Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24112, if he will make an assessment of whether there have been contraventions of the (a) 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict and (b) 1972 World Heritage Convention during the conflict in Yemen.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    We remain concerned about any damage to cultural property in Yemen and are aware of reports of alleged damage by actors in the conflict. Yemen and many members of the Saudi-led coalition are parties to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict and to the 1972 World Heritage Convention. We have raised our concerns regarding protection of cultural property with both the government of Yemen and the Saudi Arabian government.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many consultants’ contracts were terminated early in each of the last six years for which figures are available; and what the cost of each such termination was in each of those years.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answers of 25 February 2016 to Questions 27493 and 27494, and with reference to Article 29 of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, what the evidential basis is for the Government’s conclusion that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership does not automatically apply to British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government’s position, set out in the answers to Questions 27493 and 27494, is based on the wording of the treaties (Article 52 of the Treaty on European Union, Article 355 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the 1972 Treaty of Accession of Denmark, Ireland and the UK to the European Economic Community) and the longstanding practice of the UK.

    Article 29 of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is not relevant to the status of British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. Article 29 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties provides that “Unless a different intention appears from the treaty or is otherwise established, a treaty is binding upon each party in respect of its entire territory.” The British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies are not part of the UK, and the UK has consistently adopted the position that treaties made by the UK do not extend to British Overseas Territories or the Crown Dependencies, unless this is done expressly. The first expression of this position was set out in the “Bevin Despatch” (Foreign Office Circular 118, 16 October 1950).

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answers of 7 April 2014 to Questions 194734 to 194737, what checks were made on the provenance of the funds used to purchase Brompton Road underground station.

    Mark Lancaster

    In accordance with normal practice the independent marketing agents analysed the leading bids and bidders. Mr Firtash was regarded as a high net worth individual capable of meeting the contractual obligations.

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) took a 10% deposit (over £5 million) on exchange of contracts and later a legal charge at completion to secure payment obligations. In addition, all funds were paid to the MOD through UK regulated solicitors, in accordance with normal practice, to ensure that appropriate financial checks were made on their client.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fully-trained staff are based at the National Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham.

    Mr John Hayes

    Her Majesty’s Coastguard currently have a total of 58 staff who are qualified Coastguards at the National Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham. There are an additional 12 staff who are communication/systems trained, but awaiting to complete their final training and assessments, who are able to undertake watchkeeping tasks commensurate with their training.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the level of financial protection available to investors in mini-bonds not covered under the financial services compensation scheme.

    Simon Kirby

    The government is committed to regulating only where there is a clear case for doing so, in order to avoid putting additional costs on lenders that would ultimately lead to higher costs for businesses and consumers.

    The marketing and promotion of mini-bonds is subject to financial promotion restrictions set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA). Firms that fail to meet any of these requirements may be subject to enforcement action by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Syrian refugees arrived in the UK through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme in October 2015.

    Richard Harrington

    The refugees that we are bringing to the United Kingdom are very vulnerable people. Our prime concern is their safety and protection as they arrive in this country. We believe that one way to protect their privacy and ensure their recovery and integration is to limit the amount of information about them that we make publicly available. We want to ensure the understandable public interest in the scheme is not based on a running commentary on the numbers that have arrived.

    Notwithstanding this the Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Of-ficial Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 26 November 2015 and will cover the period July-September 2015. These numbers will be updated each quarter.

  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many literacy courses were enrolled on by offenders assessed as having a literacy need in each year since 2010.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The number of offender learners participating in English courses for all academic years where data are available is shown in Table 1. A separate breakdown identifying learners who participated on an English course after being assessed as having a literacy need is not available.

    Table 1: Offender Learner Participation in English (2010/11 and 2013/14)

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    23,980

    25,220

    22,620

    26,080

    Notes

    1) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10.

    Mandatory English and maths assessments for newly-received prisoners (except individuals who have been assessed recently, and those who already have maths and English at Level 2) were introduced from academic year 2014/15. The outcomes for the English education assessments in 2014/15 are published online at the FE Data Library (link below) and attached.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473764/feandskills-OLASS-participation-english-and-maths-assessments.xls

    “

  • 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 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of recipients of their first universal credit payment received an advance payment of that credit in 2015.

    Priti Patel

    The information you have requested is not currently available.

    During 2016 we will be increasing the range of statistics on Universal Credit which will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the HSBC Board on its practice of (a) refusing and (b) withdrawing bank accounts from UK citizens who it identifies as being politically exposed persons; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Under the UK’s Money Laundering Regulations 2007, the meaning of a politically exposed person does not include an individual who is or has been entrusted with a prominent public function by the UK. The Fourth Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, makes no distinction between the prominent functions by the UK and third countries. However, the Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. We will be setting out this view in our consultation which will be published shortly.

    This change should not prevent any Member of this House, or any other individual in this category, from gaining or maintaining a UK bank account. I regularly raise these issues with banks and the regulator and we encourage the banks to implement these measures domestically in the most risk-based manner possible.