Tag: Ian C. Lucas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to speed up family reunification in the UK for unaccompanied refugee children currently in Europe.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Under the Immigration Act 2016, we made a commitment to transfer unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK, where it is in their best interests. Between 12 May and 1 October 2016 over 50 children who meet the criteria in the Immigration Act have been accepted for transfer, over 35 have already been transferred.

We are fully committed to the implementation of Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016. We are in active discussions with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNICEF, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the French, Italian and Greek Governments to strengthen and speed up mechanisms to identify, assess and transfer children to the UK. We have secondees in Greece and Italy and we have recently seconded another UK expert to France.

On 10 October, the Home Secretary met with French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to discuss a range of issues, including the proposed clearance of the camp in Calais. The Home Secretary made clear that we will transfer as many minors as possible who have family links that would qualify under the Dublin Regulation before the camp clearance starts. The Home Secretary further emphasised that the remaining children, who may be eligible to come to the UK under the Dubs amendment must be moved to safe facilities where their best interests can be properly considered. Home Office teams are being deployed to France over the coming weeks to work with the French authorities to speed up the identification and transfer of eligible cases.

More broadly, the family reunion provisions under the Immigration Rules allow children to be reunited with a parent who has been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK; unless the applicant and/or the family member should be excluded from protection or criminality thresholds apply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-11-26.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of payments of (a) income tax and (b) National Insurance by employees (i) within and (ii) outside the UK were made correctly in each of the last three years.

Mr David Gauke

Estimates of the proportion of payments of (a) income tax and (b) National Insurance by employees (i) within and (ii) outside the UK that were correctly made are not available.

Estimates of the value of under-declared income tax and national insurance liabilities resulting from incorrect returns are published in chapter 6 of ‘Measuring Tax Gaps 2015.’ These are produced for both small and medium enterprise (SME) employers (table 6.7) and large employers (table 6.9).

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2015 to Question 12762, on broadband, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of repaying a proportion of the returned funds to the BBC which made an initial contribution to the project.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The clawback funding identified by BT remains available for investment by the local authorities and devolved administrations in further broadband coverage within their respective project areas. This funding has not been returned to DCMS.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the extension of democracy in Bahrain.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Governance of Bahrain is a matter for all political parties in Bahrain. We encourage all political parties, to engage constructively in political dialogue in order to reach an inclusive political settlement. Although we were disappointed by the opposition’s decision to boycott the 2014 elections, we commended the participation of a broad range of candidates which saw 14 independent Shia candidates win seats, of which three were women.

We regularly discuss human rights and reform with the Government of Bahrain including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting which was most recently held in November 2015. Reform programme activities delivered through the Causeway Institute have used lessons from Northern Ireland to improve community outreach and communication – particularly to a youth audience.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to close the driving test centre in Wrexham.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has no plans to close the driving test centre at Birchall House, Wrexham Technology Park, Wrexham that provides car practical tests. The DVSA currently provides LGV vocational testing at our site at Llay Road, Wrexham. The DVSA is looking to move testing from this site. The site will not be closed until a suitable alternative for the delivery of LGV vocational testing in the Wrexham area has been secured.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which post offices in each constituency have moved to premises shared with private sector organisations; and which organisations each such post office is sharing with.

Margot James

The provision and location of post offices is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.

I have asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the Hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-10-27.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people claimed tax credits in each lower super output area in (a) Wrexham County Borough Council and (b) Wrexham constituency.

Damian Hinds

A geographical breakdown of tax credits claimants can be found in the 2013-14 finalised award published statistics, at this link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/462398/LSOA_2013_-_W_-_Wales.xls

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what resources the Government will make available to local authorities to assist the housing of refugees from Syria.

Richard Harrington

The UK has established networks to accommodate and support resettled people. An increase in numbers will require an expansion of current networks. We are working with a wide range of partners including local authorities to ensure people are integrated sensitively into local communities. We are working closely with the Local Government Association on how the funding for this will operate.

The first 12 months of each refugee’s resettlement costs will be met from the UK’s growing overseas aid budget. After year one we will also provide additional funding to assist with costs incurred in future years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria she will use to determine where in the UK refugees from Syria will be placed.

Richard Harrington

The UK has been operating resettlement schemes for many years and we already have established and effective networks to accommodate and support resettled people.

Our existing dispersal policy, which has been in place since 1999, is aimed at ensuring an equitable distribution of refugees across the country so that no individual local authority bears a disproportionate share of the burden.

That is why we will be talking to local authorities and other partners to ensure that capacity can be identified and the impact on those taking new cases can be managed in a fair and controlled way.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will carry out a review of asylum dispersal areas in the UK with a view to expanding the number of such areas.

James Brokenshire

In accordance with the provisions of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, senior Home Office officials are working closely with providers and local authorities to widen existing dispersal areas.