Tag: 2016

Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many civil servants in his Department are paid through limited companies.

Harriett Baldwin

As part of the government’s transparency agenda, the department publishes on a monthly basis, information on payroll and non-payroll staff. The link for the requested years can be found below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/workforce-management–2?1

There are no civil servants contracted to the department who are paid through public limited companies.

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January 1, 2023
Alex Salmond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Salmond on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to speed up family reunification for unaccompanied refugee children in Europe.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government began work to implement the ‘Dubs amendment’ immediately after the Immigration Bill gained Royal Assent. Over 30 children who meet the criteria in the Immigration Act have been accepted for transfer since it received Royal Assent in May, the majority of these have already arrived in the UK.

We continue to work with the French, Greek and Italian authorities and others to speed up existing family reunification processes or implement new processes where necessary for unaccompanied children. We have seconded a UK official to Greece, we have a long-standing secondee working in Italy and will shortly be seconding another official to the French Interior Ministry to support these efforts.

We have established a dedicated team in the Home Office Dublin Unit to lead on family reunion cases for unaccompanied children. Transfer requests under the Dublin Regulation are now generally processed within 10 days and children transferred within weeks. Over 120 children have been accepted for transfer this year from Europe. We also continue to consult local authorities about the transfer unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK, where it is in their best interests.

January 1, 2023
Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the government of North Korea, or any of its state-owned companies, has access to the London Stock Exchange or holds financial interests in the UK.

Lord Young of Cookham

As part of UN and EU sanctions, banks are required to close existing branches, subsidiaries or accounts in North Korea where it has been determined that they contribute to North Korea’s ballistic missile programmes. The sanctions also prohibit any commercial activity by the Government of North Korea (including legal persons, entities or bodies owned or controlled by them).

Assets owned or controlled in the EU by designated DPRK persons, entities or bodies, including government bodies, are subject to an asset freeze and cannot be traded on the London Stock Exchange. A list of designations which has been placed in the Library includes a number of DPRK government and state-owned bodies. HM Treasury implements these financial sanctions in the UK. Non-compliance with financial sanctions is a criminal offence and HM Treasury works closely with law enforcement to ensure sanctions breaches are dealt with appropriately. For reasons of confidentiality, the Treasury does not make public the details of individual reports of frozen assets.

January 1, 2023

Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on research and development to find a synthetic alternative to bear pelts for the making of bearskins and other associated headgear containing real fur in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not buy bear pelts; it buys ceremonial caps direct from suppliers who source pelts from animals culled as part of a programme to manage the wild population licensed by the Canadian government. Animal welfare standards relating to the bear cull are a matter for the Canadian government.

The MOD also purchases coney skin (rabbit fur) for the Royal Engineers’ and Royal Signals’ busby and fox fur for the Royal Horse Artillery, Kings Troop Officers’ busby. The current contract requires a commitment to sustainable procurement.

Depending on usage and maintenance, bearskin busbys can last for up to 50 years. The coney skin and fox fur busbys have indefinite lifespans if properly maintained.

Calendar Year	Cost of Bearskin Busby Headgear (£)	Financial Year	Cost of Coney Skin Busby Headgear (£)	Cost of Fox Fur Busby Headgear(£)
2005	Not held	2005-06	1,532	0
2006	Not held	2006-07	0	1,472
2007	Not held	2007-08	0	0
2008	31,319	2008-09	9,173	406
2009	148,891	2009-10	0	0
2010	131,886	2010-11	0	0
2011	90,822	2011-12	0	861
2012	126,087	2012-13	1,779	861
2013	65,108	2013-14	0	0
2014	136,671	2014-15	10,257	1,899
2015	149,379	2015-16	2,558	0

All figures are rounded to the nearest pound.

Calendar Year	Number of Bearskin Busby Headgear	Financial Year	Number of Coney Skin Busby Headgear	Number of Busby Headgear made of Fox Fur
2005	Not held	2005-06	4	0
2006	Not held	2006-07	0	2
2007	Not held	2007-08	0	0
2008	35	2008-09	22	1
2009	195	2009-10	0	0
2010	158	2010-11	0	0
2011	99	2011-12	0	1
2012	126	2012-13	4	1
2013	63	2013-14	0	0
2014	127	2014-15	20	2
2015	122	2015-16	5	0

Historically the MOD has undertaken a number of trials on synthetic alternatives to bear skin but none of these matched the properties of the natural material. No trialling has taken place since 2007. Information about costs of these trials is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In 2012 the Ministry of Defence loaned a sample bearskin to the animal rights organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, to aid its research and development programme on a synthetic alternative.

There has been no research and development carried out to find a synthetic alternative to coney skin or fox fur.

January 1, 2023

Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-01-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment the Financial Conduct Authority has made of the effectiveness of its regulatory instruments, including enforcement action, in ensuring compliance by banks and other financial institutions regarding record keeping.

Harriett Baldwin

This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.

The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

January 1, 2023
Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to Question 18949, tabled by the hon. Member for Halifax on 7 December 2015.

Mr Shailesh Vara

I can confirm that the answer to PQ 18949 was given on the 29^th February 2016.

January 1, 2023
Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to (a) better identify visitors to the UK from other EEA countries who are being treated in NHS hospitals and (b) ensure that such visitors’ home countries are charged for their treatment.

Alistair Burt

Since its inception in 2013, the Department of Health’s Visitor and Migrant NHS Cost Recovery Programme has been working to design and implement key improvements to ensure that those people who should pay for National Health Service care in England are identified and charged. The Department has also been working closely with the NHS to improve rates of recovery where these healthcare costs are the responsibility of other member states of the European Economic Area (EEA) via the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), S1 and S2 mechanisms.

Achievements include:

– the revision of the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations that came into force on 6 April 2015, reducing the number of exemption from charge categories and realigning the Regulations to the principle that the NHS is a residency-based healthcare system;

– support of and engagement with NHS providers through meetings with senior trust employees, plus the launch of a Cost Recovery Support Team to provide bespoke assistance to trusts to support them in improving their processes for identifying chargeable patients and recovering funds owed, including those from Europe;

– the launch of the European Health Insurance Card reporting incentive on 1 October 2014. Through this, all EHIC activity correctly reported by NHS secondary providers that enables the UK to make appropriate reimbursement claims from other member states attracts an additional 25% funding of the costs of providing treatment for the benefit of the reporting organisation.

The Department has recently concluded a consultation on the extension of charging overseas visitors and migrants using the NHS in England. Part of the consultation proposes to amend the residence definition for EEA nationals, by which they qualify for free NHS treatment in England. The Government will set out its response to the consultation in due course.

EEA countries and Switzerland reimburse the UK for the cost of the NHS providing treatment to people they are responsible for under EU law, including UK nationals insured in another EEA country or Switzerland.

January 1, 2023
Lord Jopling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jopling on 2016-04-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why people leaving the UK have their passports examined and recorded at some airports, whilst at others no examination takes place.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Border Force does not operate a uniform passport control regime against passengers departing the UK in the same way that it does for passengers who arrive in the UK. However, it does undertake targeted passport checks against selected cohorts of passengers leaving the UK for a range of law enforcement purposes.

We check the passports of all those passing through passport control on entry to the UK and we also conduct exit checks.

January 1, 2023
Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much was spent on non-payroll staff in his Department in 2015-16.

Mark Lancaster

The amount spent on non-payroll staff in 2015-16 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

January 1, 2023
Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much was spent by her Department on private school fees for children whose parents are stationed (a) in the UK and (b) overseas in the last financial year.

Rory Stewart

This information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost to the taxpayer.

January 1, 2023