The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-04-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32350, how many compliance visits per employer that have taken place on Tier 2 ICT visa workers in the last 12 months.
James Brokenshire
In 2015 227 compliance visits were undertaken to Tier 2 sponsors who have the ability to sponsor individuals under the Tier 2 ICT route.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what funding is being made available to the Police Service of Northern Ireland to investigate ongoing legacy issues.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
The UK Government has agreed to provide up to £150m over five years (£30m a year) to support the work of the new legacy bodies proposed in the Stormont House Agreement. We remain committed to establishing the new bodies and I will continue to work with the political parties, Northern Ireland Executive and victims groups to achieve broad consensus for the legislation needed to do this.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will make an assessment of whether prices of imported ceramic goods from China reflect the domestic costs of production.
Anna Soubry
It is for industry to demonstrate prima facie evidence of dumping to the European Commission. We encourage industry to present this evidence to the Commission where there is evidence of dumping. Where evidence is sufficient to justify an investigation the Commission will do so and present any proposals for imposing duties to Member States. Trade defence is an EU competence and for the Commission to investigate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-04-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether any failure of IT systems on UK-based airlines has allowed any individual on her Department’s no fly list to travel in the last 12 months.
James Brokenshire
The Government works closely with all carriers, not just British registered carriers, to connect their systems to the Government’s border systems to ensure those connections are operating properly and to ensure that any IT problems are identified and resolved. Should any circumstance arise where a carrier should have refused authority to carry an individual to the UK, that individual will be met on arrival. Border Force also conducts 100% checks at passport control on all passengers arriving in the UK by commercial air, rail or maritime services at passport controls. This includes screening against watch lists.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, which victims’ groups she plans to meet to discuss legacy issues over the next 12 months.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
I met the Victims Commissioner and the Victims and Survivors Forum this week. This Government has made greater progress on legacy issues than any of our predecessors and we remain committed to the delivery of the new bodies under the Stormont House Agreement. We will continue to engage with the political parties, Northern Ireland Executive and victims groups to achieve the consensus needed to bring forward legislation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to issue a response to the Migration Advisory Committee review of Tier 2 visas.
James Brokenshire
The Government is carefully considering the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations and has not yet made its final decisions. We will announce our response in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-04-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether any failure of IT systems on UK-based airlines led to passenger flight lists not being cross-referenced with her Department’s (a) no fly list and (b) other relevant information in the last 12 months.
James Brokenshire
The Government works closely with all carriers, not just British registered carriers, to connect their systems to the Government’s border systems to ensure those connections are operating properly and to ensure that any IT problems are identified and resolved. Should any circumstance arise where a carrier should have refused authority to carry an individual to the UK, that individual will be met on arrival. Border Force also conducts 100% checks at passport control on all passengers arriving in the UK by commercial air, rail or maritime services at passport controls. This includes screening against watch lists.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of her powers contained in the Stormont House Agreement to determine what can be disclosed to victims’ families.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
The UK Government has made clear that it is committed to providing full disclosure to the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) for the purpose of its investigations. This will give the HIU access to very sensitive information, including information which would, if disclosed generally, damage the UK’s national security and put lives at risk.
As acknowledged in the Stormont House Agreement, the UK Government has a duty to ensure that sensitive information is not released publicly where to do so would put lives or national security at risk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of bus routes that have been (a) added and (b) removed since 2010.
Andrew Jones
My Department does not hold this data, as decisions about the provision of bus services, including the frequency, the level of fares or agreed local concessions are mainly a matter for the operator concerned.
Where there is not enough demand for a bus route to be commercially viable in its own right, all local authorities have powers to subsidise bus services, Provision of subsidised services is a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their other spending priorities.
We are very aware however of the importance of bus services to local communities, and in recognition of this we were able to protect Bus Service Operators Grant funding as part of the 2015 Spending Review. We have also protected the national concessionary travel in England for the whole of this Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-04-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures her Department has to ensure that aviation watch lists are cross-referenced with passenger manifests; and what steps her Department takes in instances of failure of such procedures.
James Brokenshire
The Government works closely with all carriers, not just British registered carriers, to connect their systems to the Government’s border systems to ensure those connections are operating properly and to ensure that any IT problems are identified and resolved. Should any circumstance arise where a carrier should have refused authority to carry an individual to the UK, that individual will be met on arrival. Border Force also conducts 100% checks at passport control on all passengers arriving in the UK by commercial air, rail or maritime services at passport controls. This includes screening against watch lists.