Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that unaccompanied refugee children in Europe with an existing family connection in the UK have their asylum under the Dublin Regulation processed without undue delay.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is fully committed to the efficient and timely operation of the Dublin Regulation and we are working closely with EU partners, including the French, Greek and Italian authorities to identify, assess and transfer children to the UK under the Dublin family reunion process.

    We have seconded a UK official to Greece; we have a long-standing secondee working in Italy and we have seconded another official to the French Interior Ministry to support these efforts. We have established a dedicated team in the Home Office Dublin Unit to lead on family reunion cases for unaccompanied children.

    Between 1 January and 1 October 2016 over 140 unaccompanied children were accepted for transfer, compared to around 20 children in the whole of 2015.Transfer requests from Member States involving children under the Dublin Regulation are now generally processed within 10 days. Children can then be transferred within weeks and are now arriving in the UK on an almost weekly basis.The Home Secretary made clear on the 10th October that we will transfer as many minors as possible to the UK, who are eligible under the Dublin Regulation before the camp clearance starts.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many remote sites are operational to enable witnesses to give evidence away from court; in which areas such sites are located; how many such sites are available to children under the age of 18; and how many such sites have been used by children under the age of 18.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry is committed to supporting all victims and witnesses, including children, when giving evidence in criminal trials. All victims and witnesses are eligible for special measures to relieve stress when giving evidence, including giving evidence by video remotely.

    We have secured over £700m of funding to invest in our courts and tribunals. We have worked closely with the senior judiciary to develop a plan for investing this in reforming the courts and tribunals so they can deliver swifter, fairer justice at a lower cost. This will include digitisation and modernisation of our IT infrastructure. This will mean court users can attend hearings remotely, and not be inconvenienced by having to take a day off work to come to court. It will also mean victims of crime can give evidence from somewhere they feel safe.

    Since March 2015 vulnerable and intimidated witnesses, including child abuse victims, can give evidence from a remote site which is away from the court environment. There is at least one remote site in each of the seven Regions in England and Wales, and twelve sites in total.

    In addition, the court estate is video-enabled so that any victim or witness can give evidence from a court building other than the trial site to ensure they do not come into contact with the defendant, or their family and supporters.

    Whilst HMCTS collates data on the number of witnesses giving evidence by video, the ages of the victims and witnesses are not recorded.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-12-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to address the level of UK household debt.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Household debt as a proportion of income has fallen to 144 per cent in Q2 2015, from a peak of 168 per cent in Q1 2008. To avoid repeating the mistakes of the past we have created the independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England to ensure emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole are identified, monitored and effectively addressed. The FPC recently re-affirmed its view that, given the actions it has taken, household indebtedness did not pose an imminent threat to financial stability.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants made redundant have been hired back in each year from 2011.

    Matthew Hancock

    Data is not held centrally on the number of individuals who have been made redundant from the Civil Service and then rehired, and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    Since 2010 we have introduced into the Civil Service Compensation arrangements new provisions to prevent windfall benefits to anyone made redundant and then hired back into the Civil Service. These did not previously exist.

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what formula was used to calculate the Government’s proposed living wage.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government has asked the Low Pay Commission to increase the National Living Wage to 60% of median earnings by 2020. This is a level consistent with the recommendations of leading experts in the Bain Report. Our target is for the National Living Wage to reach £9 by 2020.

    On this basis, we have set the initial rate at £7.20 from April 2016. This marks the first step towards our target and represents a £900 a year increase in earnings for a full-time worker on the National Minimum Wage.

  • Owen Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Owen Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Thompson on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects discussions to begin with partners in the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Deal.

    Greg Hands

    The Budget formally announced the opening of discussions with local partners and the Scottish Government towards a City Deal for Edinburgh and South East Scotland. No deadline has been set for their conclusion or for implementation of a Deal, but we will work with all parties to ensure that discussions proceed at an appropriate pace for delivering the best Deal to drive economic growth in Edinburgh and South East Scotland.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Annual Report and Accounts of the Office of the Public Guardian 2014-15, page 22, what estimate he has made of the average cost to a user of that Office of the over-recovery of costs.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Work to review the Office of the Public Guardian’s (OPG) fee structure is ongoing. Depending on the outcome of that work, a consultation will be published in due course if required.

    No estimate has been made of the average cost to a user of OPG services of the over recovery of costs.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the spread of the Zika virus to the UK following travel to South America for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    Jane Ellison

    The risk to the United Kingdom population posed by Zika virus – and of the mosquito species which transmit the virus establishing itself in the UK – remains extremely low.

    The Government is ensuring the UK and those travelling to countries with active Zika transmission by mosquitoes are protected. Up-to-date travel advice is in place, and clinical advice is available to UK medical professionals. Public Health England has been working with Royal Colleges to provide guidance to healthcare professionals on managing symptomatic patients (including pregnant women) returning from areas with active transmission of Zika. This has been cascaded by appropriate Royal Colleges. Furthermore, NHS Blood and Transplant will defer donors returning from areas with active Zika transmission from donating for 28 days.

    On 13 May 2016 the Department of Health, along with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, convened an Olympic and Paralympic health advisory group. The group brought together academic experts and cross-government representatives to support the British Olympic Association (BOA) and British Paralympic Association (BPA) in updating their guidance to athletes and staff travelling to Brazil for the Olympics and to ensure consistency with that provided to the travelling public. Zika virus was a key topic for discussion along with other potential health risks. The BOA and BPA are updating their guidance in light of discussions at the meeting and with further input from the academics and clinicians present. The Foreign Office will link this to their wider consular campaign ‘Stay ahead of the Games’.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether once Article 50 of the Treaty of the European Union has been triggered it can be untriggered before the UK’s negotiations on withdrawal from the EU have been completed.

    Mr David Davis

    The Prime Minister will take the decision about when to trigger article 50 and start the formal process of leaving the EU. She has been clear that the will of the British people must be respected and delivered.

  • Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many EU nationals were living in the Borough of Croydon in September 2016.

    Chris Skidmore

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.