The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2016-03-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many years’ worth in sentences have been handed out to offenders brought back to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant.
Lord Faulks
This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The National Crime Agency publishes statistics on the operation of the European Arrest Warrant. These can be found on their website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether tax avoidance and the role of tax havens is expected to be discussed in plenary at the International Anti-Corruption Summit in London.
Matthew Hancock
This Government will continue to lead the international agenda to crack down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. The Summit will address a range of measures to tackle corruption, including promoting transparency. Further information about the London Anti-Corruption Summit can be found on the summit web pages of the GOV.UK website.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the results collected to date by the study conducted for her Department by ADAS on neonicotinoid treated and non-neonicotinoid treated oilseed rape prior to any further emergency authorisation applications related to the use of neonicotinoids
George Eustice
The Government issued emergency authorisations in 2015 for the limited and controlled use of neonicotinoid seed treatments on oilseed rape. One of the conditions attached to these authorisations was that the authorisation holder should use the authorised area to generate data on both treated and untreated crops. This should include impact on adult and larval numbers, crop establishment/damage and effects on crop yields, resistance occurrence and management.
This work has been taken forward by ADAS on behalf of the National Farmers’ Union. Their interim evidence (excluding the crop yield data which will not be available until after this year’s harvest) formed part of the evidence considered by the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides in respect of the 2016 applications and will be reflected in their detailed record of the discussion at their 4 May meeting. The report will not be finalised until yield data is available after harvest.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NHS England on that body’s efforts to recruit additional accident and emergency specialists from other hospitals in London to work in the emergency department at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust.
Ben Gummer
NHS Improvement (NHSI) is working alongside NHS England and the local health and care system to both improve patient care in the emergency department at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust and to assure Health Education England (HEE) and the General Medical Council that patients are safe and that trainee doctors receive adequate support.
Ministers in the Department have held regular discussions and received updates from NHSI, NHS England and HEE and will continue to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on reports of the persecution of Christians and other minorities living in China.
Alok Sharma
The Government is concerned by restrictions placed on Christianity in China, such as the demolition of churches, the removal of crosses from buildings, and harassment or detention of individuals for their beliefs. The freedom to practise, change or share your faith or belief is a fundamental human right that all people should enjoy.
We are robust in raising religious freedoms with the Chinese authorities. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my noble Friend, the Rt Hon. the Baroness of Anelay of St Johns DBE, raised the destruction of churches and religious symbols with the Director of the National People’s Congress Foreign Affairs Committee on 7 July 2016. I also raised the case of Ding Cuimei, who reportedly died while protesting the demolition of her church in Zhejiang province, with the Chinese Ambassador on 1 August.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has for phytosanitary certification measures for the importation of plant material after the UK leaves the EU.
George Eustice
We recognise that the UK’s exit from the EU may have implications for the way in which current UK plant health services operate, including phytosanitary certification on imports, quarantine measures to mitigate the highest risk pests and diseases, and plant passporting.
We are considering the implications and possible options as part of our planning for, and negotiations on, the UK’s exit.
Continuing to deliver a risk-based, proportionate plant health regime that effectively protects the UK from plant pests and diseases, whilst maximising the free movement of goods, remains of the highest priority.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Deech on 2016-01-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Palestinian Authority concerning incitement to violence in the light of the Palestinian Ministry of Health referring to Nashat Milhem as one of the dearest martyrs”.”
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Our Consul-General in Jerusalem met the Palestinian Minister of Health on 21 January and strongly condemned the language used in the statement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many paid carers her Department estimates will be eligible for the Government’s proposed free 30 hours of childcare.
Mr Sam Gyimah
The extended entitlement is intended to support working parents with the cost of childcare, enabling them to return to work or work additional hours if they wish to do so. Families where both parents work or one parent works in a single parent household will be eligible for these additional hours. In recognition of the particular challenges that paid carers can face in relation to childcare, the Childcare Bill allows for parents in certain circumstances to be regarded as being in work, for example, those parents who have caring responsibilities.
Households where one parent is working and one parent is being paid Carer’s Allowance or Universal Credit’s Carer Element will be able to access the extended entitlement provided the working parent meets the income eligibility requirements. This includes households where a parent is caring for their own three or four year old child where the child is in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or is certified blind.
In relation to single parents with a disabled child, where that parent meets the income eligibility requirements, they will also be able to access the extended entitlement. Parents who do not work will continue to receive Carer’s Allowance or Universal Credit.
It is also important to remember that all paid carers will be able to access the existing 15 hour early education entitlement for three and four year olds and the 15 hour early education entitlement for two year olds if they meet the eligibility criteria. More detail can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-and-education-for-2-to-4-year-olds
The Department does not hold information on the number of households with three or four year old children where one partner (or the sole parent in a lone parent family) meets the income eligibility criteria and is in receipt of benefits relating to caring responsibilities.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-03-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage families in the UK to sponsor, foster or adopt unaccompanied refugee children who reach this country.
Lord Bates
In response to the many generous offers of help, the Home Secretary has announced that we will be establishing a register of people and organisations that can provide support for the settlement of refugees.
We have asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to make an assessment of the number and needs of unaccompanied children in conflict regions and advise on when it is in the best interests of the child to be resettled in the UK. The UNHCR has already been clear that these are likely to be exceptional cases. This is because it is not uncommon in an emergency situation for children to be temporarily separated from their parents or other family members who may be looking for them. Efforts to reunite children with relatives or extended family members, who may be looking for them in the region, should be preferred to premature attempts to organise adoption. Some lone refugee children may come to the UK for temporary care, but overall our support is for them to be reunited with parents or other relatives wherever possible.
More information on what the public can do to help Syrian refugees can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/syria-refugees-what-you-can-do-to-help–2
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to require companies registered in the British Virgin Islands to publish details of all significant and beneficial owners and to place all such information on an online searchable register.
James Duddridge
Our priority for all the Overseas Territories that function with financial centres such as the British Virgin Islands has been for them to hold accurate and current beneficial ownership information on island in central registers or the equivalent, where they do not already do so, and to allow for UK law enforcement to access that information. The arrangement signed with the British Virgin Islands achieves this and represents a significant step forward in our ability to counter criminal activity and should be welcomed.
As the Prime Minister, the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) said in the House on 11 April, only about three countries in the world, including Britain, are implementing publically accessible central registers of company beneficial ownership information. If we had tried to push that on to the British Virgin Islands and other Overseas Territories straightaway, we would not have got nearly as far as we have. The actions taken by the British Virgin Islands and the other Overseas Territories puts them well ahead of many of our international partners.