Tag: Diana Johnson

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the proportion of companies which have published details of the measures they are taking to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their supply chains.

Sarah Newton

The Government has not estimated what proportion of businesses have reported so far.

We published guidance in October 2015 advising that businesses should report as soon as reasonably practicable after their financial year end, which in practice should mean within six months of an organisation’s financial year end.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the immigration status of European Economic Area citizens with permanent residence status in the UK will be affected by the renegotiation of the UK’s membership with the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Under EU law, European Economic Area (EEA) nationals qualify for a right of permanent residence in the UK provided that certain conditions are met. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living in the UK, and the only circumstances in which that would not be possible are if British citizens’ rights in other EU Member States were not protected in return in the course of agreement with the EU.

For those EEA nationals who are in the UK and have a right of permanent residence, it is not mandatory to apply for documentation confirming that right. Statistics of decisions and grants of permanent residence documentation issued to EEA nationals are published quarterly in table ee_02_q of Immigration Statistics. The most recent edition is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2016/list-of-tables#european-economic-area-eea

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Answer of 10 October 2016 to Question 46333, how much has been spent on the functions of the Department for International Trade; and what estimate he has made of how much will be spent on those functions by the end of the current fiscal year.

Mark Garnier

Following her appointment on 13 July 2016 the Prime Minister established the Department for International Trade (DIT). Until such time as a transfer of functions order establishes my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade as a corporation sole, DIT remains a unified Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department for accounting purposes. The transfer of functions order (No 2016/ 992) laid on 19 October 2016 will come into effect on 9 November 2016.

DIT is a new Department and is in the process of establishing a separate and distinct budget for its operating costs. This will be shared with Parliament through the Autumn Statement and Supplementary Estimates.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the 2013 Lough Erne G8 Leaders’ Communiqué, published on 18 June 2013, what progress has been made on implementing the commitments in paragraph (a) 5, (b) 6 and (c) 7 of that document; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington

ISIL now poses a significant threat to regional and international peace and security. The UK continues to work closely with our G7 partners, including as part of the Global Counterterrorism Forum and Counter-ISIL coalition; with governments across the Middle East and North Africa, building their ability to counter radicalisation, tackle terrorist threats and reduce the number of individuals seeking to join terrorist groups in Syria, Libya and elsewhere; and at the UN, where we have co-sponsored a number of important Security Council Resolutions. On kidnap for ransom there has been significant progress: in January 2014, the UK sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 2133, which built on the Lough Erne Leaders’ Communiqué and reinforced the international consensus not to make concessions to terrorist kidnappers. Since the resolution was adopted, we have continued to encourage other states to abide by this international commitment. We have also continued to strengthen our own domestic legislation in line with the Lough Erne commitments. On Syria, the UK continues, with G7 partners, to support efforts to resume political talks, based on the implementation of the 2012 Geneva Communiqué. To address the significant humanitarian crisis, the UK has supported the adoption of UN Security Council Resolutions 2139, 2165 and 2191 (which call for the protection of civilians and unhindered delivery of aid to those most in need) and has now pledged over £1.1 billion in support. In Libya, the UK has continued to support UN efforts to reach a lasting political agreement. The UK Special Envoy to the Libyan Political Transition, Jonathan Powell, and the UK diplomatic network are working hard with key Libyan interlocutors and international partners. Most recently, the UK co-hosted a meeting with the UN in London on 19 October, to discuss how the international community will support a new unity government in Libya.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2015 to Question 14136, what work the Government has undertaken to implement the commitments made in paragraphs (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3, (d) 8 and (e) 10 of the 2013 Lough Erne G8 Leaders’ Communiqué since January 2014; and what assessment he has made of the level of progress against those commitments.

Mr David Gauke

Since January 2014 the Prime Minister has updated the house on 11 June 2014 and 10 June 2015 following the G7 Summits. The UK presidency focused on 3 Ts: tax, transparency and trade.

On tax there has been significant progress on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) the major international agreement to realign taxation with economic activities and value creation. In October 2015 the OECD issued the final BEPS outputs, which were endorsed by G20 Finance Ministers. The UK has made significant progress including: consulting on implementing rules to address hybrid mismatches arrangements and issuing draft secondary legislation to implement Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting, a template for multinational companies to report profit and tax information to tax authorities, in the UK in line with the internationally agreed timetable. In addition, in February 2014 G20 Finance Ministers endorsed the OECD’s new global standard for Automatic Exchange of Information of tax. All G20 Finance Ministers committed to first exchange by end-2018 in September, with 10 G20 countries including the UK committing to begin exchange in 2017.

With regards to transparency, in March 2015 the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act received Royal Assent, establishing a public registry of company beneficial ownership that will show who ultimately owns and controls in-scope UK companies. The register will be operational from June 2016 and the UK is undertaking a wider review of corporate transparency.

On trade, the Government has furthered international free trade agreements (FTA), with negotiations on an EU-Canada FTA finalised in August 2014. The EU and Japan held a constructive round of Free Trade Agreements negotiations in October 2015. The EU-US FTA 11th Round of negotiations took place in Miami 19-23 October 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much (a) capital funding and (b) funding in total has been allocated by (i) his Department and (ii) bodies funded by his Department to support Hull City of Culture 2017.

Mr Edward Vaizey

DCMS is investing £1.5 million in the Ferens Gallery to help them host the Turner Prize; plus £0.5 million to help create a lasting cultural legacy for Hull. The Gallery will receive a further £0.5m from ACE for refurbishment. My department is also providing £3.1 million to three ACE-funded organisations -Artlink, Freedom Festival and Hull Truck Theatre – who will play a key role in the 2017 events. Hull Museums, now among ACE’s Major Partner Museums, have been awarded £2.5m between now and 2018; and an additional £3 million from ACE will help raise the profile of culture in the city and promote new partnerships throughout 2017. This amounts to over £11 million and does not include additional investment that might come from other bodies such as the BBC.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities have agreed to take refugees under the Syrian Refugee resettlement scheme.

Richard Harrington

Over 50 local authorities from across the UK have offered places to resettle refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) scheme. It is at the discretion of local authorities to disclose whether or not they are involved with the VPR scheme.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) the office of Rail and Road, (b) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, (c) the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, (d) the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, (e) the Vehicle Certification Agency, (f) the British Transport Police Authority, (g) Directly Operated Railways limited, (h) High Speed 2 Ltd; (i) Highways England, (j) Northern Lighthouse Board, (k) Transport Focus, (l) Trinity House, (m) Civil Aviation Authority and (n) the Airports Commission; 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.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Some of the information requested for the 14 organisations listed is not held by the Department and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

However, the number of press and public relations staff currently employed by the Department’s executive agencies is provided in the table below. None of the press and PR staff have a full-time equivalent salary exceeding £50,000.

Press and public relations staff (full-time equivalent )	1 December 2015
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency	4
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency	4
Maritime and Coastguard Agency	3.2
Vehicle Certification Agency	Nil
Total	11.2

The total of 11.2 full-time equivalent staff compares to an equivalent figure for these four executive agencies in 2009/10 (with DVSA previously being DSA and VOSA) of 15.5 full-time equivalent staff.

Information on non-pay expenditure on press and public relations services held by the Department for the most recent financial year available is provided in the table below.

Non-pay expenditure on press and public relations services	2014-15 £000s
Office of Rail and Road	108
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency	9
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency	42
Highways Agency	383
Maritime and Coastguard Agency	169
Vehicle Certification Agency	0
British Transport Police Authority	48
High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd	167
Transport Focus	47
Airport Commission	54

Overall communications expenditure by the Department’s executive agencies in 2014-15 (including salaries) was £19 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 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether a communique will be produced following the Syria donors conference in February 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Germany, Kuwait, Norway, the UK and the UN, as co-hosts of the Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region (London 2016), plan to issue a statement at the end of the Conference summarising the outcomes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-03-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many press officers are employed by his Department.

Harriett Baldwin

As stated in the most recent HM Treasury annual report and accounts (2014-15), the department’s communications during 2014-15 focused on ensuring the public and stakeholders understood changes to government economic and fiscal policy. The department continues to pursue a low cost communications approach, making full use of media relationships and social media.