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Tag: 2016

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of women murdered as a result of domestic violence.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling domestic violence is a key priority for this Government. We put Domestic Homicide Reviews on a statutory footing in 2011 so that local areas and agencies identify lessons learned to help to prevent future homicides and violence. We have commenced a new domestic abuse offence to tackle controlling and coercive behaviour, and have rolled out Domestic Violence Protection Orders and the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme across the country. We have already committed £40 million between 2016 and 2020 to support domestic abuse victims, and provided £2 million to Safelives and Women’s Aid to support early intervention. We will shortly publish a refreshed cross-Government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy setting out how we will do more still to secure long-term funding for domestic violence services and support for all victims.

  • Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether, were the UK to leave the EU, they would be obliged to consider the case of an applicant for asylum who was known to have arrived directly from a safe country; and if so, as a result of which treaty or instrument.

    Lord Bates

    EU negotiations are ongoing and the UK is engaging with European partners to reach a positive outcome.

    The Government firmly supports the well-established principle that those seeking international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, a principle reflected within the Dublin Regulation.

    We are cooperating fully with the EU Commission’s review of the Dublin Regulation and will continue to make the case that its long – established principles should continue to be the basis for any future regulation.

  • Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Faulks on 2 March (HL Deb, col 928), whether they now plan to make an estimate of the likely impact on migration from the rest of the EU of the restrictions to in-work benefits that were agreed in the decision of the European Council concerning a new settlement for the UK within the EU.

    Lord Bates

    The Decision of the European Council concerning a new settlement for the UK recognises, for the first time, that different social security systems across Member States can attract EU workers. Government figures show that around 40 per cent of recent EEA migrants are in households supported by the benefit system. On average, families with a recent EEA migrant claim almost £6,000 per year in tax credits, and of these, around 8,000 families receive more than £10,000.

    We remain committed to reforms across the whole of Government to reduce net migration to sustainable levels and to reform the immigration system so that it works in the best interests of our country. We will continue to restore a sense of fairness and to reduce the current very high level of population flows into the UK – now and in the future.

  • Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much of the £31 million of child maintenance arrears written off in 2014-15 was written off under each of the ground in the Child Support Management of Payment and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012.

    Priti Patel

    The circumstances of the £31 million of child maintenance arrears written off in 2014-15 is shown in the table below:

    Circumstance

    2014/15 write off (£m)

    The person with care has requested that the Secretary of State ceases to act in respect of the arrears

    6.5

    A child in Scotland has requested that the Secretary of State ceases to act in respect of the arrears

    0.0

    The person with care, or (in Scotland) the child, has died

    3.0

    The non-resident parent died before 25 January 2010 or there is no further action that can be taken with regard to recovery of the arrears from the non-resident parent’s estate

    19.8

    The arrears relate to liability for child support maintenance for any period in respect of which an interim maintenance assessment was in force between 5 April 1993 and 18 April 1995

    0.1

    The non-resident parent has been informed by the Secretary of State that no further action would ever be taken to recover those arrears

    0.2

    Other

    1.3

    Notes

    1. The figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand.
    2. The circumstance ‘Other’ includes amounts written off following Secretary of State and client part payment, £0.5m, arrears written off which were due to the Secretary of State, £0.2m and adjustments to arrears balances which have transitioned to the 2012 Child Maintenance system, £0.6m.
  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the advisory role to government of the Council of Data Science Ethics will be; whether that advice will include advice on EU legislative proposals on the right to be forgotten; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the Council’s membership has the necessary leadership expertise to fulfil its role.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Science and Technology Committee report on the Big Data Dilemma recommended that a Council for Data Ethics be established. The Government response was published on 26th April 2016 and can be found at the following link: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmsctech/992/99204.htm

    “

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the relocation of Bahraini citizenship from Sheikh Isa Qassim.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are concerned by reports that the nationality of Bahraini Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim is being revoked, and we have raised these concerns at senior levels in the Bahraini government and publicly. We strongly encourage Bahrain to live up to its international human rights obligations.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    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 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the scale of trolley waits in the accident and emergency department of the Royal Blackburn Hospital and the consequent safety of patients.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    No such assessments have been made. The provision of accident and emergency (A&E) services at the Royal Blackburn Hospital is a matter for the local National Health Service. The NHS in East Lancashire has established an A&E delivery board to oversee system performance and the effective delivery of urgent and emergency care locally.

    Ministers consult weekly with NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission about A&E performance.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Questions 22594 and 22595, whether it is her Department’s policy that an applicant for international protection who enters the UK from France clandestinely but had not made an application for international protection in France should be returned to France in accordance with the Dublin Regulation.

    James Brokenshire

    In order for the Dublin Regulation to apply an application for international protection must be lodged in one of the participating States.

    A person who has arrived in the UK clandestinely from France who then claims asylum in the UK can be returned to France under the terms of the Dublin Regulation even if they have not claimed asylum in France as long as the criteria in the Regulation demonstrate that France is the responsible state. For example, asylum seekers can be returned if they have close family members in France, a visa or residence permit has been issued to them by the French authorities or if they have been in France illegally for a period of 5 months or more.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel regarding the continued detention of Mohammed al-Qeeq, currently on hunger strike, without charge or trial.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While we have not made any representations on this specific case, officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv are following this case and those of the other hunger strikers closely and have spoken to Amnesty International about them. Officials from our Consulate General in Jerusalem maintain a dialogue with the relevant Palestinian organisations about the condition of the hunger strikers. The EU in Jerusalem recently issued a local statement on administrative detentions, including the case of Mr Al Qeeq. We have been informed that Mr al-Qeeq is in a stable condition and has not been forced-fed as alleged.

    We remain concerned about Israel’s extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary rather than as routine practice, and as a preventive rather than a punitive measure.

  • Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 2 March (HL6363), whether they have the power to make regulations requiring origin marking of dairy products without the consent of the EU.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    We have consistently pushed within Europe for improved origin labelling on all food and these efforts have resulted in strong requirements for meat and meat products in the Food Information Regulations EU 1169/2011. We will continue to seek even stronger origin requirements for dairy products, to ensure that where the dairy ingredient of cheese, butter and cream is different from the place of manufacture this is clearly declared on the label.

    Where there are harmonised measures, domestic legislation normally takes into account the principles of mutual recognition to prevent deliberate trade barriers between Member States.

    The UK food industry recognises that country of origin information is important to British consumers and in 2011 industry developed and committed to a set of voluntary principles for clearer country of origin labelling. The proposed EU implementing act will strengthen the voluntary principles and improve the quality and consistency of origin information.