Tag: Diana Johnson

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his Written Ministerial Statement of 10 October 2016, HCWS174, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that relevant employment and support allowance claimants are not reassessed unnecessarily.

Penny Mordaunt

We will be working over the coming months with medical professionals and other stakeholders to develop a process and functional criteria that will help us identify those with the most severe health conditions or disabilities, for whom repeat work capability assessments can be stopped. This change will only apply to those placed in the Support Group and Universal Credit equivalent.

No proportion of Support Group claimants can be estimated until the criteria has been agreed. This change will come into effect by the end of 2017.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of applying country-of-origin checks to UK businesses in the event that the UK leaves the EU without joining the EU Customs Union.

Margot James

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is currently working closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union to understand the impacts of applying country-of-origin checks to UK businesses in the event that the UK leaves the EU without joining the EU Customs Union. As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has said we will work hard to get the best deal for Britain.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times (a) have EU member states notified the UK and (b) has the UK notified other EU member states of convictions of nationals of their respective countries via the European Criminal Records Information system in each year since 2012.

Brandon Lewis

The Home Office does not hold the information requested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to introduce a separate planning category for hostels.

Brandon Lewis

Hostels are considered to be a class of their own. It is for the local planning authority to consider the use of a particular property based on the specific details of the individual case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure companies or individuals suspected of funding ISIL through oil trades do not operate or transfer money through the UK financial system; and what steps she has taken to assess whether such steps have been effective.

Mr John Hayes

International engagement is a key part of the UK’s strategy for countering the financing of terrorism and the UK is part of the Global Coalition working together to dismantle and destroy the threat from ISIL. Denying ISIL access to revenue and funding for its ambitions of statehood is a core part of the Global Coalition’s strategy to defeat ISIL.

The Government works closely with law enforcement and industry bodies such as the British Bankers’ Association. We also work bilaterally with international partners, and with multilateral institutions such as the Financial Action Task Force, to build international capacity the financing of terrorism.

The recent Home Office and HM Treasury National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing (published 15 October – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-national-risk-assessment-of-money-laundering-and-terrorist-financing) gave a clear and candid assessment of the current overall situation. It found that while the UK’s response to terrorist financing risks is well developed, more could be done to strengthen our regime. The Government will take forward comprehensive work to address these findings through a new cross-Government Action Plan.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding will be provided to local authorities for each Syrian refugee they resettle in the (a) first and (b) second year of resettlement.

Richard Harrington

Local authorities are required to provide refugees they resettle under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme with a 12 month support package which is being funded using the overseas aid budget. Many of the refugees have significant medical and social care needs, and the costs therefore vary according to their individual circumstances.

At the Spending Review, the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This will be allocated on a tariff basis over four years, with £5,000 per refugee provided for their second year in the UK.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish the responses to his Department’s consultation on the future of the BBC.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government’s BBC Charter Review Public Consultation closed in October. Over 190,000 people responded to the consultation – the second largest response to any Government consultation. We are in the process of reading and analysing all the responses, and will publish the results once this exercise is completed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) his Department, (b) HM Courts and Tribunal Service, (c) HM Prison Service, (d) the Legal Aid Agency and (e) the National Offender Management Service; how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mike Penning

I refer the honourable member to the answer which I gave in PQ 21339, answered on 23^rd February 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees from the Syrian conflict relocated in the UK to date are (a) adults with a vulnerable characteristic, (b) adults in a family unit, (c) adults not in a family unit or with a vulnerable characteristic, (d) children with parents and (e) unaccompanied children.

Richard Harrington

The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme is based on need and prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in their region of origin. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is responsible for identifying people in need of resettlement based on its established vulnerability criteria, which are: women and girls at risk; survivors of violence and/or torture; refugees with legal and/or physical protection needs; refugees with medical needs or disabilities; children and adolescents at risk; persons at risk due to their sexual orientation or gender identity; and refugees with family links in resettlement countries.

The Home Office is committed to publishing data as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 25 February 2016 and will cover the period October-December 2015. This adheres to the standard practice for the release of information about the work of the department, both through the quarterly national statistics and the additional transparency data that is released, which ensure that statistics are published properly in a way which is open and accessible to all. This information will not include a breakdown of the vulnerability criteria, or the family composition of the refugees that have been resettled.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Albanian women were referred to the National Referral Mechanism in each year since 2012.

Karen Bradley

The following table shows the number of referrals that were made for Albanian Females since 2012: