The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the treatment of single mothers and victims of trafficking who have been returned from the UK to Albania after their return to that country.
James Brokenshire
The Home Office does not monitor returnees after they have returned to their country of origin.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to promote a whistleblowing culture across the civil service.
Matthew Hancock
This Government has taken a number of steps to ensure effective whistleblowing practices are in place across Departments and to raise the profile and awareness of whilstleblowing. Updated and refreshed model whistleblowing policies are in place across all departments, providing information on sources of support available to whistleblowers, including access to employee assistance programmes, and advice on accessing legal support. In addition, we have improved support for Nominated Offices, and Departments have introduced dedicated whistleblowing hotlines and are publishing case studies on departmental intranet sites to build confidence that cases will be heard fairly and appropriately.
The Cabinet Office has developed a new data collection tool to enable HR Directors to collect information on whistleblowing cases including how cases have been resolved, identification of systemic issues, and lessons learned. Departments are using this tool to report to their Departmental Boards, and to the Cabinet Office, on a 6 monthly basis.
More details on action taken by specific Departments, including the first set of data collated by Departments, can be found in the Cabinet Office’s recent report to the Public Accounts Committee: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/public-accounts-committee/whistleblowing-recall/written/31692.html
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to contact visa and naturalisation applicants to ask those applicants to submit an up-to-date English Language Certificate if an application is to be refused solely on the grounds of the submission of an expired certificate.
Mr Robert Goodwill
For visa purposes, it is not Home Office policy to give an applicant the opportunity to submit a further document if they have provided an out of date English language certificate. Knowledge of the English language is a key requirement of the Immigration Rules which applicants are expected to comply with before they apply. The Immigration Rules specify that, where applicable, the test certificate must be within its validity date.
For naturalisation applications, a person is allowed a period of two weeks to provide any missing information, but they would be expected to have met the language requirement before submitting an application.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-10-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to ask the government of France to defer demolition of the Jungle camp at Calais, until all the children there have been moved to places of safety.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The management of the migrant camp in Calais, including any decision to dismantle it, is the responsibility of the French Government. The UK continues to work closely with the French Government at both a political and operational level on every aspect of the migrant situation in northern France.
Although the primary responsibility for unaccompanied children in France lies with the French authorities, the Home Secretary made clear on 10 October that we will transfer as many minors as possible to the UK who are eligible 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 there best interests can be properly considered.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with the Prime Minister of India during his forthcoming visit the welfare of elephants being trained to work in the tourism industry in that country; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Hugo Swire
We are very much looking forward to Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit, which gives us an opportunity to discuss a range of issues. We will continue to work together with the Indian authorities, as well as STAE and other non-governmental organisations, on protecting elephants.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she has visited (a) women’s refugee shelters, (b) maternity units, (c) ante-natal groups and (d) women’s groups since 15 July 2014.
Caroline Dinenage
Since taking office as the Minister for Women and Equalities in May 2015, I have visited a variety of organisations, including:
I have also hosted a number of meetings within my department with women’s organisations. These will be published online at www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministers-quarterly-returns-2015 as part of the quarterly returns.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many recorded suicides there were by (a) men of black and minority ethnic background and (b) women of black and minority ethnic background in each London borough in each year since 2010.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many times a Notice of Insufficient Margin has been issued in each of the last three years.
Andrea Leadsom
In the past three years, National Grid have issued one Notice of Inadequate System Margin (NISM). This was issued on 4 November 2015.
National Grid requires a safety cushion to be able to manage the system in real time and a NISM is a call to the market to maintain that safety cushion. This gives generators in the market the opportunity to provide additional generation ahead of National Grid instructing plant and demand side response held in the Contingency Balancing Reserve, if required. It is not an indication that demand is about to outstrip supply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in her Department.
Karen Bradley
Cleaning services across the Department are outsourced and suppliers currently pay as a minimum the National Minimum Wage. From the 1 April 2016 suppliers will pay as a minimum the National Living Wage for over 25 year olds.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to promote awareness among cyclists of the importance of wearing helmets and visible clothing.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The safety of vulnerable road users is a priority and we recommend that all cyclists wear clothing that makes them sufficiently visible to other road users.
Rule 59 of the Highway Code states, “You should wear light-coloured or fluorescent clothing which helps other road users to see you in daylight and poor light; reflective clothing and/or accessories (belt, arm or ankle bands) in the dark”.
Government policy is that cycle helmets offer a degree of protection for cyclists in the event of a fall from a bicycle and some types of collisions. In line with the Highway Code rule 59 which states “you should wear a cycle helmet which conforms to current regulations, is the correct size and securely fastened” we encourage their use by all cyclists and in particular by children.