The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marion Fellows on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department’s policy to immediately reject visa applications based on the applicant’s nationality.
Mr Robert Goodwill
It is not Home Office policy to refuse an application for a visa on the basis of an applicant’s nationality. All visa applications are considered on their merits, in accordance with the Immigration Rules.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Frazer on 2016-10-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to help rough sleepers and homeless people.
Mr Marcus Jones
One person without a home is one too many. That is why we launched a new £40 million Homelessness Prevention programme to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
This will enable authorities to support vulnerable people, preventing them from becoming homeless, and ensuring those who do have somewhere safe to stay.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Department manages.
David Mundell
The Scotland Office manages two buildings. Dover House in London and Melville Crescent in Edinburgh. There is one defibrillator at Melville Crescent. There is no defibrillator at Dover House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year An Unholy Mess that a significant number of religiously selective schools are asking parents for information they do not need, and are not allowed to ask for, such as whether they are UK nationals or speak English as an additional language.
Lord Nash
Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.
Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant without undue delay. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.
We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential for permission to be given to use the Vertical Launching System at Benbecula as a commercial launch pad.
Mr Philip Dunne
The current facilities at the Ministry of Defence Hebrides Range near Benbecula do not have vertical launch capability. The Department has not investigated whether the site could be used as a commercial launch pad.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Mullin on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to promote the take-up of employee ownership schemes by small and medium-sized businesses in each nation of the UK.
Anna Soubry
In 2012, the previous Government asked Graeme Nuttall to advise on what more could be done to increase the number of businesses with employee ownership. The Nuttall Review identified 28 recommendations to address three main constraints: lack of awareness of the concept; lack of resources to support the model; and actual or perceived legal, tax and other regulatory barriers. The action taken to address the recommendations is explained in the ‘The Nuttall Review of Employee Ownership – One Year On’ report published in November 2013 and available on the gov.uk website.
The Government now expects the private sector to make the business case for this model through organisations such as the Employee Ownership Association – the representative body for employee-owned businesses.
Ongoing encouragement for employee ownership is provided through four approved share schemes which have tax-advantages for both employees and employers. These are the Company Share Option Plan (CSOP), Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI), Save As You Earn (SAYE) and Share Incentive Plan (SIP) which are administered by HMRC. In 2013-14 the total value of shares and options awarded under these schemes was around £3.45bn with over £1bn of income tax and national insurance relief given.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of areas beyond national jurisdiction is covered by (a) regional seas agreements (b) regional fisheries management organisations and (c) other relevant instruments which are legally mandated to establish marine protected areas where the most important environmental impacts are effectively addressed.
James Duddridge
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold details of the proportion of areas beyond national jurisdiction covered by these arrangements. The United Nations Environment Programme has oversight of the 13 Regional Seas programmes. There are also five other “partner programmes” and the UK is a leading member in two of these – the Antarctic Treaty System and the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention). It is also an observer in the Arctic Council.
There are six Regional Fisheries Management Organisations which manage highly-migratory species and ten of which manage fish stocks by geographical area. Each Regional Fisheries Management Organisation has its own underpinning international legal agreement with different powers. The UK does not participate in every Regional Fisheries Management Organisation and we do not hold details of each of their powers. In general, Regional Fisheries Management Organisations cannot create Marine Protected Areas, but some do implement fisheries closures to protect Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems.
The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources does have the legal power to establish Marine Protected Areas and has designated the South Orkney Marine Protected Area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-06-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which European trade agreements are awaiting ratification by the UK Parliament.
Lord Price
The EU-Southern Africa Economic Partnership Agreement and the EU-Central America Association Agreement are expected to be presented to Parliament in the near future.
The EU has concluded negotiations with the following partners and, assuming that these agreements are approved in Council as being of “mixed competence”, each will need to be approved by Parliament: Canada, Ecuador, Singapore, Vietnam, Eastern Africa, and Western Africa.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kwasi Kwarteng on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what restrictions the Government has put in place to prevent threatening and intimidating behaviour on the part of bailiffs.
Sir Oliver Heald
The Government is clear that aggressive enforcement action is not acceptable. In April 2014 reforms were introduced to protect people from threatening and intimidating behaviour by enforcement agents. The reforms introduced, amongst other things, safeguards to prevent the use of force against debtors, mandatory training and a certification process for enforcement agents to ensure that they are the right people for the job.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Forsyth of Drumlean on 2016-10-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the Ofcom Content Board are former employees of the BBC.
Lord Ashton of Hyde
There are 13 members of Ofcom’s Content Board which advises the Ofcom Board and Executive on content matters, covering television, radio and video-on-demand quality and standards. The Board’s members have experience from across the broadcasting industry including Sky, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and S4C. 9 of the current 13 members have previously been employed by or have worked for the BBC. The amount of experience and the seniority of these roles varies considerably within that.