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Tag: 2016

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government is giving to Egyptian and Italian authorities investigating the murder of Giulio Regeni.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We were appalled by the murder of Giulio Regeni in Cairo. As soon as we were made aware of reports of Mr Regeni’s disappearance on 25 January, we contacted the Italian government to offer our assistance. Foreign and Commonwealth Office Director-General for Middle East and Africa renewed this offer to the Italian Ambassador to London on 22 April. We continue to offer our full support to Italy. I have raised Mr Regeni’s case with the Egyptian authorities myself, as have senior officials. In these discussions we have underlined the need for a full and transparent investigation. We remain in contact with both the Italian and Egyptian authorities.

  • Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of satellite broadband for serving rural areas; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure parity of service and cost with other types of broadband supply.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Satellite broadband can deliver download speeds of 10Mbps and above and upload speeds of 5Mbps. The subsidised offer to meet the Universal Service Commitment gives a first year only cost for a basic package of up to £400. This will make available an affordable basic broadband service to those premises unable to get a speed of at least 2Mbps. The total number of premises eligible for the universal service commitment subsidy had been substantially reduced, from around 11% in 2010 to around 1% by the end of 2015, as a result of roll-out superfast broadband by the commercial sector and through publicly-funded programmes.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the closure of his Department’s Sheffield office on the delivery of his Department’s policies.

    Joseph Johnson

    Subject to consultation, the Department intends to close the Sheffield office at St. Paul’s Place by January 2018. This intention is based on the strategic vision for the Department that seeks to save 30-40% of its operating costs, reduce the number of locations it operates from (from currently around 80 to 7 centres and a regional footprint for the provision of local services), and halve the number of its Partner Organisations by 2020.

    Intention is subject to consultation, to close the Sheffield office by January 2018. This gives us time to transition the policy roles affected.

  • Lord Boateng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Boateng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boateng on 2016-03-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, in the aftermath of the Ebola epidemic, of the case for the reform of World Health Organisation governance structures in order to strengthen the effectiveness of global responses to the outbreak of infectious diseases.

    Baroness Verma

    Following lessons learned from Ebola, Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) supports the recommendations from the independent Advisory Group to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General on Reform of WHO’s Work in Outbreaks and Health Emergencies. HMG welcomes the action that WHO Director General Chan has already taken in joining together WHO’s disease outbreaks and emergency response departments. We also welcome commitment by the WHO to implement one workforce, one budget, one set of rules and processes, and a clear line of authority which we assess will strengthen WHO’s governance structure and allow for an effective response to outbreak of infectious diseases. HMG has urged the WHO to implement the Advisory Group recommendations in full and without delay and we look forward to an update on progress with this at the World Health Assembly in May.

  • Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Shabana Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for discretionary leave to remain have been (a) received, (b) rejected and (c) treated as invalid in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many such applications were rejected owing to (i) failure to pay the fee and (ii) refusal of fee waiver.

    James Brokenshire

    Our records indicate that 12,656 (a) applications for further discretionary leave to remain were received from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015.

    164 (b) were rejected for failure to pay the fee or Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) and

    175 (c) rejected as invalid.

    Of the 164 rejections 55 (i) were rejected owing to failure to pay the application fee and 89 (ii) owing to refusal of a fee waiver. 20 were also rejected solely due to failure to pay the IHS.

    Notes:

    • The data relates to applications for Further Discretionary Leave to Remain.

    • The 12,656 (a) applications were made by 12,430 people (due to repeat applications).

    • The data provided is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.

    • All of the statistics referred to in the answer come with necessary caveats about the accuracy of the data. The data provided to answer (b), (c), (i) and (ii) above has been drawn from manual records on the Home Office Case Information Database, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible human errors with data entry and processing.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to become a founding donor of the new Education Cannot Wait fund at its launch at the World Humanitarian Summit.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK has played a leading role in the development of the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, which was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit on 23rd May. The UK has committed to provide £30 million in support over two years to the new fund as a founding donor, which was announced by the International Development Secretary at the fund’s launch.

  • Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Calum Kerr on 2016-07-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Venezuelan counterpart on reports of detention without charge, arbitrary detentions, the excessive use of force by security forces and other human rights violations in that country.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The Government shares the concern of the international community regarding the deteriorating political situation in Venezuela. The then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), conveyed his concerns at the detention of prominent political opposition figures, and human rights more generally, directly to the Venezuelan Foreign Minister and Deputy Foreign Minister at bilateral meetings held in London during 2015. He has also discussed Venezuela extensively with counterparts from across the region.

    Since 2012, we have funded 22 human rights and democracy projects in Venezuela, with both Government and Non-Government Organisations. These projects have varied from protecting the rights of indigenous people to supporting political dialogue and reconciliation and the promotion of electoral reform.

    Venezuela was designated a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights Priority Country for 2016/2017 in April. This status will allow us to further expand our work on human rights and democracy in the country, including project work with local communities.

  • Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what research has been (a) commissioned and (b) carried out by his Department in the last three years on the reputation of the UK abroad; and if he will make a statement.

    Alok Sharma

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not commissioned any research on the UK’s global reputation.

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has a network of 268 Posts in 168 countries and territories, including 9 multilateral organisations, who regularly report on the relationship with the UK in their host countries and organisations.

  • Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Question 23285, by what mechanisms the UK strongly asserts its right, and supports that of all States, to exercise Freedom of Navigation in accordance with the International Rules Based System in the South China Sea.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Royal Navy warships exercise their rights of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea pursuant to the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In addition, aircraft may exercise their right of overflight of the High Seas by virtue of Article 87(1)(b) of UNCLOS. By virtue of their free passage through international water and airspace Royal Navy vessels and RAF aircraft exercise and assert this right whenever transiting through international waters and airspace.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

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

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of 10 Downing Street were in each of the last five years.

    Matthew Hancock

    The information is not available.