Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy not to issue any future deportation notices to foreign-born doctors currently working in the NHS.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Doctors from overseas seeking to remain in the UK are expected to meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules in the same way as any other migrant.

    Should they fail to qualify to remain in the UK under the Immigration Rules they will be expected to leave the UK voluntarily but should they fail to do so then steps may be taken to enforce their departure.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK personnel have served in UN peacekeeping missions in each of the last 10 years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Over the past 10 years, UK military personnel have been deployed to a number of UN mandated peacekeeping missions including: Cyprus (UNFICYP), Mali (MINUSMA), South Sudan (UNMISS), Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), Liberia (UNMIL), Dafur (UNAMID), UNAMI (IRAQ), UNIOSIL (Sierra Leone), UNMIK (Kosovo), UNOMIG (Georgia), UNMIN (Nepal), UNAMA (Afghanistan), UNSOM (Somalia) and UNSMIL (Libya/Tunisia).

    The number of military personnel who have deployed on the various UN operations is set out below:

    2006*

    2007*

    2008*

    2009*

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015**

    Total number of UK personnel deployed per year

    295

    290

    301

    293

    279

    276

    280

    278

    285

    287

    * The details supplied are correct as of 31 January each year.

    ** Correct as of 10 November 2015.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which suppliers will accept rural satellite broadband vouchers.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Four suppliers are currently providing access to satellite broadband through the government’s subsidy scheme: Avonline, Corsat, Digiweb, and Primetech. Further suppliers are in the process of seeking to join the scheme.

  • 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 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2016 to Question 21464, what progress his Department has made on looking into reports of Saudi Arabia bombing the Iranian Embassy in Sana’a; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    From the evidence we have seen, it does not appear that a Saudi airstrike hit the Iranian Embassy in Sana’a. We continue to urge calm and are speaking with all sides to de-escalate tensions in regional affairs.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 23906, if the Government will make it its policy to provide formal advice to banks or building societies offering second charge mortgages in territories outside the UK which are illegal under international law on potential financial risks of such products.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government has no plans to provide formal advice to banks or building societies offering second charge mortgages in territories outside the UK.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to upgrade the (a) welfare services and (b) leisure facilities at the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus; and what the timetable is for each such upgrade.

    Mark Lancaster

    Within the military areas of the Sovereign Base Areas there are a variety of welfare and leisure facilities provided as part of the overall estate, ranging from swimming pools to bars and shopping facilities. The continued development of the Cyprus estate is being planned as part of Project Apollo, which will seek to ensure a sustainable future estate over the next 10-15 years. For those deployed on Operation SHADER in Cyprus, a deployed welfare package is available and includes Wi-Fi, social areas, gymnasium equipment and pre-paid telephone calls home. Leisure facilities are delivered as part of Soft Facilities Management contract with Sodexho, who in concert with the Ministry of Defence, provides many of the outlets for personnel to relax when off duty.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many cases have been received by the Housing Ombudsman in each year since 2009-10.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Housing Ombudsman is an independent body whose objective it is to resolve disputes involving tenants and leaseholders of social landlords and their voluntary members.

    The levels of complaints and enquiries have increased year on year since 2006 and there was a 64% increase between 2012-13 and 2014-15, which is due to an extension of The Housing Ombudsman’s remit to cover local housing authorities. The total number of enquiries and complaints received by the Housing Ombudsman are provided in the table below:

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    8,360

    8,643

    9,010

    9,958

    12,782

    16,337

    15,984

    The majority of these cases are resolved informally but the following table shows the number of formal determinations made by the Housing Ombudsman each year.

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    Within jurisdiction

    458

    559

    501

    543

    520

    579

    976

    Outside jurisdiction

    108

    73

    104

    100

    160

    240

    125

    Total

    566

    632

    605

    643

    680

    819

    1101
  • Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of forced marriage the police investigated in England as that offence in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

    Karen Bradley

    We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice will not be tolerated in the UK.

    The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) (a joint FCO and Home Office Unit) leads the Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. It carries out a range of awareness raising work, including a comprehensive programme of outreach, new e-learning for professionals, and the launch of short film aimed at deterring potential perpetrators. For the financial years 2014-16, the Home Office has allocated £200,000 to the FMU.

    Statistics on the number of cases of forced marriage investigated by the police are not collected centrally. The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) most recent violence against women and girls report shows that the volume of referrals from the police to the CPS with a forced marriage element is going up: from 67 in 2013-14, to 82 in 2014-15. In addition, to date over 1,000 Forced Marriage Protection Orders have been issued to prevent marriages from taking place and to assist in repatriating victims.

    We are encouraged by the first conviction secured in June last year, but there is still work to be done. We want to see more victims having the confidence to come forward and being identified by the police. As part of the wider work to improve the police response to so-called ‘honour’ based violence, we will continue to work with the partners to review the implementation of the new legislation and lead efforts to tackle this barbaric crime.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, whether any pedestrian entry points to the Parliamentary Estate are restricted to particular categories of passholder, and if so what those restrictions are at each point.

    Tom Brake

    The main Parliamentary Estate has the following pedestrian entrances available to passholders (see exceptions to this below):

    House of Commons

    • Canon Row/Derby Gate
    • 1 Parliament Street
    • Carriage Gates Turnstiles
    • Subway – Westminster Tube
    • Cromwell Green Visitor Entrance
    • St Stephen’s Entrance
    • Portcullis House
    • 53 Parliament Street


    House of Lords

    • Black Rod’s Garden
    • Chancellor’s Gate
    • Peers’ Entrance – By convention and practice, only Peers and their spouses or partners are allowed to use this entrance. Members of the House of Lords are allowed to invite up to six guests in via this route unless dispensation to bring in more is given by Black Rod. Guests must be booked in by name before they are allowed access.

    Pedestrian entry points to outbuildings which form part of the Parliamentary Estate are not restricted to particular categories of passholder.

    Holders of the following passes have restricted access to certain pedestrian entrances on the Estate:

    • Former Member Passes – Subway, St Stephen’s, Portcullis House entrances only
    • House of Commons Nursery Passes – 1 Parliament Street entrance only
    • Westminster Gym Passes – Derby Gate entrance only
    • MEP Passes – MEPs are only able to access the House of Lords via Black Rod’s Garden entrance and can only use readers within the House of Lords.
  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    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, how many full-time equivalent officials in her Department have been seconded to the Department for Exiting the European Union; and what the grades are of those officials.

    Rory Stewart

    One member of DFID staff has taken up a Grade 6 role within the Department for Exiting the European Union on a loan basis. We expect that several DFID staff will be strong candidates for other roles in the new Department currently being advertised.