Tag: 2016

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people called for Jury service were in receipt of (a) jobseeker’s allowance, (b) employment and support allowance, (c) income support, (d) working tax credit and (e) child tax credit in the most recent 12 months for which data is available; and what steps he is taking to meet the costs of undertaking jury service for such people.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The information requested is not held.

    Jury service is an important civic duty. HMCTS is committed to offering support to those called as jurors. Financial provision is made for jurors who are on benefit and for those who suffer loss of earning whilst on jury service. Full details of that provision can be found at: www.gov.uk/jury-service/what-you-can-claim

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Leader of the House, what the (a) policy and (b) other responsibilities are of each special adviser in his Office.

    Chris Grayling

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 29 February 2016, to Question UIN 27946.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment he has made of which of his Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed.

    The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

    The changes proposed under the Directive should not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. HM Treasury regularly raises these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate, risk-based approach when applying these measures.

  • 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 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new staff have been appointed to his Department since 21 March 2016.

    Justin Tomlinson

    A total of 337 new employees were appointed to the Department for Work and Pensions during the period 21 March 2016 to 25 April 2016.

  • Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Vinson on 2016-06-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the number of children waiting to join the Scout movement, what plans they have, if any, to review the procedures for repeat Disclosure and Barring Service checks of volunteers.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government has introduced an Update Service to enable existing criminal record certificates to be kept up to date whilst reducing the need for repeat checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The DBS is driving greater uptake of the Update Service which will continue to reduce the need for repeat checks, whilst continuing to safeguard children. The Update Service and criminal records certificates are provided free of charge to volunteers. It is for the Scout Association to determine when criminal records checks should be undertaken and whether to enable volunteers to make use of the Update Service.

  • Meg Hillier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Meg Hillier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how often the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme has been applied in each police authority area in England.

    Sarah Newton

    The Home Office published an evaluation report on the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme on 8 March 2016 which showed that there had been over 1,900 disclosures under the scheme since national roll out. A full breakdown by police force area can be found in the report which is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-violence-disclosure-scheme-assessment-of-national-roll-out

  • Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Ellman on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to support projects that encourage co-operation and co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK is supportive of coexistence (people-to-people) programmes which bring together Palestinians and Israelis and foster inter-community understanding. The Secretary of State is currently assessing options for providing further support to coexistence programmes.

  • Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Colombian counterpart to ensure that the Mothers of Soacha are able to keep their relatives’ graves in their current cemetery without incurring financial costs.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Any claim in negotiating compensation for the preservation of the graves must be requested directly via the government of Colombia, through the local compensation courts. Her Majesty’s Government is unable to interfere directly in this process.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what statutory arrangements are in place to penalise rail franchises which consistently perform poorly; and how often such arrangements have been called on since 2010.

    Claire Perry

    Section 55 of the Railways Act 1993 (as amended) gives the Secretary of State power to make an Enforcement Order where a train operator contravenes a term of the franchise agreement. Such an Order may require the train operator to take specified steps to address the contravention and can include a requirement to pay a penalty if the Train Operator contravenes the Order.

    Section 57A of the Railways Act 1993 (as amended) gives the Secretary of State a separate power to impose a penalty for contravention of a term of the franchise agreement as an alternative to making an Enforcement Order or in addition to such an Order (provided that the Order does not include a penalty provision).

    Since 2010 no train operator has been required to make a payment for breach of an Enforcement Order under section 55. Some 13 Enforcement Orders under Section 55 have been issued, and one train operator has been required to make a penalty payment imposed under section 57A.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department is committed to the health and wellbeing of its staff and has developed a wellbeing strategy with a ‘5 steps to improve wellbeing’ approach.