Tag: Charles Walker

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has received representations from the Mayor of London on his concerns about the number of private hire vehicles being licensed each month in London.

Andrew Jones

We receive representations on a number of issues from the Mayor of London, and this has included the impact of the increasing number of private hire vehicles in London on congestion, air quality and parking issues on London’s road network.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the 4th EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment he has made of which of his Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

Mr David Lidington

Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants, such as ambassadors and chargés d’affaires. The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

The changes proposed under the Directive should not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Treasury regularly raises these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate, risk-based approach when applying these measures.”

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment he has made of which of his Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

Mr Julian Brazier

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to his Question 31527 on 22 March 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will identify for the purpose of Article 3(9)(F) of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive which ranks in the armed services will be classed as high-ranking.

Mark Lancaster

The Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive seeks to prevent the financial and certain non-financial sectors from being used for money laundering (the conversion, by various means, of the proceeds of crime into apparently ‘clean money’) and terrorist financing (the provision or collection of funds used to carry out any terrorist offences).

In addition to the financial sector, the directive applies to certain non-financial sectors including lawyers, notaries, accountants, estate agents, providers of gambling services, trust and company service providers, and to all providers of goods when payments are made in cash in excess of €15,000.

The directive introduces additional requirements and safeguards (‘enhanced due diligence’) for situations posing a higher risk of money laundering and terrorist financing, for example, trading with correspondent banks situated outside the EU. Amongst those additional requirements is a broader definition of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

Those subject to the directive are required to:

Identify and verify the identity of their customer (‘customer due diligence’) and of the beneficial owner (person(s) who ultimately owns or controls the customer on whose behalf a transaction is being carried out, e.g. in the case of a company, the owner of a sufficient percentage of the shares or votes), and to monitor their business relationship with the customer,

Report suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing to the public authorities

Ensure that personnel are properly trained and that appropriate internal preventive policies and procedures are set up.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is not a financial institution nor does it fall into the non-financial sector organisations identified by the Directive, and it is not a provider of goods where payments are made in cash in excess of €15,000.

The responsibility of implementing the requirements of the Directive is for the financial sector and the non-financial sectors identified by the Directive and not the MOD.

The new Directive gives additional guidance in dealing with those risks and issues relating to corrupt activities. As with all legislation it cannot differentiate between those nations, sectors and institutions that are more or in the UK’s case, less corrupt. What this Directive attempts to do is give those organisations and sectors at risk of money laundering and terrorist finances the ability to make their own judgements as to what they deem as a high risk person (PEP) or transaction. Whilst ambassadors, chargés d’affaires and high-ranking officers in the Armed Forces are included in the Directive as PEP’s, the financial institutions in particular will assess their individual risk. In some countries the military are involved and in some cases run the political and governing systems, this makes them a significant corruption risk. The UK, its ambassadors, chargés d’affaires and high-ranking officers carry a lesser risk than some others; it is therefore unlikely that the extended Directive will affect them. But the interpretation of the Directive is for the financial and certain non-financial sectors to interpret.

The MOD takes its responsibility to prevent, detect, deter and investigate fraud (including corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing) very seriously and has undertaken detailed risk assessments to identify its risks, where needed implementing additional preventative and detective controls and undertakes due diligence on its suppliers.

Transparency International publishes a Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index based on 77 indicators which assesses the existence, effectiveness and enforcement of a nation’s ability to manage the risk of corruption including money laundering.

The UK MOD scored an ‘A’ (very low corruption risk) in the 2015 index, the only country to achieve this in the G20 and NATO as well as being one of only two in the world to achieve this.

Transparency International attributed the ‘A’ to the UK MOD having strong anti-corruption systems underpinned by effective independent oversight mechanisms.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much income has been received from anglers through the rod licence in each of the last five financial years; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

The income received from anglers through the rod licence for each of the last five years is provided in the table below:

Income (in million)
2015/16	£21,083
2014/15	£21,147
2013/14	£21,590
2012/13	£21,840
2011/12	£23,742

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to provide the Mayor of London with the powers to place a cap on private hire vehicles in London.

Andrew Jones

This Government does not intend to amend primary legislation to allow the number of private hire vehicles licensed in London or elsewhere to be restricted.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the 4th EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment she has made of which of her Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

Mr John Hayes

Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD), which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants. The Government will be setting out its view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

The changes proposed under 4AMLD must not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Home Office and Treasury regularly raise these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate risk-based approach when applying these measures.

To that end, following the Adjournment Debate on 20 January 2016 on this issue, along with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury I have recently met representatives of the banking sector to make clear concerns. The banks now clearly understand the importance of this issue and a way forward has been agreed. Should further problems arise we will re-emphasise what we expect.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate her Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment she has made of which of her Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

Mr Ben Wallace

Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants, such as ambassadors and chargés d’affaires.

The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

The changes proposed under the Directive should not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Treasury regularly raises these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate, risk-based approach when applying these measures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of confiscation of land (a) in Biafra and (b) owned by Biafrans by the Nigerian government.

James Duddridge

The UK fully supports the territorial integrity of Nigeria and President Buhari’s commitment to work for a secure and prosperous Nigeria for all Nigerians. We are committed to working with Nigeria to help tackle threats to Nigeria’s security and to address the underlying causes of instability which exist within Nigeria. We do not assess that there is institutionalised persecution of the Igbo or any other peoples by the Nigerian authorities.

We are not aware of any patterns of land confiscation in Nigeria by the Nigerian Government. Nigeria does face the challenge of inter-communal violence between farmers and herdsmen over land, farming rights, grazing routes and access to water. We are aware that the Nigerian legislature is currently debating a bill on grazing routes and reserves for Nigerian herdsmen. Part of that debate focuses on balancing the rights of land owners with the requirements of herder communities.

Through our development assistance the UK supports initiatives to reduce these conflicts and build bridges between communities. We will continue to work with the Nigerian Government, non-governmental organisations and civil society to improve the security situation and human rights for all the people of Nigeria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to mark the centenary of the birth of Richard Walker by ensuring that Clarissa the carp appears on the front of the 2017-18 fishing licence; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice

The images on the rod licence are currently produced under agreement with a specialist wildlife artist and have focused on fish in their natural environment. The exact image is determined the year before the licence goes on sale and the image for 2017/18 has already been determined. The design for 2018/19 will be determined during 2017. The Environment Agency is happy to consider the option of using Clarissa to mark the centenary of the birth of Richard Walker.