Tag: David Burrowes

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the local government finance settlement will be subject to a needs-led review.

Mr Marcus Jones

The consultation on the provisional local government finance settlement for 2016-17 closed on 15 January. We are considering carefully all the responses and other representations made and will present final proposals soon to enable local authorities to set their budgets for 2016-17.

At the outset of the current system of business rates retention in 2013-14, we said there would be periodic reviews to take account of changes to needs and resources. As part of the move towards 100% business rates retention by the end of this Parliament, we will work with local government on the approach to implementing these reforms, including on the treatment of needs and resources, and will consult on proposed changes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will ensure that the Government publishes a family impact test in respect of all future primary and secondary legislation.

Priti Patel

While we encourage departments to publish Family Test assessments, there is no requirement to do so, as this may not always be appropriate. Assessments against the Family Test are completed by policy officials in the course of developing advice on new policy; this may include some ideas that do not progress beyond the design stage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 May 2016 to Question 36436, what progress she has made on (a) reflecting on the recommendations of other parties on the rollout of independent child trafficking advocates and (b) that rollout.

Karen Bradley

The Government is committed to introducing appropriate support for trafficked children. It is important we get these structures right, given the significant risks to these children. We are working with a broad range of interested parties as well as Parliamentarians to further develop an approach so that we deliver an improved service for trafficked children. I will update Parliament in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will request the government of Burma to release former monk U Gambira from custody.

Mr Hugo Swire

We are aware of the arrest of U Gambira, a well known political activist and former political prisoner, on 19 January, for alleged immigration offences. Our Embassy in Rangoon is following the case closely. The UK regularly raises our concern over political prisoners with the government of Burma, both publicly and privately. Most recently our Embassy in Rangoon issued a statement on 25 January calling for the government of Burma to ensure that all remaining political prisoners are released. We remain concerned that some 78 remain incarcerated, and will continue to raise this with the Burmese authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and which family test assessments he has seen in the last six months.

Priti Patel

We do not record the number of assessments conducted. Assessments against the Family Test are completed by policy officials in the course of developing advice on new policy and can be included in submissions to Ministers. Assessments can be completed for some policies in the early stages of development, including for some ideas that do not progress beyond the design stage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement of 14 January 2016, HCWS470, when she plans to publish the Immigration Enforcement’s Business Plan for 2016-17.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Immigration Enforcement planning for 2016-17 and beyond will be reviewed by the new Secretary of State and published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress is being made on conducting antenatal mental health assessments.

Alistair Burt

Our commitment to improving perinatal mental health was demonstrated by the Prime Minister’s recent announcement of a £290 million investment over the next five years to 2020/21 in perinatal mental health services. This builds on the initial investment of £75 million announced in the March 2015 Budget, making a total investment from 2015/16 to 2020/21 of £365million.

The National Institute for Health Care and Excellence guidelines recommend that during a pregnant women’s first contact with primary care or when booking her first appointment she should be asked how she is feeling. This will enable a sensitive conversation and, if appropriate, for a referral to her general practitioner for further assessment or, if a severe mental health problem is suspected, to a mental health professional.

It has been recognised that more information is needed about perinatal mental health. The Health and Social Care Information Centre is working on the implementation of a new Mental Health Services Dataset which will seek to increase the amount of data available about antenatal mental health assessments. We expect that some initial data on perinatal mental health will be available later this year. We will use this initial information to refine how data on perinatal mental health is collected going forward.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people under the age of 18 have been convicted under section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1998 since that Act’s implementation; and what the average length of custodial sentence was received for such convictions.

Andrew Selous

No juvenile offenders have been sentenced to immediate custody under section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 in England and Wales since its implementation. Data for 2004 to 2014 is available in the Criminal Justice Statistics outcome by offence data tool available at the below link;

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014

No juveniles were convicted before 2006. Court proceedings data for 2015 is planned for publication in May 2016.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many requests have been made by (a) France, (b) Greece and (c) Italy for the UK to take charge of an asylum application under the family reunification articles of the Dublin III Regulation in the last six months.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Whilst all asylum claims including those accepted under Dublin III are registered on the Home Office Case Information Database (CID), this data is not currently held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically and is therefore not currently available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will suspend the powers of enforcement contained in the Psychoactive Substances Bill in relation to alkyl nitrates pending the outcome of the review announced in response to the Home Affairs Select Committee First Report of Session 2015-16, published on 23 October 2015.

Mike Penning

Pending the outcome of the review announced in the response to the report of the Home Affairs Select Committee, we will seek to ensure a proportionate response to the sale of poppers by all those enforcing the legislation and that this approach is reflected in the guidance currently being drafted by enforcement partners.

The Bill has lower penalties than the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and provides for civil sanctions, as an alternative to a criminal prosecution, to enable law enforcement agencies to adopt a graded response in tackling the trade in the range of psychoactive substances. The Bill does not criminalise simple possession of poppers and this will also be borne in mind by partners when enforcing the legislation.

In consultation with the Department of Health and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), we will consider whether there is evidence to support the claims that ‘poppers’ have a beneficial health and relationship effect and, if so, whether it is sufficient to justify exempting the alkyl nitrites group (or individual substances in the group).

Should we conclude that a case has been made to include alkyl nitrites in the list of exempted substances, we intend to complete this consideration in time to enable any such draft regulations to be laid before both Houses and approved before the summer recess.