Tag: 2016

Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to improve the quality of initial interviews and decisions in asylum cases in order to reduce the need for appeals.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Home Office carefully considers all asylum claims on their individual merits and grants protection for those who genuinely need it, in accordance with our international obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights. In every asylum case the particular circumstances of the individual is considered in light of published country information.

All asylum decision-makers receive extensive training on how to consider asylum claims and are expected to follow published Home Office policy guidance. The 5-week Foundation Training Programme (FTP) for new decision makers trains staff on all aspects of the asylum decision making process. All decision makers are currently receiving credibility training. This course trains decision makers on how to assess the evidential value of their interview questions, the various reasons why someone may not come across as credible in an asylum interview and discusses issues such as speculation and implausibility. Asylum decision-makers carefully assess the protection needs of each asylum claimant following an interview by assessing all available evidence provided by the claimant in light of published country information and policy guidance. The Home Office systematically assesses the quality of asylum decisions against a detailed quality audit framework drawn up and agreed with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

We expect asylum claimants to disclose all relevant evidence to support their claim at the earliest opportunity so that we can properly consider their claim. We aim to reduce the appeal rate by analysing the reasons why appeals are allowed and using this to further improve guidance and training. We are committed to continuous improvement.

01/01/2023
Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Foster on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, based on today’s values, what the expected lifetime earnings are for a junior doctor starting in training in August 2016 if they become (a) a consultant, (b) a GP and (c) remain a junior doctor; and what assessment his Department has made of how those earnings compare to other (i) public and (ii) private sector professionals.

Mr Philip Dunne

The career earnings of a doctor will depend on many factors and are therefore highly specific to individual circumstances. They will depend on decisions around gap years and career breaks, part-time working, the choice between general practice and other specialties, when they leave the National Health Service or retire and on the speed of progression through training. However, indications can be provided by constructing a hypothetical career based on reasonable assumptions in-line with current data.

It is estimated that assuming a 40 year full time career from Foundation Programme up to consultant or partner in General Practice, a junior doctor starting training in August 2016 could expect to earn around £4 million or an average of around £100,000 per year in 2016/17 prices.

Comparisons of pay across industries and sectors are notoriously difficult, capturing differences in pressures and working patterns is particularly complicated. Comparison of recent earnings growth for doctors compared with other high-earning occupations shows that doctors remain one of the very highest-earning occupations in the United Kingdom.

01/01/2023

Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 21823, how many of her Department’s approved Intervention Providers for the Channel programme are (a) men and (b) women.

Mr John Hayes

There are currently 39 male and 13 female intervention providers listed in our register. We keep the list under constant review. The breakdown listed below shows where the intervention provider is based, however, most intervention providers are available to work across England and Wales, and are not limited to working in the region they are based in.

Region	Total number of providers
North East	1
North West	10
Yorkshire and the Humber	1
East Midlands	7
West Midlands	6
East of England	3
London	20
South East	1
South West	2
Wales	1

01/01/2023

David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost has been of provision of free school meals by region in each of the last three years.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Schools in England fund free school meals out of the overall resources available to them. Since September 2014, all infant pupils in maintained schools in England have been entitled to free school meals, regardless of parental income. The government does provide specific funding to schools to pay for meals for infant pupils who are not eligible for benefits-related FSM. The breakdown of this funding is available at school level for financial year 2014-15 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-provisional-funding-allocations-2014-to-2015; and for financial year 2015-16 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-funding-allocations-2015-to-2016.

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01/01/2023
Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the level of duty on Scotch whisky on the export of that product.

Damian Hinds

There is no alcohol duty payable on exported Scotch Whisky.

The government is committed to supporting the Scotch Whisky industry. The duty on spirits was cut at March Budget 2015 and, to continue this support, Budget 2016 announced a duty freeze for spirits this year.

01/01/2023
Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of which sectors of the British economy are most at risk from foreign export dumping; and what steps he is taking to protect those sectors from that activity.

Anna Soubry

Any industry or business can potentially be affected by dumping. Companies in all goods sectors can therefore seek protection from dumping or subsidy through the EU’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy Regulations by providing evidence direct, or through a trade association, to the European Commission.

Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy actions by the European Commission have been taken against a wide range of imported products. The attached table shows the sectoral pattern of investigations conducted by the European Commission during the period 2011-2016.

01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many permanent EU officials were passed through the Civil/Diplomatic Service European Fast Stream programme in each year since 2010.

Mr David Lidington

The European Fast Stream was re-established in 2010 with the dual aim of increasing UK representation in the EU institutions, as well as building EU capability in Whitehall. As part of the scheme, each European Fast Streamer spends five months or longer in an EU institution as a national expert. Since 2010 there have been four successful candidates in the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) competitions from the European Fast Stream. Of these successful candidates, one took up a post in 2014 and another is starting in summer 2016.

01/01/2023
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-07-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people are employed by NHS England as (1) audiologists, (2) cardiac physiologists, (3) gastrointestinal physiologists, (4) neurophysiologists, (5) respiratory physiologists, and (6) sleep physiologists.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England (legally known as the NHS Commissioning Board) does not employ any individuals with the job titles specified.

01/01/2023
Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much each NHS trust has recuperated by recharging insurance companies for the costs associated with the treatment of customers who are involved in road traffic accidents in each of the last five years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The information is not held in the format requested. Whilst the Department does hold National Health Service trust level data on the total costs recovered through the NHS Injury Cost Recovery scheme, we cannot currently extract trust level data specifically related to road traffic accidents without incurring disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the recommendations for increasing the training and employment of UK seafarers in the Maritime Futures report by Professor Helen Sampson of Cardiff University, published in January 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill

A number of recommendations made within the Maritime Futures report were put forward in the call for evidence for the Department’s Maritime Growth Study and the Department has taken forward a number of those.

The Department provides support for the training of officers and ratings through the £15m Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme. A company or group which elects for the Tonnage Tax is required, each year, to recruit one new officer trainee for every fifteen officer posts in its fleet. Following a proposal from the UK Chamber of Shipping, RMT and Nautilus to allow companies to recruit and train three able seafarer ratings in place of one trainee officer, a pilot to allow ratings to be counted against the training commitment started on 1^st October 2015.

Apprenticeships are at the heart of the Government’s drive to give people of all ages the skills employers need to grow and compete. Maritime is a key part of this with the Maritime Trailblazer which is employer led and has one approved standard for deck ratings and a further three in development for maritime mechanic, maritime caterer and onboard services.

The UK government’s position on island cabotage remains unchanged but this is kept under constant review. At present those providing such services remain significant employers of UK seafarers.

UK seafarers working for UK companies on a UK flagged vessel are not entitled to an exemption to national insurance payments. They may, however, benefit from the Seafarers Earning Reductions tax relief for income tax.

An ‘in personum’ approach to the application of national minimum wage is preferred as it ensures that those who are entitled to it will benefit. International law prevents the UK from interfering in the ‘internal market’ of a vessel, this includes wages, and is applicable to those vessels visiting or operating out of UK ports. HMRC is responsible for NMW enforcement and the government takes non-compliance of the legislation very seriously.

The Carter Report was commissioned under a previous administration and was already considered at the time of the drafting of the Equality Act 2011 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) 2012 regulations.

The Maritime Growth Study, chaired by Lord Mountevans, was published on 7 September 2015 and contained a number of recommendations for government and industry on skills, including to help maintain the UK’s future supply of seafarers. The Government formally respond to the Study in December 2015 accepting all the recommendations.

01/01/2023