Tag: Parliamentary Question

Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne Main on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions of the report from Open Doors, Freedom of Religion and the Persecution of Christians; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington

The Government is firmly committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief around the world, and to being a strong voice internationally in defence of this fundamental right. We value our close working relationship with organisations such as Open Doors and their insights from practical work around the world. We welcomed their recent report, which Baroness Anelay of St Johns, FCO Minister for Human Rights, was pleased to discuss with Open Doors on 13 January.

Our new strategic approach to human rights refocuses our work around three themes: democratic values and the rule of law; strengthening the rules-based international system; and human rights for a stable world. Our work on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is integral to all three of these themes.

We have an active programme of religious literacy training amongst staff from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and across Whitehall, including through our new Diplomatic Academy.

Multilaterally, we are working through the UN General Assembly to establish an internationally agreed set of principles for promoting tolerance through education. We also carry out project work in a range of countries, working with non-governmental organisations on issues such as promoting better understanding between faiths, bridging sectarian divides, promoting dialogue between faith groups and government and offering technical advice on amending discriminatory laws. Earlier in January, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced an uplift to £10.6 million for the 2016/17 programme, named the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy. We are encouraging strong bids for projects focused on promoting freedom of religion or belief, and promoting FoRB as one way of tackling the root causes of extremism.

January 1, 2023
Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of whether China has met all of the technical Market Economy Status criteria as set by the EU.

Anna Soubry

According to the latest assessment by the European Commission China has not met all of the technical criteria for awarding Market Economy Status. However, these criteria were designed to inform decisions in the event that the EU decided to seek to award China MES before the end of the 15 year transition period specified by China’s protocol of accession to the WTO. As the transition period ends in December, the question facing the European Commission now is a legal one about the interpretation of article 15 of China’s protocol of accession to the WTO and whether it requires that China must now be granted MES.

January 1, 2023
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 training his Department has given to the Cyprus National Guard in each of the last five years.

Penny Mordaunt

Details of training provided to the Cyprus National Guard personnel by British Forces Cyprus or wider UK Defence capabilities, incorporating joint training activities, are as follows:

May 2012 – Crisis response and joint Search and Rescue (SAR) training on Exercise ARGONAUT

May 2013 – Crisis response and joint SAR training on Exercise ARGONAUT

October 2013 – Public Order training with Sovereign Base Areas Police

May 2014 – Crisis response and joint SAR training on Exercise ARGONAUT

June 2014 – Joint SAR training with 84 Squadron RAF and the Republic of Cyprus SAR Squadron

October 2014 – Range administrative training

February 2015 – Small arms firing and range administrative training

May 2015 – Crisis response training and joint SAR training on Exercise ARGONAUT

July 2015 – Joint SAR training with 84 Sqn RAF and the Republic of Cyprus

November 2015 – Joint medical (clinical study) training

February 2016 – Joint Counter-Terrorism (CT) training on Exercise CHAMELEON

January 1, 2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of nationals from other EU member states who are on social housing waiting lists.

Brandon Lewis

The Department’s annual Local Authority’s Housing Statistics provide information on the total households on local authority waiting lists in England but do not record nationality. The Department’s English Housing Survey does ask whether respondents are on a waiting list and also records nationality. The sample size, however, is not sufficient to provide a robust estimate by nationality.

January 1, 2023
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 other migration routes or visas are available to a Tier 2 worker earning under £35,000 other than visas requiring participation in full-time education or marriage.

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
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was to process Disclosure and Barring Service checks for (a) standard and (b) enhanced disclosures between 1 January and 31 March 2016.

James Brokenshire

The average time taken to process Disclosure checks between 1 January and 31 March 2016 for (a) Standard was 6 days and (b) Enhanced was 16 days.

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 discussions she has had with officials in her Department on the potential effect of the outcome of the EU referendum on recipients of overseas development assistance currently given to (a) the European Development Fund, (b) the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department and (c) the European Investment Bank.

Rory Stewart

DFID will make an assessment of how we will work with the European Union Institutions as part of the exit negotiations and we look forward to working with all of our international partners in future to achieve the best results possible.

January 1, 2023
Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2015 to Question 14021, how many new teachers were trained in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

The latest historical information on recruitment of new initial teacher trainees can be found in the ITT Census online at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-teacher-training

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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) Army and (b) Army 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
Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health of 11 January 2016, Official Report, column 238WH, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of unsuccessful applicants for nursing training courses who met the entry criteria.

Ben Gummer

Information relating to the number and proportion of unsuccessful applicants is not collected by the Department.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service collect and publish figures on the number of applications and the number of applicants accepted by subject for full-time undergraduate courses. However this data does not provide information on how many of the unsuccessful applicants to nursing would meet the entry criteria.

The existing cap on the number of student places imposed by Health Education England means universities are limited to only offering places made available within the cap, plus a percentage above this to account for applicants offered places choosing other universities. Universities cannot accept more candidates who may meet entry criteria places as the number of places is capped.

As part of the reforms to health higher education we are abolishing this cap, enabling universities to recruit as many eligible applicants as they choose.

January 1, 2023