The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, under which circumstances Southern Railway’s franchise would be withdrawn.
Claire Perry
Schedule 10.2 of the TSGN Franchise Agreement (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/488198/tsgn-franchise-agreement.pdf p.506) specifies how this franchise can be terminated by the Department.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-01-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the effect on the number of school support staff of the Government’s policy to consider for deportation after five years non-EU migrants earning less than £35,000 per annum.
Nick Gibb
The Department does not collect data on the nationality or immigration status of the school workforce.
This is a local matter for schools and all schools must employ members of the school workforce in accordance with employment law.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many social media accounts promoting extremist content were recommended for closure by her Department in each of the last 12 months; and what proportion of such content related to Daesh.
Mr John Hayes
We have seen an increase in the scale and pace of terrorist communications by groups like ISIL, encouraging vulnerable young people to travel to conflict zones like Syria and Iraq. This Government takes seriously the threat from online terrorist and extremist propaganda, which can directly influence people who are vulnerable to radicalisation.
Since 2010 over 140,000 pieces of terrorist-related material have been removed by industry from various online platforms at the request of the dedicated police Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). Approximately 55,000 removals were made in 2015 alone. Removal requests are now at over 1,000 a week and approximately 70% of CTIRU’s caseload is Daesh related.
We are pressing industry to take a lead in tackling the abuse of their services by terrorist and extremist groups.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much funding her Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
My Department has not received any funding from the European Social Fund in either of the periods requested. Implementation of the European Social Fund in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to sustain aerospace engineering capability and capacity in the South West region.
Anna Soubry
We work closely with aerospace companies and their representative organisations, in particular the West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF), in the South West through the Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP) to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high value jobs. As part of this work we are investing heavily in the sector to support the industry’s private investment in technology, competitiveness and productivity, manufacturing capability and skills.
The work of the AGP includes businesses of all sizes in the South West region including large players such as Airbus, Finmeccanica Helicopters, GE Aviation, GKN, Rolls-Royce, Safran Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, UTC Aerospace Systems, as well as their many medium and small sized suppliers, and other specialist aerospace businesses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willoughby de Broke on 2016-06-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Rural Payments Agency expects to complete Basic Payment Scheme payments to qualifying farmers during the payments window ending in June 2016. [I]
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Rural Payments Agency continues to make the remaining top up BPS payments to those that received a bridging BPS payment and anticipates completing this work by the end of June 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Coventry on 2016-07-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made this year to the government of Saudi Arabia regarding the use of beheading and crucifixion as criminal punishments.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, especially for crimes other than the most serious and for juveniles, in line with the minimum standards set out in the EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty of 2008 and the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Arab Charter on Human Rights.
We continue to raise the cases of Ali Al-Nimr, Dawood Al-Marhoon and Adullah Al-Zaher with the Saudi authorities at the highest levels, including during the former Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond)’s most recent visit to Saudi Arabia on 29 May. We expect that Ali Al-Nimr and the two others who were convicted as juveniles will not be executed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rupa Huq on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he plans for any trade agreement between the UK and EU to come into force after the UK leaves the EU to be undertaken alongside negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.
Mr Robin Walker
We are considering in detail the advantages and disadvantages of several different approaches. But we will not undermine the Government’s negotiating position by giving a running commentary on our position before negotiations have even started.
The Prime Minister has spoken of getting a bespoke deal for the country – what we want is the right deal, on both trade for the UK and our relationship with the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will press rail companies to use increases in revenue to invest and upgrade rail infrastructure.
Claire Perry
The railway is funded by both taxpayers and passengers. Network Rail own the infrastructure, not the train operators. The government is using the increased revenue, which is paid in franchise premiums to the Department for Transport, to help fund Network Rail’s investment programme. This will see them spend over £38 billion in the period 2014-19 on maintaining and improving rail infrastructure, in the biggest and most comprehensive programme of railway modernisation since the Victorians.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Yemen.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We continue to remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Yemen. The UK supported a UN Human Rights Council resolution in October 2015, which called on the UN to provide technical assistance to the Government of Yemen, assist the Yemeni National Independent Commission of Inquiry, and report back to the next session of the Human Rights Council. We continue to raise the importance of respect for human rights with all sides to the conflict.