The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average processing time is for cases handled by the Complex Casework Directorate.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The information requested on average processing time for cases handled by Complex Casework is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK between the ages of 16 and 21 who earn less than £7.65 per hour.
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 Alison Thewliss on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to provide certified copies of identity documents to visa applicants to support their applications to undertake an approved English language test.
James Brokenshire
There is no intention to change the current policy with regards to identity checks for Secure English Language Testing (SELT). Photocopies, whether certified or not, are not accepted when a candidate sits a test. Only original and valid documents are acceptable. This will allow test centre staff to confirm that the document is genuine and relates to the individual who is sitting the test.
The only acceptable forms of identification in the UK are:
• a passport or travel document;
• a EU Identity Card;
• a Biometric Residence Permit.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans she has to address market barriers to investment in large-scale and distributed electricity storage technologies.
Andrea Leadsom
A key objective of our £20m energy storage innovation programme is to strengthen investor confidence in energy storage at all scales. Overall, more than £80m of public sector controlled support has been committed to energy storage research, development and demonstration activities since 2012. This R&D activity has helped to raise the profile of storage and to demonstrate its capabilities to potential investors. In addition, my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer allocated at least £50m innovation funding to smart technologies, including storage, in the recent Budget.
The National Infrastructure Commission published a report, Smart Power, earlier in March. This included a recommendation to review the regulatory and legal status of storage and remove outdated barriers. The Department will implement this recommendation in full. We intend to publish a call for evidence on a smart systems route map, including storage, shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times on which dates in 2014 specialist contractors were used to facilitate the enforced return to Yemen of people from that country who had unsuccessfully claimed asylum in the UK.
James Brokenshire
All escorting services to facilitate enforced returns are provided by the Home Office’s main contractor, Tascor. In 2014, detainee custody officers from the Pilgrims Group, who are sub-contracted by Tascor were used on one occasion on 23rd July to facilitate the enforced return of an individual to Yemen.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-06-24.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if the Government will bring forward proposals to underwrite all EU funding for projects in Scotland in response to the result of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.
Mr David Gauke
As the Prime Minister has made clear, while the UK remains a member of the EU, current EU funding arrangements continue unchanged. It will be for the new Government to begin the negotiation to leave, and set out arrangements for those currently in receipt of EU funds.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to (a) support the Yemen economy and (b) ensure that there is an adequate supply of food and oil imports.
Rory Stewart
We are deeply concerned about the economic crisis in Yemen and are working closely with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United Nations, Government of Yemen and other key countries to look at measures to stabilise the Yemeni economy.
We are also providing £1.4 million to support the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) to facilitate the flow of commercial shipping, which is crucial to ensuring adequate supplies of food and fuel.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK aged under 18 earning £3.87 per hour.
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 Alison Thewliss on 2016-02-29.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 20725, (a) on what dates and (b) with which financial providers the Government had discussions prior to the introduction of new rules for Tier 1 Entrepreneur visas in January 2013.
Harriett Baldwin
The government has regular discussions with a range of stakeholders, including financial institutions, on visa policies and other issues as a regular part of policy formation. The Treasury routinely publishes Ministerial meetings with outside organisations, including for the period prior to January 2013 at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=hm-treasury&publication_type=transparency-data
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has a strategy to ensure that the growth of district heating is accompanied by the development of non-fossil fuel heat sources that are compatible with long term carbon emissions targets.
Andrea Leadsom
Yes. The development of heat networks and non-fossil fuel heat sources needs to go hand in hand. One of the key benefits of heat networks is that they can be used to transport heat from a wide range of low carbon heat sources.
The Government’s support for both renewable heating and district heating (heat networks) was confirmed in the Autumn Statement. My Rt Hon friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made clear that the Renewable Heat Incentive will see an increase in funding to £1.15 billion by 2020-21 and separately that over £300 million of funding would be made available for up to 200 heat networks to generate enough heat to support the equivalent of 400,000 homes.
We are currently designing the Heat Network Investment Fund to allocate this funding, which is due to launch later in 2016 and run until 2021. We are keen to ensure that the projects supported by the fund are low carbon, economically viable and strategically designed to ensure future growth and development. We expect a range of projects with a mix of different heat sources to come forward for support, as we have seen with those Local Authority projects already supported at the development stage by the Government’s Heat Network Delivery Unit. As well as fossil fuelled Combined Heat and Power, such sources include non-fossil fuel heat from waste, deep geothermal heat, water-sourced heat pumps and heat from underground minewater. In addition, DECC’s innovation budget was doubled; some of this will be used to support the development of low carbon technology in heat delivery.