The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the budget of the UK Trade Office in Raleigh, North Carolina for (1) 2016–17, and (2) 2017–18.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The British Government Office in Raleigh will be run by the member of staff hired locally in the US. Costs are expected to be low and limited to salary, office space rental and discretionary budget for travel and representational activities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22948, whether her Department has recorded all EU countries other than Greece as complying with the Dublin Convention.
James Brokenshire
The Dublin Convention no longer governs the determination of responsibility for examining an asylum claim: it was replaced by the EU “Dublin II” Regulation in 2003 for all EU Member States apart from Denmark, which implemented the Dublin Regulation in 2006. An updated “Dublin III” Regulation has applied since 2014.
The European Commission is the body responsible for overseeing the correct implementation of EU Regulations. All EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein use the Regulation to make requests to take responsibility for asylum applicants.
As noted in the Answer of 21 January to Question 22948 it is not possible to return asylum applicants to Greece. The Government is satisfied that it remains lawful to transfer to and from all other countries bound by the Regulation asylum applicants who qualify under its provisions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the numbers of driving examiners in England on waiting times for tests; and what steps he is taking to encourage more examiners to qualify.
Andrew Jones
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) undertake quarterly test forecast reviews to identify the likely demand of driving tests, from which it calculates the numbers of examiners required in order to service those demands. Those numbers are reviewed against the current examiners numbers and where increases are identified, these are factored into DVSA’s recruitment campaigns. DVSA usually run two recruitment campaigns per year, with additional campaigns where necessary i.e. where there has been insufficient take-up/success in geographical areas.
This process has, over the years, generally worked well, but the unforeseen and exceptionally high increase in demand for driving tests in 2015. Across the whole of DVSA it has recruited 167 new driving examiners during 2015/16 with a further 60 either attending or booked on to new entrant courses. DVSA has also offered posts to a further 40 potential examiners.
DVSA has also been re-prioritising the activities of examiners and offering them additional overtime in order to increase testing capacity.
Over 2015 DVSA introduced a number of changes to the marketing of its recruitment campaign in order to try and encourage interest from wider and more diverse groups, additionally DVSA undertook two targeted campaigns for motorcycle examiners and LGV examiners.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-03-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children who have received a positive conclusive grounds decision in the National Referral Mechanism in the past three years have been refused asylum after claiming.
Lord Bates
Since January 2013, three (3) children received an initial decision to refuse asylum having previously received a positive Conclusive Grounds decision. Of these three refusals two (2) were subsequently overturned on appeal.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-04-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average length of a non domestic rates appeal was in each of the last five years.
Mr David Gauke
The time taken to resolve an appeal can be affected by a number of factors, such as the complexity of the case or whether the case proceeds to be listed for hearing by the independent Valuation Tribunal. Some cases can be held up in litigation or placed on hold at the ratepayer’s request. The average (median) time taken to resolve challenges for non-domestic properties in each of the last five years is shown in the attached table. This table covers the 2010 Local Rating Lists.
|
Year |
Median (days) |
|
2010-11 |
135* |
|
2011-12 |
335 |
|
2012-13 |
413 |
|
2013-14 |
390 |
|
2014-15 |
395 |
*The 2010 list began on 1 April 2010 so only those challenges received in 2010-11 were resolved in 2010-11. In subsequent years, however, challenges received in previous years can also be resolved so the median clearance time may include more complex challenges which took longer to resolve.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Dowd on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s consultation on fee proposals for grants of probate, whether the proposed fees will reflect the (a) actual cost of administration of the Probate Registries and (b) amount of time expended by staff in the Probate Registries.
Dominic Raab
The information requested can be found in the consultation document, published at: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/fee-proposals-for-grants-of-probate/consult_view
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on publishing the Natural Environment Plan.
George Eustice
Government remains committed to developing a long term, 25 year plan for the environment. Following the decision to leave the EU, we now have a real opportunity to shape a long-term vision for the type of environment we want in this country. To deliver this vision, we will develop a fresh and striking new approach that includes a fundamental review of our environmental policy framework.
Development of this new approach to the environment will need to be informed by significant input from interested parties across many sectors. Everyone’s input into this process will be vital. Further information on the next steps and timings will be provided in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 20 September (HL1612), why their estimates of the financial impact of the Office of Road and Rail’s decision on the East Coast Main Line and other associated franchises are considered commercially sensitive” information when they will need to be disclosed to any bidders for future franchises.”
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The information is considered commercially sensitive because of the impact it could have on a listed company if released at this time. This information would only be disclosed to franchise bidders on a confidential basis at the time a franchise is re-let. However, under the normal process we would expect bidders to make their own revenue forecasts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22715, what monitoring is done to ensure that youth court magistrates deal fairly with those who appear before them.
Mr Shailesh Vara
All magistrates are selected against published criteria and take an oath to “do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill will.” Under the Magistrates’ National Training Initiative, magistrates’ appraisals are conducted on a triennial basis. Youth Magistrates are appraised against a specific competence framework which includes for example, a requirement to demonstrate knowledge of diversity and fair treatment issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the rates of climb of aircraft taking off from Heathrow Airport compared to other (a) UK and (b) European airports.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department for Transport (DfT) has not made any assessment of rates of climb from Heathrow airport compared to any other airports. The Government is aware of an independent report published last year on climb rates at Heathrow airport.
The airport is working with the industry and the CAA to understand the issues and what this means from a noise perspective. DfT sits on the Heathrow Noise Community Forum where this work programme is being taken forward.