Tag: 2016

Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of cases in which asylum claims are refused on the basis that the claimant is not judged to have a sufficient case but the claimant cannot be deported because their home country is deemed to be unsafe.

James Brokenshire

We carefully consider all asylum claims on their individual merits and provide protection for those who need it, in accordance with our international obligations. No one who is at risk of serious harm in their country is expected to return there, but we do expect those who do not need our protection to return home voluntarily.

01/01/2023
Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total (a) budget and (b) full-time equivalent workforce was of the Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit in each of the last five years.

Mr John Hayes

The Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) receive referrals from a number of sources including the public and law enforcement partners. The unit also self-generates referrals.

All referrals are assessed by CTIRU against UK terrorism legislation (Terrorism Act 2000 and 2006). Those that breach this legislation are referred to industry for removal. If industry agrees that it breaches their terms and conditions, they remove it voluntarily.

Referrals made to industry by CTIRU have led to over 150,000 pieces of terrorist-related material being removed to date from various online platforms. Overall, removals at the request of CTIRU have increased from around 60 items a month in 2010, when CTIRU was first established, to over 4000 a month in 2015.

For reasons of national security we do not publically disclose the detailed allocation of funding for counter terrorism by capability.

01/01/2023
Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage enlistment from people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Penny Mordaunt

The Ministry of Defence is committed to achieving a more diverse workforce and is developing plans to meet the Government’s commitment to increase the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) recruits into the Armed Forces to 10% by 2020 and have allocated resources for this purpose.

Planning is ongoing to ensure that new activity is evidence-based and resources are allocated in the best way to deliver the step change that is required.

Whilst this plan is being finalised, examples of steps already taken include increased engagement with ethnic minority communities, using communications to improve understanding on careers in the Armed Forces and offering support throughout the application process where it is needed.

The Armed Forces recently won two awards in October 2015 at the Race for Opportunity Awards. The Armed Forces Muslim Association won the Public Sector Employee Network Award and the Royal Air Force won the Future Workforce Award for their Employability Skills Programme. The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force have also been recognised as two of the Top 10 public sector organisations for race diversity and inclusion by Race for Opportunity.

Statistics on the diversity declaration and representation of minority groups of
Service Personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence are published biannually. The most recent data can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2015

01/01/2023
Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether HMS Queen Elizabeth remains on schedule to be handed over and commissioned into the Royal Navy in 2017.

Mr Philip Dunne

The approved cost of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers is £6.2 billion, as announced by the previous Defence Secretary on 6 November 2013 (Official Report, column 251). Whilst there are cost pressures, the Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with Industry to drive the programme to remain within the approved cost.

We expect the First of Class, HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, to be accepted from the Aircraft Carrier Alliance in 2017 and, as reported in the NAO’s Major Project Report 2015, the ship remains on schedule to enter service with the Royal Navy in February 2018. We remain on course to undertake Platform Sea Trials in 2017, commence Fixed Wing Flying Trials with the F35B Lightning II in 2018 and deliver Initial Operating Capability (Carrier Strike) in 2020.

01/01/2023
Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of Syrian children in Lebanon in education.

Rory Stewart

At the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference, the UK committed to double education funding for Lebanon, to up to £40 million per year. This supports the Conference goal of getting all refugee children from Syria and vulnerable children in host communities into quality education by the end of the 2016/17 school year. DFID is aligning its funding behind the Government of Lebanon’s national education plans to expand access to educational opportunity; both through formal education, and through quality and regulated non-formal education for the most vulnerable out of school children.

01/01/2023
Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Department for Education on reskilling in the energy industry.

Mr Nick Hurd

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on a number of issues.

01/01/2023
Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any trade missions to Iran are planned involving businesses from the UK in 2016.

Anna Soubry

The UK government fully supports expanding our trade relationship with Iran. UK Trade and Investment will be leading a whole of government approach to engage with UK companies to ensure that UK businesses are well equipped to benefit from the commercial opportunities that will arise from sanction relief.

There is a desire on both sides to build a long-term bilateral relationship based on future partnership, where trade and investment is a key pillar. We plan to take further trade delegations to Iran in the near future across a number of sectors where UK companies are best placed to benefit from commercial opportunities.

01/01/2023
David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers were suspected of making fraudulent claims to be under the age of 18 in the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire

We publish statistics where the claimant’s age has been disputed and a formal age assessment has been carried out. In the twelve months to September 2015 there were 590 such cases. Data is taken from published statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2015/asylum

The results of these assessments and the Home Office’s eventual finding as to age are recorded on the immigration casework database but this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case files.

01/01/2023

Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne Main on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders from each other EU member state serving a custodial sentence in the UK in each of the last 10 years have been transferred to serve the remainder of their sentence in another EU member state.

Andrew Selous

It is right that foreign criminals who break our laws are properly punished but this shouldn’t be at the expense of the British taxpayer.

Since 2007, a total of 402 foreign national offenders have been transferred from England and Wales to other EU Member States to complete their sentence, 73 under the EU Prisoner Transfer Agreement

The table below shows the number transferred to complete their sentence in each year since 2007. The comparable information is not available for the prior years.

EU Member States	Year of transfer 2007	Year of transfer 2008	Year of transfer 2009	Year of transfer 2010	Year of transfer 2011	Year of transfer 2012	Year of transfer 2013	Year of transfer 2014	Year of transfer 2015
Austria				1						1
Belgium	10	5	1	2	1		2		3	24
Bulgaria									1	1
Croatia
Cyprus	2			1		1	1			5
Czech Republic			1	1	4	1	2		1	10
Denmark									1	1
Estonia
Finland
10 France	3	4	4			1	1			13
Germany	2		4		1				1	8
Greece					1			1	1	3
Hungary
Republic of Ireland	5	4	1			2	1			13
Italy	1					1		1	1	4
Latvia							1	2	2	5
Lithuania	1			4		3	2	1	1	12
Luxembourg			1							1
Malta							1			1
Netherlands	75	42	25	24	12	20	16	12	12	238
Poland	1	1		3	1	1	2	3	2	14
Portugal				2	1	1	1	1		6
Romania						1	1	5	7	14
Slovakia								3	9	12
Slovenia			1	1						2
Spain	2	3	1		2	2	2		2	14
Sweden

The numbers reported here are drawn from a case management system. Care is taken when processing these cases but the figures may be subject to inaccuracies associated with any recording system.

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01/01/2023

Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential effect of discontinuing funding for the Climate Local programme on the likely level of local authorities’ contributions to delivering the UK’s emissions reductions targets.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department continues to work closely with Local Authorities, LEPs and other local decision makers to support their hard work in reducing local emissions.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with Cabinet colleagues on a variety of subjects but has not specifically discussed Climate Local with my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

01/01/2023