Tag: Parliamentary Question

Gavin Newlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 11080, on deportation: appeals, how many of the 426 cases referred to are pending to be heard before the Upper Tribunal.

James Brokenshire

Of the 426 cases referred to in answer of 14 October to Question 11080:

– none were certification withdrawn

– 359 have been certified under Regulation 24AA

– all data provided relates to the First Tier Tribunal only

– 25 are listed as abandoned or withdrawn by the appellant

– 89 were dismissed by the relevant tribunal

The Home Office does not disclose country specific information as its disclosure could prejudice relations between the UK and foreign governments.

Notes : (1) All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

(2) Data Extracted on 28th September, 2015 in line with response to Question 11080

01/01/2023
Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the amount of financial provision required to affect the level of competition between broadband providers by means of the broadband investment fund announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Greg Hands

The Spending Review and Autumn Statement announced that the government will investigate the feasibility of setting up a new broadband investment fund, to be supported by both public and private investors, and managed by the private sector on a commercial basis.

Access to cost effective, commercial finance is critical for any business to grow and expand. The government will hold discussions with industry participants to determine whether enhancing access to finance through a dedicated, commercial investment fund could help support the growth of alternative network developers in the broadband market. Decisions on the feasibility and size of the fund will be made following this market engagement.

01/01/2023
Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Executive Summary of the HMG Strategy for Abolition of the Death Penalty 2010-2015, as revised in October 2011, what steps his Department is taking to help impose further restrictions on countries which continue to practise the death penalty as part of their judicial process; and what progress on the imposition of such restrictions has been made to date.

Mr David Lidington

The British Government published in 2014 “Guidance on Overseas Security and Justice Assistance” which controls and restricts the supply of justice sector assistance to countries which retain the death penalty. The Government has also successfully urged the European Commission to introduce regulations banning the export of any equipment or chemicals intended to carry out executions.

01/01/2023
Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what reports she has received from (a) the Metropolitan Police and (b) other police forces of delays in processing Disclosure and Barring Service applications; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides a formal monthly performance report to the Home Office and Home Office Ministers. This includes updates on the performance of police forces in meeting the Service Level Agreement (SLA) standards for the time taken to complete local disclosure checks.

The DBS monitors the performance of all police disclosure units and works closely with any force, including the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), not meeting its targets. An MPS Gold Group is overseeing the recovery plan in place at the MPS and Home Office officials maintain a close oversight of the progress being made by assessing weekly reports and through regular attendance at the Group.

It is a priority of the MPS, DBS and the Home Office to see improvements as quickly as possible and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve (a) awareness training of staff, (b) support and advice for staff and (c) appropriate facilities and provisions for passengers relating to mental health in (i) airports and aviation sector, (ii) roads infrastructure, (iii) freight, (iv) taxis and (v) shipping and maritime.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport is preparing a revised Accessibility Action Plan (AAP).

The AAP will set out how we aim to support all operators so they can improve the quality of the disability awareness training and the travel assistance they offer to meet the needs of passengers with mental health issues across all modes.

We plan for the AAP to be ready for wider consultation in the summer and that it will be published by the end of the year.

01/01/2023
Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what defence technology research and development programmes the Government is cooperating with other EU member states.

Mr Julian Brazier

As stated in National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cmd 9161), as part of being international by design, we will participate in future international collaborative programmes in both the defence and security sectors where we have the right technology, skills and industrial capabilities, and where we can reduce our costs and share technology to mutual benefit, strengthening our defence relationships.

We will work closely with, learn from and invest in joint research programmes with our allies and partners, many of whom are pursuing similar innovation initiatives. France has important technology programmes, especially in aerospace, maritime and space capabilities. We will also build on our important security relationships with partners, and with multilateral forums, including NATO.

01/01/2023
Andrew Tyrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of closing the Chichester Combined Court Centre and Chichester Magistrates’ Court on the work of (a) Chichester constabulary, (b) Chichester District Council and (c) other local services.

Mr Shailesh Vara

All responses to the consultation were carefully considered before the decision was made to close the courts in Chichester. This included evaluating the impact on the police, the District Council and other local services. In recognition of the particular circumstances of court users in Chichester, the Combined Court Centre will not close until suitable local alternative provision is in place.

01/01/2023
Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-06-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the higher education entry rate data, published in December 2015, what steps his Department is taking to increase the rate of entry to university from young people in (a) Bristol South constituency and (b) other areas that have a low rate of university entry.

Joseph Johnson

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from higher education, irrespective of their background.

In the last academic year we saw record entry rates to higher education, including among those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Since 2010, we have established a stronger framework, with increased responsibility placed on higher education institutions to widen participation. The Director of Fair Access has agreed 183 Access Agreements for 2016/17 containing an estimated £745m to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds – up from £404m in 2009/10.

In addition, we will take steps through the Higher Education and Research Bill to widen access and participation further. This will include strengthening the system of access agreements, and introducing new transparency duties on higher education institutions. We have also asked Universities UK to form a Social Mobility Advisory Group to set out what further steps the higher education sector itself can take to promote social mobility.

01/01/2023

MiDavies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the use of air quality management areas by local authorities.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Air quality has improved significantly in recent decades and we are working at local, national and international levels to continue those improvements. The UK currently meets legal limits for almost all pollutants; however, reducing levels for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) remains the most challenging.

Local authorities (LAs) have opportunities to improve air quality for the protection of public health and the environment through decisions they make on land use planning, permitting, roads and air quality management areas (AQMAs).

Across the UK, 259 LAs declared 715 AQMAs since 1999. Most AQMAs in the UK are in urban areas and have been established to address the contribution to air pollution from traffic emissions of NO₂ or particulate matter (PM₁₀). Details of the current AQMAs declared by LAs, broken down by region and pollutant, are set out in the table below.

Region	Total LAs	Number of LAs with AQMAs	For NO₂	For PM₁₀	For SO₂
England (outside London)	294	193	497	38	6
London	33	33	33	29	0
Scotland	32	14	25	21	1
Wales	22	10	37	1	0
N. Ireland	11	9	20	7	0
TOTAL	393	259	612	96	7

01/01/2023

Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made an estimate of the average time taken by NICE to evaluate new orphan and ultra-orphan therapies in the last three years; and what the average time taken from approval is to access those therapies for patients living with rare and ultra-rare conditions.

Nicola Blackwood

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has advised that the average time it has taken to evaluate new orphan and ultra-orphan therapies under the highly specialised technologies (HST) programme to date has been 12-14 months. NICE published draft guidance (on average) 6-8 months into the process. NHS England has ensured access to treatments recommended by NICE through the HST programme is available to patients within three months of final guidance. NICE has also advised that its intention is to publish guidance within 4-6 months from marketing authorisation in the future.

01/01/2023