Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the reduction in businesses fined for employing illegal immigrants since 2010.

    James Brokenshire

    Since 2010 there has been a 13% increase in the number of civil penalties issued to businesses employing illegal migrant workers with 2,149 penalties issued in 2013/14 compared with 1,899 in 2010/11.An assessment of enforcement activity and operating procedures in relation to illegal working visits led to increased deployment and a renewed focus on illegal working in 2013. This resulted in 8,573 illegal working visits in 2013/14 compared with 5,441 in 2012/13. Additionally the target of issuing 2,500 Notices of Potential Liability (NOPL) for a civil penalty was exceeded with 3,562 NOPLs being issued in 2013/14 compared with 1,659 in 2012/13 equating to a 70% increase.We are committed to tackling illegal working and we are increasing our multi-agency operations to step up enforcement action against businesses. Through the Immigration Act and secondary legislations, we are getting tougher with non-compliant employers by increasing the maximum financial penalty from £10,000 to £20,000 per illegal worker; making it easier to enforce payment in the civil courts; and simplifying right-to-work checks for legitimate employers.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Prime Minister, what discussions he has had with the (a) Chairman and (b) Secretary of the Chilcot Inquiry on the publication of its report since March 2013; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Cameron

    The Iraq Inquiry is independent of government, and should be allowed to complete its work without interference.

    Neither I nor Ministers have had any discussions with or made any representations to the Inquiry. Nor have I discussed the Inquiry with President Obama.

    The Inquiry has sought the declassification of material for inclusion in its report from many thousands of documents, some of which have been or will be published. Government does not, as a rule, comment on any discussions between officials and the Inquiry.

    The Maxwellisation process is a matter for the Inquiry.

    The Government remains committed to ensuring that the Inquiry’s final report will be able to disclose all but the most sensitive information which will be determined in accordance with the protocol governing the disclosure of documentary evidence which is available through the Inquiry website.

    Timing of the delivery of the report to me is a matter for the Inquiry, but it is my hope that the Inquiry can complete its work before the end of the year. Upon publication, copies of the report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

  • Marcus Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Marcus Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marcus Jones on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department allocated to projects relating to cycling between (a) 2005 and 2010 and (b) 2010 to 2014.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    During the five financial years 2005/6 to 2009/10, the Department for Transport (DfT) provided funding for cycling through Cycling England, an arm’s length organisation set up in 2005; in that period, Cycling England received £105m from the DfT.

    During the five financial years 2010/11 to 2014/15, the DfT allocated a final £63m to Cycling England, and has allocated direct funding of £224m for cycling projects, comprising: the £94m Cycling Cities and National Parks fund, £28.5m for Links to Schools / Linking Communities, the £35m cycle safety fund, £14.5m for Cycle Rail, £4.8m to the Highways Agency and £46.8m for Bikeability. In addition, the DfT’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund is providing £540m for local authorities to prioritise sustainable transport projects, of which 28% or £151m is being allocated to cycling projects. So total investment by this government in cycling in the five financial years 2010/11 to 2014/15 is £438m.

    DfT funding for the LSTF and its Cycling Ambition, Cycle-Rail, and Linking Communities funds is often used to lever matching local contributions. When these other sources are included, spend on cycling in England is equal to £5 per person a year, whilst spend in the eight cycling ambition cities is around £10 per person a year. From 2015/16, the LSTF forms part of the Local Growth Fund, a long-term funding commitment of £2bn a year.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 15 January 2014, Official Report, column 578W, on unmanned air vehicles, whether his Department maintains munitions records from the UK Reaper fleet on a sortie-by-sortie basis or for each operation carried out.

    Mr Mark Francois

    After each UK Reaper sortie a mission report is written detailing the aircraft used and events of the flight. This includes weapon releases on a sortie-by-sortie basis.

    “

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions have been held with HM Treasury about changes in costs of administering the personal independence payment assessment process; what the outcomes of those discussions have been; and how they affect the current Spending Review benefits savings target and the proposed cap on benefit expenditure.

    Mike Penning

    The costs of administering the PIP assessment process were published in the NAO report in February 2014 and quote the current PIP business case (2013-2014)

    http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Personal-independence-payment-early-progress.pdf

    Forecast expenditure on PIP will be updated at Autumn Statement. The most recent forecasts were published by the Office for Budget Responsibility following Budget 2014.

    http://cdn.budgetresponsibility.org.uk/37839-OBR-Cm-8820-accessible-web-v2.pdf

    The Department meets regularly with HM Treasury to discuss progress on all programmes.

    “

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how High Speed 2 improve reliability and reduce overcrowding on regional links between towns and cities in the North West.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    By moving long distance passengers off the existing network, HS2 will release capacity for more regional services, reducing overcrowding and improving reliability, as well as improving connectivity. Nationally, the Economic Case for HS2 found that HS2 will deliver reliability benefits worth £5.5bn, and reduced crowding benefits of £7.5bn, which includes benefits to regional services in the North West.

    In response to recommendations made by Sir David Higgins, HS2 Ltd and Network Rail have been commissioned to consider what further improvements can be made to centre to city centre connectivity, east-west links and local connectivity in the Midlands and the North, with a final report on options in 2015.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s capacity to discharge its statutory duties to survey and inspect (a) domestic and (b) international shipping.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)’s current business plan has an operational priority (OP) entitled: “OP2 – Ensuring our ship survey, inspection and certification capability, and the parallel work in relation to seafarers, meets our domestic and international obligations”. Progress against this operational priority is monitored on a monthly basis by the MCA Executive Board using a balanced score card system. By this method the MCA is able to assess its capacity to discharge its statutory Survey and Inspection duties.

    The MCA monitors its capacity to discharge its statutory duties to survey and inspect (a) domestic (Flag State responsibility) and (b) international (Port State responsibility) shipping through a system of activity monitoring. Performance against these Survey and Inspection activities feed into the Balanced Score Card for OP2.

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Sudan about policies involving the death sentence for women who change their religion.

    Baroness Warsi

    I am appalled at the death sentence given to Meriam Ibrahim, and her continued imprisonment. Immediately following her trial, the Minister for Africa, my Hon. Friend, the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mr Simmonds), issued a statement describing her conviction as barbaric and calling upon the Government of Sudan to respect the right to freedom of religion and international human rights laws as enshrined in its own constitution. The Chargé d’Affaires of the Sudanese Embassy in London was summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 19 May at the request of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague). The Parliamentary-Under Secretary of State at the Department for International Development, my Hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Ms Featherstone), reiterated our demand with the Sudanese Foreign Minister when she met him on 20 May. Our Embassy in Khartoum attended Meriam Ibrahim’s trial, continues to press the Sudanese authorities for her release and is in close contact with her defence team.

    The UK opposes the death sentence in all circumstances. We are calling on the Sudanese government to undertake a comprehensive review of its penal code to ensure its laws reflect both its constitution and international human rights obligations, and the values and compassion of the Sudanese people.

  • The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in securing a deal on the European Union’s 2030 climate change reduction package, in advance of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in September.

    Baroness Verma

    The European Council in March 2014 discussed the 2030 climate and energy framework and agreed to make a final decision on the Framework no later than October this year.

    The UK believes that the EU should urgently adopt a domestic emissions reduction target for 2030 of at least 40% on 1990 levels, moving to 50% in the context of an ambitious global climate agreement.

    I am determined to continue working closely and intensively with all my colleagues in Europe to ensure that the EU is in a position to play a leading role at the Ban Ki-Moon Climate Summit in September.

  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total annual cost to the European Union institutions of (1) translating documents, speeches and other texts, and (2) simultaneous interpretation in all member languages; and what is their estimate of the saving if that service were limited to the six most used languages.

    Baroness Warsi

    Each European Union Institution is responsible for its own translation and interpretation systems and costs. The Annual Budget 2014 has €388 million payments allocated to “language services” for the European Commission.