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Tag: 2016

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to ensure that the Supported People programme funding to local authorities reaches vulnerable people in Devon.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Funding for the Supporting People Grant was rolled into the local government finance settlement in 2011-12. Decisions on how money should be spent are best made by local authorities. Local authorities have the freedom and flexibility to prioritise and make their own decisions on how they spend their budgets.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees currently housed in the refugee camp in Calais are unaccompanied children; and what steps are being taken to ensure that the asylum applications of those children are prioritised.

    James Brokenshire

    The French NGO France Terre d’Asile (FTDA) has carried out a survey of children in the camps in the Calais area, which identified, within the scope of the survey, 43 children with claimed family links to the UK. We are working closely with the French Government and FTDA to ensure that where family links are established, transfers take place efficiently under the Dublin Regulation.

    The transfer of cases deemed the responsibility of the UK on the basis of family unity provisions contained in the Dublin Regulation can take place relatively quickly and we have resources in place to facilitate this. An individual must first, however, claim asylum in France or another European state participating in the Regulation for the process to begin.

    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 we seconded an asylum expert to the French administration to facilitate the improvement of all stages of the process.

    The UK and France are running regular joint communication campaigns in northern France which inform unaccompanied children and others of their right to claim asylum in France and of the family reunion process.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the cost of the refit to RFA Diligence in 2015.

    Earl Howe

    Refits of RFA DILIGENCE were carried out from June 2012 to February 2013, and from September 2014 to February 2015, costing £17.6 million and £11 million respectively.

    The timings of the refits were driven by factors including the mandatory requirements to renew safety and environmental certification and the need to address equipment obsolescence issues.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the unaccompanied children that have arrived in the UK from Calais under the Dublin III Regulation are (a) male and (b) female.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The process of transferring unaccompanied children from Calais to the UK under the Dublin III Regulation is an ongoing operational matter and the Home Office will provide an update in due course.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department is providing universities to increase collaboration with Chinese research institutions; and if he will make a statement.

    Joseph Johnson

    We are working with UK universities in a number of important ways to increase our collaboration with Chinese researchers.

    We have regular discussions with the Chinese government on education and research collaboration These discussions are both at the working level, where BIS science and higher education teams have a close relationship with their opposite numbers, and also through regular Ministerial exchanges such as the annual People to People Dialogue, the UK-China Education Summit, the biennial UK-China Science and Innovation Joint Committee meetings and the annual Prime Ministerial summit meetings.

    In addition, our flagship international science and innovation fund, the Newton Fund, has achieved a transformation in UK-China research collaboration since it was launched in April 2014 and continues to strengthen our collaborative work. The fund, includes significant university participation in programmes on urbanisation, climate change, environment, food security and health. Universities also play a major role in building research capacity in China through means of Newton grants for partnerships, PhD placements, training and joint workshops.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to meet the UN target of reducing food wastage by 50 per cent by 2030.

    Rory Stewart

    Food waste is an issue requiring urgent action throughout the world and the UN target of halving per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels is an important objective. Working through WRAP, we are taking concerted action and are leading the way in the EU and Internationally.

    We have made significant progress to reduce food waste through the Courtauld Commitment, a voluntary agreement with retailers and food manufacturers, and WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign which gives consumers advice and tips on reducing food waste at home. Courtauld Commitment signatories reported a reduction of 7.4% in supply chain waste between 2009 and 2012 under Courtauld 2. Interim results for Courtauld 3 show signatories reported a further 3.2% reduction by 2014.

    We also made progress through a voluntary agreement with the hospitality and food service sector. Hospitality Agreement signatories achieved a reduction in CO2e emissions of 3.6% by preventing food waste and the food and packaging recycling rate rose from 45% to 57% between 2012 and 2014.

    We want to go further. WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement, Courtauld 2025, which will build on this progress. Courtauld 2025 is expected to be launched in March 2016.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many immigration advisers were registered with each of the professional bodies approved as registers of immigration advisers in each year since 2009-10; how many complaints the Legal Ombudsman received about immigration advisers registered with each of those bodies in each of those years; in how many of these complaints the Legal Ombudsman found wrongdoing on the part of the adviser; in how many such cases the Legal Ombudsman (i) took action against the adviser and (ii) referred the complaint; and how many immigration advisers were (A) prohibited and (B) suspended as a result of such action.

    Dominic Raab

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives Regulation (CILEx Regulation) and the Bar Standards Board (BSB) each regulate practitioners that can provide immigration advice or services in England and Wales.

    There is no requirement to separately register as an immigration adviser, and all practising solicitors can deliver immigration services.

    Every barrister issued with a practising certificate is authorised to carry out immigration advice and services.

    CILEx Regulation closed its immigration register from 30 April 2004 until October 2014 when a new accreditation scheme was implemented. They currently have 8 registered immigration advisers.

    The Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales was set up by the Office for Legal Complaints under the Legal Services Act 2007 to deal with complaints about regulated legal service providers in England and Wales.

    The number of complaints relating to immigration advice investigated by the Legal Ombudsman since it opened in October 2010 are set out below.

    October

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/ to end of Feb 2016

    Immigration cases investigated

    52

    284

    324

    353

    390

    291

    The OLC can make a number of recommendations where they find poor service, and can make multiple recommendations in relation to a single complaint. Within the above cases, the following number of recommendations have been made.

    October

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    Recommendations made in relation to immigration cases

    13

    120

    127

    144

    199

    162

    The Legal Ombudsman makes potential misconduct referrals to the regulators if they suspect an issue with conduct has arisen. It is then for the regulator to investigate the potential misconduct and the Legal Ombudsman takes no part in that aspect of the investigation.

    For immigration and asylum issues OLC made the following potential misconduct referrals.

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/3

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    Referrals to regulators for potential misconduct

    8

    22

    57

    43

    75

    44

    The regulators cannot identify where practitioners have been prohibited from practice or suspended as a result of misconduct relating to immigration advice or services without disproportionate cost.

  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the UK aid budget will be allocated as (a) grants and (b) loans in 2016-17.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The information requested is not available for 2016-17.

  • Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans are in receipt of war disablement pension; and what steps his Department takes to notify recipients of changes in the level of that pension.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    As at 31 March 2015, there were 116,049 disablement pensioners in receipt of a War Pension administered by Veterans UK. Whenever there is a change in an individual’s rate of war pension, Veterans UK will write to inform them. For 2016, Veterans UK elected not to issue an annual uprating letter to individuals as there was no change to payment levels. Instead, an alternative communication plan was put in place utilising automated messages on the Veterans UK helpline, letters to Third sector organisations for publication, and articles in Veterans World magazine, the Armed Forces pension newsletter, social media and on the gov.uk website.

  • 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 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 May 2016 to Question 37474, how many full-time equivalent officials of his Department are responsible for any debt collection activity that the CMS system is undertaking to ensure that former Child Support Agency child maintenance arrears are received.

    Priti Patel

    Where CSA arrears are moved across to the CMS system we will actively pursue collection where the CSA clients fall within three specific scenarios. These include firstly where a re-application has been made to CMS relating to the same case; secondly where the CSA arrears were being paid in the last 3 months prior to being moved over to the CMS system; and finally where a client actively requests we collect them.

    Given this approach to the collection of these CSA arrears, they are collected through our business-as-usual processes within our Case Maintenance, Arrears and Enforcement Teams within CMS, where at June 2016 there were 3,256 full time equivalent staff.