UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2016

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many unaccompanied young asylum seekers have arrived in the UK in the past 12 months; and where they have been sent.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Annual Figures on the number of claims for asylum from Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC), including by country of nationality, are published quarterly by the Home Office in the Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics April to June 2016, is available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2016.

    The Government is committed to ensuring that there is a more equitable distribution of UASC across the country and that no one authority has to care for more UASC than they are able to. That is why we introduced the voluntary National Transfer Scheme and have consulted with every region in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on their capacity. In order to continue the success of the voluntary scheme more local authorities will need to participate and offer places for unaccompanied children from councils which are caring for disproportionately high numbers.

  • Baroness King of Bow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness King of Bow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the legal Transfer Agreement between Tower Hamlets Housing Action Trust and Circle 33 Housing Trust for the transfer of the Tredegar, Monteith and Lefevre estates in Bow to Old Ford Housing Association.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    We are not able to place a copy of the document in the Library of the House; the transfer took place in 1999 and records are not kept that long.

  • Lord Wallace of Tankerness – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Wallace of Tankerness – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wallace of Tankerness on 2016-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken to support Bite the Ballot’s National Voter Registration Drive 2016, as well as the efforts by other organisations to engage and register (1) attainers, and (2) young voters, ahead of the elections in May and the EU referendum.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The introduction of online voter registration makes it easier and faster to register to vote. This provided a platform for Bite the Ballot’s National Voter Registration Drive 2016 which made heavy use of on digital media. The Government supported the initiative by encouraging government departments and relevant stakeholders such as local authorities to promote it. Since its introduction, three quarters of applications to register to vote were made online by people aged 16-24. As part of the week long activity, my Rt Hon. Friend the Minister for Constitutional Reform met with representatives of several faith organisations to discuss democratic participation.

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Altmann on 2 March (HL6343), why there is a difference within the Overseas Territories resulting in some people receiving uprating of their pensions while the pensions of others are frozen, and what would be the annual cost of unfreezing pensions for all those living in the Overseas Territories.

    Baroness Altmann

    The government has a clear position, which has remained constant for around 70 years: the UK State Pension is payable worldwide and is uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so for example in the European Economic Area or in countries where there is a reciprocal agreement in place that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this.

    The annual additional cost of up-rating the state pensions of those recipients who are resident in the British Overseas Territories is estimated at approximately £1million in 2015/16.

    Were this to occur, liabilities for pensioners who live in other countries and territories would also have to be met. The estimated cost of increasing pensions in those countries where they are not currently uprated would be over £0.5 billion a year. This would be financially unaffordable.

  • David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his Department’s policy that DNA samples should be taken when the remains of British soldiers who died in World War One are recovered.

    Mark Lancaster

    When remains thought to be of a British Serviceman are located, DNA samples may be taken if there is a realistic chance of a positive match to living descendants.

    With over 300,000 British and Commonwealth personnel who died in World War One still having no known grave, the chances of one individual being linked to recovered remains alone are extremely remote.

    Whilst extensive efforts are made to positively identify any recovered remains, these must first concentrate on forensic analysis of the remains, artefacts and clothing recovered, along with examination of documentary records such as Regimental War Diaries. Only once this work has identified a relatively small group cohort of likely names would DNA testing prove practical.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the annual budget is for food produced for her Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for her Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Department for International Development does not set a budget for food served in its Department’s offices. Catering services are provided by a private company under contract to Department for International Development and provides food to staff without subsidy. Spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts from DFID staff.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2016 to Question 39715, on his Department’s vacancies, what plans he has to use secondments from private sector organisations outside London as part of his Department’s resourcing strategy.

    Joseph Johnson

    As in the past, the Department makes use of secondments to supplement skills, provide external insights and interchange with the private sector, as part of its resourcing strategy.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultation they have held on the proposal to remove the 50 per cent cap on religious selection for existing schools as well as new schools, and which groups they have consulted.

    Lord Nash

    On 9th September the Prime Minister announced that we will remove the 50 per cent cap for new faith free schools and consult on a new set of much more effective requirements to ensure that new faith schools are properly inclusive. The consultation is available to view at consult.education.gov.uk/ under ‘Schools that work for everyone’. We would welcome your views on our proposals.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the evidence available regarding human rights violations committed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Yemen. The UK supported the September UN Human Rights Council resolution which contains mechanisms for monitoring the human rights situation in Yemen. We continue to raise the importance of respect for human rights with all sides of the conflict. We used a wide range of evidence including credible non-governmental organisations, UN agencies and other sources of information to inform our assessment.

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

    Baroness Byford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many farming businesses have applied for funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Flood Recovery Programme.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    At close of business on 22 February, 208 grant applications from farming businesses, worth almost £2.3 million had been submitted to the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). Of these, 128 had come from farmers in Cumbria, with the other applications from farmers in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland and County Durham.

    103 grants had already been approved with a total value of over £1 million. The RPA is working with farmers to process the remaining applications.