Tag: Chris Law

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking with his EU counterparts to enable (a) EU diplomats and (b) journalists to enter Tibet.

Mr Hugo Swire

We support access to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) for EU diplomats and a number have recently been granted access. The Ambassador of Denmark was the most recent high-level visitor in April and other senior EU diplomats, including from the UK, are planning a joint visit in 2016. For its part, the UK has a standing request to visit but, as we note in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy, China did not accept our requests in 2015. We also support access to the TAR for journalists. The Foreign Correspondents Club of China reports that approximately three-quarters of journalists had their application to visit Tibet denied in 2015. We consistently raise the issue of access to the TAR and media freedom in the annual UK-China human rights dialogue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times he has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

Mike Penning

Details of all ministerial meetings are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/moj-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse of deportation by chartered flights has been in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire

Home Office records indicate that the cost of chartering aircraft for removal flights over the past 5 years is as follows:

2011/12 – £8.5 million

2012/13- £13.8 million

2013/14 – £12.7 million

2014/15 – £13.2 million

2015/16 – £9.1 million

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been employed in Dundee by the Government and its agencies in each year since 1990.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-19.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether preliminary impact assessments were carried out on the effect of the current HM Revenue and Customs Location Strategy on local tax compliance, across all heads of duty, the Scottish economy, equal opportunities in Scotland, the environment, and the individual staff whose offices are to be closed and what those assessments have indicated.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Location Programme is the result of an extended period of consultation and deliberation. The Department has taken account of a number of criteria in reaching its decisions, including the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, the cost of buildings and asset value, and the need to retain the staff and skills it needs to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

HMRC’s modelling estimates that the majority of staff in Scotland live within Reasonable Daily Travel of Glasgow or Edinburgh. Reasonable Daily Travel is calculated in line with established HR policies and procedures. Every worker at HMRC will have a one-to-one meeting with their manager to discuss their individual circumstances.

HMRC conducted high level People Impact and Equality Assessments to inform its planning. The Department plans to update these once discussions have been held with its staff.

Activities of trade union representatives are governed by long-standing agreements with departments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when (a) a minister and (b) officials in his Department last visited the area described by the Chinese government as the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Hon. Member for Bury South (Mr Lewis) was the last serving Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) minister to visit the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), in September 2009. An FCO official last visited the TAR in June 2014. We continue to press the Chinese authorities for further access.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Leader of the House, how many times he has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

Chris Grayling

I have not visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment she has made of the cost to the public purse of deportations on chartered flights and commercial flights.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office conducts a cost comparison between charter flights and commercial flights every 6 months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) households and (b) people are in receipt of tax credits in Dundee; and how many children are in each such household.

Damian Hinds

The latest information on the number of tax credit recipients in the Dundee City local authority can be found in table 3 of the April 2015 Personal Tax Credits provisional awards geographical analyses published statistics, found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-and-working-tax-credits-statistics-provisional-awards-geographical-analyses-december-2013

These statistics are published in April and December each year.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the implications for his policies are of the finding of the National Audit Office in its recent report, Contracted-out health and disability assessments, HC 609, of 5 January 2016, that his Department is spending more on fit-for-work assessments than it is saving since reforming health and disability assessments.

Priti Patel

The purpose of the Work Capability Assessment is to assess fairly and accurately entitlement to benefit, not to generate savings.

We have commissioned independent reviews which have all concluded that the assessment regimes for health related benefits remain fit for purpose.