Tag: Bridget Phillipson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ban the manufacture, sale, possession and use of animal snares.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The Government has no plans to ban the use of all animal snares. The Government has sought to improve the welfare of snared animals through research to improve snare deployment and design and by working with users who are producing new guidance on best practice.

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 contains protection for animals under the control of man to help prevent unnecessary suffering and covers any animal held in a snare. Any suspected cases of illegal use should be reported to the Police.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2016 to Question 37587, how many child refugees are planned to be resettled in the UK in the next year in accordance with subsection (1) of 67 of the Immigration Act of 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Local authorities are already caring for more than 4,000 unaccompanied asylum seeking children. The Government has consulted widely and extensively with local authorities across the UK in order to assess their capacity to care for additional unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children.

The Home Office has also significantly increased the funding available to local authorities that are supporting unaccompanied children and offered additional funding to bolster regional structures for the National Transfer Scheme, which is the mechanism for ensuring there is a more even distribution of unaccompanied children across the UK.

Between 12 May and 1 October 2016 over 50 children who meet the criteria in the Immigration Act were accepted for transfer, of which over 35 have been transferred. We continue to work with the French, Greek and Italian authorities to establish the number of children who may be eligible and have seconded UK experts to France, Greece and Italy to support the commitment to transfer eligible children to the UK, where it is in their best interests.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost has been of the North East Traffic Commissioners Quality Contact Scheme board to date.

Andrew Jones

The Quality Contract Scheme Board (QCSB) that was convened to consider the proposed Quality Contract Scheme for Tyne and Wear published their report in accordance with the Transport Act 2000 on 3 November 2015.

The cost incurred by QCSB in fulfilling their statutory obligation to date is £206,088. This figure should not increase significantly as the report has now been published.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 18162, if he will place in the Library a summary of the internal findings following his Department’s consideration of the Quality Contract Scheme Board report.

Andrew Jones

The Quality Contract Scheme (QCS) process is independent of the Department, and as such the Department has not formed a specific view on the merits of the proposed Tyne and Wear QCS proposal. The Quality Contract Scheme Board’s report has been considered internally with a view to informing and developing future policy and it is the Government’s intention to introduce a Buses Bill.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 23948, what the names are of the seven community rehabilitation companies referred to.

Andrew Selous

The information requested is commercially sensitive. It is normal Government practice not to release commercially sensitive information.

The use of action plans is part of an ongoing standard contract management process used routinely with all 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) to promptly and proactively address issues which have been identified.

We have robust contract management in place to monitor these plans, including commercial and financial specialists to ensure that providers deliver effective services and value for money. Robust performance management systems and audit arrangements are in place to manage the contracts. This approach is in line with National Audit Office contract management standards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to present the new Buses Bill to Parliament.

Andrew Jones

Work continues on the drafting of the Bill. Its introduction will depend on the Parliamentary timetable, but we are working towards introducing the Bill in the next session.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had discussions with representatives of Japanese businesses operating in the UK on the memorandum presented by the Japanese government to the Prime Minister at the recent G20 Summit.

Alok Sharma

Ministers and senior Government officials have held regular discussions with Japanese investors operating in the UK since the referendum in June. This continued after the Japanese Government published their memorandum on 2 September. I met representatives of Japanese business on 8 September at Asia House and I spoke to individual investors in Tokyo and Osaka during my visit to Japan from 26 to 29 September. Japanese investment in the UK has been a huge success story and as we plan our exit from the European Union we will continue to listen to the voices of Japanese business.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2016 to Question 47489, whether, during the course of negotiations for the UK to leave the EU, his Department plans to hold discussions with its Japanese counterparts.

Mr David Jones

Ministers and officials from across the Government are working closely with the Government of Japan and Japanese companies operating in the UK to reinforce the importance of a close relationship between our countries. They will continue to do so, including through our embassy in Tokyo.

The Department for Exiting the EU will continue to support this work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to improve the retention of students who have the potential to succeed in higher education but face financial difficulties.

Joseph Johnson

Continuation rates for students in publicly-funded institutions are at a record high, with 94.3% of young full-time first degree entrants to higher education in English HEIs in 2012/13 continuing after their first year and, 90.0% of full-time first degree starters of all ages in English HEIs in 2012/13 were expected to receive an award or transfer. Improvements in these areas have come at a time of considerable expansion in student numbers and increasing diversity in the backgrounds of students.

Institutions wishing to charge higher fees must agree access agreements with the independent Director of Fair Access. In these, institutions set out what more they will do to attract students from disadvantaged backgrounds and help them to complete their studies and progress to post-graduate study or employment. In 2016/17, institutions expect to spend £425m on financial support through their access agreements.

The Higher Education Green Paper set out further steps to encourage universities to improve retention rates, including for students from disadvantaged and under-represented groups, through a Teaching Excellence Framework.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure a level transition for people moving from tax credits to universal credit in terms of the amount of benefits received; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel

We have put transitional protections in place to ensure that people on existing tax credits whose circumstances remain the same do not lose out in cash terms when they are transferred on to Universal Credit.

We will introduce regulations to give effect to these provisions in due course.