Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase diversity in police forces, in particular to close the gap between the percentage of applicants and percentage of appointments from black and minority ethnic groups.

    Lord Bates

    It is vital that the police reflect the communities they serve and I am determined to improve BME representation in all 43 forces in England and Wales.

    Decisions on when and how to recruit individuals are for the chief officer of a police force. It is important that they use equalities legislation, including positive action provisions, to make better progress in terms of recruitment of under-represented groups.

    The Government’s reforms have already made improvements, for example we set up the College of Policing which has embarked on a major programme of work, BME Progression 2018, looking at recruitment, retention and progression of black and minority ethnic officers, including the development of an evidence base of successful approaches used by forces.

    As part of this programme the College recently published Positive Action Practical Advice, which advises forces on the use of lawful positive action to support the recruitment, retention and progression of officers from under-represented groups, and it has published case studies from forces showing what can be done.

    The College of Policing is currently undertaking a review of initial police recruitment, including the SEARCH assessment centre for police recruits, to better understand disproportionality that can occur between white candidates and those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. The review is due to report by the 31 March 2016.

    Under this Government, innovative schemes such as Direct Entry and Police Now are increasing the number of BME recruits to the police, showing that you can achieve better representation while attracting the best and the brightest into policing.

    Of the nine direct entry superintendents who began their superintendent training on November 2014 four (44%) are women and two (22%) are from an ethnic minority background. This is significantly more representative than the current make up of the superintendent rank which comprises 17% women and 4% ethnic minority.

    Police Now, introduced in the Metropolitan Police, has appointed 69 people to start their training, up from an anticipated 50 owing to the high calibre of applicants. Of these, 43% are women and 9% are from a BME background, compared to the national BME proportion of 5.5%.

    With the joint leadership of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Commissioner, the Metropolitan Police also introduced its London residency criteria for recruits in August 2014. Recent Metropolitan police figures show that in the three months from June to August 2015, 26% of new Metropolitan police recruits came from a black or minority background, more than double the 12% recruited in the same quarter of 2014, and the 12% of Metropolitan police officers currently from a black and minority ethnic background.

  • Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Craig Tracey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects the decommissioning of Sparrowdale School to be completed.

    Edward Timpson

    School playing fields are protected by Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Schools and local authorities must obtain the Secretary of State’s approval before they can dispose of their land. Applications to dispose of school playing fields are considered by the independent school playing fields advisory panel, and are approved only when it is demonstrated that the application meets published criteria.

    The Department is aware of an application by Warwickshire County Council to seek approval to dispose of the former Sparrowdale Special School. The application is currently being processed by officials at the Education Funding Agency; a final decision should be expected in the summer. The application will only be considered when sufficient information is available to consider how the sale proceeds will be invested to benefit other local schools. The Secretary of State will consider the recommendation of the panel before making her final decision.

    The Department has published a list of decisions since May 2010 on applications for consent to dispose of school playing field land: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-land-decisions-about-disposals

    “

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to decide on whether to support prosecutions for people suspected of committing electoral or financial fraud in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets; and when he plans to announce that decision.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Decisions on whether to charge or to prosecute individuals suspected of electoral and financial fraud in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are matters for the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March to Questions 30367, on vocational guidance, whether he plans that Jobcentre Plus or the Careers and Enterprise company will contact those schools.

    Priti Patel

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 March 2016 to question UIN 32032.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made on improving the processes used by the police in relaying the overseas convictions of offenders to prosecutors in court.

    James Brokenshire

    No figures are held centrally to show the proportion of cases in which previous overseas conviction records of arrested foreign nationals were checked by the police. However, the UK is rolling out nationally a semi-automated process so that when an arrest record is created in a custody suite, an overseas criminal conviction request is prompted. The aim is to ensure that in all cases overseas criminal convictions will be obtained when a foreign national is arrested in the UK.

    In the last three years (2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16) 39,028, 60,226, and 95,156 requests respectively, were made by the police to EU Member States for previous convictions of foreign nationals under the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS), an increase of over 140% in that time. In those same years, 19,018, 34,549 and 38,890 requests respectively were made by the police to countries outside the EU for previous convictions of foreign nationals, an increase of over 100% in that time.

    No figures are held on the numbers of overseas criminal records which are subsequently passed on to the courts. However, to increase the amount of overseas criminal conviction information available to the courts, the Digital First programme, led by the National Police Chiefs Council, is working to improve the information on Digital Case Files to prompt police to ensure that overseas criminal convictions are obtained and passed on to the courts to inform criminal proceedings and sentencing.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what change there was in the amount the EU Commission proposed to make available in structural funds to Wales for the period 2014 to 2020 from the period 2007 to 2013; what steps his Department took to limit such a change; and if he will estimate the amount of such funding made available to Wales after 2020.

    Alun Cairns

    I refer my hon Friend to the letter signed by the then Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable MP, on ‘European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund: UK allocations 2014-2020’.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/307492/bis-14-772-uk-allocations-eu-structural-funds-2014-2020-letter.pdf

    The post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework has not been proposed.

    “

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many former Ministers have claimed expenses from the public purse after leaving office.

    Ben Gummer

    The Public Duties Cost Allowance is to assist former Prime Ministers with the costs of continuing to fulfil duties associated with their previous position in public life. A copy of the policy and guidance on the allowance is in the Library of the House. The costs are a reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary office costs and secretarial costs arising from their special position in public life. The allowance is not paid to support private or parliamentary duties. Civil servants are not entitled to claim this allowance.

    Current recipients of the allowance are published in the Cabinet Office Annual Reports and Accounts. Previous recipients have included Lady Thatcher; the current recipients who are former Prime Ministers are Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. I also refer the Hon. Member to my answers to him of 9 September 2016 to (UIN 44045, 44048, 44049, 44053, 44054, 44055, 44056).

    The Public Duties Cost Allowance rate is currently set at a limit of £115,000 per annum. When originally introduced, the Government stated that it would be the equivalent in amount to the Parliamentary Office Costs Allowance. I would note that that allowance is now known as the Parliamentary Staffing Allowance, determined by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and that is currently set at the rate of £148,500 per annum.”

  • Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to continue with the Troubled Families Programme in the light of the National Institute of Economics and Social Research’s recent analysis.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    At the Spending Review 2015, £720 million was allocated to fund the remaining four years of the new Troubled Families Programme (2015 – 2020). We are absolutely committed to continuing to help this group of people, to help these vulnerable families that have some of the most complex needs of people in the country. We are looking at the evidence from the evaluation of the first Troubled Families Programme (2012-2015) to see how things could be done differently, to learn from it and see if there is even more we can do to improve the lives of troubled families.

    We have already learnt lessons from the first Troubled Families Programme and reflected them in the design of the new programme. We have published an overview of the first programme (attached) which highlights the improvements that have been made: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-first-troubled-families-programme-2012-to-2015-an-overview

    “

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Prime Minister, whether he plans to attend the COP21 climate talks in Paris.

    Mr David Cameron

    I will attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Paris.

    I will meet world leaders to help lay the groundwork for an ambitious new global deal to address climate change. A global deal is the only way we can deliver the scale of action required to keep limiting the global temperature rise to below 2 degrees within reach. An ambitious agreement will help drive a global, irreversible, transformational shift to a low carbon economy which will promote innovation and drive down the costs of low carbon technology, further enabling cost effective climate action and mitigation ambition in the future. It will also help to create a more competitive, stable and transparent framework and opportunity for business and investors.

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons Dr Nahida Al Arja and four of her colleagues were denied permission to enter the UK to attend a recent academic conference on trauma.

    James Brokenshire

    In order to safeguard an individual’s personal information and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 the Home Office is limited in what information it can provide when the request is made by someone who is not the applicant. The Home Office is therefore unable to provide the information requested.

    All applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules.