Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of potential increases to the port usage of Heysham after the new Heysham M6 link road is completed; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    None. As this is a local road and not part of the Strategic Road Network, the assessment was carried out by Lancashire County Council. However, the scheme will certainly improve access to the Port and improve accessibility for related local businesses.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provision is made for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems in the system for testing applicants for UK citizenship.

    James Brokenshire

    The Secretary of State may waive the Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK requirement for British citizenship on the basis of a person’s age, physical or mental condition.

    A person will normally be exempted from this requirement if they provide evidence from an appropriate medical practitioner that their condition is so severe that it prevents them from being able to learn English or prepare for or sit an English test or the Life in the UK test. Each application is considered on its own merits.

    Information cannot be obtained from UKVI data systems to show how many exemption requests were made and granted. This information could only be obtained from looking at individual records at disproportionate cost.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the progress of the programme to re-paint the red doors of properties used to house asylum seekers on Teesside.

    James Brokenshire

    The provision of accommodation for asylum seekers is provided under the COMPASS contracts. It is the responsibility of all of the suppliers to ensure that all accommodation used meets the required contractual standard and complies with the Decent Homes Standards. The accommodation should be safe, habitable and fit for purpose. The COMPASS providers are required to inspect properties each month and UKVI’s contract compliance teams reinforce this by visiting properties regularly.

    The Home Office expects the highest standards and where a contractor is found to be falling short of these standards we work with them to ensure that issues are quickly addressed.

    Earlier this year, we instructed our supplier (G4S) to repaint the doors of G4S and Jomast managed properties to ensure that no one colour is predominant. I have received confirmation from the Provider that this had been completed, UKVI staff have also confirmed that no one colour is predominant as they have visited properties as part of their inspection regime.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many companies that provide patient transport services within the NHS have gone bankrupt or into administration while providing that service in each of the last five years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Department does not hold this information.

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

    Mr David Jones

    Consistent with Managing Public Money principles, the Department for Exiting the European Union will ensure its purchasing policies represent value for money, are compliant with legal and international obligations, and follow Government policies and standards on public procurement.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the call by the European Commission as part of the EU enlargement strategy for Turkey to lift media restrictions to improve respect for human rights and the rule of law, and to re-start comprehensive peace negotiations with Kurdish militants and constitutional nationalists.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We welcome the Commission’s EU enlargement strategy, which commends Turkey’s considerable efforts on refugees and recognises the progress Turkey has made in recent years. The strategy also highlights where Turkey needs to do more to meet EU standards through continuing reform, particularly in the areas of fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, and rule of law. As we have made clear, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) needs to cease its attacks and we fully support a resumption of peace talks. The UK stands ready to help in any way it can.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what basis Action Fraud determines which reported frauds to pursue for investigation; and whether the amount defrauded influences such decisions.

    Mike Penning

    Action Fraud is the national reporting point for fraud and also cyber crime. Crime reports received by Action Fraud are considered by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), both of which are operated by the City of London Police. Neither Action Fraud nor the NFIB are investigatory agencies. Crime reports are evaluated to assess the information available which could assist an investigation, and to identify links between seemingly unconnected incidents. Where there is enough evidence available and a viable lead, actionable intelligence packages are created by the NFIB and are sent to the appropriate police force to consider whether enforcement activity should take place. All crime reports are assessed against a number of variables, which may alter according to demand. It would be improper to comment on the procedure on which these decisions are made in the public domain.

    Action Fraud was rolled out to all police forces in April 2013; the data below includes crime reports and disseminations in England and Wales only. For the 12 months to 31 March 2015, Action Fraud received 230,399 reports of crime. Of these, 14,509 were cyber dependent crimes, namely, crimes which can only be committed using computers, computer networks or other forms of information communication technology – for example, hacking or malware offences. These crimes fall under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. For this period, the NFIB disseminated a total of 61,682 crimes to Forces and partner agencies to consider investigation. For the period April 2013 – March 2014 Action Fraud received 211,221 crime reports and of these, 21,686 were cyber dependent. For this period, the NFIB disseminated a total of 39,138 crimes to Forces and partner agencies to consider investigation.

    Historically the Action Fraud capability came into life in 2009 and was funded by the National Fraud Authority (NFA), which has since been closed, a proportion of the NFA’s total budget was used to fund the Action Fraud Capability and is as follows:

    • 2009/10 £5.7 million including a £1.4 million uplift to set up the service

    • 2010/11 £4.9 million

    • 2011/12 £6.68 million

    • 2012/13 £9.4 million

    Since the closure of the NFA in March 2014 Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau have been funded by Home Office funding, Cabinet Office funding for Cyber Security and funding from the City of London Police core grant, and is as follows:

    • 2013/14 £11.11 million

    • 2014/15 £10.62 million

    • 2015/16 £11.03 million

  • Lord Wallace of Saltaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how often between 1 January 2010 and 1 January 2016 requests for diplomatic status or immunity were refused, and on what grounds.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    A small number of requests for diplomatic status or immunity from members of the public have been received by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and subsequently refused. However, statistics and details are not recorded centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. It is incumbent on the sending State to inform the FCO of the appointment of staff, including diplomats, to any of its missions in the UK. The FCO is not required to give explicit consent to such appointments, except in the case of heads of mission and military, naval and air attaches.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 25993, whether his Department had a Cycling Health sub-group.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department had a Cycle Stakeholder Forum, established from 2011 – 2014, which had some sub-groups including a group on cycle health, chaired by the Department of Health. The sub-group was disbanded when the Cycle Stakeholder Forum was dissolved.

  • David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Davis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the methodology and data sources set out in his Department’s paper, Benefit claims by EEA nationals, published in November 2015, how many individuals are recorded in government computer systems who were nationals of an EEA member country, other than the UK at time of registration for a National Insurance number and are recorded as having arrived in 2004-05 using the earlier of (a) arrival date or (b) NINO registration date and have either (i) paid National Insurance contributions over the previous year, (ii) paid PAYE income tax over the previous year, (iii) registered any other form of activity in the relevant systems, including payments of other tax or tax in respect of self-employment or (iv) claimed benefits or tax credits over the previous year and these; and how many such people (A) claimed benefits or tax credits only and (B) paid NI or PAYE or self-assessment tax only in each year from 2004-05 to 2014-15.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.