Tag: Parliamentary Question

Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to enforce the new £35,000 settlement threshold for Tier 2 skilled workers.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. The impact assessment is available on the gov.uk website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf.

Alternative routes available for Tier 2 workers unable to meet the minimum earnings threshold would depend on their individual circumstances. For the most part, economic migrants who wish to change their basis of stay in the UK are expected to leave and re-apply for an alternative visa from their home country. However, in-country switching is permitted in some categories, for example into Tier 1 routes aimed at high value migrants.

Tier 2 migrants who apply for settlement and do not meet the requirements will be refused. Those who do not qualify for an alternative route and have reached the maximum period of limited leave allowed under Tier 2 should make plans to leave the United Kingdom. Any migrant who has over stayed the validity of their visa or otherwise failed to regularise their stay in the UK may be removed if they refuse or fail to leave of their own volition. They may also be liable to prosecution under the Immigration Act 1971.

January 1, 2023

Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 14 June 2016, Official Report, column 1617, on EU Prisoner Transfer Directive, to which EU member states the 102 prisoners transferred from England and Wales under the EU prisoner transfer agreement have been transferred.

Andrew Selous

The information requested is provided in the table below.

MEMBER STATE TO WHICH TRANSFER HAS TAKEN PLACE	NUMBER OF PRISONERS TRANSFERRED
Belgium	7
Czech Republic	4
Denmark	1
Italy	3
Latvia	5
Lithuania	1
Netherlands	44
Poland	3
Romania	15
Slovakia	13
Spain	5
Malta	1

January 1, 2023

Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of which policy areas in her Department will be affected by the UK vote to leave the EU.

Rory Stewart

The vast majority of DFID’s work is not done via the EU. We remain committed to spending 0.7% of our national income on development assistance, and to achieving the UN’s Global Goals and ending extreme poverty by 2030. We will continue to help countries in the developing world leave aid dependency behind to become our trading partners of the future.

January 1, 2023
Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of additional teachers that will be needed to accommodate the predicted population rise over the next 25 years; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education uses the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) to estimate the demand for qualified teachers in active service within state-funded schools in England each year using a range of assumptions including projections for the numbers of pupils in schools. The TSM then estimates the number of postgraduate Initial Teacher Training (ITT) places required in England to meet this demand, given the number of entrants expected through routes other than the Newly Qualified Teacher route; for example through returning to teaching.

The TSM estimates the number of postgraduate training places required one year in advance and is updated each year to take account of the most up-to-date data – for example, the population projections published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) – which means our estimates change each year. As with any long-term forecast, the further into the future the forecast the more uncertain the estimates become. For this reason, the department does not produce 25 year forecasts of teacher demand. The forecast period of the current TSM provides the department with estimates of the broad trend in likely future demand for teachers which is sufficient for our policy development needs.

The 2016/17 version of the TSM, which was used to inform the 2016/17 ITT recruitment process, along with a user guide explaining the methodology in detail, is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-supply-model.

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January 1, 2023
Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s planned expenditure is on television recruitment campaigns for the (a) Royal Air Force and (b) Royal Air Force Reserve in (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17, (iii) 2017-18, (iv) 2018-19 and (v) 2019-20.

Penny Mordaunt

The expenditure, or planned expenditure, of each Service on television recruitment campaigns in Financial Year (FY) 2015-16 is as follows:

Naval Service – planned expenditure has not been finalised but is currently forecast to be £4.3 million for Regular personnel and £0.72 million for Reserves.

Army – planned expenditure is £0.94 million for Regular personnel and £0.65 million for Reserves.

Royal Air Force (RAF) – planned expenditure has not been finalised but is currently forecast to be £3.46 million. It is not possible to differentiate between Regular and Reserve spend as the majority of RAF advertisements are targeted towards both cadres.

Plans for expenditure in FY 2016-17 and onwards have not been finalised.

January 1, 2023
Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects to respond to the letter of 27 October 2015 from the hon. Member for Leeds North West about the It’s Personal campaign.

Jane Ellison

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State responded to the hon. Member’s letter of 27 October 2015 on 24 November 2015.

January 1, 2023
Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department plans to provide Transport for London (TfL) with Bus Service Operators Grant funding when the general grant paid to TfL is removed from 2018.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department has no intention of doing this. In addition to the grants provided by the Department for Transport, TfL receives around £800 million a year of funding through the Business Rate Retention Scheme, in which the Greater London Authority passes TfL an agreed share of locally retained business rates. This funding stream has, since 2013, included an amount to reflect the changes to the payment of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) that were introduced in that year. TfL will continue to receive this funding from 2018 onwards, alongside the investment grant provided by the Department.

January 1, 2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect the diversity of wildlife in Forestry Commission land.

Rory Stewart

We are committed to keeping the Public Forest Estate in England in trust for the nation and for it to continue to be sustainably managed. The entire Public Forest Estate is independently certified as sustainably managed to the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS). A key element of this certification standard is the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity.

The Forestry Commission continues to maintain a high performance in the management of the 68,000 hectares of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) under its stewardship, increasing the area in favourable condition year on year. Overall 99.5% of these SSSIs by area are in favourable or recovering condition. It also supports a comprehensive range of species conservation projects, including the freshwater pearl mussel, rare birds of prey, woodland and heathland insects and the recovery of species such as the chequered skipper, ladybird spider and pool frog.

January 1, 2023
David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that like-for-like replacements are provided in the same local authority area for (a) properties sold under the Right to Buy scheme and (b) properties sold to fund the discounted sale of properties sold under the Right to Buy scheme.

Brandon Lewis

The voluntary Right to Buy agreement with the National Housing Federation states that housing associations will have the flexibility to replace nationally.

The 2012 Reinvigorated Right to Buy scheme introduced for the first time ever, a requirement to provide a new affordable home for every additional sale nationally. There is a rolling 3 year deadline for local authorities to deliver additional affordable homes through new build or acquisition under the reinvigorated Right to Buy, and so far they have delivered well within sales profile.

The Government is committed to using a portion of every receipt from our value vacant housing policy to fund the building of additional homes. The Housing and Planning Bill currently going through Parliament allows the Secretary of State and a local authority to enter into an agreement for the local authority to retain part of its receipts from the policy to lead on the delivery of more homes that meet housing need. Recognising London’s particular housing need, where these agreements are with a local authority in London, every empty dwelling assumed sold will be replaced by at least two new affordable homes.

January 1, 2023
Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on potential mitigation measures for women that have witnessed an increase in their pensionable age.

Justin Tomlinson

The Secretary of State is in regular contact with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a range of pensions issues.

The State Pension age changes, which were made to put pensions on a more financially sustainable footing given increases in life expectancy, were fully debated and voted on when the legislation was before Parliament.

During the Pensions Act 2011 a concession, worth £1.1 billion, was introduced to limit the impact of the rising State Pension age on those women most affected. These transitional arrangements capped the maximum delay at 18 months rather than two years, relative to the previous timetable.

Unwinding any of these changes means asking young people to assume more of the cost, and after they’ve already borne their fair share of the tough decisions made last Parliament to bring Government spending under control.

Therefore, the Secretary of State is clear that there are no plans to bring forward further concessions or changes.

January 1, 2023