Tag: Danny Kinahan

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the refugee crisis in Lebanon.

Mr Desmond Swayne

To date, the UK has pledged over £1.1 billion in response to the crisis in Syria and the region, with £304 million being allocated to meet the immediate needs of refugees and to support host communities in Lebanon. This makes us the second largest bilateral donor after the US.

As part of the No Lost Generation initiative, DFID has pledged a total of £80 million of this allocation to support education in Lebanon, including support for the Lebanese Government’s ‘Reaching All Children with Education’ RACE scheme toexpand the public education systemto include an additional 200,000 Syrian refugees and improve the quality for Lebanese students.

DFID also works in Lebanon to alleviate the impact of the humanitarian crisis through advocacy focused on civilian and refugee protection, humanitarian access for aid, and improving the effectiveness and funding of the international response.

For more information and to stay up to date with what DFID is doing in response to the Syria crisis in Lebanon and across the region, please see https://www.gov.uk/government/news/syria-the-latest-updates-on-uk-aid.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment the Government has made of the risks to the security of electricity supply in Northern Ireland posed by the failure to build and have operational by 2020 the 400kV North-South electricity interconnector between County Tyrone and County Meath.

Mr Ben Wallace

Non-nuclear energy policy is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and the responsibility of Northern Ireland Executive Ministers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the Exchequer was of disposing of illegal fuel in each of the last three years.

Damian Hinds

HMRC does not have specific figures for disposing of illegal fuel.

HMRC fights fraud on a wide range of fronts, from special units performing thousands of roadside checks to raiding laundering plants. The UK has recently announced, jointly with Ireland, an improved new marker for rebated fuel, which will make it much harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Syrian refugees and asylum seekers were informed of mental health provisions they could expect in Northern Ireland before they agreed to settle there.

James Brokenshire

The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in their region of origin. Northern Ireland, in common with other devolved administrations and local authorities, is provided with full case details of all referrals before deciding whether to accept them for resettlement so they can make an assessment of whether they have the infrastructure and support networks needed to ensure the appropriate care and integration of these refugees. Whilst the Government provides funding to ensure these needs can be met, it is up to individual local authorities to decide how this should be achieved.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the variation in the number of teaching hours provided to and fees paid by university students.

Joseph Johnson

No such assessment currently exists. However, in our Green Paper: “Fulfilling our potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice,” we proposed that the new Teaching Excellence Framework could consider information about levels of teaching intensity and contact hours. We will be setting out our response to the Green Paper in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to assist the Kurdistan region.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK has committed £79.5 million of humanitarian assistance to Iraq since summer 2014. This includes cash assistance, access to clean water, food, medicines and other life-saving assistance for the most vulnerable. Our partners distribute our aid on the basis of need across Iraq, including to internally displaced persons in northern Iraq.

Given the importance of a coordinated response, we are providing funding to UNDP to support the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Joint Crisis Centre (JCC), as well as its equivalent for the Government of Iraq, the Joint Crisis and Monitoring Centre (JCMC). In close collaboration with the JCMC, UN, donors and NGOs, the JCC is leading humanitarian efforts for the KRG.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review the adequacy of the level of protection against discrimination in employment, training and career development for people with disabilities.

Penny Mordaunt

Equality legislation for Disabled People is devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

In Great Britain, the Equality Act 2010 defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-today activities”. Where an employee/applicant or service-user has a condition that fits the definition of a disability, they are protected under the 2010 Act. Employers and service-providers are therefore required to make reasonable adjustments available in order to ensure that disabled people are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to those who do not have a disability.

It is for the courts to decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether there has been disability discrimination where a reasonable adjustment has not been made available.

For those who need additional support over and above that which is a reasonable adjustment, Access to Work can help. Access to Work provides practical and financial support with the additional costs faced by individuals whose health or disability affects the way they do their job. Access to Work continues to support over 36,000 people per year take up or retain employment.

Disability Confident, on which this Department leads, was launched by the then Prime Minister in July 2013 to challenge perceptions, engage employers and promote good practice.

Disability Confident is about creating a movement for change – getting employers to think differently about disability and to take action to improve how they attract, recruit and retain disabled workers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to highlight the potential benefits of a military career to young people from deprived areas.

Mark Lancaster

Our Armed Forces welcomes people from all backgrounds. There is a role in the Services for people regardless of their gender, race, ethnic origin or religious belief. No account is taken of sexual orientation or social background. The Armed Forces has a strict code of conduct to make sure that everyone is treated fairly. As a major employer we are working to create a more inclusive working environment in which people are able to reach their full potential.

The Armed Forces has an extensive programme of engagement with schools and educational establishments, including deprived areas. However, the Armed Forces does not recruit in schools and only visits educational establishments when specifically invited to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were imported into Northern Ireland for (a) non-commercial reasons under the PETS scheme and (b) commercial reasons in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the countries of origin of those dogs were in each category.

George Eustice

The movement of dogs into the United Kingdom, whether through the Pet Travel Scheme or for commercial reasons is a devolved matter.

The Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland has suggested that the Honourable Member write to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Northern Ireland Executive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of safety measures used on the road network to protect road maintenance workers.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport and Highways England are working closely with the Highways Maintenance Term Association and the wider construction sector on safety initiatives to ensure the safety and protection of operatives working on the highway network in England.