The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-03-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whose responsibility it is to collect data on the number of home-educated pupils.
Lord Nash
Some local authorities maintain voluntary registers of children educated at home but as they have no statutory basis, they cannot be regarded as an authoritative source of data.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Watson of Invergowrie on 2016-04-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the concerns expressed by the National Farmers Union and the Country Land and Business Association regarding the prospective loss of funding and access to markets to British agriculture in the event of the UK leaving the EU; and whether they have planned any measures in such an event.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to increase the resources available for the processing of Dublin III asylum transfer requests.
James Brokenshire
We continue to work with a number of EU Member States and the European Asylum Sup-port Office (EASO) to ensure Dublin works effectively. We are in ongoing discussions with France, Italy and Greece, as well as the UNHCR, to ensure that we continue to have the right processes in place and the resources to make them work effectively.
We have recently deployed two UK experts to the Greek Dublin Unit. We are currently providing bilateral support to the Italian Dublin Unit through a long term secondment. We are also due to deploy an additional UK expert to the Italian Dublin Unit shortly.
Our work with France including the permanent official contact group and a recently sec-onded senior UK official to the French Dublin Unit to assist with the identification and transfer of cases has shown results of our collaborative efforts.
The Home Office has a unit processing Dublin III asylum transfer requests from and to the United Kingdom. This unit comprises 78.34 full time equivalent managers, caseworkers and support staff. Staffing levels will remain in line with anticipated volumes.
As announced on 4 May we are now looking to transfer children who were already present in Europe before the EU-Turkey deal came into force on 20 March, where it is in their best interests. It is important that we ensure we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in UK, as well ensuring we have the right support for those who may be brought to the UK from Europe. We are working with the relevant Member States, the UNHCR and other Non-Governmental Organisations and local authorities to establish the best way to implement the provisions of the Immigration Act 2016 for the transfer of unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 1 December 2015 to Question 17582, what his Department’s timetable is for the closure of the remaining arrears-only Child Support Agency cases after the three-year cases closure programme involving cases with an on-going liability is completed.
Justin Tomlinson
The Department’s timetable for the closure of Child Support Agency arrears only cases is currently under consideration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he has had discussions with representatives of Japanese businesses operating in the UK pursuant to the memorandum presented by the Japanese government to the Prime Minister at the recent G20 Summit.
Mr David Jones
Ministers and officials from across the Government are working closely with Japanese companies operating in the UK to reinforce the continued importance of a close business relationship between our countries. The Department for Exiting the EU will continue to support this work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2016-01-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor and evaluate the effect of the men who have sex with men human papilloma virus vaccination programme.
Jane Ellison
In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised that a targeted human papilloma virus vaccination programme for men who have sex with men attending genito-urinary medicine and HIV clinics should be undertaken, subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price. The Department and Public Health England are considering the JCVI’s advice, including how such a programme could be monitored and evaluated.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff in 10 Downing Street receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.
Matthew Hancock
The Prime Minister’s office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
No staff receive a home to work travel allowance or a car allowance. Health insurance is not a benefit offered to staff however, due to a TUPE transfer where Cabinet Office brought staff in from the private sector there a smaller number of staff able to claim subsidised health insurance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress is being made in providing safe abortion for women who are raped in conflict situations.
Baroness Verma
Women and girls raped in conflict situations need access to a comprehensive range of sexual and reproductive health services. The UK funds partners to deliver such services. For example, we are working with agencies such as UNFPA to provide essential sexual and reproductive health care within our humanitarian responses, including in Ukraine and Syria. We encourage other donors and partner agencies to increase provision of sexual and reproductive health services including full implementation of the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP). These may include access to safe abortion services as set out in our policy paper on safe and unsafe abortion.
The Secretary of State made a commitment at the UN General Assembly in 2015 that in humanitarian crises, DFID calls for proposals will require the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls to be considered. We are working with our partners to operationalise this commitment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-04-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of claims that women refugees who are in the UK (1) are not guaranteed female interviewers and interpreters who have been trained in sexual violence and trauma, (2) are not always provided with childcare during interviews, and (3) are not given adequate information about their rights.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
When an application for asylum is lodged, all asylum seekers are provided with information, in a range of languages, about the asylum process including appeal rights and other rights and responsibilities. In addition this leaflet, entitled ‘Information about your asylum application’, also includes details of where asylum seekers can obtain information about local legal advisers and local and national voluntary sector organisations who can provide assistance. For instance Asylum Help (part of Migrant Help), is funded by the Home Office and have a presence at many of the initial accommodation sites across the UK as well as providing a multi lingual website and freephone service offering confidential and impartial advice and guidance to adult asylum seekers and their dependants.
Since April 2015, female asylum seekers are guaranteed a female interviewer at their substantive asylum interview. In addition we also provide female interpreters where operationally possible. All asylum interview officers and decision makers receive training on gender issues during their initial training, this includes information about dealing sensitively with sexual trauma and violence.
Childcare facilities are currently provided in our Cardiff, Leeds and Solihull interview suites, with similar provisions soon to be made available in Glasgow and Liverpool. We are working towards tendering a national childcare contract to enable facilities to be made available in all our asylum casework hubs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies focuses on the most marginalised children including girls and children with disabilities.
Mr Nick Hurd
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided on 23rd May to Question number 37287.