The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with their foreign counterparts on the EU referendum.
Mr David Lidington
Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers and officials regularly engage with their foreign counterparts to communicate HM Government’s position on the EU referendum.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in working with Chief Police Officers to tackle cybercrime.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Home Office continues to work closely with police forces to ensure that we are best placed to tackle the threat posed by cyber crime.
Through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP), we invested over £90 million during the last Parliament to bolster the law enforcement response.
As the Chancellor announced in November, this Government has committed to spending £1.9 billion on cyber security over the next five years, including for tackling cyber crime.
The Home Office is also supporting the work led by Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh, the National Policing Lead for Digital Investigation and Intelligence (DII), to build capabilities to combat the full range of digital crime types. In addition we are providing funding through the Police Transformation Fund to support police led programmes to provide a step-change in digital capability.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-06-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials are employed in (a) his Department’s London offices and (b) the UK’s global diplomatic network work on climate security.
James Duddridge
As of January 2016 149 full-time equivalent staff resource was spent on our Climate Change/Low Carbon Economy/Energy Security work across our network of 268 offices in 168 countries. Of these, 72 staff were working full-time on Climate Change and Energy issues.
As of June 2016 nine full-time equivalent staff in London work directly on climate change issues.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office allocation of resource is kept under regular review as staff and local priorities change, so there is a quite regular flux in numbers and locations. For example, in the run up to COP21, there was an increase in Ministerial and network engagement related to the Paris negotiations, to build support for a successful agreement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-09-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what psychological support the Government is providing to lone children in Europe.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The responsibility for unaccompanied children in Europe lies with the Member State in which they are present. The UK can only contribute in ways agreed with the authorities in the relevant Member State and in compliance with EU law.
The UK has established a £10 million Refugee Children Fund for Europe to support the needs of vulnerable refugee and migrant children arriving in Europe. The fund includes targeted support to meet the specific needs of un-accompanied and separated children. Support will include identifying children in need, providing safe places for at risk children and services such as coun-selling and legal advice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on recipients of the expiry of the Small Business Rate Relief scheme at the end of March 2016; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Government is continuing to consider representations, which included business rates reliefs, to inform decisions on reform of the business rates system. The Government has confirmed the review will conclude by the end of the year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-12-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he will respond to the submissions to his Department’s consultation, Parking reform: tackling unfair practices, of March 2015.
Mr Marcus Jones
We are currently analysing responses to the discussion paper ‘Parking reform: tackling unfair practices’ issued earlier this year. The suggestion to establish a standards setting body with a code of practice and an appeals service for all accredited trade associations for the management of parking on private land was made in some responses, and we are actively considering this point as part of our wider work on parking. We will publish our response to the discussion paper in the New Year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Suttie on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current procedures for processing official documents of homeless people wishing to return to their country of origin, and whether they have plans to improve those procedures.
Lord Bates
Immigration Enforcement works closely with homeless charities conducting activity across the country often encountering EU or foreign nationals who are homeless. Any individual that wishes to return home can be assisted either by the charity or Immigration Enforcement to obtain a travel document, liaising with embassies and high commissions if necessary to obtain a document quickly. Immigration Enforcement can also issue a European Union letter if an individual wishes to travel to their home country within the EU.
In addition, the Home Office Voluntary Departures Service provides support to those with identified vulnerability who wish to make a voluntary return. The support available depends on the unique circumstances of each individual but may include help with travel, transfers, medical support and help to reintegrate in the country of return.
The Department is constantly reviewing its processes to further improve its engagement with partners.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-09.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the press release of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills of 5 February 2016, entitled New National Minimum Wage offenders named and shamed, for what reasons HM Revenue and Customs did not seek to prosecute Total Security Services Limited for non-payment of minimum wage arrears.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs cannot comment on the affairs of individual employers. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills set out how the Government operates civil and criminal enforcement of National Minimum Wage, which can be accessed by the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/enforcing-national-minimum-wage-law
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that more prisoners obtain employment on release.
Andrew Selous
Supporting offenders into meaningful employment is a vital aspect of the Government’s approach to rehabilitation. We already work with a wide range of employers in prison through One3One Solutions and engagement by Prison Governors. And we want Governors to do more so we are putting the tools to drive this change in the hands of those at the frontline who best know what works. We are keen to increase the number of employers who can provide valuable vocational work for offenders while in prison and who are able to offer them support in preparation for release and employment opportunities following their release. I regularly meet businesses across the country including at 2 successful roadshows at HMP Sudbury and HMP/YOI Drake hall. New businesses are now coming on board as a consequence. The Employers Forum for Reducing Reoffending brings together employers willing to employ offenders and we are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to increase the involvement of more businesses. The Prime Minister has announced changes to recruitment practises across the civil service to ensure that people are considered on their merits and not on their criminal conviction and we want to encourage more employers to do the same.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received on the involvement in human rights abuses of police officers from the United Arab Emirates who have been trained by UK police officers.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not received any representations on the involvement in human rights abuses of police officers from the United Arab Emirates who have been trained by UK police officers. If we have concerns about alleged abuses we would make these clear to the Emirati authorities, as part of our broader strategic engagement.