Tag: Gregory Campbell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will take steps to enable the Government to direct the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland to investigate a complaint from a former police officer where matters giving rise to the complaint took place more than 12 months ago and there are exceptional circumstances which justify such an investigation being held.

Mr Ben Wallace

The RUC (Complaints etc) Regulations 2001 allow the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland to investigate complaints into matters which took place more than 12 months ago in exceptional circumstances, for example when new evidence has come to light which was not reasonably available at the time of an original complaint.

The Police Ombudsman is accountable to the Northern Ireland Assembly, through the Minister of Justice for Northern Ireland.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times Minsters in her Department (a) visited and (b) met personnel at national security establishments in Northern Ireland in 2014.

Mr John Hayes

Home Office Ministers have visited and met a wide variety of organisations and individuals involved in supporting security in Northern Ireland. Details of ministerial meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Gov.uk website: http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people did not have a National Insurance number on 31 March 2015.

Priti Patel

Information is not available on how many people did not have a National Insurance Number (NINo) on 31 March 2015 because not everyone needs, or is entitled to a NINo.

The majority of UK Nationals are allocated a NINo by HMRC when they approach age 16.

DWP is responsible for allocating NINos to adults, which mainly affects adults entering the UK from abroad. A NINo is only allocated when an individual requires one for employment purposes, where the individual has a legal right to work in the UK, or if there is entitlement to a Social Security Benefit/ Tax Credit or in order to be awarded a Student Loan.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to make an assessment of the performance of the National Crime Agency in its first year of full operation in Northern Ireland.

Mr John Hayes

Since 20 May 2015, the National Crime Agency has been operating with full powers in Northern Ireland. The Crime and Courts Act 2013 (National Crime Agency and Proceeds of Crime) (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 requires the Northern Ireland Policing Board to monitor the exercise of the functions of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland. The interim Memorandum of Understanding between the National Crime Agency and the Northern Ireland Policing Board states the Board is required, not later than six months after the end of each financial year, to issue a report relating to the policing of Northern Ireland for the next financial year. The report will include an assessment of the exercise of the functions of the NCA in Northern Ireland. It further requires the Director General of the National Crime Agency to attend the Northern Ireland Policing Board and, in order to assist them, the National Crime Agency is to provide, on a quarterly basis, performance reporting on the exercise of the NCA’s functions in Northern Ireland which will be aligned to the key threat areas in the National Control Strategy, as outlined in the NCA’s Annual Plan. The NCA is committed to playing its role in tackling serious and organised crime in Northern Ireland.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on research being undertaken to assist those severely affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

George Freeman

The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a wide range of research relating to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Major investments include a £2.2 million programme of research with an overall aim to set up a primary care COPD cohort including the full range of disease severity, as a platform for testing novel health service interventions.

The NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College London has a £0.8 million research area in COPD, including severe COPD. Details of this research are available on the unit’s website at:

www.rbht.nhs.uk/research/our-research/brus/research-areas/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/

Current studies relating to severe COPD delivered by the NIHR Clinical Research Network include:

– a study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two doses of benralizumab in patients with severe to very severe COPD with a history of COPD exacerbations;

– a study to evaluate the effect of 52 weeks of once daily treatment of orally inhaled tiotropium and olodaterol fixed dose combination compared with tiotropium on COPD exacerbation in patients with severe to very severe COPD; and

– a study to optimise dose selection and evaluate safety after treatment with the Holaira™ Lung Denervation System in patients with moderate to severe COPD.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help credit unions compete in the personal loans and savings market.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government has taken significant steps to help credit unions compete in the personal loans and savings market. These include increasing the maximum interest rate that credit unions can charge on loans from 2% to 3% per month; investing £38m in the sector through the Department of Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Credit Union Expansion Project; ensuring that universal credit and pensions payments can be paid into any credit union account; providing £500,000 to help armed forces personnel access credit union services; and changing legislation to allow credit unions to admit corporate members.

The Government has also provided £650,000 to fund the Archbishop of Canterbury’s ‘LifeSavers’ project. This project forms partnerships between primary schools and local credit unions, raising awareness of the credit union movement and encouraging more junior savers to become members.

In addition the Government has also introduced an amendment to the Bank of England Bill 2015 to support financial mutuals. It amends the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority’s General Regulatory Principles to ensure that both regulators take account of the differences between mutual societies and other types of firm (where appropriate) whenever they are discharging their general objectives.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people she expects to leave the UK in April 2016 because the term of their Tier 2 visa will expire.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office has not made an estimate of this particular figure. Applicants may apply for settlement if they meet the qualifying criteria, or to extend their stay in Tier 2 up to a maximum of six years, or to switch into another immigration route for which they are eligible.

The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. PhD level roles and those in shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold.

The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This is available on the gov.uk website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the success rates of the troubled families programme in reducing re-offending among young adults.

Greg Clark

Information published by my Department on 22 June 2015 shows that, during the original Troubled Families Programme (2012 to 2015), 104,733 were turned around through achieving reductions in youth crime, and/or anti-social behaviour, combined with satisfactory levels of school attendance.

Under the provisions of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, I will be reporting annually on the progress and impact of the new Troubled Families Programme which aims to reach up to an additional 400,000 families.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many insurance claims have been lodged as a result of accidents occurring during participation in the National Citizen Service since the establishment of that scheme.

Mr Rob Wilson

The National Citizen Service Trust works with the Cabinet Office to deliver (NCS) in England. There have been no accidents that the NCS Trust is aware of where insurance claims have been lodged.

The NCS delivery partner within Northern Ireland, Co-operation Ireland, has also confirmed that it has not received any correspondence from insurance companies in regards to claims relating to NCS accidents.

The Cabinet Office coordinated a pilot programme in Wales in 2014 and is not aware of any resulting insurance claims by participants.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the implications for border security arrangements of recent gangland-related murders in the Irish Republic.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

There are long-established and effective working relationships between the police and intelligence agencies of the UK and Ireland to mitigate threats in both countries. The UK Government takes protecting our border security very seriously and there is a high level of co-operation and on-going work with the Irish Government strengthening the external border of the Common Travel Area.