Tag: Andrew Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what resources the Government has expended in assisting British overseas territories and Crown dependencies to represent themselves to the European Commission in the latest period for which information is held.

James Duddridge

The UK is responsible for the international relations of the Overseas Territories, which have a specific status within the European Union Treaties. The Overseas Association Decision is the instrument which sets out the relationship between the European Union and the Overseas Territories of the Member States. In 2015 I attended the annual Forum bringing together Territory leaders, senior representatives from the European Commission and the Member States. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials meet approximately six times a year with the Territories and the Commission to take forward cooperation under the Overseas Association Decision. Other government departments provide officials when required if the subject matter falls within their area of competence.

The United Kingdom is also responsible for the international relations of the Crown Dependencies which have a special relationship with the European Union under Protocol 3 to the United Kingdom’s Treaty of Accession to the European Community.

United Kingdom Government officials meet regularly with Crown Dependency and Overseas Territory representatives to discuss forthcoming business; information sharing is a matter of routine. The Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories make their own preparations for meetings with the European Commission but Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials assist when asked to do so. Support is also available from other government departments and the UK Permanent Representation to the European Union should it be required.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to safeguard the wellbeing of UK citizens engaged in UN operations in Juba, South Sudan.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK is a strong supporter of the UN in South Sudan and we are working in the UN Security Council to ensure their peacekeeping mission UNMISS has the equipment and access it needs for its staff to be able to do their jobs safely and effectively. The FCO provided a flight, in the absence of commercial options, for British Nationals, including those working in the UN, who wanted to leave South Sudan on 14 July 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has received representations from any representatives of the Israeli government to stop funding specified Israeli human rights NGOs.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

As of 20 November 2015, neither the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or our Embassy in Tel Aviv have received any repesentations from the Israeli authorities asking the Government to stop funding specified Israeli human rights non-governmental organisations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25312, whether he has been consulted about proposals for a US drone operation centre at RAF Lakenheath; and whether he has received a Host Nation Notification from the US in respect of RAF Lakenheath in the last year.

Penny Mordaunt

No. The Ministry of Defence received a Host Nation Notification from the US in respect of RAF Lakenheath on 7 January 2015, relating to US F-35 basing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average frequency of mandatory reporting is for people on temporary admission who travel from Oxfordshire to London to report at Eaton House, Hounslow.

James Brokenshire

Immigration Enforcement retains a record of tickets that are issued to people on temporary admission for the purpose of travel to report at an Immigration Reporting Centre.

Immigration Enforcement does not keep a record of the area from which those individuals have travelled. We are required to provide a travel ticket if the subject resides more than 3 miles away from the reporting centre and is in receipt of Asylum Support. We do not routinely provide travel tickets for anyone else who reports unless they reside over 25 miles away and there is an exceptional reason to do so. Each case is assessed and considered on its own merit.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 27490, if he will make it his policy to collect information on the time taken from application to making a payment for (a) jobseekers allowance and (b) employment and support allowance.

Priti Patel

Data is already held on the time taken from a claim being received to a decision being made, which the Department views as the more meaningful statistic due to the different rules on payment dates for different benefits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission an urgent review of safety on the A34.

Mr John Hayes

Highways England regularly reviews safety issues on all routes on the strategic road network and it currently has plans to install new technical measures on the A34, as one of the schemes in the Road Investment Strategy, to ease congestion and improve safety and incident management. The Department is not minded to carry out a further review at this time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce a bill to reform the regulation of healthcare professionals; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

This Government is grateful for the work of the Law Commissions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in reviewing the regulation of health and (in England) social care professionals.

The Law Commissions made 125 recommendations to reform the existing complex and burdensome regulatory system. The joint four UK country response to the Law Commissions was published on 29 January 2015 which accepted wholly or in part the vast majority of its recommendations.

The Department is currently reviewing how best to take forward the work of the Law Commissions. We hope to be able to provide an update on this work soon.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department plans to provide to help tackle hunger in Malawi.

Mr Nick Hurd

DFID has a significant programme of ongoing support in health, education, agriculture, water and sanitation and economic development, particularly in rural areas and with the private sector, for growth, jobs, incomes and food insecurity in Malawi. We support increasing access to justice for women and vulnerable groups, accountability and governance reforms.

The UK was one of the first development partners to respond to Malawi’s international appeal for emergency aid in October 2015. The UK has now committed £14.5m through partners including the World Food Programme, UNICEF and an International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) consortium led by Save the Children. This support includes:

• Food for over 800,000 people, including pre-positioning of food, nutrition supplies and livestock vaccines.
• Cash transfers for up to 450,000 people who live near functioning markets but do not have the means to purchase food
• Mass screening of up to 800,000 children to identify urgent nutritional support needs
• Specialist supplies for over 140,000 children and others suffering from acute malnutrition
• Vital protection support to vulnerable people, including women and girls, in displacement and refugee camps

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans for the proposed £1,000 immigration skills charge to apply to NHS nurses.

Nick Boles

The Immigration Skills Charge will be paid by UK employers recruiting skilled migrant labour from outside the European Economic Area. This includes employers of nurses. The charge will apply from April 2017. There will be a flat rate of £1,000 per Tier 2 migrant sponsored per year. Some public sector employers could benefit from the small and charitable sponsors reduced rate of £364 per Tier 2 migrant sponsored per year.

As the independent Migration Advisory Committee stated in their January 2016 report on Tier 2, public sector organisations are employers like any other and should be incentivised to consider the UK labour market first, before recruiting outside Europe.