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Tag: Hilary Benn

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees from Syria have applied for leave to remain since the start of the Syrian conflict; and how many such people have been granted leave to remain.

    James Brokenshire

    The published available figures only relate to asylum seekers.

    The latest published Home Office data shows that between 1 April 2011 and 31
    December 2013 there were 3,796 applications for asylum from Syrian nationals
    (including main applicants and their dependants) in the UK. During the same
    period, 2,507 Syrian nationals and dependants were granted leave to remain in
    the UK, including asylum, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave. These
    grant decisions do not all necessarily relate to applications made in the same
    period. In addition, given the need to give each asylum claim careful
    consideration on its merits, not all the asylum applications made during that
    period will have received a decision during that time.

    Eurostat data based on provisional management information shows that between 1
    April 2011 and 28 February 2014 there were 4,105 applications for asylum from
    Syrian nationals (including main applicants and their dependants) in the UK.
    Eurostat data on grants of asylum are only available annually. There are some
    definitional differences between National Statistics published by the Home
    Office on a quarterly basis and monthly figures published by Eurostat.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have currently been waiting (a) up to one month, (b) one to two months, (c) two to three months, (d) three to four months, (e) four to five months and (f) more than six months for their appeal against their being deemed fit for work to be determined.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits including a person’s entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

    Whilst a work capability assessment (WCA) can be a key factor in an ESA decision, it is not the only consideration. Appeals are brought against ESA refusals, and not WCA decisions themselves. The Tribunal does not record information on those ESA appeals in which the WCA decision is a factor, and as such HMCTS does not hold the specific information requested.

    Information on appeals against ESA decisions is published by HMCTS in Tribunal Statistics Quarterly. The most recent report for the period January to March 2014, published on 12 June 2014, can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2014

    “

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much grant-in-aid his Department has provided to Tell MAMA since May 2010; and what further funding he expects to provide.

    Stephen Williams

    TELL MAMA is the first service to record and monitor anti-Muslim hatred incidents and support victims. DCLG provided initial start-up grant funding to TELL MAMA of £395,500 between January 2012 and September 2013. TELL MAMA has subsequently received Big Lottery funding of £255,450 over two years from October 2013.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what average length of time is taken for asylum seekers and refugees from Syria to have an initial interview.

    James Brokenshire

    Between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013, the average length of time taken
    for asylum seekers and refugees from Syria to have an initial interview was
    28 days from initial claim.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the current average waiting time is for personal independence payment assessments to be completed and a decision made in (a) England and (b) Leeds.

    Mike Penning

    The information you have requested is not currently available.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many staff have (a) taken voluntary redundancy or (b) been made compulsorily redundant from his Department since May 2010; and how many of these (i) received special severance payments or (ii) were subject to compromise agreements.

    Brandon Lewis

    [Holding Reply: Monday 7 April 2014]

    The number of staff that left the Department on (a) voluntary redundancy and (b) compulsory redundancy terms from May 2010 to March 2014 is set out below.

    May 2010 to March 2014

    Compulsory Redundancy

    8

    Voluntary Severance or Redundancy

    522

    Total

    530

    None of these staff (i) received special severance payments or (ii) were subject to compromise agreements.

    Exit figures through 2010 – 2012 reflect the completion of the Department’s major restructuring programme. Our departmental audited annual accounts for the core Department show that total staff costs fell from £216 million in 2009-10 to £99 million in 2012-13, a reduction of 54% in cash terms, or a saving of £117 million a year. The number of staff has been reduced from 3,781 full-time equivalent in 2009-10 to 1,681 in 2012-13, a reduction of 56%.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will review the effectiveness of current legislation on banned breeds of dog.

    George Eustice

    The Government has introduced new legislation to tackle irresponsible dog ownership, including extending the criminal offence of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control to all places, increasing the maximum penalties for allowing a dog to become dangerously out of control and ensuring that the new measures to deal with anti-social behaviour will include such instances when they involve a dog. As announced on 6th February 2013, Defra is looking at making changes to the arrangements for seizure and kennelling of suspected dangerous dogs but there are noplans to review the effectiveness of the restrictions on keeping certain types of dogwhich are specifically bred for fighting.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations his Department has received from (a) local authorities and (b) others on sanctions available to councils under the Localism Act 2011 where councillors have been found to have been in breach of the Code of Conduct under that Act.

    Brandon Lewis

    [Holding Reply: Thursday 12 June 2014]

    As stated in the impact assessment on the abolition of the Standards Board regime (published in January 2011), a post implementation review will be carried out three to five years after implementation of the policy which was in July 2012.

    My Department routinely receives representations about standards arrangements in local government, and indeed, on a whole range of local government issues. We will have regard to representations and comments when we undertake our post implementation review.

    However, Ministers are clear that the new provisions are a significant improvement on the old, discredited regime. The Localism Act has clarified predetermination rules allowing elected councillors to campaign and speak up on local issues. We have reversed the petty culture of malicious and unfounded complaints that wasted time and energy and undermined the good reputation of local government. We have increased transparency on councillors’ interests, and put in place criminal sanctions for the very rare instances of corruption. This is complemented by the role of political parties in ensuring good conduct, the law of libel, and the ultimate sanction: the ballot box.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to which local authorities he has written about their compliance with the Publicity Code asking them to take steps to ensure complete compliance with that Code; and whether each of these letters was copied to the Leader of the Opposition of the local authority.

    Brandon Lewis

    [Holding Reply: Monday 7 April 2014]

    On 25 March, Departmental officials wrote to the Chief Executives of every principal local authority in England, advising how the Secretary of State is minded to exercise his powers to direct compliance with the Code of Recommended Practice on local Authority Publicity. On the same day, I wrote individually to the Leaders of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, London Borough of Hackney, Newham Council, Nottingham City Council, Tower Hamlets Council and the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Without prejudicing any formal consideration by the Secretary of State, I observed that there were suggestions that those councils in particular might not be complying with the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity. I suggested that prior to the Secretary of State’s new powers for directing compliance with the Code on publicity coming on-stream at the end of March, they take steps to ensure that their council is in complete compliance with the provisions of the Code. Those letters were copied where applicable to the Leaders of the opposition in those authorities.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the reasons are for the time taken to answer question 191956 tabled for answer on 8 April 2014.

    Stephen Williams

    I refer the rt. hon. Member to my answer of 1 May, Official Report, Column 803W.