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Tag: 2016

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 27391, on asylum: deportation, whether her Department plans to collect data on the number of failed asylum seekers who are admitted to prison.

    James Brokenshire

    Following referral by the National Offender Management Service, the Home Office conducts immigration status checks on all Foreign National Offenders serving a custodial sentence. This involves checks of electronic and paper files. Therefore the specific data requested, which would include foreign nationals on remand who are not routinely referred to the Home Office, is not aggregated in national reporting systems. To provide the information would require a disproportionately expensive manual case search.

  • Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of users of e-cigarettes who will return to smoking tobacco (a) in the year ending May 2017 and (b) in each year between May 2017 and the end of this Parliament as a result of the introduction of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

    Jane Ellison

    No such assessment has been made; the Department assesses the impact of all proposed measures before making legislation using standard government methodology. These Impact Assessments are scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee before publication alongside the Statutory Instrument.

    An assessment of the impact of the provisions introduced by the EU Tobacco Products Directive will be published alongside the implementing Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 in spring this year. The expected health benefits from improved smoking quit rates have been estimated at around £13 billion.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take within the World Health Organization to ensure that targets on universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services and reproductive rights are treated on an equal footing with other targets in terms of implementation, financial support, follow-up and review.

    Baroness Verma

    We support the World Health Assembly resolution that proposes to review, at future World Health Assemblies, the report of the Every Woman Every Child Independent Accountability Panel. The proposed accountability mechanism will review key indicators under the strategic themes of Survive, Thrive and Transform, including those on sexual and reproductive services (including for adolescents) and including rights.

    UK officials are engaged in developing the rights component of the accountability mechanism.

  • Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many employers refused to offer a package the value of which was above that normally permissible under a Cycle to Work Scheme under circumstances in which an employee had specific needs that required a specialist cycle due to a recognised disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 in (1) 2013–14, and (2) 2014–15.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    As this is not a Government scheme the Department for Transport does not collect data on how many employers offered or refused to offer, a package the value of which was above that normally permissible under a Cycle to Work Scheme under circumstances in which an employee had specific needs that required a specialist cycle due to a recognised disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 in (1) 2013–14, and (2) 2014–15.

    This is because the Cycle to Work scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit; meaning the Department does not collect the data.

  • Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the daily payment for unaccompanied asylum seeking children was for (a) under 16 and (b) 16-17 year olds in each of the last six financial years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    From 1 October 2010 until 1 July 2016 the funding rate for the majority of local authorities for supporting unaccompanied asylum seeking children was £95 per day for a supported child under 16 and £71 per day for a supported child aged 16 or 17. These rates were increased on 1 July 2016 to £114 per day for supported children under 16 and £91 for supported children aged 16 and 17. Enhanced levels of funding have been provided to a small number of ”Gateway” local authorities, in recognition of the large numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children in their care. The most recent funding instructions can be accessed here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-children-uasc-grant-instructions

  • Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Liddell-Grainger on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what information her Department holds on the number of child mortalities attributable to infections caused by (a) lack of access to safe water and (b) unclean environments of each of the last five years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The most recent estimates from WHO are that diarrhoea caused by inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene results in 842,000 deaths each year in low and middle income countries. Of these, 502,000 deaths are due to inadequate and unsafe drinking water, 280,000 deaths are due to inadequate sanitation and 297,000 are due to inadequate hygiene. WHO indicate that 361,000 of these deaths each year are among children under-five. This equates to nearly 1,000 unnecessary deaths in children under-five every day. WHO has identified a range of other diseases linked to inadequate water sanitation and hygiene but has not provided recent estimates of the number of deaths caused by these infections. These diseases include infections such as trachoma and malaria.

    DFID reached over 62 million people with water, sanitation and/or hygiene in the five years to 2014/15. We are currently formulating our new portfolio to deliver on the UK government’s commitment to help a further 60 million people get access to clean water and sanitation by 2020.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps the Government has taken to (a) monitor and (b) counter the activities of Al Qaeda and Daesh in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We continue to work with regional and international partners to tackle the threat posed by terrorist organisations including Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Daesh-Yemen. For operational reasons we cannot comment in detail on this activity.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what controls arising from health considerations are placed on manufacturers on the use of formaldehyde.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has responsibility for the regulation of workplace health and safety in the UK, and it is the legal duty of those who create risks through work activities to understand those risks and ensure they are adequately controlled. This includes ensuring that duty holders/employers identify and obtain relevant information on the hazardous properties of the substances or materials they use or manufacture.

    The Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals Regulation (REACH) requires those who place chemicals such as formaldehyde on the market to provide information on the hazards associated with the chemical both up and down the supply chain. This includes the provision of Safety Data Sheets which must accompany chemicals through the supply chain, providing the information users need to ensure that chemicals are safely used and managed.

    The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) also applies in the workplace when hazardous substances, such as formaldehyde, are manufactured, used, or where processes are undertaken that generate hazardous substances. COSHH requires the employer to carry out a risk assessment to establish what, if any, risks to health are associated with the products/processes their employees are using/undertaking and then to put in place measures to eliminate or control exposure to those risks.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there is a specific budget for advertising the Government’s position on the EU referendum; and whether he plans to advertise that position in the media, on billboards and in newspapers before 23 June 2016.

    John Penrose

    I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14th April to the Hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex on 14th April.

    All external suppliers used were on existing Government procurement agreements, which have been awarded in compliance with the relevant procurement Regulations.

    The Government will comply fully with the statutory restrictions in place from 27th May.

  • Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of unlicensed firearms in circulation in the UK.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The table provided contains statistics on the number of licensed firearms and shotguns, by police force area, in England and Wales as at 31 March 2015.

    At this time there was a total of 1.34 million licensed shotguns and 0.53 million licensed firearms.

    The Home Office does not centrally hold any estimates for unlicensed firearms.

    Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.