Tag: Gareth Thomas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many prosecutions there have been of applicants for asylum who have arrived without documents and concealed their identity to frustrate removal in each of the last 10 years.

James Brokenshire

The number of individuals prosecuted for arriving without documents and concealing their identity is 50. The figures are illustrated below.

1st April 2014 – 31 March 2015 26

1st April 2015 – 31 March 2016 22

This information was not held centrally prior to 2014.

The Home Office works closely with the NCA and other law enforcement agencies, and prosecuting authorities in the UK and abroad, to ensure criminal investigations are robustly progressed in accordance with Criminal Justice standards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many persons of interest have been found to have left the UK when it has not been possible to check and act upon Advance Passenger Information in real-time since April 2015; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

This information is not centrally held. Since April 2015, Advanced Passenger Information has been provided by international commercial air, sea and rail carriers to Border Force in advance of passenger travel from the UK. This data is used to identify known or suspected criminals and where appropriate is acted upon in real time by Border Force or another law enforcement partner.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-07.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints have been made about credit rating agencies; how many investigations the Financial Conduct Authority has launched into the performance of credit rating agencies; how many investigations the Information Commissioner’s Office has launched into the performance of credit rating agencies; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Kirby

This question has been passed on to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The FCA and ICO will reply directly to the Honourable member by letter. A copy of the letters will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities’ children’s social work services have been rated inadequate; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson

The following local authorities are currently rated as ‘inadequate’ under Ofsted’s Single Inspection Framework:

Birmingham, Bromley, Buckinghamshire, Coventry, Cumbria, Darlington, Doncaster, Dudley, Knowsley, Lambeth, Lancashire, Leicester City, Manchester, Norfolk, Reading, Rotherham, Sandwell, Slough, Somerset, Sunderland, Surrey, Torbay, Wandsworth, West Berkshire and Wirral.

The Government does not use set criteria to require local authorities to contract out their statutory children’s social care services.

The Department for Education has statutory powers to intervene in local authority children’s services under section 497A of the Education Act 1996. This legislation allows the Department to remove day-to-day operational control of children’s services from the local authority, for a period of time, if the Secretary of State believes that the local authority is failing to secure its relevant statutory functions by delivering children’s services to the required standard.

As a matter of policy, the Government has decided that any authority rated by Ofsted as ‘inadequate’ across all the key judgements in any one Ofsted inspection is deemed to be failing ‘systemically’, and any authority that is rated inadequate twice overall in any five year period is deemed to be failing persistently.

In these circumstances the Secretary of State appoints a children’s services commissioner to review services and then provide advice to the Secretary of State on whether they should remain in local authority control.

Once the Secretary of State has received the commissioner’s advice, she will decide whether to direct the authority to enter into a contract with a third party – for instance a Children’s Services Trust – to deliver those services on its behalf.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which agreed EU directives have not yet been transposed directly into UK law; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan

Until the UK leaves the EU the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation. The Foreign and Commonwealth Ofiice currently has one directive yet to be transposed directly into law: Council Directive (EU) 2015/637 on the coordination and cooperation measures to facilitate consular protection for unrepresented citizens of the Union in third countries and repealing Decision 95/533/EC. Transposition date for this directive is 1 May 2018.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether funding currently received by mayoral combined authorities from EU structural funds will continue after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Robin Walker

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring regions and organisations have stability and certainty in the period leading up to our departure from the European Union. At the same time, we are keen to use the opportunities that departure presents to set our own priorities. The Chancellor has announced that the Treasury will guarantee structural fund bids which are signed before the UK leaves the EU. This includes funding for projects agreed after the Autumn Statement, if they represent good value for money, and if they are in line with the government’s strategic priorities, even if these projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU.

Leaving the EU means we will want to take our own decisions about how to deliver the policy objectives previously targeted by EU funding. Over the coming months, the government will consult closely with stakeholders to review all EU funding schemes in the round, to ensure that any ongoing funding commitments best serve the UK‘s national interest, while ensuring appropriate certainty.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of current levels of local authority funding to meet the demands for local authority services.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government has provided a long-term funding settlement, including a £3.5 billion social care package, over the lifetime of this parliament. Councils have continued to balance their budgets while reducing council tax in real terms and maintaining public satisfaction with services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many full-time equivalent consular staff were based in (a) India and (b) Gujarat in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire

This information is represented below for each of the consular offices that we have in India for each year. Please note that consular cases in Gujarat are covered by our Deputy High Commission in Mumbai.

	11/12	12/13	13/14	14/15	15/16
New Delhi	6	6	6	7	6
Mumbai	3	3	3	3	3
Kolkata	2	2	2	2	2
Goa	3	3	2	2	2
Chennai	2	2	2	3	3

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian business jet movements there were at RAF Northolt in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 14 October 2015 in response to Question 10882 and the answer I gave him on 5 September 2013 in response to Question 167738. There are no plans to review further the limit on the number of commercial civilian movements at RAF Northolt, which remains 12,000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assistance his Department has offered to Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group to help it avoid its projected deficit of £116.4 million by 2018-19; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

We are advised by NHS England that the projected deficit figure for 2018/19 dates from November 2013, and was included in a potential “downside case” modelled as part of Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) sustainability plan which was submitted to NHS England.

We understand that the sustainability plan also included an “upside case” and a “mid case” and that all three cases were modelled according to varying projected levels of Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) savings.

The joint financial strategy agreed with the seven other CCGs in north-west London, combined with higher than average growth in allocations and delivery of its QIPP programme, has enabled Harrow CCG to improve its financial performance, as a result of which it is now reporting a surplus of £2 million for 2015/16.

For 2014/15, Harrow CCG received one of the highest funding increases in the country, amounting to 4.2% on the previous year. For 2015/16, the CCG received another above average increase in allocation and will receive a funding increase of 6% in 2016/17, compared to an average CCG growth figure in London of 3.6%.