The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-04-21.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total receipts from Government asset sales were in each financial year from 1986 to 2009.
Greg Hands
Reporting on asset sales is made on a financial year basis in departmental accounts. Details of any specific historic asset sales can be found in announcements made at the time of sale.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what reports he has received on the costs, time taken and other difficulties related to the visa process for UK musicians performing in the US; and whether his Department has made representations on those costs and difficulties to the US government.
Mr Edward Vaizey
My Department is working closely with the FCO, BIS, the US Government, UKTI and the UK music industry to maximise opportunities for emerging and established musicians to perform to audiences in the United States and around the world. I recognise the US government’s desire to strike the right balance between cultural exchange, creative exports and security. I hope together we can pursue practical improvements to the visa system which enable British talent to flourish in the US and around the world
Between 2012 and 2016, the Government invested £460 million in a range of music and cultural education programmes. We introduced tax relief for orchestras and started a successful music export scheme which has helped many musicians to go abroad. Discussions are ongoing about a revamp of the Music Export Growth Scheme and we hope to make an announcement shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make additional funding available for battery and fuel cell research and development.
Mr John Hayes
The government allocated more than £600 million to support the uptake, development and manufacture of ultra low emission vehicles in the 2015 Spending Review. Our comprehensive package of support includes funding provision for research and development projects, and the scope of a new competition launched on 5 September 2016 includes battery and fuel cells.
Further details are available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-competition-low-emission-vehicle-systems-idp13.
The UK already provides one the most comprehensive support packages for ultra low emission vehicles anywhere in the world. We shall keep the funding requirements for the OLEV program under constant review.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-10-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to circulate information to householders about the steps taken in the negotiation of the UK’s exit from the EU, and the likely final arrangements for British and non-British people and organisations, in order that people can make plans for their future; and if so, when.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The Government will ensure that the appropriate information is communicated to Parliament and the public throughout the process of exit.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jolly on 2015-11-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Iraqi interpreters contracted by the armed forces during military operations between 2003 and 2009 have been granted asylum in the UK in each year from 2009 to 2015.
Lord Bates
Information on the previous occupations of asylum applicants is not centrally recorded and is held in an individual’s paper case file or within the notes section of the case information database (CID). Such data are not aggregated in national reporting systems, which would mean this question could be answered only through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.
The Home Office publishes immigration statistics annually and quarterly, which are available from the Home Office research and statistics website.
This includes information on asylum applications by nationality. The latest statistics can be found in asylum volume 1, data table as_01 at the following link : https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2015-data-tables
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum have been referred by her Department to the Refugee Council Children’s Section for advice in the last two years.
James Brokenshire
All unaccompanied asylum seeking children are referred to the Refugee Council’s panel of advisers.
Age-assessments of unaccompanied asylum seeking children are conducted by local authorities. The guidance to local authority practitioners states that most assessments should be completed within 28 days, however the timescale for assessment should be responsive to the needs of the child or young person. The Home Office does not collect statistics on how many and what proportion are carried out within this timescale.
Statistics on the number of age disputes raised and resolved for asylum applicants for each quarter from January 2010 to September 2015 are available on GOV.UK at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476915/asylum3-q3-2015-tabs.ods
The Home Office does not keep a record of the number of appeals against age assessments conducted by local authorities.
Home Office policy is not to return unaccompanied asylum seeking children whose claim has been refused unless there are safe and adequate reception arrangements in place. Statistics on the number of children removed from the UK in 2014 are available on Gov.UK at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476919/removals1-q3-2015-tabs.ods
However, these statistics include all nationalities and non-asylum cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dholakia on 2016-01-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners have been tested for (1) hepatitis B, (2) hepatitis C, and (3) HIV, in each of the last three years.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Public Health England (PHE) collects data on people in prison tested for blood-borne viruses (BBVs) via the Sentinel Surveillance Study. This system does not currently receive reports from all prisons in England where testing occurs. Currently 28 prisons report data representing approximately 30% of the standing prison population in England so this data does not represent the total amount of testing currently happening in the prison estate.
Table 1 shows data from this system on the total number of prisoners tested for BBVs in the calendar years 2012-2014. Similar information from this study for the year 2015 will not be available until mid-year 2016. NHS England also collects data on levels of testing for BBVs in prisons via the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs). The numbers of tests for BBVs in these data are presented in Table 2. The higher number is due to the greater coverage of prisons by this dataset. NHS England data is not used for 2012, 2013 and 2014 is not available because HJIPs were only introduced last year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2016-02-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people living in each of the Overseas Territories are in receipt of a UK state pension which is (1) frozen, or (2) uprated annually.
Baroness Altmann
The Government has a clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: UK state pensions are payable worldwide and uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so for example in the European Economic Area or countries where we have a reciprocal agreement that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this.
Details of the numbers of people in receipt of the state pension, and whether they live in countries where the state pension is frozen or uprated, is included at Annex A. Countries where the UK state pension is up-rated are identified by an asterisk by the name of the country.
The Government’s view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off in a reformed EU. Of course there is uncertainty about how a vote to leave the EU could impact on access to pensioner benefits for UK pensioners living in other parts of Europe. These questions would need to be answered as part of the process of negotiating the UK’s exit if there is a vote to leave. We could only consider the detail of access to pensions and benefits for people in receipt of UK state pensions who are resident in Europe as part of the process for leaving the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Bellingham on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what expenses were claimed by the five most senior people at the Environment Agency during the last financial year.
George Eustice
The expenses claimed by the five most senior people at the Environment Agency in the last financial year can be found at:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-04-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission on ad-blocking and platform regulation.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Over recent months DCMS Ministers have met with both Vice President Ansip and Commissioner Oettinger to discuss several issues, including potential platforms regulation. There have also been meetings with a number of MEPs and Member States. DCMS Ministers have not held any recent discussions with the European Commission on ad-blocking.