Tag: Ian C. Lucas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for legal aid were (a) made by and (b) granted to victims of people charged with domestic violence in each local authority area in the North West Police Authority in each year since 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The LAA does not routinely collect information on whether applicants for legal aid are victims of people charged with domestic violence.

Prior to 2013, when people applied for legal aid they were not asked to declare whether domestic violence had occurred. Since 2013, applications for legal aid do not routinely request this information. Therefore the data requested is not available.

People seeking protective injunctions, like non-molestation orders, remain eligible for legal aid. Legal aid also remains available in private family cases that involve domestic violence. We have listened closely to any concerns about how the system has been operating, and made changes in response, such as making it easier to prove abuse and so get legal aid.

The number of applications which require Domestic Violence evidence received and granted following LASPO, and figures for civil representation in the ‘Domestic Violence’ category both pre and post LASPO, are published in the official statistics on legal aid published quarterly on the Gov.uk website at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/legal-aid-statistics

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average travel time is for customers attending a first-time passport application interview; and what she estimates the average travel times will be after the proposed closure of interview offices in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) England.

James Brokenshire

HM Passport Office does not collate any information on average travel times for applicants.

In 2015, HM Passport Office interviewed 222,264 adult customers applying for their first passport. Under the planned changes to HM Passport Offices the vast majority of passport application interviewees will see no change to their travel time. In a small number of cases passport application interviewees will have to travel further but this should not be more than 65 miles or one and a half hours from their previous closest office.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-11-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria his Department used to select sites for HM Revenue and Customs regional offices.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the planned locations of its future Regional Centres based on a number of key principles that will enable it to deliver more for less. In addition to cost, HMRC has taken account of the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, and the need to retain the staff and skills it requires to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

HMRC estimates that Liverpool will be home to between 2,800 and 3,100 full time equivalent employees. Consolidation into the Regional Centre is expected to begin in 2019-20. HMRC plans to open the Regional Centre in Cardiff in 2019-20. It is likely that the office at Plas Gororau in Wrexham will close in 2020-21. HMRC will be holding one-to-one discussions with each of its people to discuss the next steps.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department has made on achieving the goals of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK Government is fully committed to global polio eradication and is the third largest donor to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, providing £300 million for 2013 to 2019.

UK funding has contributed, as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, to a greater than 99% decrease in polio cases since 1988, with no cases reported in Africa for over a year. Only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, are now reporting cases of wild polio, meaning we are now closer than ever to global eradication.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will ensure that he consults with S4C before any future agreement is reached with any third party affecting that company’s budget.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government is committed to supporting S4C and values its service to Welsh speaking audiences. In order for S4C to continue to provide a first-class service and have a sustainable future, the Government announced (on Wednesday 3rd February) an extra £400,000 funding for 2016/17 and the intention to carry out a comprehensive review in 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-04-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consultation took place with mesothelioma charities and other organisations before the announcement of the establishment of the National Mesothelioma Centre in Budget 2016.

Greg Hands

The National Mesothelioma Centre will be a collaboration between four leading institutions who have a major interest in the treatment of mesothelioma: National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI) at Imperial College; Royal Brompton Hospital; Institute of Cancer Research (ICR); and Royal Marsden Hospital. This collaboration will form the hub of the Centre which will engage with all other hospitals in the UK to which mesotheliomas are referred and treated.

Professor Sir Anthony Newton Taylor, Head of Research & Development at the National Heart & Lung Institute, who made the application for support from LIBOR fines, is working closely with the British Lung Foundation and other charities in order to ensure that experts from across the lung and cancer research community are able to contribute to this important enterprise.

The £5 million grant, which is intended as seed funding, has been profiled over 4 years and will be paid to the National Mesothelioma Centre, once established. The funding will be subjected to standard Grant Terms and Conditions, including a feedback and reporting mechanism, and audit.

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 2015-10-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) asylum seekers are dispersed and (b) refugees are resident in each (i) local authority and (ii) parliamentary constituency.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office publish figures on the number of asylum applicants living in dispersed accommodation (under Section 95), by local authority, in the quarterly Immigration Statistics release. The latest release for April-June 2015 is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2015

Figures on Section 95 support by local authority (including those in dispersed accommodation) are published in table as_16q, in volume 4 of the Asylum data tables: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/455576/asylum4-q2-2015-tabs.ods

We are unable to provide the number of refugees living in each Local Authority and parliamentary constituency, as once refugee status has been granted the individual is not required to keep the Home Office updated on their current location.

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.