Tag: David Burrowes

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of responses to the Sunday trading consultation supported the devolution of Sunday trading hours.

Anna Soubry

The Department does not hold full data from this consultation broken down by specific question as a large portion of respondents chose to respond in their own words rather than addressing the consultation questions directly, and/or did not indicate the type of organisation they represented.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to his oral contribution of 10 March 2016, Official Report, column 444, whether he expects primary and secondary legislation to be subject to the family test and the results published.

Chris Grayling

A Family Test was introduced by the Government in 2014 – it aims to bring a family perspective into policy making. It will ensure that impacts on family relationships and functioning, both positive and negative, are recognised in the process of policy development and help inform the policy decisions, and any subsequent legislation, made by Ministers.

The Test is not a ‘tick box’ or ‘pass v fail’ exercise, it is about thinking carefully how new policy can support or potentially undermine family relationships. Policy is always about trade-offs but the Family Test ensures family considerations are explicitly considered and recognised when making those trade-offs.

While the guidance encourages publication, there is no requirement to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time was for the family reunification process to be completed in (a) Calais, (b) Greece and (c) Italy in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mr Robert Goodwill

For unaccompanied refugee children accepted for transfer to the UK, transfer requests are generally processed within 10 days and children transferred within weeks. However transfer arrangements are set by the transferring member state who have six months to do so under the III Dublin Regulations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of Sunday trading devolution on the premium pay of shopworkers.

Nick Boles

In view of the will of the House of Commons, we are no longer proposing to give local authorities the ability to extend the Sunday trading hours of large shops.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on rolling out independent child trafficking advocates.

Karen Bradley

The Government is committed to introducing appropriate support for trafficked children. It is important we get these structures right however, given the significant risks to these children.

In line with the requirements of Section 48(7) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the Government laid a report before Parliament in December 2015 setting out the steps we proposed to take in relation to independent child trafficking advocates. The full report can be obtained here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-child-trafficking-advocates-trial-government-report

Since December 2015, we have worked to address issues identified during the trial. We have engaged with Members of both Houses, the offices of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and Children’s Commissioner for England. We have also sought views from the voluntary sector and statutory organisations in England and Wales. This engagement has been valuable in assessing how best to deliver an improved service for trafficked children in England and Wales.

As part of this engagement, I wrote to the Chairs of the three All Party Parliamentary Groups with the strongest interest in the trial in March, saying that I would wait to receive their views in writing before making a statement to the House about how we will proceed. This week I received letters from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery and from the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner. I am reflecting on their recommendations and will provide an update to Parliament once we have had an opportunity to consider their valuable input.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if the Government will remove the local housing allowance cap for people living in supported housing; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes

The Secretary of State has confirmed that the Government expects to make an announcement on the way forward for supported housing in early autumn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment the Regulatory Policy Committee has made of the devolution of Sunday trading rules.

Anna Soubry

The Government’s estimates of the economic impact will be independently scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee and their assessment will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Written Statement of 21 April 2016 on Refugees and Resettlement, HCWS687, how many of the 75 expert personnel will be working to identify and process individuals who are eligible for family reunification transfers to other EU countries under the Dublin III Regulation.

James Brokenshire

Pursuant to my statement of 21 April, HCWS687, the 75 UK expert personnel deployed to Greece to support implementation of the EU-Turkey Migration Agreement will conduct a number of duties. A proportion of the UK expert personnel will work closely with European Asylum Support Officer (EASO) coordinators and the Greek Asylum Service to process cases through the admissibility process and provide expert support to the Greek authorities and other EU partners on overall co-ordination of the response. Supporting the operation of the Greek asylum service is a fundamental part of this Government’s approach to identifying children in need of protection at the earliest possible opportunity and ensuring children are identified as eligible for family reunification consideration under the terms of Dublin Regulation.

This of course is in addition to the support that we are already providing to European partner Dublin Units. Following calls from EASO we have already deployed two UK experts to support the Greek Dublin Unit and a third is due to be deployed in May. We are also deploying an expert to the Italian Dublin Unit in May under the hotspot operation mission. This deployment is in addition to the long term support we are providing to the Italian Dublin through a bilateral agreement. We are confident that through our concerted joint efforts we can identify and facilitate the swift transfers of cases through our national systems and make effective use of the Dublin Regulation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims were stockpiled (a) before and (b) after the Upper Tribunal ruling of 17 March 2016 on the unlawful and discriminatory use of the past presence test.

Penny Mordaunt

No claims were stockpiled before the Upper Tribunal ruling of 17 March 2016, 40 Disability Living Allowance claims were stockpiled after the ruling.

Section 27 of the Social Security Act 1998 provides that, where the Upper Tribunal decides on a social security appeal that the Secretary of State has made an error of law in his original decision and other claims subsequently fall to be decided by the Secretary of State, the judgment generally is not to be applied in relation to any period that predates the Upper Tribunal’s decision (s.27(3)). This statutory rule does not apply to the person who brought the original appeal, to people who have already lodged an appeal against a decision or who are still in time to do so, or to people whose case the Secretary of State has stockpiled (or whose appeal he has stayed) pending the judgment under section 25 of the Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 12101, for what reasons the Family Test assessment on Sunday trading has not yet been published; when he expects that assessment to be published; and if he will ensure that that assessment is published before consideration of new clauses in the Enterprise Bill [Lords].

Anna Soubry

Since the answer of 20 October 2015, the Government has been carefully considering the issues raised in the consultation, and plans to publish the Impact Assessment, including results of the family test, shortly.