The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and (b) Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) hearing centres are projected to close in (i) London and (ii) the UK in the next five years.
Mr Shailesh Vara
There are currently no plans to close any First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum hearing centres.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne Main on 2016-01-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure freedom of religion or belief are promoted in countries with high levels of persecution on the grounds of religion or belief.
Mr David Lidington
This 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. Our work on freedom of religion or belief continues to be an integral part of our new strategic approach to human rights, refocusing 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.
We also carry out project work in a range of countries where the level of persecution is high, 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. In the next financial year, there will be more funding available for such work through the £10.6 million Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy. At the multilateral level, we are working through the UN General Assembly to establish an internationally agreed set of principles for promoting religious tolerance through education.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will issue a response to EDM 337, G7 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.
Mr Nick Hurd
The purpose of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition is to promote inclusive and responsible investment. This is required to sustainably link smallholder farmers into markets, reducing poverty and to ensure that all people have access to high quality and affordable food. The £600 million pledged to the New Alliance by DFID will fund bilateral projects in six original New Alliance partner countries aimed at improving agricultural incomes, food security and nutrition of the extreme poor, including through agroecological practices.
DFID is effectively supporting a wide range of programmes with agroecological components, from soil and water conservation and land use management to climate resilience and conservation agriculture. For example, we fund the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) for the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) to support 6 million farmers to be more resilient to climate change through a broad set of agroecological and sustainable practices.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which institutions and societies are in receipt of how much block grant funding from the Government through the British Academy.
Joseph Johnson
Funding arrangements for the British Academy-Sponsored Institutes and Societies (BASIS) programme have not been changed. The seven independent Schools and Institutes within the BASIS Programme collectively have an important role in advancing science diplomacy and promoting UK higher education in their regions, and we value the close connections with foreign government ministries, British diplomatic missions and the British Council that are fostered through the BASIS Programme.
The Science & Research budget allocation for the National Academies for 2016-17 to 2019-20 was published on 4 March. The allocation provided for real terms protection for the British Academy’s BASIS programme, enabling the Academy to continue to provide the BASIS Institutes with substantial block grant support throughout this period. Details of direct funding received by the BASIS Programme through its grant from the British Academy, as well as details of the cumulative payments made by the British Academy to individual schools and institutes within the programme, are published in the British Academy Annual Report, available at www.britac.ac.uk/about/annualrep/index.cfm.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on producing an implementation plan for England for the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases; and when he expects such a plan to be in place.
George Freeman
There are no plans to consult on the implementation plan for England on the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases. NHS England published a Statement of Intent to implement the UK Strategy in February 2014. Implementation of the Strategy is also included in NHS England’s Five Year Forward View.
The UK Rare Disease Forum is responsible for monitoring progress on implementation of the Strategy across the United Kingdom. It published its first progress report on 29 February 2016. This recognises that significant progress has been made against majority of the 51 recommendations in the report. Further reports will be published in 2018 and 2020.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-05-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the Australian model for payment disputes could help small UK suppliers.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
In establishing the UK Small Business Commissioner through the Enterprise Act 2016, the Government has taken inspiration from the Australian Small Business Commissioner (now the Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman) and Small Business Commissioners at state level in Australia. These bodies provide advice and access to alternative dispute resolution to small businesses involved in a variety of disputes, which may include some payment disputes.
The UK Small Business Commissioner will focus on payment disputes between small and larger businesses and encourage a change in how businesses deal with each other – a long lasting cultural change to promote fair treatment for all. He or she will act as a disincentive to unfavourable payment practices, and build the confidence and capabilities of small businesses to help them to assert themselves in contractual disputes and negotiate more effectively. The Commissioner will provide general information and advice, direct small businesses to existing dispute resolution services (eg, mediation services and ombudsmen) and handle complaints from small businesses about payment issues
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-07-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff were employed by Ofsted in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13, (c) 2013-14, (d) 2014-15 and (e) 2015-16.
Nick Gibb
These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House libraries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Eritrea on the increase in political asylum seekers from that country.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The UK participates in the EU/Africa Khartoum Process; the main regional mechanism for tackling human trafficking and people smuggling in the Horn of Africa most notably from Eritrea.
We are using our increased engagement with Eritrea to push for the tangible improvements in Eritrea’s human rights record, including: amending its national service system; fully implementing its own constitution; and cooperating with international human rights bodies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-11-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conversations they have had with the government of Iraq about the recent attacks on Camp Liberty.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We strongly condemn the attack against the civilian residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq on Thursday 29 October. Officials from our Embassy in Baghdad raised the attack with the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office on Friday 30 October and made clear the importance of an urgent and comprehensive investigation into the incident and that all those responsible are brought to justice.
In all of our engagement with the Government of Iraq on this issue, including at Ministerial level and in our statements, we have emphasised the importance of the Iraqi government doing everything possible to ensure the safety of the residents of Camp Liberty. We support the UN calls for more to be done to protect the residents.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many monthly Child Maintenance Service new applications from January 2015 were (a) former Child Support Agency (CSA) cases affected by reactive CSA case closure, (b) former CSA cases affective by proactive CSA case closure and (c) other new applications.
Priti Patel
From January 2015 to August 2015 there have been approximately 75,200 applications made to the Child Maintenance Service.
6,800 of these were made by former CSA cases affected by reactive case closure, 22,000 were made by former CSA cases affected by proactive case closure and 46,400 were new applications.
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