Tag: Catherine West

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many detainees have been held in the Kingfisher Isolation Unit in Yarl’s Wood in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire

The accommodation in Kingfisher Unit is used for individuals removed from general association in accordance with Rules 40 (removed from association) and 42 (temporary confinement) of the Detention Centre Rules 2001.

Rule 40 states that an individual may be removed from association where it appears necessary in the interests of security or safety that they should not associate with other detained persons, either generally or for particular purposes.

Rule 42 states that a violent or refractory individual may be confined temporarily in special accommodation, but not as a punishment, or after he/she has ceased to be refractory or violent.

Management information held by the service provider, Serco, for Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre is only available for the number of instances that the accommodation was used for these purposes and cannot be provided for the numbers of individuals except at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 30235, in how many instances the Kingfisher Unit was used under rule (a) 40 and (b) 42 of the Detention Centre Rules in 2015.

James Brokenshire

The use of Kingfisher Unit at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre for individuals removed from general association is managed in accordance with Rules 40 (removed from association) and 42 (temporary confinement) of the Detention Centre Rules 2001.

For the period 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015 provisional management information from the service provider, Serco, indicates that the Kingfisher Unit was used on 91 occasions for Rule 40 and 18 occasions for Rule 42. Removal from association under these rules is limited to as short a time as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what preventative programmes, other than for HIV prevention, are funded by Public Health England.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England (PHE) distributes the public health grant to local authorities; the grant funds a number of prevention programmes including NHS Health Checks, the national child measurement programme and sexual health services. PHE also provides social marketing campaigns such as Be Clear on Cancer, Stoptober and Act FAST.

In addition PHE provides advice and evidence to local authorities and NHS England on what works best, including providing expert advice on the diabetes prevention programme.

More information on PHE’s activities can be found in PHE’s Strategic Plan:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/516985/PHE_Strategic_plan_2016.pdf

which sets out how the organisation intends to protect and improve the public’s health and reduce inequalities over the next four years and outlines actions PHE will take over the next year to achieve these aims and deliver its core functions.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many instances of (a) illegal and (b) unregulated fishing have been recorded in Antarctic waters by the UK in each of the last five years.

James Duddridge

Over the last five years the UK has not identified any instances of illegal or unregulated fishing within the Convention Area. This is in part due to the reduction in the global illegal, unreported and unregulated fleet and the stringent measures put in place by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (the Commission). Where other States Parties have identified illegal, unreported and unregulated operations, the UK has worked within the Commission to take steps to combat those activities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether cluster bombs used in the Yemeni civil war are of British manufacture.

Mr Philip Dunne

I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave to the Urgent Question tabled by the hon. Member for Ochil and South Perthshire (Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh) on 24 May 2016 (Official Report, column 401).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for a Disclosure and Barring Service local intelligence check to be completed by the police.

Sarah Newton

From June 2015 to May 2016, the average time taken to complete Disclosure checks by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) was 94 days and for the police as a whole, 22 days.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is working closely with the small number of forces, including the MPS, whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. The performance of police disclosure units is an operational issue for individual police forces and the MPS has established a Gold Group to oversee the recovery plan which they have in place to reduce the time taken. I have made clear to the MPS that its current delays must be addressed as a matter of priority and I continue to maintain close oversight of the progress being made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many times he has met with Guy Verhofstadt to discuss the UK’s exit from the EU.

Mr David Jones

The Prime Minister has been clear we will not give a running commentary on Brexit negotiations. We will ensure that we engage closely with all relevant interlocutors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to continue to participate in the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions after the UK leaves the UK.

Margot James

The UK has continued to participate in the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) since the EU referendum vote. Future engagement between the UK and Eurofound will be considered as part of the broader EU exit negotiations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with Michel Barnier and on how many occasions about the UK’s exit from the EU.

Mr David Jones

The Prime Minister has been clear we will not give a running commentary on Brexit negotiations. We will ensure that we engage closely with all relevant interlocutors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of Islamophobic abuse have been recorded in each of the last five years.

Sarah Newton

The Home Office does not hold the requested information. The Home Office has published data for 2011/12 to 2014/15 on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales for the five centrally monitored strands (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and gender identity) but these data cannot be broken down by religion of the victim. The 2015/16 data will have been published on 13 October 2016.

From April 2016, the Home Office began collecting data from the police on the targeted religion of religious hate crime offences in order to help forces build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to better hold them to account. This information will be provided voluntarily in 2016/17, but we intend to make it mandatory from the following year. We will publish the first data from this collection in the 2016/17 Hate Crime statistics publication in 2017.

This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.