Tag: 2016

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent developments there have been in the detention and potential deportation of Paramjeet Singh to India; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Lidington

    Mr Paramjeet Singh, an Indian national with refugee status resident in the UK, was arrested in Portugal on 18 December 2015 under an International Arrest Warrant issued by India on charges of Murder and Terrorism. India has until 26 January to present Portugal with a formal extradition request. The Portuguese authorities have jurisdiction and will decide whether to extradite.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral Answer from the Prime Minister on 9 December 2015, Official Report, column 982, how the National Illegal Money Lending Team England will be funded; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    To ensure that the perimeter of the consumer credit market is adequately policed, the Government will be introducing an amendment to the Bank of England and Financial Services Bill to provide for illegal money lending teams throughout the UK to in future be funded by a levy on the consumer credit industry, collected by the FCA.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the savings to the public purse of the proposed reduction of child benefits paid overseas.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government’s new settlement means that EU nationals whose children live abroad will ultimately receive Child Benefit at a rate that reflects the conditions – including the standard of living and child benefit paid – of the country where their child lives. This will restore fairness to the system.

    Savings relating to the indexation of Child Benefit will be confirmed once the rates have been finalised.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment claimants there were in Cardiff South and Penarth constituency in each of the last 12 months.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Information on the number of claimants in receipt of Personal Independence Payment, by month and a range of geographic breakdowns, including parliamentary constituency, is available from Stat-Xplore. https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

  • The Lord Bishop of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The Lord Bishop of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Southwark on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 1 April (HL7307), what steps they are taking with their international allies and partners to redress the financial shortfall in humanitarian assistance to Iraq.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK monitors levels of humanitarian assistance in Iraq extremely closely. In our work with both the Government of Iraq and international donors, we continue to stress the importance of providing sufficient funding to respond to urgent needs across Iraq. We also work closely with others donors, NGOs, the UN and international financial institutions to ensure that commitments made are effectively spent, and targeted towards those in the greatest need.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 33341, when he plans to publish his Department’s analysis of the compliance testing of local authorities with the Local Government Transparency Code 2015.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    We are considering the work undertaken on the testing of local authorities compliance with the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 in the context of the wider work on strengthening local government transparency, including proposals on changes to the Transparency Code, which is currently out to consultation until the 8 July 2016.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether compensation is available when the Disclosure and Barring Service does not resolve checks within the 60 day service level agreement period.

    Sarah Newton

    The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) has a target to issue 95% of certificates within 8 weeks, which it is close to achieving. The DBS is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner.

    DBS will liaise with the police on behalf of a customer who is experiencing delays when their enhanced level DBS application is with the police to undertake statutory checks. In these cases DBS will aim to resolve the customer’s issues as quickly as possible, and keep the customer informed until resolution. However, the DBS cannot provide financial remedy for any complaint about police actions including the timescales taken by the police to complete a check. It would be up to individual police forces to comment on any local redress policies.

    If the delay is due to maladministration on behalf of DBS, the DBS redress policy is designed to ensure that the person who is the subject of that maladministration is not disadvantaged. Further information can be found on the DBS website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service/about/complaints-procedure

  • Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase awareness of the importance of (a) blood and platelet donation, (b) stem cell donation, (c) bone marrow donation and (d) organ registration among school-aged children.

    Nicola Blackwood

    NHS Blood and Transplant runs donor recruitment campaigns for blood, platelet, stem cell and organ donation throughout the year. Examples include the recently launched Missing Type campaign to promote blood donation; implementation of their Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020: A UK Strategy and management of the NHS Cord Blood Bank and British Bone Marrow Registry, working with Anthony Nolan.

    Specific action addressing awareness of registration among school-aged children includes the introduction of new education resources designed to equip secondary school teachers with the knowledge to educate and engage students about organ donation and working with Anthony Nolan to run the Be a Lifesaver education programme which trains volunteers to educate 16-18 year olds about stem cell, blood and organ donation.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funds the Government has provided for (a) humanitarian efforts and (b) security at the refugee camp in Calais in the last 12 months.

    James Brokenshire

    As part of the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK committed to providing £3.6 million (or €5 million) per year for two years to facilitate the movement of migrants away from Calais by providing support and facilities elsewhere in France.

    Additionally, the UK has provided £530,000 (or €750,000) to fund a project to identify those in the camps at risk of trafficking and exploitation, and to provide them with appropriate support within the French system.

    Security at the camps in Calais is the responsibility of the French Government, and the UK Government has not committed funds for this purpose.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has been approached by (a) Stockport local authority, (b) Tameside local authority and (c) the Greater Manchester combined authority to approve the re-designation of school land for housing development in the last three years.

    Edward Timpson

    Since January 2013, the Secretary of State for Education has received:

    • 1 application from Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, this is currently being considered.
    • 4 applications from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, all have been approved.
    • 19 applications from the Greater Manchester combined authority, 1 is being considered and the other 18 have been approved.

    These figures include applications in those local authorities relating to land held by Academy Trusts under a lease from the local authority.

    The Education Act 2011 requires that the Secretary of State must give consent prior to the disposal of land which has been used for any school or academy in the last eight years. Secretary of State consent is also required under section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 where local authorities wish to dispose of playing field land that has been used by a school in the last ten years. A key consideration for the government is whether the land proposed for disposal could be suitable for use by a new school.

    There are a range of reasons for these disposals. Some disposals are leases from the academy trustees back to the local authority, which allow a children’s centre on site to continue or which provide land for another school. A substantial number of consents refer to local authority maintained school sites for outright disposals where the school has closed or relocated to a new build site.