Tag: Alison Thewliss

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the number of people who have been displaced in Yemen in the last five months.

James Wharton

According to the United Nations, there were 2.2million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Yemen in July 2016. This is an increase of 200,000 since April 2016. Yemen also hosts around 280,000 refugees, mainly from the Horn of Africa.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with council leaders on the effect of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Secretary of State regularly engages with a number of stakeholders, including local government, on policy issues. The Secretary of State welcomes input from the sector and this includes views on the issues and opportunities of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to offer a discounted rate for dependents who apply for a Certificate of Entitlement for Right of Abode in the UK.

James Brokenshire

This Government has no plans to offer discounted rates for such dependants.

Income from application fees helps provide the resources necessary to operate the immigration system, with the remainder of funding provided through general taxation. The Government’s aim is to reduce the overall contribution of funding that comes from general taxation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-03-17.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.157 of Budget 2016, whether he plans for premixed alcoholic drinks to fall within the scope of the proposed sugar tax.

Mr David Gauke

The soft drinks industry levy applies to soft drinks with added sugar and total alcoholic content below 0.5% ABV, which can be purchased by children.

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 asylum claims from people from Yemen were granted in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

James Brokenshire

There were 9 and 50 grants of asylum or an alternative form of protection, at initial decision, to Yemeni nationals in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

There were 34 and 43 refusals of asylum or an alternative form of protection, at initial decision, to Yemeni nationals in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

The Home Office publishes figures on asylum initial decisions by nationality in the quarterly Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics, October to December 2015, is available from:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-06-15.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the annual revenue arising from VAT on incontinence products is.

Mr David Gauke

VAT arising from the sale of incontinence products and VAT that is recovered on the purchase of incontinence products is not separately itemised on the VAT return, so the requested information is not available.

However, there are many circumstances where incontinence products are supplied at the zero rate of VAT. This includes over the counter sales for personal use.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to develop peer support networks for breastfeeding.

Mr Philip Dunne

Public Health England (PHE) works with local services to create breastfeeding friendly communities, with midwives and health visitors to promote best practice, and, through our Start4Life social marketing programme, to provide parents with trusted National Health Service advice.

PHE has developed an infant feeding commissioning resource in partnership with Unicef to support local authorities in the delivery of a comprehensive approach to the commissioning of services that protect, promote and support breastfeeding. PHE also shares innovative approaches for supporting breastfeeding.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will bring forward proposals to reduce the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals.

Tracey Crouch

The Triennial Review of Stakes and Prizes is due to be published shortly, and will consider stakes and prizes of all gaming machines.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of Greater Manchester City Deal procurement contracts have been given to SMEs in the Greater Manchester area.

James Wharton

The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect this data on contracts awarded by local authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of reductions in international student numbers on employment.

Mike Penning

Such an assessment has not been made because the Government is delivering a strong labour market which has seen the employment rate for UK nationals grow to 74.6% in Q4 2015 – an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous year and the highest since records began.

The student migration system we inherited was too weak, and open to widespread abuse, damaging the UK’s reputation as a provider of world-class education. The National Audit Office reported that in 2009/10 up to 50,000 students may have come to work, not study.

We have clamped down on immigration abuse from poor quality institutions selling immigration rather than education, and since 2010 we have struck off more than 920 bogus colleges. Visa applications for the further education sector, where abuse has been most prevalent over recent years, are down 75 per cent compared with 2010.

At the same time, we have maintained a highly competitive offer for international students who would like to study at our world-class institutions. This is borne out by the figures: visa applications from international students to study at British universities are up by 16 per cent since 2010, whilst visa applications to our world-leading Russell Group institutions are up by 39 per cent since 2010. There remains no limit on the number of genuine international students who can study in the UK.

We will continue to reform the student visa system to tackle abuse and deliver an effective immigration system that works in the national interest.