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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the target for new recruits to the Royal Navy Reserve has been met in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Maritime Reserve (MR) is a vital component of the Naval Service’s capability and consists of the Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Marines Reserve.

    Centrally held data for the MR recruitment targets does not go back 10 years. Since the Future Reserve 2020 Programme was established in July 2012 the MR have achieved their targets each year.

  • Simon Hart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Simon Hart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Hart on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the target timescale is for people leaving prison from application to receipt for universal credit; and how many and what proportion of applications take longer than that timescale.

    Priti Patel

    Prisoners are supported and advised whilst in prison on which benefits they can claim and how to make a claim and we are developing arrangements to enable them to make advance claims to Universal Credit.

    Appropriate support measures for prison leavers with mental health issues will be considered following the initial claim interview.

    Universal Credit is assessed and paid calendar monthly in arrears. Prison leavers will receive payment within the timescale of 5 weeks from the date of claim.

    Prison leavers who are in financial need can apply for an advance payment of up to 50% of their total Universal Credit award following their initial interview.

    The information requested in relation to the timescales for applications is not readily available for publication. To quality assure this information according to the standards of the UK Statistics Authority would incur disproportionate costs.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 31677, what the penalties are for an employer who has issued a Certificate of Sponsorship but does not adhere to the stated job description and salary.

    Mike Penning

    Guidance for sponsors specifies that UKVI will revoke the licence of a sponsor who has issued a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) but has not adhered to the specified job description and/or salary. However, prior to the consideration of revocation action, UKVI will suspend the licence and allow the sponsor the opportunity to make representations against the matter(s) identified. UKVI does have residual discretion to apply a lesser sanctions depending on the severity of the matter(s) and the mitigating circumstances presented by the sponsor; these sanctions include downgrading the licence rating and issuing a time limited action plan or reducing the sponsor’s CoS allocation or setting the allocation to zero.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many public libraries have closed since 2010; how many are currently under threat of closure; and what action they are taking to ensure that public libraries are maintained as a statutory service and to promote improvement of the public library service.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Department for Culture, Media and Sport monitors closely proposed changes to library service provision throughout England. The Department does not maintain detail on the number of public libraries under review by local authorities, but based on desk research we estimate that from January 2010 to January 2016 approximately 110 static public libraries in England closed completely.

    Public libraries are funded and run by local authorities and it is a matter for local authorities to determine how best to provide a comprehensive and efficient public library service to their local community, within available resources.

    My Department, together with the Local Government Association, has set up a Leadership for Libraries Taskforce to help public libraries in England build on good practice and add value for the communities they serve. The Taskforce is currently consulting on the attached document at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/libraries-deliver-ambition-for-public-libraries-in-england-2016-2021 which sets out the ambition for public libraries in the future. Furthermore, thanks to Government funding, free Wi-Fi is available to 99% of public libraries in England.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-06-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial support has been offered to the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance in addition to the support given over the Right Chair, Right Time, Right Now campaign and charter.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Minister for Community and Social Care (Alistair Burt), together with the Minister for Disabled People (Justin Tomlinson) recently met with Baroness Grey-Thompson, Chair of the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance, and NHS England to discuss what action could be taken to improve wheelchair services. This includes NHS England discussing the focus and content of a model service specification for wheelchairs with the Alliance.

    NHS England made available a further £10,000 to the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance for support during 2015/16.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has undertaken of the level of need to transfer European Court of Justice rulings into legislation to ensure their continued application in Britain after the UK leaves the EU.

    Mr Robin Walker

    The UK remains a member of the EU until our withdrawal is completed. We will exercise our rights and meet our obligations as a member of the EU accordingly. Under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, the arrangements relating to the UK’s withdrawal are to be made between the UK and the EU.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to speed up family reunification in the UK for unaccompanied refugee children currently in Europe.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Under the Immigration Act 2016, we made a commitment to transfer unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK, where it is in their best interests. Between 12 May and 1 October 2016 over 50 children who meet the criteria in the Immigration Act have been accepted for transfer, over 35 have already been transferred.

    We are fully committed to the implementation of Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016. We are in active discussions with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNICEF, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the French, Italian and Greek Governments to strengthen and speed up mechanisms to identify, assess and transfer children to the UK. We have secondees in Greece and Italy and we have recently seconded another UK expert to France.

    On 10 October, the Home Secretary met with French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to discuss a range of issues, including the proposed clearance of the camp in Calais. The Home Secretary made clear that we will transfer as many minors as possible who have family links that would qualify under the Dublin Regulation before the camp clearance starts. The Home Secretary further emphasised that the remaining children, who may be eligible to come to the UK under the Dubs amendment must be moved to safe facilities where their best interests can be properly considered. Home Office teams are being deployed to France over the coming weeks to work with the French authorities to speed up the identification and transfer of eligible cases.

    More broadly, the family reunion provisions under the Immigration Rules allow children to be reunited with a parent who has been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK; unless the applicant and/or the family member should be excluded from protection or criminality thresholds apply.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what provisions her Department has made for (a) child and adolescent friendly spaces and (b) other psycho-social support for children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK is the third largest donor to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is providing basic education and protection for over 230,000 children in Gaza.

    As part of the UK’s humanitarian response to the 2014 conflict, DFID activated its £3 million Rapid Response Facility which included support to Handicap International, Plan International and International Medical Corps to provide psycho-social support, child protection and mental health support to children in Gaza.

    DFID also provided support to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) who have cleared all UNRWA and 21 Palestinian Authority schools of unexploded ordnance allowing 250,000 students to return to school.

  • John Mc Nally – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    John Mc Nally – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people are employed as practitioners within the UK hair industry.

    Anna Soubry

    In Official Statistics types of business are subdivided by internationally agreed Standard Industrial Classification codes. These do not have sufficient detail to separately identify the hair industry but group this under SIC 96.02 – Hairdressing and other beauty treatment, which also includes facial, nail care and other make-up and beauty services. According to the latest Annual Business Survey (ONS) this industry accounted for 139,000 jobs in 2014.

  • Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to establish an independent body to monitor the salaries of council staff.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Ministers have taken a number of steps to increase the transparency and accountability of local decisions on the pay and reward of council staff. This action has helped ensure that local people have the information they need to hold councils to account.

    Local elected members need to make sure that decisions about the remuneration of senior staff are clearly in the interest of local taxpayers, and that they operate to the same standards of restraint as the rest of the public sector.