The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hamwee on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proposals they have, if any, to provide assistance to British citizens, particularly British children, in La Linière refugee camp outside Dunkirk.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Government is not aware of any British citizens, including children, residing in the La Linière migrant camp.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that all residual legacy benefit caseloads will move onto universal credit by 2021 as forecast in the policy costings of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.
Priti Patel
Testing of the migration of legacy claimants onto Universal Credit will take place during 2017. Following this national migration will commence in 2018 and by 2020/21 the move to Universal Credit will be complete.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to investigate and address the role of the Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in London in evading UN Security Council sanctions in respect of their submission of vessel registration changes to the International Maritime Organisation in 2014; and what assessment they have made of the involvement of embassies of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea worldwide in sanctions evasion.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Vessel registration is a matter for Flag state action. The UK is not a Flag state for any Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) vessels, so has not been involved in investigating this issue. We have processes in place to verify the provenance of any vessel registered under the British flag.
There are documented links between the DPRK’s diplomatic missions and its proliferation activity which are in breach of sanctions. For example, the UN DPRK Panel of Experts reported that DPRK Embassy officials in Cuba were engaged in making arrangements for the 2013 Chong Chon Gang shipment of conventional arms and related materials in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions. We have since worked with partners to encourage the need for vigilance over possible illicit activity taking place by DPRK diplomatic missions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of engagement by the Disasters Emergency Committee, and other international donors, with representatives of Nepal’s civil society and charities such as Childreach Nepal.
Baroness Verma
The role of national Nepali civil society after the earthquake has been key to the emergency response, and will be important into the recovery and reconstruction phases. International humanitarian organisations who acted as part of the earthquake response, such as the UK Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) members, have partnered with Nepal civil society organisations to deliver assistance to those most in need. These partnerships have combined international funding flows with local knowledge and expertise.
Over the course of the humanitarian response UK government representatives in Nepal have met regularly with DEC members and other international donors in order to share situation analysis and learning, as well as jointly advocate on collective issues. The UK has supported over 20 trusted partners as part of its own Nepal earthquake response, including the UN, INGOs and the Red Cross. All have worked in partnership with Nepali civil society organisations on the ground. We have conducted three rounds of field-based monitoring, meet regularly with our partners, and receive frequent reporting, which has enabled us to assess with confidence the effectiveness of our direct partners and their Nepali civil society partners.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many members of staff of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority have been assigned to work on the Government’s Successor submarine programme; and what (a) their grades, (b) their job titles and (c) the dates of their assignment to work on that programme are.
Matthew Hancock
The Successor programme is one of 188 projects reported on the Government Major Project Portfolio (GMPP) at the time of the last Major Projects Annual Report. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority undertakes a number of activities across the 188 major projects on the GMPP, including collecting quarterly programme performance data; the arrangement of independent assurance; and, providing expert advice to project and departmental leadership. These activities do not involve the assignment of individual IPA staff to work on this project specifically, but are undertaken by a number of staff working in a range of functions across the IPA.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36052, on diesel vehicles: exhaust emissions, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of a pre-Euro 4 diesel scrappage scheme; how many vehicles in the UK were estimated to have been potentially eligible for a claim under such a scheme; and whether a benefit-cost ratio was calculated for that proposal.
Andrew Jones
Improving the UK’s air quality is a priority for this Government; we want the UK to have the best natural environment, and clean air is an essential part of this ambition.
The Government’s National Air Quality Plan, published on 17 December 2015, sets out a comprehensive approach to improving UK air quality. A key measure of this is the introduction of new Clean Air Zones in five UK cities (Birmingham, Leeds, Southampton, Nottingham and Derby), along with the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London. The Plan will tackle the most polluting vehicles in air pollution hotspots, and will enable us to reach compliance with legal limit values as quickly as possible.
A national scrappage scheme for diesel cars was considered, which included a high-level cost estimate looking at offering grants for scrappage of the dirtiest vehicles.
It was found that even if only offering the scheme to pre-Euro 4 diesel cars only, the costs ran into the billions and impact on emissions was marginal.
This would have minimal impact on compliance with legal limit values for air quality in 2020. It is estimated that 400,000 pre euro 4 diesel cars will remain in the national fleet by this time.
As the costs of a scrappage were considered prohibitively expensive this option was judged an ineffective use of resource, and further analysis was not carried out.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Sandwich on 2016-07-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to ensure that the National Solidarity Programme in Afghanistan receives adequate support and delivers the necessary assistance to the most deprived rural areas.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK supports the National Solidarity Programme (NSP) through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). The UK is one of the largest donors to the ARTF which supports the Afghan government to deliver basic services across the country. UK officials will continue to meet regularly with the World Bank, who are the ARTF administrators, and the Afghan Ministry for Rural Rehabilitation and Development, who manage the NSP, to discuss the delivery of these important programmes and ensure that they reach the most vulnerable people in Afghanistan.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there is any link between the salaries of senior managers in Network Rail and health and safety performance.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Network Rail’s business performance is measured in every four-week period through a scorecard that includes a series of safety measures. Performance against the metrics in the scorecard is linked to the bonuses of senior managers.
In terms of the company’s Executive Directors, each year Network Rail’s Remuneration Committee assesses performance for the year and decides whether the scorecard out-turn should be adjusted on safety grounds. Network Rail’s Management Incentive Plan states that in the event of a serious safety incident during the year, which impacts passengers, the workforce or the public, for which Network Rail was responsible, no incentive would normally be payable to any executive director for that year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-01-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the expenditure on the provision of English courses for speakers of other languages (1) in further education colleges and other public sector bodies, and (2) in other ways, in each of the last 10 years, including the current academic year; which bodies will deliver the extra language tuition to be provided from the £20 million announced by the Prime Minister; and when that extra tuition will commence.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The table below shows estimated funding for adult skills budget ESOL provision from 2009/10 onwards. We do not hold data before 2009/10 or collect data by the status of the providers.
BIS funding for ESOL is allocated by the Skills Funding Agency as part of a provider’s adult skills budget. In addition, there are a number of ESOL courses funded through the Agency’s community learning budget, but we do not collect data which enables us to provide a breakdown of the expenditure on these. SFA-funded providers which deliver ESOL include Further Education colleges, local authorities and a few other providers. The Department for Communities and Local Government funds a range of organisations contracted to deliver their current community-based English language projects.
Our new £20 million community-based English language training offer will be informed by the findings of Louise Casey’s Review and the learning from the six community projects we have funded as part of our current integration programme. In particular, we will work with Louise Casey to identify the most isolated communities in England to make sure this programme is targeted at those women who need it most and on the detail of how it will be delivered. We are working towards as early a launch date as possible for the programme in 2016-17.
|
YEAR |
BIS ACADEMIC YEAR ESTIMATED FUNDING* (Adult Skills Budget) |
DCLG FINANCIAL YEAR FUNDING FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROJECTS |
|
09/10 |
£203m |
|
|
10/11 |
£169m |
|
|
11/12 |
£117m |
|
|
12/13 |
£128m |
£0.12m |
|
13/14 |
£120m |
£2.14m |
|
14/15 |
£104m |
£3.66m |
*Funding values are estimated using data from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). Estimated funding provides an indication of the level of government funding and should not be treated as actual spend.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has access to the refugees in camps at Calais and Dunkirk; and if not, whether they will discuss the matter with the government of France.
Lord Bates
The UK is in regular contact with France on all matters related to Calais and the migration situation, and engages with EU and multilateral partners, including the UN on a wide range of migration issues in order to find an effective and sustainable solution.
The management of the migrant camps in Calais is the responsibility of the French Government. However, we understand that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has made visits to the camps in Calais and Dunkirk, and we note the welcome given by the UNHCR to the joint declaration to address the issues in Calais signed by the UK and France on 20 August 2015.