurance Number Allocations to Adult Overseas Nationals”.

    The Government is looking at ways to reform the current administrative system under Universal Credit so that it will systematically record nationality and immigration status of migrants who make a claim.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the level of human trafficking and exploitation in the UK.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government is taking significant steps forward in tackling the abhorrent crime of modern slavery. We passed the Modern Slavery Act in 2015 which gives law enforcement agencies the tools they need to tackle human trafficking and modern slavery, places a duty on large businesses to report on the actions they are taking to prevent modern slavery in their global supply chains and ensures that perpetrators can receive suitably severe sentences of up to life imprisonment.

    We have also enhanced support and protection for those victims of this crime. We have extended the definition for those who are entitled to support under the government-funded victim care contract and we are piloting a new model of the National Referral Mechanism to ensure we have the right processes in place for identifying and supporting victims.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to reports of his remarks in Ankara in January 2016, what recent estimate he has made of the number of UK citizens who have (a) entered and since left, (b) entered and remained in and (c) been prevented from entering (i) Syria and (ii) Iraq since April 2013.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    Approximately 800 individuals of national security concern have travelled to take part in the Syria conflict since it began. Of these approximately half have returned. As I said when I visited Ankara in January, the UK and Turkey have worked together to prevent the travel of over 600 UK nationals to Syria and Iraq via Turkey.

    The UK continues to work to prevent the flow of extremist travellers to Iraq and Syria, through domestic measures in the UK, and through co-operation with international partners including Turkey.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-05-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what submissions they have made to the European Commission’s review of the licence of glyphosate.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Pesticide active substances, such as glyphosate, must be approved at EU level before products containing them can be authorised for sale and use in a Member State. The approval decision is based on an assessment of the risks to people and to the environment and is subject to regular review to ensure that current standards continue to be met. The scientific assessment is led by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and decisions are made by the European Commission through a comitology process.

    UK experts participated fully in the EFSA review of glyphosate and agree with its overall conclusion that this active substance meets the standards for approval. The Government has therefore been clear to the Commission that we support the continuing approval of glyphosate.

  • Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to respond to the Waterson Report on Secondary Ticketing, published on 22 May 2016.

    Nick Boles

    The Government will publish its response to Professor Waterson’s independent review in due course.

  • Lord Temple-Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Temple-Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Temple-Morris on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many arrests of illegal immigrants there were in each of the last five years; and how many of those arrested in each year were (1) deported from the UK, (2) remained in custody, and (3) released within the UK.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    It is not possible to provide information in the format requested, because data on arrests for illegal immigration cannot be separated from arrests for other immigration offences.

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to increase funding for BBC ALBA.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government recognises MG Alba’s valuable contribution to Gaelic language broadcasting. Although MG ALBA are funded by the Scottish Government, the previous government provided them with two one-off grants that ended in March 2016, for additional support for minority language services. MG ALBA continues to receive public funding from the Scottish Executive. There are no plans for the UK Government to provide further direct funding.