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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have applied for asylum on the basis of sexual orientation; how many of these claims have been unsuccessful; on what grounds those unsuccessful applications were refused in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Home Office is currently undertaking a process to quality assure information on its Case Information Database relating to sexuality based asylum claims.

    Until this exercise has concluded it is not possible to provide an accurate picture of the number of asylum claims based solely, or partly on sexuality.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department plans to ensure that data is collected on stateless children so that such children can be taken into account in measuring progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK has played a key role in creating a set of Global Goals that are universal and inclusive; underpinned by a commitment to leave no one behind. Goal 17 target 18 concerns the need for high-quality, timely and reliable disaggregated data. It will be essential to have this data to ensure we leave no one behind, including data on stateless children. DFID is currently undertaking a bilateral aid review to address priorities for this parliament and this will address how we will support better data to ensure the Prime Ministers Leave No One Behind promise is delivered.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Virendra Sharma – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2015 to Question 16399, what discussions he has had with the Accelerated Access Review team on biosimilars medicines; and whether he has been given assurance that the final report will make specific recommendations on their use.

    George Freeman

    In accordance with the terms of reference the Accelerated Access Review is not excluding any particular type or class of medicine, but is creating a framework through which to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative health technologies including biosimilar medicines where appropriate.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Scottish Government on the transfer of air passenger duty to that government.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    No such discussion have taken place. Decisions on taxation, including Air Passenger Duty, are of course a matter for HM Treasury.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans his Department has to publish a national strategy for English for speakers of other languages for England.

    Nick Boles

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Home Office, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities and Local Government work together to support the policy ambitions of state-funded ESOL: to enable unemployed people on benefits to get the skills they need to get into and stay in work; and to support the integration of long-standing migrant communities and particularly those individuals most at risk of isolation from services and wider society.

    There are no plans to publish a national strategy. We fund ESOL through the Adult Education Budget, and colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use this budget to meet the needs of their local communities. It is therefore their responsibility to plan which ESOL courses they deliver locally, within their resources.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.123 of the Budget 2016, whether the (a) proposed legislation to make it easier for local authorities to work together to create new garden towns and (b) consultation on a second wave of Compulsory Purchase Order reforms will apply to Wales.

    Greg Hands

    Housing and planning in Wales are the responsibility of the Welsh Government.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of children in Calais who are waiting to be reunited with their families in the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    There is no official estimate of the number of children in Calais, this is primarily a matter for the French authorities. It is only possible to assess whether an individual has links to the UK that could enable a transfer on family unity grounds once they make an application for asylum in France.

    Once an asylum claim is lodged in France the Dublin Regulation procedure requesting the UK to take charge of a child on family unity grounds takes place very quickly, often in a matter of weeks, subject to consideration of the evidence in each individual case. An average time is not available for each of the last three years.

    Since February 2016 the UK has accepted 30 family reunification applications from minors in France of which 23 have already been transferred to the UK.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department’s (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

    Jane Ellison

    The information requested (as at 31 March in each of the two years) is presented below. The figures given take into consideration only information about staff who have formally declared their ethnicity.

    Average Hourly Rate 2015

    Average Hourly Rate 2016

    Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Staff

    £18.50

    £19.03

    Non-Black and Minority Ethnic (Non-BME) Staff

    £24.23

    £24.34

    17% of the Department’s staff are BME which is above the Civil Service average. The difference in average hourly rates between BME and non BME staff is due to there being a higher proportion of BME staff in junior grades at present.

    To encourage recruitment and promotion of talented individuals from a BME background, the Department has undertaken several initiatives including, but not limited to, blind recruitment forms, mandatory unconscious bias training for all staff and a suite of other Diversity and Inclusion training, such as Race Awareness, Positive Action Pathways, and Future Leaders Schemes.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to safeguard levels of research funding in universities as a result of the outcome of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government recognises the importance of our research base, which is why we have protected the science resource budget in real terms from its 2015/16 level of £4.7 billion for the rest of the parliament.

    The future of UK access to European research and innovation funding will be a matter for the new Prime Minister and government to decide. The Government is determined to ensure that the UK continues to play a leading role in European and international research and innovation.

  • Byron Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Byron Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Byron Davies on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations the International Corruption Unit (ICU) at the National Crime Agency (NCA) inherited from other agencies when it was first established; and how many new investigations the ICU at the NCA has started since it was established.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The International Corruption Unit (ICU) at the National Crime Agency (NCA) inherited 23 investigations. Since it was first established it has commenced 24 new investigations. (Figures have been provided by the NCA).