Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on universities of their financial liability for international students overstaying their visas.

    James Brokenshire

    There has been no assessment made as the Home Office currently places no direct financial penalties on sponsors whose students overstay their visa.

    Our system of sponsorship is based on two basic principles; those who benefit most directly from migration (including universities that bring in migrants) help to prevent the system being abused; and those applying to come to the UK to study are eligible to do so and a reputable education provider genuinely wishes to take them on. The ability to recruit international students is not an automatic right, but a privilege. It is right, therefore, that sponsors check that a student is genuine and that they intend to leave the UK, or switch into work route, once their visa has expired before offering them a place. Making sure that, at the end of their visa, students leave the UK at the end of their visa or remain here legally is just as important a part of running a fair and efficient immigration system as controlling who comes here in the first place.

    The Government has made clear our intention to use the introduction of exit checks to place more responsibility on sponsors for migrants who overstay. We are currently considering how to best deliver this commitment.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money accrued to the public purse at the time of rail privatisation from land sold by British Rail to private freight companies.

    Claire Perry

    British Rail did not sell land directly to private freight companies but transferred land to the different freight entities within its own operations in advance of the sale of the freight business. It would no longer be possible at this point to extrapolate the land value from the company value.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they agree with the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) call for Europe to resettle 108,000 refugees each year for the next five years; and whether they accept the arguments in the IRC’s situation briefing dated 24 March.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government considers the resettlement of targeted groups of refugees, particularly the most vulnerable, to be a vital part of the international response to the current migration crisis. However, we do not support the setting of binding quotas or targets by any organisation, either at European or international level. In our view national resettlement schemes, run and co-ordinated with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other partners, is the best way for each country to make its own contribution.

    We have committed to resettling 20,000 vulnerable Syrians over the lifetime of this Parliament and we saw the first 1,000 arrive before Christmas 2015. This is in addition to the other resettlement schemes that we operate, including Gateway, under which 750 refugees from all over the world are resettled each year.

    Resettlement is only one strand of the Government’s efforts. It complements our significant humanitarian aid programme, including £2.3 billion to the Syria region, and diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Syria. The Government is clear that this approach is the best way to ensure that the UK’s help has the greatest impact for the majority of refugees who remain in the region and their host countries surrounding Syria.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to work with other departments to formulate the Government’s response to the recommendation of the Energy and Climate Change Committee in its Fifth Report of Session 2015-16, on Setting the fifth carbon budget, HC 659, that effective drivers need to be put in place by Government to encourage innovation and investment for transport, buildings and agriculture.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We are currently working closely with other Government departments to determine the right approach to reducing emissions in the 2020s.

    We will publish the successor to 2011 Carbon Plan, in due course. The new plan will set out our policies and proposals for meeting the UK’s carbon budgets, and will cover all sectors of the economy, including transport, agriculture and buildings.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which exceptional circumstances applied to each grant of family reunion made outside the rules during the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office does not hold the specific information in the format requested. The questions cover a number of different casework operations and the information is not recorded centrally in a way which can be reported on directly.

    To obtain the information would involve examining individual case records and would incur disproportionate cost. We do not currently plan to change the data that is centrally recorded and published on this category of applications.

  • Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Northover on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of smoking rates in low- and middle-income countries and how those rates are predicted to evolve over the next century; and how they take such rates into account in awarding development funding.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Government recognises the significant impact of tobacco use in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).

    Tobacco use is the world’s single most preventable cause of disease and the number of tobacco users is increasing in LMICs. If current patterns of use persist, tobacco will kill about 1 billion people in the 21st Century. Evidence indicates that by 2030, over 80% of the world’s tobacco-related mortality will be in LMICs.

    Tobacco use is also a major barrier to sustainable development. A major driver of social inequities, tobacco use imposes significant social, economic and environmental harm on individuals, families and national economies.

    Given the recognised impact of tobacco on international development, the United Kingdom Government is funding a project to strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, using official development assistance funds. Through this project, we will share the UK’s experience in tobacco control to support LMICs to save lives by putting effective measures in place to stop people using tobacco.

  • Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reasons the matters within his Department’s responsibility in Schedule 1 of the draft Wales Bill have been designated as reserved.

    Joseph Johnson

    The reservations listed in Schedule 1 to the draft Wales Bill reflects the Government’s view of where the Welsh devolution boundary lies following the devolution of further powers to the Assembly provided for in the draft Bill.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many serving members of the regular Army have been transferred to the staff and personnel support branch in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    Since 2010 the numbers of trained regular officers and soldiers transferring to the Adjutant General’s Corps Staff and Personnel Support Branch, AGC(SPS), each calendar year are as follows:

    2010 – 130

    2011 – 160

    2012 – 50

    2013 – 40

    2014 – 60

    2015 to 31 October – 150

    Where there is a shortage of key personnel, the Army offers a transfer bonus which is payable to soldiers upon successful completion of the transfer into the specified trade.

    From 2010 to 2013, transfer bonus payments of £1,500 each were made to 73 soldiers who transferred into the AGC(SPS) as Military Clerks or Combat Human Resource Specialists. No payments were made from 2014 onwards. The amount spent each calendar year since 2010 is as follows:

    2010 – £52,500

    2011 – £51,000

    2012 – £3,000

    2013 – £3,000

  • Nia Griffith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Nia Griffith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the potential effect of current policy on compensation to energy-intensive industries on the steel industry in Wales.

    Stephen Crabb

    The steel industry is facing unprecedented challenges at present and I am determined to do everything I can to support the industry and those affected. I have regular discussions regarding the steel industry in Wales with ministerial colleagues including the Prime Minister,Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise.

    The Government is committed to providing compensation to Energy Intensive Industries. On 17 December, we secured state aid clearance to pay further compensation to energy intensive industries – including steel – for renewable policy costs.

    The Government has published guidance and forms for claiming compensation. The first compensation payments will be made as soon as possible after eligible companies have submitted applications and backdated to December 2015.

    As announced at Autumn Statement 2015, we are committed to transitioning from a compensation scheme to an exemption, with the aim of this being in place in 2017. Compensation will continue to be paid to the industry until the permanent exemption is in place.

    This policy will save the industry hundreds of millions of pounds and will give the steel industry all across the UK greater certainty around energy costs for the life of the parliament.

  • 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 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Immigration in the public bill committee stage of the Immigration Bill on 1 December 2015, Official Report, column 206, what the terms of reference are of the detailed analysis of the purposes of immigration detention being conducted by her Department.

    Karen Bradley

    Alongside the response to the recommendations of the Shaw review, set out in a Written Ministerial Statement on 14 January 2016, Home Office Ministers are giving further consideration to the wider requirements of the immigration detention estate.

    The analysis referred to is regarded as internal policy advice, and the Home Office does not intend to release this piece of work.