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Tag: 2016

  • Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the correlation between smuggling rings which bring people into the EU and human trafficking gangs which exploit migrants for sex and slavery.

    Karen Bradley

    Organised crime groups are known to be involved in smuggling and trafficking operations, and in some cases both. We are working closely with operational partners including the National Crime Agency, Border Force and Immigration Enforcement, as well as partners across Europe and Africa, to develop the intelligence picture on both of these crime types.We will continue to monitor the development of links between these two crime types.

    We are working with partners across Europe and Africa, including through the Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce to identify and disrupt organised crime groups facilitating irregular migration in source and transit countries.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many consultants’ contracts were terminated early in each of the last six years for which figures are available; and what the cost of each such termination was in each of those years.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID does not hold specific information relating to termination of consultants’ contracts.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he expects the UK-China human rights dialogue to take place.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The next round of the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue will take place in London. The date is still being agreed with the Chinese Government.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work capability assessments have been cancelled or rearranged in each of the last five years; and what the (a) shortest, (b) average and (c) longest period of time was before such an appointment was rearranged.

    Priti Patel

    Around 55% of all cancelled appointments are customer instigated cancellations.

    On 1 March 2015, a new provider took over the Work Capability Assessment contract in which the Department had set a far higher target for face-to-face assessments than that for the previous contract holder. In order to achieve its target the new provider increased the number of assessments undertaken by 29% over that undertaken in the previous year. This led to more people being seen more quickly but with a subsequent rise in the number of cancellations.

    Cancelled/Re-arranged Work Capability Assessments in the last five years are shown in the table below:

    Period

    Number of Cancelled Appointments

    1 May 2011 to 30 Apr 2012

    377,122

    1 May 2012 to 30 Apr 2013

    509,653

    1 May 2013 to 30 Apr 2014

    398,133

    1 May 2014 to 30 Apr 2015

    333,990

    1 May 2015 to 30 Apr 2016

    505,950

    (Source: Centre for Health Disability Assessments)

    Information on the shortest, average and longest period of time before appointments are re-arranged is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many overstayers have (a) been removed and (b) voluntarily deported as a result of action taken by Capita in each month since October 2012; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    Capita do not remove individuals from the UK. The scope of the contract is one of contact management, where Capita encourage individuals to depart voluntarily and in compliance with the immigration rules.

    Since the beginning of the contract in 2012 to Quarter 1 2016, Capita has recorded 143,400 departures.

  • Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what account his Department plans to take of alleged human rights abuses in Bangladesh in advising on any future trade deal with that country; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of imposing sanctions on Bangladesh in order to improve that country’s respect for political and other rights.

    Alok Sharma

    The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) has established the Department for International Trade to promote British trade across the world and ensure the United Kingdom takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us. The Government is currently reviewing its trade policy. We will engage fully with a broad range of stakeholders, including both governments and business over the coming weeks and months, taking a large number of political and economic factors into consideration.

    We are concerned about protection of human rights in Bangladesh, but believe that engagement, not sanctions, is the correct course of action. Sanctions would isolate Bangladesh at a time when it is, like so many, facing the global threat of terrorism. Trade sanctions would have a damaging effect on Bangladesh’s development and on efforts to bring people out of poverty.

  • Alasdair McDonnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alasdair McDonnell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alasdair McDonnell on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which chronic illnesses and severe conditions exempt employment and support allowance claimants from regular medical reassessments.

    Penny Mordaunt

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2016 to Question UIN 48978.

    “

  • Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people of each gender work in his Department.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The table below provides headcount figures for permanent staff in the Department for Transport including its Executive Agencies at 31 December 2015:

    DfT Organisation

    Men

    Women

    Total

    DfT Centre

    1,248

    774

    2,022

    DVLA

    2,416

    3,722

    6,138

    DVSA

    3,172

    1,300

    4,472

    MCA

    681

    347

    1,028

    VCA

    112

    43

    155

    TOTAL

    7,629

    6,186

    13,815

    Note that in 2009/10 58.7% of the total DfT staff were male compared to 55.2% as at 31 December 2015.

  • Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the oral contribution by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, of 26 January 2016, Official Report, column 231, what steps he has taken to contact the Northern Ireland Executive in relation to the reform of charities legislation to include social investment; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    Charity law is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. Officials in the Office for Civil Society kept their counterparts in the Department for Social Development, Northern Ireland, informed of progress as the measures which are now contained in the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill were consulted on and developed.

    I have written to Lord Morrow MLA, Minister for Social Development, following the Third Reading of the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill, to draw his attention to the debate and the provisions of the Bill.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil law suits have been brought against his Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

    Dominic Raab

    It is not possible to provide the information requested. Litigants in civil cases can rely on arguments based wholly or partly on the Human Rights Act 1998. In some cases, the Act is relied on in addition to other claims. When the Human Rights Act came into force, no specific arrangements were put in place by the then government to record cases in the way requested. As a result, there are not currently data published which distinguish between cases where the Human Rights Act was or was not invoked.