Tag: Diana Johnson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the average length of time people going through the National Referral Mechanism remain supported by the Salvation Army following a Reasonable Grounds decision, in each fiscal year since 2009-10.

Sarah Newton

This information has been provided by the Salvation Army.

YEAR, JULY-JUNE	AVE. SUPPORT PERIOD, DAYS
2011-2012	91
2012-2013	115
2013-2014	80
2014-2015	130
2015-2016	129

This data only includes individuals who have received a Conclusive Grounds decision and have exited support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2016 to Question 43443, when his Department plans to publish its Quarterly Transparency Returns providing details of Ministerial meetings.

Mr David Jones

Details of Ministers’ meetings, gifts, hospitality and travel will be published on a quarterly basis as is standard practice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if it his policy to advocate for passporting for British financial services after the UK leaves the EU; and what steps the Government is taking to retain passporting for British financial services.

Simon Kirby

The “passporting” arrangements set out in the various pieces of EU financial services legislation are open to members of the EU and the EEA.

Since the referendum, HM Treasury has been working to assess in detail the implications for the UK-based financial services sector of existing “passporting” arrangements, of alternative market access arrangements which exist for countries outside the EU (known as equivalence), and of other interactions between UK and EU markets within and beyond EU law.

We are clear that the rights to access EU markets currently provided by these “passporting” arrangements are of great importance to the many UK-based financial services firms that make use of them.

As the Chancellor has said, we will place a very high priority on getting the right solution with our European Union partners for the financial services sector. Our objective will be to ensure that the parts of the financial services sector that do business in Europe are able to continue doing so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of permanently devolving additional cultural spending to the North of England.

Matt Hancock

The Government is committed to extending cultural opportunities to as many people as possible. We believe in retaining a national strategic arts budget, administered by the Arts Council in England, to ensure arts funding can be targeted where it is most needed and that Government cultural investment should work in support of local cultural priorities.

The Great Exhibition of the North for example, is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the very best of northern art, culture and design. Not only will it showcase the innovation and imagination of the region but also give a real boost to local tourism and provide an important creative legacy. We are committing £5 million towards the exhibition itself, and a further £15 million into a legacy fund to attract further cultural investment in the Northern Powerhouse.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have sought asylum in the UK through the Dublin III regulation.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office received 2122 asylum claims following a request for claimants to be accepted under the Dublin III regulations. This figure is based on the latest available data from January 2014 to June 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps UK embassies are taking to promote religious freedoms.

Mr David Lidington

Through our network of Embassies and High Commissions, the Government regularly urges governments across the world to protect the right of all individuals to practise their religion or belief free from persecution or discrimination.

We promote this freedom bilaterally by raising individual cases with governments and by seeking to influence them to remove discriminatory legislation or practices. We also promote religious freedom in multilateral fora by working together with our international partners

For example, in Burma, we have raised our deep concern at the rise of hate speech and religious intolerance with the Burmese authorities and will continue to do so, both publicly and in private. We have supported a number of projects, including developing relationships between Burmese youth and different religious communities, and arranging exchanges between activists on religious freedom in Burma and Indonesia. In Iraq, we are funding a project to prevent intolerance and violence towards religious communities by strengthening the ability of youth and civil society to advocate the right to freedom of religion or belief.

Promoting freedom of religion or belief is a priority for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Programme. Since 2011, 35 projects have been funded in 12 countries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much capital funding his Department has allocated to construction of a new concert hall in London led by the Barbican Centre.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not allocated any capital funding for the construction of the new concert hall in London.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on (a) travel, (b) first or business class flights for officials, (c) first or business class flights for Ministers, (c) first class train travel for officials and (d) first class train travel for Ministers in 2014-15.

Mr David Lidington

The FCO ensures value for money in all its expenditure to help reduce the overall costs of Government. Staff are expected to find alternatives to overseas travel where possible, including by making use of video conferencing facilities.

Where travel is necessary, FCO policy is that staff should ensure maximum efficiency, remembering that it is public money being spent. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, FCO officials may fly business class only if the flying time is ten hours or longer.

All FCO staff are directed to use standard class for rail travel unless there are exceptional circumstances e.g. illness, disability or where first class facilities are essential for working while travelling. In these exceptional circumstances, prior line management approval must be given.

In 2014-15 the FCO’s spend on air and train travel originating in the UK and booked through the Government’s nominated travel agency in the UK totalled £10,879,831 and £365,145 respectively.

For comparison, in 2009-10 the equivalent figures were £14,503,576 and £328,184 respectively. This represents a 25% reduction in expenditure on air travel and a 11.3% increase on train travel since 2009-10.

In 2014-15 the figures break down to £6,838 on first class flights (exceptions were made to ensure attendance at the funeral for a Head of State and for officials to attend crucial talks on Libya), £4,501,110 on business class flights, £6,371,883 on economy and premium economy flights, £3,057 on first class rail travel and £362,088 on standard rail travel.

For comparison, in 2009-10 the figures break down to £11,852 on first class flights, £11,307,923 on business class flights, £3,183,801 on economy and premium economy flights, £195,447 on first class rail travel and £132,737 on standard rail travel.

It is not possible to provide a detailed breakdown of expenditure on either air or rail travel by Ministers and by officials: disaggregating the class of travel from all the individual journeys taken by ministers and officials could only be carried out at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many press and public relations staff are employed by his Department; how many of those employees are paid more than (a) £50,000 and (b) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by his Department in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The number of press and public relations staff employed in the central Department on 1 January 2016 was sixteen (all full-time employees). Four of those staff have annual salaries over £50,000 and none are over £100,000.

The total of 16 staff compares to an equivalent figure for the central Department in 2009/10 of 19.

The total expenditure on press and PR staff and related services in 2014-15 was £1,266,000.

Overall communications expenditure by the central Department in 2014-15 was £22 million lower than in 2009-10. Across Government the government communications profession reduced communications spending by a total of £1 billion during the last Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26339, what representations he is making to the Egyptian government on an independent inquiry being carried out into the death of Giulio Regeni.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are aware of the tragic death of Mr Regini, an Italian national, following his disappearance on 25 January and pass our condolences to his friends and family at this difficult time. We support Italian and Egyptian efforts to investigate the circumstances of the tragic death of Mr Regeni, and are in contact with the Italian and Egyptian authorities.