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Tag: Caroline Lucas

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33537 on Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints, how his Department defines a system control total; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    The shared NHS planning guidance, ‘Delivering the Forward View: NHS Planning Guidance 2016/17 – 2021’, published in December 2015, stated that NHS England and NHS Improvement would continue to be open to new approaches to contracting between NHS commissioners and providers and that this could, for instance, include exploring with a few local health systems applying a single financial control total across local commissioners and providers. NHS England and NHS Improvement will work, where appropriate, with local health systems that wish to develop fuller proposals as part of their Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

    The Guidance is now available at:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/planning-guid-16-17-20-21.pdf

    “

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the redacted Govia Thameslink Railway remedial plan, dated 12 February 2016, was not made publicly available until 26 May 2016.

    Claire Perry

    There is a process in place with regard to the publication of documents and any redaction of information. Only once the redactions have been agreed by all parties, including the Department, can publication take place.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraphs 5.36 to 5.38 of the Cabinet Manual, whether the convention that a debate in Parliament should be held before troops are committed in military action applies to (a) the lethal use of armed drones, (b) military training and advisory missions (i) related to force-protection and (ii) where there is a risk of UK personnel engaging in combat in self-defence, (c) the use of special forces in long-term combat missions and (d) the embedding of UK military personnel in foreign militaries; and if he will make a statement.

    Michael Fallon

    This Government is committed to the convention that before troops are committed to combat the House of Commons should have an opportunity to debate the matter, except where there was an emergency and such action would not be appropriate. The convention does not apply to British military personnel embedded in the armed forces of other nations.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many financial penalties have been imposed to date on respondent employers for aggravated breach of employment law under section 16 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013; and how many such penalties (a) have been paid and (b) remain unpaid.

    Margot James

    Between 6 April 2014 and the end of August 2016, Employment Tribunals have imposed 16 financial penalties on respondent employers for aggravated breaches under section 16 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. Ten have been paid so far and five remain outstanding. One company has been dissolved.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2016 to Question 40383, when he plans to make an announcement on when passengers will have access to compensation when trains are over 15 minutes late; whether the application of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) from 1 October 2016 will affect that access; after how many minutes of delay the consumer’s right to claim a full refund under the CRA will take effect; and if he will make a statement.

    Paul Maynard

    As set out in the previous answer, we are committed to improving compensation arrangements for passengers and we expect to make an announcement on this shortly.

    We want to strengthen the rights of rail passengers to get compensation for poor service. The Consumer Rights Act will allow rail passengers to challenge compensation amounts awarded for delays and cancellations where the train operator is at fault.

    Train operators’ existing compensation schemes will continue to provide the main means of redress for passengers after 1 October 2016, when the Act comes into force for all transport providers. We will continue to work with train operators to improve their compensation schemes.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the value is of invoices sent to the High Weald Havens Clinical Commissioning Group from each trust which has incurred private ambulance costs arising from performance problems with Patient Transport Services provided by Coperforma and arms length driver operatives; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The requested information is not held centrally.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2022 Parliamentary Question on Improving the Asylum System

    Caroline Lucas – 2022 Parliamentary Question on Improving the Asylum System

    The question asked by Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, in the House of Commons on 19 December 2022.

    Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)

    What steps she is taking to improve the asylum system.

    The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Suella Braverman)

    We are taking immediate action to accelerate decision making and improve our asylum system by streamlining and modernising it, including by shortening interviews, removing unnecessary interviews, making the guidance more accessible, and dealing with cases more swiftly when they can be certified as manifestly unfounded.

    Caroline Lucas

    The Home Office is placing vulnerable, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in hotels in local authority areas. It is directly commissioning those hotels and other services, because it knows that local authorities do not have the funding or capacity required. Will the Home Secretary finally admit that these vulnerable children are legally the Home Office’s responsibility, so that they are not left in legal limbo? Will she ensure that her Department takes a strategic approach that addresses the placement shortage, rather than its current ad hoc approach, and will she ensure that the police do all that they can to keep searching for those children who have gone missing and have yet to be relocated?

    Suella Braverman

    We take very seriously the position of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children—and indeed of children, full stop. Safeguarding them is of the utmost importance to all authorities, and to the Home Office, when it comes to decision making. We will shortly look at the funding arrangement for local authorities’ support of these children, so that their needs are properly met.

    Damian Green (Ashford) (Con)

    Potentially one of the best parts of our asylum system is the safe route created for Afghans who helped British forces during the war in Afghanistan. They are often full of professional skills, speak good English, and could make a huge contribution to this country, if they were allowed to move on with their life. Will my right hon. and learned Friend give me a report on progress on getting more of these Afghan citizens out of hotels, and allowing them to get on with their life and to contribute to our society?

    Suella Braverman

    My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. We support those who have come to the United Kingdom through designated schemes such as the Afghan relocations and assistance policy, and those people who supported allied forces in Afghanistan. Far too many of those Afghan nationals are being accommodated in hotels; on that, he is right. That is why we are moving very quickly. We are working with the Ministry of Defence, and are looking at all options, including, for example, service family accommodation, to properly accommodate a cohort of Afghans, so that they can move on with their life and settle peacefully here.

    Mr Speaker

    I call the shadow Home Secretary.

    Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)

    In 2020, the Home Office secured just 12 convictions a month for people smuggling into the UK. In 2021, that fell to eight a month and, in the first half of 2022, it fell to just three a month. The smuggler gangs have proliferated, and the dangerous boat crossings that put lives at risk are up twentyfold, yet the number of criminals paying the price for their crime has collapsed. Why has the Home Secretary totally failed to take action against the criminal gangs?

    Suella Braverman

    Let me point out who has totally failed to take any action against the criminal gangs: the right hon. Lady and the Labour party. I am really enjoying the shadow Home Secretary’s reinvention over the past weeks and months, but despite her trying to sound tough on illegal migration and people smugglers, Labour voted against our new offences for prosecuting the people smugglers who are causing the problem on the channel. Labour voted against tougher sentences that enable us to deport foreign rapists and foreign drug dealers. Labour would scrap our Rwanda scheme. Yesterday, the right hon. Lady did not even know whether illegal entry was an offence. The reality is that Labour has no plan whatever on illegal migration; it is against our plan, and all it wants is open borders.

    Yvette Cooper

    The Home Secretary had no response on the total collapse in prosecutions, and she has had 12 years in charge. She says that the asylum system is broken; well, who broke it? Minsters have been running the system for the last 12 years, in which they have made things worse. Since the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 came into force, the number of people arriving by dangerous boat has reached a record high, so their legislation has not worked. The Prime Minister promised extra money for the National Crime Agency, but two days after he made that announcement, the Home Office does not know how much that money is, and the Treasury has not agreed anything. Can the Home Secretary tell us how much additional funding there will be for the National Crime Agency, and where it is coming from? On the Conservatives’ watch, a multimillion-pound criminal industry has grown along our border, and while Ministers faff around, gangs are making profit and people are drowning.

    Suella Braverman

    I am proud of the announcement that the Prime Minister made last week, setting out a comprehensive, methodical and compassionate approach to dealing with illegal migration and stopping the boats crossing the channel, dealing with the asylum backlog, responding to the cohort of people who have come here illegally from Albania, operationalising our Rwanda agreement and ensuring that ultimately we crack down on the people smugglers through better operational command on the channel. The right hon. Lady needs to get with the programme. I invite her to reverse her opposition to our plan, come up with a methodical plan and then let us have a proper conversation.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2022 Parliamentary Question on the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme

    Caroline Lucas – 2022 Parliamentary Question on the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme

    The parliamentary question asked by Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion in the House of Commons on 13 December 2022.

    Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)

    How many at-risk British Council and GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni in Afghanistan his Department has (a) assessed as eligible for and (b) resettled under the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme pathway 3 since 6 January 2022.

    Sam Tarry (Ilford South) (Lab)

    What humanitarian support his Department is providing to Afghan people (a) in and (b) fleeing Afghanistan.

    The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (James Cleverly)

    The UK has already resettled more than 6,300 people through various resettlement schemes. In the first phase of the Afghan resettlement scheme pathway 3, we will offer up to 1,500 places. We have received 11,400 expressions of interest and we are working through those quickly. We have disbursed £228 million since April 2022, on top of £286 million in aid for Afghanistan last financial year.

    Caroline Lucas

    The Foreign Secretary says that he is working quickly, yet we know that zero Afghans have been resettled under the ACRS. No wonder yesterday the Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), admitted that we must do better when confronted with the staggering delay. I am in touch with Chevening alumni, for example, who have been living in fear of their lives for more than 16 months now. By the Government’s own admission, pathway 3 in its first year will help only 400 applicants and their families—a tiny number—out of more than 11,000. Will the Foreign Secretary and the Home Office urgently supercharge the scheme, increase the number of people working on it in the Department and, crucially, allow the 20,000 people Ministers say they want to help over five years to come now? They cannot wait for another four or five years; they are in fear of their lives now.

    James Cleverly

    I have to correct the hon. Lady. She says that we have not made any resettlements under the ACRS. As I said in my answer, we have granted indefinite leave to remain to 6,300 eligible people. I think that she was making specific reference to pathway 3, which we are working on, but the House ought to recognise that we have already given indefinite leave to remain to more than 6,000 eligible people.

    Sam Tarry

    Last year my team and I heard countless harrowing, brutal stories of people and their families being murdered in Afghanistan, often while on the phone to my casework team. My team are still shocked and triggered by that awful experience; by the pictures they saw and the voicemails they heard. The FCDO really has to do a lot more to make sure that more people in Afghanistan do not die at the hands of the Taliban. I do not know whether I am going to correct my friend the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas), but my understanding is that only four Afghans have been resettled under the ACRS. Many of my constituents have lost loved ones, so I want to know just two things from the Foreign Secretary: what support is being offered to Afghan refugees currently stuck in Pakistan, and what will he be doing to speak to Home Office colleagues and ensure that this absolute mess of resettling people is sorted out promptly?

    James Cleverly

    Yet again, I have to correct the hon. Gentleman. He said that only four people had been settled under the ACRS. I say again, for the third time, that around 6,300 eligible people have been granted indefinite leave to remain under the referral pathways of the ACRS. We will of course continue to work both across HMG and with our international partners to resettle at-risk Afghans, and will particularly look at the individuals who have been supportive of the UK, and those particularly at risk because they are women, academics or members of the judiciary.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice, of 12 October 2015, Official Report, columns 32-36, what discussions she has (a) had and (b) plans to have with (i) her counterparts in other Government Departments and (ii) the pharmaceutical industry on the medical evidence and research that exists on the use of cannabis for medical treatment; and if she will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Government’s position on the medicinal value of cannabis remains unchanged and no discussions are planned. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is open to considering marketing approval applications for further cannabis-based medicinal products.

    The Home Office will continue to consider applications for Schedule 1 licences on their merits to enable trials of new medicines, subject to the appropriate ethical approvals where human trials are envisaged. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and regulations made under the Act, continue to facilitate research in this area.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to promote EU member states only sending animals to slaughterhouses which meet the standards set by the World Organisation for Animal Health.

    George Eustice

    The Government is committed to pressing for all EU Member States to ensure that animals are only sent to slaughterhouses that meet high welfare standards. To this end, we will continue working with the European Commission to build on the success of their workshop in the Lebanon in March, in raising awareness of the requisite slaughter standards within the region and further afield. We will also continue to make a significant contribution to the work of OIE and development of global standards on animal welfare at slaughter.