Tag: Andrew Rosindell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to cooperate with his Egyptian counterpart on measures to (a) counter security threats and (b) ensure the safety of air passengers travelling from Egypt.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

On 5 November, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) and I spoke with President Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry about the safety of air passengers travelling to and from Egypt. Her Majesty’s Ambassador in Cairo is in regular contact with the Egyptian authorities, and the UK has an ongoing dialogue with Egypt on security issues.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is engaging with international partners about the ongoing aircrash investigation and its implications. We have shared all information we are able to share and discussed our conclusions with partners. We are also helping officials from the Department for Transport to work closely with Egyptian counterparts to ensure necessary airport security measures are in force. The safety of British nationals remains our priority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the forthcoming cessation of funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit on the prosecution of wildlife crime cases in the UK; and if she will make it her policy to continue funding the National Wildlife Crime Unit for the next five years.

Rory Stewart

An assessment of the effect of future funding decisions regarding the National Wildlife Crime Unit on the prosecution of wildlife crime cases in the UK has not yet been made.

Decisions on future funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit beyond March 2016 will be made as part of the current Spending Review process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to allow the free movement of citizens between the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

James Brokenshire

The Government has no plans to legislate to introduce free movement between the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The United Kingdom’s existing immigration arrangements, do nevertheless reflect the case for promoting mobility between countries. This includes the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme which allows 18-30 year olds from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other participating countries and territories to experience life in the UK for two years including the ability for them to work. We also continue to operate arrangements under which nationals of Commonwealth countries that have a UK-born grandparent may be admitted to work and settle in the United Kingdom through the UK Ancestry route. Also, citizens of Australia, Canada and New Zealand do not require a visa to visit the UK and the permitted activities of visitors include business related activities such as attending meetings and conferences, negotiating and signing business contracts and attending trade fairs for promotional work.

We have also introduced new measures such as the registered traveller scheme which offers expedited entry to the UK through use of the e-gates at the border.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that doctors from the EU working in the NHS have adequate English skills to practice.

Ben Gummer

In 2014 powers were given to the General Medical Council to enable them to carry out proportionate language checks on doctors from the European Union who wish to practise in the United Kingdom. This is a major step forward for quality of care and patient safety by ensuring that only doctors with adequate English language skills are able to practise in the UK.

Local checks are also carried out by individual employers as part of their recruitment processes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that implementation of European Professional Cards for doctors does not inhibit his Department’s ability to perform background checks on doctors from other European countries.

Ben Gummer

The European Professional Card (EPC) will not be introduced for doctors until 2018 at the earliest.

The European Commission will review the effectiveness of the EPC process for the first wave of professions, which includes nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists, before any decision is taken to extend the EPC to other professions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to (a) encourage the training of new behind the scenes production staff and (b) promote Britain’s position in the global film industry.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government announced up to £16 million in match funding in 2013 and a further £4m in 2015 to support skills in the Creative Industries, including training for behind the scenes production staff. The UK has one of the most generous film tax reliefs in the world. In 2014-15, the Government paid out £251 million in film tax relief, which attracted over £1 billion in investment to the UK last year. In 2015-16, the Government is also providing over £23 million in grant in aid alongside a projected £49 million in Lottery funding to support Britain’s position in the global film industry.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to increase schoolchildren’s understanding of the Commonwealth by increasing the proportion of the national curriculum dedicated to teaching about the Commonwealth and its relationship with the UK.

Nick Gibb

The national curriculum’s programme of study for citizenship education sets the expectation that pupils are taught about the United Kingdom’s current relations with the Commonwealth. There are also opportunities in the history national curriculum for schools to teach about the Commonwealth.

The national curriculum, introduced in September 2014, does not attempt to represent the sum total of everything that should be taught in schools. It prescribes the essential knowledge that pupils should be taught, leaving schools greater flexibility to teach over and above what the national curriculum requires, and to decide how to teach the essential content that is prescribed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council acting as final court of appeal for Commonwealth relations in 2015.

Mr Hugo Swire

The administration of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council administration has been the responsibility of the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) and its costs are integrated with those for running the UKSC. Accordingly it is not possible to identify precisely those costs which are attributable to the JCPC.

In 2014 – 2015, however, which is the latest financial year for which figures are available, the JCPC accounted for approximately 33% of the number of cases heard by both courts and 29% of the number of sitting days in both courts. On the basis of the average of both options the JCPC can notionally be regarded as consuming 31% of the total gross expenditure of both courts. In 2014 – 2015 this was £12.44 million, which means the JCPC’s share of this is notionally £3.85 million. Costs are offset by the £316,000 raised from fees charged to JCPC litigants.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the value of savings held in the UK that are no longer covered under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme as a result of changes implemented in January 2016 under an EU directive on deposit protection units; and if he will make representations to his EU counterparts on reversing the effect of that directive.

Harriett Baldwin

The Deposit Guarantee Scheme Directive (DGSD) is a single market measure to ensure that depositors are entitled to the same level of protection wherever they deposit their money, and that UK firms are not competitively disadvantaged in relation to firms in other European Economic Area (EEA) jurisdictions.

As a result of the recent strength of the pound in relation to the euro, it was necessary for the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to review the sterling coverage limit. On 31 December 2015, the FSCS coverage limit changed to £75,000 per person, per authorised firm. The vast majority of UK depositors are not directly affected – more than 95% of depositors are still fully protected by the FSCS after this change.

The Government brought forward legislation to ensure that the deposit protection limit was maintained at £85,000 until 31 December 2015, to ensure those depositors affected had the time to be informed of the change and to take any actions they felt appropriate. In addition, the PRA made new rules to ensure that, until 31 December 2015, depositors with more than £75,000 worth of deposits at a single authorised firm could withdraw those deposits without penalty.

The Government has made representations to the Commission to suggest that the reviews of the coverage level in non-euro states should occur after the Commission completes its review of suitability of the coverage level as a whole and also that changes for non-euro states reflect genuine, very large and lasting changes in exchange rates.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the savings to the public purse of the proposed emergency brake on in-work benefits for EU citizens in employment in the UK.

Damian Hinds

Details of the proposals for restricting in-work benefits for EU nationals will be subject to further negotiation and we cannot speculate on these.