Tag: Anne Main

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the outcome was of his Department’s visit to Um-il-Hiran and Ateer; whether he plans to visit that region; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and our Embassy in Tel Aviv visited three Bedouin communities in the Negev, including Um al Hiran, on 5 August. This visit, arranged through the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality (NCF), deepened our understanding of the constant risk of demolition faced by both recognised and unrecognised Bedouin villages; the restrictions on construction in even Government-planned Bedouin towns; and the unequal provision of services to communities of different ethnicities in the Negev. We remain concerned about this situation and will continue to work with partner countries, to address the inequalities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Clean Clothes Campaign memorandum, published on 28 January 2016; and if she will raise the matters discussed in that memorandum with the Bangladeshi government.

Mr Desmond Swayne

Ensuring the safety of garment sector workers around the world is of critical importance. Whilst progress has been made since the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2011, the Clean Clothes Campaign is right to say safety improvements in factories in Bangladesh need to speed up. The second review of the EU-US-Bangladesh Sustainability Compact, conducted in the first week of February, acknowledged the complexities involved in making improvements across the garment sector and highlighted it as a priority area where all involved – brands, factories and the government – need to work together to make progress.

The UK is addressing this sector-wide issue in two ways. Firstly, our programme is improving the institutional capacity of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments to enable this government body to follow up on Corrective Action Plans; there are now 270 inspectors in place (up from around 90 in 2013) who are trained and equipped to do their jobs. We are also active in the 3+5 high-level platform that meets periodically to monitor progress of the Sustainability Compact action plan. Through future 3+5 discussion, we will continue to emphasise the urgency of taking forward remediation in factories.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in immigration detention of each nationality have been convicted of a criminal offence in the UK.

James Brokenshire

As of December 2015 there were 1,274 foreign national offenders in immigration detention.

The Home Office does not provide nationality specific data. The data is withheld where disclosure would be likely to prejudice diplomatic relations between the UK and a foreign government and where its disclosure would be likely to prejudice the operation of immigration control.

Caveats

(1) The figures quoted have been derived from management information from the Home Office databases and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

(2) A Foreign National Offender (FNO) is defined as an individual with a criminal case on the Home Office’s Case Information Database, and may include individuals with asylum cases.

(3) Figures relate to main applicants only and are a snapshot of cases as at the end of December 2015 taken from the Case Information Database (CID).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials in his Department work in the referendum unit.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities. It is not possible to identify a precise figure for full time equivalent staff working on the referendum because a range of staff are involved across various FCO departments – eg EU department, legal advisers, press office – and for some of whom the proportion of their time devoted to referendum issues varies day by day.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have spent on infraction proceedings in each of the last 10 years.

Dominic Raab

I refer the honourable lady to the answer provided by the Minister for the Cabinet Office (36288).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have spent on infraction proceedings in each of the last 10 years.

George Eustice

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the Rt. Hon Matthew Hancock, on 11 May 2016, to PQ UIN 36288.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the armed forces on contingency plans in the event of the UK leaving the EU.

Michael Fallon

None.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional coastal patrol vessels she plans to commission.

James Brokenshire

Border Force recently announced that it will purchase additional patrol vessels to complement the work done by its cutters and enable a greater level of flexible response.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support parents of babies who spend time in neonatal care; if he will take steps to extend the statutory maternity pay of premature babies; and if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of such steps.

Priti Patel

The Government currently has no plans to extend Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) for the parents of premature or sick babies who spend time in neo-natal care.

SMP is designed to help working women during pregnancy and after childbirth by providing a measure of earnings replacement enabling them to stop work for a reasonable period around the birth to prepare for and recover from childbirth.

Working women are generally able to choose when they want their payments to begin and this flexibility in the start date for maternity pay was introduced in response to medical opinion that the woman herself is best able to judge the point at which she should give up work. This ensures sufficient time off to allow for different situations, including instances where babies are delivered at an earlier date and where babies need hospital care following birth.

The standard rate of SMP is part of a package of financial support to working families which includes Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay, Parental Leave and Flexible working. Tax Credits and Child Benefit are also available through HM Revenue and Customs to all families who qualify.

Additionally, the introduction of Statutory Shared Parental Leave and Pay for babies due on or after 5 April 2015 enables eligible mothers, fathers, and partners to choose how to share time off work after their child is born, giving parents much more flexibility in how to use their leave entitlement. This flexibility will be particularly valuable to parents who have to deal with difficult or unexpected circumstances and it allows parents, for the first time, to take leave together in a way that suits them.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-02-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was paid in (a) child tax credits and (b) child benefit for children within the European Economic Area outside the UK in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the effect on the level of such payments of proposed reforms to the payment of those benefits to such children under the terms of the renegotiation proposed by the European Council.

Damian Hinds

The information is not available in the form requested.

The Government’s new settlement means that EU nationals whose children live abroad will ultimately receive Child Benefit at a rate that reflects the conditions – including the standard of living and child benefit paid – of the country where their child lives. This will restore fairness to the system. Meanwhile, Child Tax Credit is being phased out, and we do not have to pay the new Universal Credit for children living in other countries. That means as Universal Credit is fully rolled out, the only benefit we will pay for children living in other Member States will be the indexed rate of Child Benefit.