Tag: Emily Thornberry

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what financial contribution his Department has made to each of the 16 UN peacekeeping operations which are underway.

James Duddridge

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office pays the United Kingdom’s assessed financial contributions to 16 United Nations peacekeeping operations. These payments are mandatory under the United Nations Charter. The United Nations apportions the UK’s share of contributions in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolutions that determine the annual budget for each peacekeeping operations and the ‘Scale of Assessments’, which sets every United Nations member state’s percentage share of the United Nations Peacekeeping Budget. At present, the United Kingdom pays 5.8% of the cost of each mission, with the exception of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan and the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization. These missions are funded from the United Nations Regular Budget, to which the United Kingdom currently contributes 4.5% of costs.

The table below provides the total budget and United Kingdom contribution to the 16 United Nations peacekeeping operations currently operational for financial year 2015/16:

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on special forces in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion of the total amount was spent on equipment in each such year.

Penny Mordaunt

This Government has demonstrated its commitment to our Special Forces by announcing a £2 billion programme of investment over the course of this Parliament. All military operations, including the activities of the Special Forces, are discussed and scrutinised at the highest levels of Government, including at the National Security Council. However, as it is the longstanding policy of the Government not to comment on our Special Forces, or to release information relating to them, I cannot comment on specific questions about personnel, equipment, discussions or activities in relation to these units.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has updated estimates of the cost of the Successor submarine programme since the publication of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

Mr Philip Dunne

No. As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, our latest estimate is that manufacturing the four Successor submarines is likely to cost a total of £31 billion, including inflation over the lifetime of the programme. We will also set a contingency of £10 billion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 25082, how many unauthorised entries were recorded in relation to each of the bases listed in the Answer; what form of unauthorised entries were recorded in each case; which cases were investigated by (a) the Ministry of Defence Police, (b) a military police force and (c) a local civilian police force; and which such investigations led to a prosecution.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) treats all unauthorised entries to military bases very seriously. They are investigated to a level commensurate with their complexity and impact by Military Police, MOD Police or local constabulary.

A breakdown of unauthorised entries to military bases recorded within the MOD for 2015 is set out in the attached table. None of these incidents resulted in any significant ramifications for Defence security.

In drafting the answer to these questions, it has become apparent that the answer to Question 24141 was incorrect, understating the number of unauthorised entries to military bases in 2015 by one, the correct number is 45; a second security incident of this category occurred at MOD Lyneham. The information has been corrected in this answer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK military personnel were deployed on NATO training exercises in each of the last six years.

Mr Julian Brazier

The United Kingdom makes significant contributions to NATO training exercises through the provision of individual staff officers and formed units from all three Services. The information requested will take time to collate and I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many staff, at what grades, his Department has recruited in the (a) Market Access Budget, (b) Justice, Security and Migration, (c) Cross-Government Policy and Coordination, (d) Strategy and Planning, (e) Trade and Partnership and (f) Analysis Directorate.

Mr David Jones

The Department for Exiting the EU now has over 200 staff in London, plus the expertise of over 120 officials in Brussels, and we are still growing rapidly. We are not in a position to give a final total nor a breakdown by directorate as recruitment is ongoing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average number of hours of childcare was for which claimants in receipt of the childcare element of universal credit made a claim for reimbursement of their costs in the most recent month for which figures are available.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who made a claim for support for mortgage interest in each year between 1995 and 2009 went into arrears on their (a) interest repayments and (b) capital repayments (i) during the first 13 weeks of the waiting period and (ii) between weeks 13 and 39 of the waiting period.

Justin Tomlinson

The information requested regarding the number and proportion of people who made a claim for support for mortgage interest between 1995 and 2009 who went into arrears on the interest or capital repayment during the waiting period is not available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions Ministers in his Department have had with representatives of mental health charities on the design of contracts for new welfare to work schemes.

Justin Tomlinson

DWP Ministers meet regularly with a wide range of organisations in relation to the Department’s work and welfare reform, where they discuss a variety of issues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria his Department has set for referral to (a) Community Work Placements and (b) Daily Work Search Review once a claimant has joined the Help to Work scheme.

Priti Patel

Under Help to Work Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches have the flexibility to decide which of the three options that are part of the programme, Mandatory Intervention Regime, Community Work Placements or Daily Work Search Reviews, would best suit each individual jobseeker. They base their decisions on an exit report from their Work Programme provider and discussions with the jobseeker about the particular barriers still stopping them from getting work.