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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from other EU countries were refused entry to the UK in each of the years between 1990 and 2005.

    James Brokenshire

    The table below provides the total number of nationals of EU and non-EU member states that have been initially refused entry to the UK since 2004. Information prior to 2004 is not available.

    Year

    Total EU refusals (3,4)

    Total non-EU refusals

    2004

    6,342

    32,049

    2005

    635

    29,375

    Notes:

    1) Information prior to 2004 is not available.

    2) Passengers initially refused entry relates to non-asylum cases dealt with at ports of entry.

    3) Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU on 1 January 2007.

    4) Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013.

    Figures for 2014 and 2015 are provisional.

    The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of passengers initially refused entry by country of nationality within Immigration Statistics. The data are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: October to December 2015, table ad.04 from GOV.UK on the statistics web pages at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release.

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people are employed as specialists by the NHS to assist people with gambling addictions.

    Alistair Burt

    The Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust provides the only specialised national problem gambling clinic. However, specialised addiction services, which mainly deal with substance misuse, do tend to accept people with gambling problems referred to them. People can also access addiction services in primary care and secondary care, which may provide support for problem gambling.

    People may also access psychological therapies through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. Although problem gambling is not listed amongst the provisional diagnosis categories that IAPT treats, IAPT practitioners would be able to treat common mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, which may be present in people with gambling addiction problems.

    Data is not collected centrally on the number of specialist National Health Service professionals which provide support and treatment for gambling addiction.

    Data is not collected on the funding of services to treat people with gambling problems. Funding to provide NHS mental health services is allocated to clinical commissioning groups which are best placed to commission local health services based on the needs of their local populations. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning local alcohol and drug treatment services which may also refer people to gambling support services where they identify people with gambling issues.

  • Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimates they have made of the costs of road traffic accidents associated with alcohol to (1) the NHS, (2) the emergency services, (3) the police, (4) the justice system, (5) the benefits system, and (6) individual victims.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Department for Transport publishes estimates of the average cost to society of road traffic accidents as part of the Transport Analysis Guidance (called WebTAG). The cost is broken down into six elements. Three of these elements are casualty-related:

    • lost output/cost to the economy
    • medical and ambulance costs
    • human costs

    The remaining three are accident-related:

    • police costs
    • insurance and administration costs
    • damage to property

    The human cost element is estimated using evidence of individuals’ willingness to pay for a marginal reduction in their risk of suffering a road traffic accident. The other components are estimated using official data sources.

    The Department has not made any estimate of the costs of road traffic accidents to the justice system or the benefits system. However, it is likely that these will be small in comparison with human and lost output costs.

    The table below gives an estimate of the costs for each of the six WebTAG elements for all reported personal-injury accidents in Great Britain where at least one driver was over the alcohol limit. The figures are based on accidents that occurred in 2014 as this is the most recent year for which final drink drive accident statistics are available. The totals are in 2016 prices.

    Total value of prevention of reported accidents when at least one driver is over the alcohol limit, Great Britain, 2014

    £million in 2016 prices

    Accident severity

    Police costs

    Insurance and admin

    Damage to property

    Lost output

    Human costs

    Medical and ambulance

    Total

    Fatal

    4.4

    0.1

    2.7

    150.6

    287.3

    0.3

    445.4

    Serious

    2.1

    0.2

    4.9

    25.9

    178.0

    15.7

    226.7

    Slight

    2.7

    0.6

    15.0

    17.6

    84.0

    7.5

    127.4

    799.5

    “

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff of his Department are involved in the renegotiations of the UK’s tax treaties with developing countries.

    Jane Ellison

    HM Revenue and Customs’ Tax Treaty Team, which at October 2016 has 10.3 full time equivalent members of staff, is responsible for negotiating the UK’s tax treaties. The make-up of the negotiating programme will vary from year to year which means it is not possible to put an exact figure on the number of staff involved with negotiations with developing countries.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential for the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived to assist efforts to help homeless EEA nationals in the UK.

    Priti Patel

    The UK allocation from the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) is €3.96m for the 2014-20 period and will be used to expand breakfast club provision in deprived areas in England. The Department for Education received interim funding of €541,216 in advance of the scheme commencing. Officials are currently exploring options for the best way for the scheme to be administered.

    Since FEAD was created from within structural funds allocations and has some similarities to ESF, DWP Ministers took the initial decisions on our negotiation position on the size of the UK allocation and on the use of the funds. Responsibility for implementing the Fund now sits with DfE, and we have agreed this response with them. We will discuss with officials there whether all correspondence, PQs and so on, should now be their responsibility, or whether we retain a policy lead.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kirsten Oswald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on differences in the (a) criteria used by the Financial Ombudsman’s Service and Financial Services Compensation Scheme to determine cases and (b) determinations reached by those bodies.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Treasury Ministers and officials receive regular representations on a wide range of issues.

    As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury’s practice to provide details of all such discussions.

  • Nigel Huddleston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nigel Huddleston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Huddleston on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the introduction of mandatory defibrillators on aircraft.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is responsible for the regulations relating to equipment to be carried on aircraft operating in Europe and competent national authorities, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) being such a body in the UK, are responsible for oversight of the compliance. The EASA regulations do not require aircraft to carry defibrillators.

    Cases of sudden cardiac arrest are very rare when compared to the number of passengers carried. There is no evidence that airline passengers are at increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest, and it would not be proportionate to make carrying defibrillators in an aircraft compulsory.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 24387, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of changing the route used by lorries involved in the High Speed 2 construction away from the hedgehog population in the Regent’s Park area as an alternative to establishing replacement habitats; and whether such a change would require an amendment to the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Bill.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The identified impact on the Regent’s Park hedgehog population is from the provision of replacement car parking for the Zoological Society of London rather than from lorries accessing the proposed lorry holding area. Therefore, no assessment has been made of changing the route used by HS2 construction vehicles in the Regent’s Park area for the purpose of mitigating the impact on hedgehogs. Such a change would require an Additional Provision to the Bill.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the response of the government of Saudi Arabia was to his recent representations on (a) the attacks in Yemen on the Médecins Sans Frontières hospitals and mobile clinic, (b) the airstrike on the Oxfam warehouse, (c) the reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch of attacks on civilians and civilian facilities including schools and (d) investigations into the use of cluster munitions.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Saudia Arabia have their own internal procedures for investigations and they announced more detail of how they investigate such incidents on 31 January. This includes a new investigation team outside of Coalition Command to review all existing procedures and suggest improvements.

    Regarding allegations of cluster munition use, we have raised this issue with the Saudi Arabian authorities and, in line with our obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, continue to encourage Saudi Arabia, as a non-party to the Convention, to accede to it.

  • Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to support the formation of the transitional government of national unity in South Sudan.

    James Duddridge

    In January I visited Juba and held meetings with President Salva Kiir, members of the opposition and civil society. In the margins of the African Union Summit I met with the Leader of the Opposition Riek Machar. In all those meetings I emphasised the importance of forming the transitional government without delay. The UK has also worked closely with key countries in the region and in the UN Security Council to build pressure on the parties to form a government of national unity.