The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) jobs and (b) residents in full-time employment there were in the London Borough of Newham in each year from 2010 to 2015.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she last discussed funding for armed police response with each of the four Welsh police commissioners.
Mike Penning
Home Office Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of partners, as well as organisations and individuals such as Police and Crime Commissioners, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Gov.uk website: http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what metrics she uses in monitoring human rights abuse (a) by governments and (b) in countries in receipt of UK aid.
Mr Desmond Swayne
DFID works closely with the FCO to assess and monitor the civil and political rights context in the countries where it has programmes. DFID draws on the FCO’s annual Human Rights and Democracy Report, which takes international human rights obligations as its starting point, and assesses FCO country specific updates to that report. It takes into account the views of a range of sources including EU and other development partners, and civil society reports.
DFID provides aid to governments when it is satisfied that they share Britain’s commitments to reducing poverty and to respecting human rights. Before providing aid to a partner government, DFID assesses their commitment to four Partnership Principles. These include a commitment to poverty reduction; respecting human rights and other international obligations; improving public financial management, promoting good governance and transparency, and fighting corruption; and strengthening domestic accountability.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Coventry on 2016-03-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to assist the government of Iraq in its efforts to encourage post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction in areas now liberated from Daesh in Iraq.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
With our partners in the Global Coalition and the wider international community, the UK is supporting the Government of Iraq’s recovery efforts in areas liberated from Daesh.
In the last year UN Development Programme (UNDP) report that these efforts have contributed to the return of 170,000 people to Tikrit, 49,000 people to Al Dour and 15,000 people to Mkeishifa.
Specific UK support includes providing: £2.5 million for UNDP’s Funding Facility for Immediate Stabilisation, which supports community reconciliation and the rehabilitation of infrastructure in newly liberated areas of stabilisation; a stabilisation advisor for UNDP; a Communications Advisor to support the Governor of Anbar; and £225,000 to UN Mine Action Service to establish a coordination unit to assess the scope of explosive threats. During his recent visit to Iraq, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), discussed with Prime Minister Abadi the importance of reconciliation and rebuilding the lives of all Iraqis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much has been paid out by his Department in statutory entitlements as a result of the collapse of Comet; how many people have been so compensated to date; and what estimate he has made of the total cost to the Exchequer of meeting all arising liabilities in this case.
Anna Soubry
The Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Service has paid out a total of £23,687,320.37 in statutory entitlements to 4,918 former employees of Comet Group Plc.
It is not possible at present to estimate the total cost to the Exchequer of meeting all liabilities in this case. Further payments will depend on the findings of the Employment Tribunal regarding the employees covered by the protective award judgment, and any associated costs. Consideration of this matter is ongoing and expected to be resolved this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-06-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what date she plans for the National Litter Strategy to be launched.
Rory Stewart
Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government are working on the Litter Strategy for England to improve the way we all tackle the scourge of litter. We will publish the Strategy this year and a great deal of work will be taken forward in the coming months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to make it his policy that energy from renewable sources will be produced at (a) similar or (b) higher levels to those established by the EU Renewable Energy Directive following UK withdrawal from the EU.
Mr Nick Hurd
We are currently progressing in line with the trajectory set out in the Renewable Energy Directive, having met the Directive’s interim targets.
There will be no immediate changes to our relationship with the EU. Until we have left the EU, the UK will remain a member of the EU with all of the rights and obligations that membership entails.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to implement the recommendations in paragraph 6.3.15 in the Review of the National Referral Mechanism for victims of human trafficking, published in November 2014, on using European and other funding to afford victims of human trafficking and slavery the option to return safely to their country of origin.
Sarah Newton
The Home Office’s Voluntary Returns Service supports those who are confirmed victims of modern slavery to return home if they voluntarily choose to do so. The programme for non-EU nationals is part-funded by the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. The Home Office also support the return of confirmed victims from EU countries and this work is centrally funded at this time.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Question 19365, on supported housing, if he will place the remit of the evidence review in the Library.
Brandon Lewis
A copy of the specification for the review has been put in the Library of the House.
The Review began in January 2015. The Department of Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities and Local Government commissioned Ipsos MORI in partnership with Imogen Blood and Associates and Housing and Support Partnership Limited to undertake the evidence review. The report will be published later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to protect people living in the vicinity of (a) Heathrow and (b) RAF Northolt from (i) drones and (ii) unmanned aerial vehicles.
Mr Robert Goodwill
A cross government working group led by the Department for Transport is undertaking a detailed analysis of the range of risks posed by drones. This work is ongoing and kept under constant review. Further work is now proceeding to capture and evaluate potential mitigation measures and strategies. Initial guidance on tackling the risks has been provided to constabularies across the UK.
Work is also underway to qualify the specific level of risk posed by small drones to commercial air transport. We are talking to both the Civil Aviation Authority and airports to find technical solutions to the problems around airports, these include mandated geo-fencing or frequency jammers. The CAA has also worked with major drone manufacturers on the geo-fencing capabilities of their products, which has included providing a list of locations such as airport control zones.