Tag: 2016

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what engagement his Department has conducted with EU officials on the application for assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund to help communities affected by recent floods since making that application.

    James Wharton

    The Government submitted an initial EU Solidarity Fund application on Friday 26 February. We are in the process of refining our cost estimates and figures.

    The United Kingdom’s Permanent Representation to the European Union submitted the initial application to the European Commission on the UK Government’s behalf and will continue to engage with them and the Department on the development of the application.

  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34465, if his Department will take steps to allow web-users to include honours when completing Government online forms.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We only collect information that is relevant for an online service. As information on honours is not needed for a user to complete any of our online services we have no plans to collect this information.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have raised the recent murder of Khurram Zaki, and his campaign work, with the government of Pakistan.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We condemn the murder of Khurram Zaki in Karachi on 7 May. As a journalist and human rights activist, Khurram Zaki campaigned against sectarian violence and religious extremism in Pakistan. His murder is a sad reminder of the hostile climate in which Pakistani campaigners and journalists operate.

    Under its National Action Plan, the Government of Pakistan is taking steps to improve security by tackling terrorist and extremist elements. We continue to urge Pakistan to honour in practice all its human rights obligations and uphold the rule of law. During his visit to Pakistan in March, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the importance we attach to safeguarding the rights of all Pakistan citizens regardless of ethnicity, faith or political views.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the ability of refugees in Turkey to receive international protection in that country.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Turkey currently hosts over 2.7 million refugees from Syria and around 250,000 from other nationalities. Turkey now hosts more refugees than any other country in the world.

    Turkey has established very detailed legislation setting out a comprehensive international protection system for migrants in need of protection.

    We are monitoring the situation in Turkey very closely following the attempted coup. At this stage there is no indication that the conditions and protections available to refugees have been impacted.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Uzbekistan government on reports of (a) recent sentencing of Christians for possession of religious literature and (b) the deduction of the salaries of people who have previously been found guilty of possessing religious literature.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    We regularly raise our concerns, including on freedom of religion or belief, directly with the Uzbek authorities, through our Embassy in Tashkent and at Ministerial level. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) discussed human rights concerns with Ministerial counterparts during his visit to Tashkent in April. Uzbekistan features as a Human Rights Priority Country in the FCO’s Annual Human Rights Report. We also encourage further progress towards full implementation of Uzbekistan’s international human rights commitments and obligations, both bilaterally and with our international partners.

    Concerns about freedom of religion or belief were raised in the last EU-Uzbekistan human rights dialogue which took place in November 2015, at the EU-Uzbekistan Co-operation Council in May 2015, and EU-Uzbekistan Co-operation Committee in December 2015. We will continue to press Uzbekistan representatives on such issues in forthcoming EU-Uzbekistan meetings.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the security and political situation in Helmand province, Afghanistan; and what support the Government (a) has provided and (b) plans to provide to stabilise the situation.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Afghan Security Forces have been tested by a determined insurgency in Helmand Province this year, resulting in a temporary loss of ground in some areas. The Afghan Security Forces have been reinforced, and are responding well.

    A small contingent of UK military training advisers, drawn from our existing contribution to the NATO Resolute Support Mission, have deployed to Helmand in a non-combat role as part of a larger NATO team. The UK, with our international partners, will remain steadfast in our support for the Afghan Government and people, including in their efforts to bring enduring peace and security to Afghanistan.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to make it easier for passengers to access the cheapest tickets available for any requested journey.

    Claire Perry

    I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Coventry South (Jim Cunningham) on 29 January 2016 UIN 24320, http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=24320.

    “

  • Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effect on passenger safety of reducing staffing at control rooms on London Underground.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The department is confident that the changes introduced by Transport for London will not have a detrimental impact on passenger safety on the London Underground.

    Not every London Underground (LU) station has a Station Control Room, as they are not a safety or security requirement at all stations. In advance of making the recent changes, LU reviewed the requirement for a Control Room at each station to determine their necessity based on individual station and staff needs.

    At some locations it was decided that there was no longer a requirement for a Control Room as there were better ways to provide Control Room functionality in the station. Moving station staff into customer facing areas increases their ability to identify suspicious behaviour and to report it.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy that new academies should not join under-performing multi-academy trusts.

    Edward Timpson

    Regional Schools Commissioners (RSC) are supporting the development of high-performing multi-academy trusts (MATs). MATs will play a crucial role in the future school system, enabling academies to realise a wide range of benefits and providing the formal structure in which high-performing schools can support under-performing schools to improve.

    RSCs are responsible for approving new academies and intervening in underperforming academies and free schools in their area. In assessing schools proposals for becoming academies, RSCs will ensure schools joining existing trusts are matched to the right MATs, according to their need, the trust’s capacity and how together they will secure long term success. New academies will be matched with MATs who are able to evidence good or better performance and capacity for sustained improvement.

    With MATs taking on an increasingly important role, it is important that parents and the wider system can access information on how well they are leading their schools. Therefore, as we outlined in the recent White Paper, Education Excellence Everywhere, we will launch new accountability measures for MATs, publishing MAT performance tables in addition to the continued publication of, and focus on, inspection and performance data at individual school level.

  • Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of future pensioners who will be eligible for payments by the pension schemes of abolished non-departmental public bodies.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Departmental preparations for the reform of non-departmental public bodies take account of the Checklist for Departments published by the Cabinet Office, which includes advice on pensions.

    In the past five years, the Department has reformed three bodies which employed staff.

    In two cases, staff pensions were provided by the Civil Service Pension Scheme, which has established procedures in place for identifying pensioners as they become eligible, and ensuring that payments are processed on time:

    The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission was abolished on 31 July 2012 and employed 7,652 full time equivalent staff, all of whom were civil servants;

    The Independent Living Fund legally closed on 30 June 2015, however a small residual team of 15 staff was retained until 30 September to deal with any residual closure issues. It had previously employed 99.5 full time equivalent staff.

    In April 2015, the Remploy business was sold to a new company outside Government control. The majority of its employees transferred to that company and left the Remploy Pension Scheme at the time. The pension scheme continues to be managed by its trustees and the scheme administrators, who remain responsible for identifying pensioners and ensuring they are paid appropriately once they become eligible. At 1 January 2016, the Remploy Pension Scheme had approximately 18,000 members, of whom over 9,500 were deferred members and thus potential future pensioners. From 1 April 2016, my Department is now the Principal Employer for this scheme.