The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of profits moved out of developing countries by UK-listed companies in each of the last five years.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The Department for International Development does not collect this data.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of her officials are working in Calais and Northern France to identify, screen and process those unaccompanied child refugees who are potentially eligible under the Dublin III Regulation for family reunion in the UK; and how many applications under that regulation have been processed in each of the last 15 weeks.
James Brokenshire
Under the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK and France have committed to ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively. To assist the handling of such cases, the two Governments have established a permanent official contact group, agreed single points of contact within respective Dublin Units and the UK seconded an asylum expert to the French administration to improve all stages of the process of identifying, protecting and transferring relevant cases to the UK. The Home Office will review the existing arrangements as part of the work to implement relevant provisions of the Immigration Act 2016. Between the start of January 2016 and 30th April 2016 our records indicate that the UK has accepted over 30 requests from France under the Dublin Regulations to take charge of asylum seeking children on family grounds of which more than 20 have already been transferred to the UK.
To assist with the identification of potential victims of trafficking and exploitation (including unaccompanied children) in Calais, the UK has funded a project run by a French non-governmental organisation which aims to identify and direct these vulnerable people to the appropriate support services in France.
The UK and France are running regular joint communication campaigns in northern France which informs individuals (including unaccompanied children) of their rights to claim asylum in France and gives them information on family reunification. The frequency of these campaigns has been increased in line with the Joint Declaration signed in August 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to publish Key Stage 2, 3 and 4 results for all multi-academy trusts.
Nick Gibb
The Department for Education already publishes Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 results for schools, including those in multi-academy trusts. Assessment at Key Stage 3 is a matter for schools and, as such, there is no statutory national test at the end of Key Stage 3.
The Education White Paper ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’ set out the Government plans to publish performance information for multi-academy trusts in addition to the continued publication of performance data at individual school level. On Thursday 7 July, we published a statistical working paper, using our developing approach, showing the performance of multi-academy trusts at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 using 2015 results.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to address the issue of physical violence against teaching assistants in schools.
Nick Gibb
Violence in schools is always unacceptable.
It is the responsibility of head teachers to ensure the safety of all their staff, including teaching assistants, and the good behaviour of pupils. We have supported schools by empowering teachers to take action against poor pupil behaviour, clarifying teachers’ powers, extending their searching powers and allowing teachers to impose same-day detentions.
The previous Secretary of State appointed behaviour expert Tom Bennett to lead two reviews of behaviour. The first review was published in July and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-government-response-to-carter-review.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the affordability of childcare in (a) Lambeth, (b) Southwark and (c) London.
Mr Sam Gyimah
The Government uses a range of information to consider the affordability of childcare, including our Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents’[1]; independent surveys, such as the Family and Childcare Trust Annual Childcare Cost Surveys[2]; and the recent House of Lords Select Committee’s report on affordable childcare, to which we responded on 17 December, 2015[3].
We are committed to supporting hardworking parents with the costs of childcare, and to making childcare more affordable. That is why we will be investing an extra £1billion per annum by 2019-20 to help hardworking families with the cost of childcare.
We are already funding 15 hours a week of free early education for all three- and four-year-olds and for disadvantaged two-year-olds. This saves families around £2,500 per child per year. Through our Childcare Bill we are making plans to fund and deliver an additional 15 hours of free childcare for the working parents of three- and four-year olds from September 2017 (with early implementation in some areas from September 2016). This is worth around another £2,500 per child per year. We also continue to invest in the Early Years Pupil Premium.
We are introducing Tax-Free Childcare from early 2017, under which around 2 million families could benefit by up to £2,000 per child per year or £4,000 per child per year if a child is disabled.
For working parents on low and middle incomes, working tax credit pays up to 70% of their childcare costs and this will increase to 85% under Universal Credit from April 2016. This support will be available, for the first time, to those working fewer than 16 hours per week.
[1] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents-2012-to-2013
[2] www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/childcare-cost-survey-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of new claims for (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance were paid within 10 days of a claim being made in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.
Priti Patel
The information you have requested is currently not available.
The department does not hold information on time taken to make a payment for jobseeker’s allowance, or employment and support allowance.
Additional breakdowns will be included in the Universal Credit official statistics as quality assurance of data from the Universal Credit systems progresses during 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2016-03-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that chemical weapons are being used against the Turkmen community in the Kirkuk region of Iraq by ISIS.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
There are credible reports that Daesh have used chemical weapons in Iraq. We cannot confirm these reports with certainty, but we would condemn any such attack unreservedly. We are continuing to monitor these allegations very closely. Such behaviour would be consistent with Daesh’s record of complete disregard for human rights and international humanitarian law. The Government of Iraq is investigating allegations of chemical weapon use in Iraq by non-state actors with support from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost to the public purse is of restarting the tendering process for the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme; and what recent steps he has taken to improve the subcontracting process of charities selected as preferred tenders.
Andrew Selous
No Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) has withdrawn from the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme. As part of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, CRCs are required to deliver the services set out in their contract. CRCs can decide to contract with other organisations to deliver some of those services. If these sub-contractors decide to no longer provide services, the CRC will decide whether to re-tender or provide the service themselves. This should not affect the number of offenders able to access the services.
We are not restarting the tendering process for probation providers. CRCs are in the process of finalising their supply chains. Contract Management Teams closely monitor arrangements to ensure consistency of service provision and that prime and sub-contractors comply with the terms of an Industry Standard Partnering Agreement set out in the original tender documents.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) children under 18 years of age and (b) young people aged 18 to 24 applied for legal aid under the Exceptional Case Funding Scheme in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The purpose of the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme is to provide funding where it is legally needed. It does not provide a general power to fund cases which fall outside the scope of legal aid. Legal aid is a vital part of our justice system, but we cannot escape the continuing need to reduce the deficit. We still have a very generous system – last year we spent £1.6bn on legal aid, around a quarter of the department’s expenditure. Every ECF application is carefully considered by the Legal Aid Agency on an individual basis.
Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015
|
FY application received |
Under 18 |
18-24 |
Unknown |
|
Apr 2013 – Mar 2014 |
55 |
86 |
6982 |
|
Apr 2014 – Mar 2015 |
27 |
116 |
67 |
|
Apr 2015 – Dec 20151 |
31 |
82 |
78 |
1 Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016
2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.
Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, which were granted3, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015
|
FY application received |
Under 18 |
18-24 |
Unknown |
|
Apr 2013 – Mar 2014 |
1 |
4 |
132 |
|
Apr 2014 – Mar 2015 |
8 |
20 |
3 |
|
Apr 2015 – Dec 20151 |
12 |
40 |
23 |
1 Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016
2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.
3 Granted by 29 February 2016
Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration cases, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015
|
FY application received |
Under 18 |
18-24 |
Unknown |
|
Apr 2013 – Mar 2014 |
– |
12 |
1332 |
|
Apr 2014 – Mar 2015 |
14 |
39 |
16 |
|
Apr 2015 – Dec 20151 |
11 |
33 |
25 |
1 Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016
2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.
Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration cases, which were granted3, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015
|
FY application received |
Under 18 |
18-24 |
Unknown |
|
Apr 2013 – Mar 2014 |
– |
– |
12 |
|
Apr 2014 – Mar 2015 |
4 |
8 |
1 |
|
Apr 2015 – Dec 20151 |
10 |
22 |
12 |
1 Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016
2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.
3 Granted by 29 February 2016
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Angola on the yellow fever epidemic and shortages of medical supplies.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
FCO officials have been in direct contact with the Angolan Government and Angolan Embassy in London on yellow fever. Although we are unable to provide direct assistance given the UK regulations around yellow fever supplies, the Department for International Development are directly funding Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and as its largest donor is providing £1.44 billion for 2016-2020. Gavi is supporting Angola’s response through the International Coordination Group’s (ICG) Revolving Fund. Angola has already received 7 million doses from the ICG to respond to the outbreak. We also provide central funding to the WHO, who have been running a vaccination campaign in Luanda province.