Tag: Shabana Mahmood

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-02-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has had discussions with Muslim charities on a possible restriction of banking facilities for such charities.

Harriett Baldwin

There are no general restrictions on providing banking facilities for Muslim groups. Ministers and officials hold discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public, private and third sectors. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on Treasury departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria have been used to determine how many asylum seekers could be managed in Birmingham, Ladywood constituency without causing significant disruption to the local community.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The UK Government has been coordinating the dispersal of asylum seekers for many years. Existing policies are aimed at ensuring an equitable distribution of asylum seekers across the country so that no individual local authority bears a disproportionate share of the burden.

We work closely with local authorities and Strategic Migration Partnerships, who act as a focal point for the sharing of expertise and vital information between the Home Office, its asylum accommodation providers, local government, health, education and the police, to ensure consultation with local authorities is consistent and coordinated across all dispersal areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many pathologists qualified to conduct post-mortems there were in (a) 2010 and (b) 2015.

Caroline Dinenage

The Department does not hold this information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) appropriateness and (b) implications for safeguarding of children of private contractors using hotels to accommodate asylum seekers in Birmingham for periods of over 19 days.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Home Office takes its responsibility towards all asylum seekers in their care seriously, ensuring their welfare and safety is at the heart of every decision made.

The statement of requirements within the accommodation providers’ contract is clear: asylum seekers must be managed with sensitivity, treated in a polite and courteous manner and their safety and security is of absolute importance and must not be jeopardised.

These principles apply to all accommodated asylum seekers (including families with children) regardless of whether they are accommodated in more regular initial accommodation premises or contingency hotel accommodation.

As with all accommodation that is provided for asylum applicants, contingency accommodations are inspected to ensure that they are safe and fit for purpose.

Additionally the Home Office monitors the length of time all applicants spend in initial and contingency accommodation and works closely with its contracted providers to ensure that family applications are prioritised in recognition of the family’s needs and in accordance with our duty under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act of 2009.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many pathologists qualified to conduct post-mortems there were in (a) 2010 and (b) 2015.

Caroline Dinenage

The Department does not hold this information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the conclusions and recommendations in the Hutton review of forensic pathology in England and Wales, submitted to the Minister of State for Crime and Prevention in March 2015.

Brandon Lewis

Since the completion of Professor Hutton’s review the Home Office Forensic Pathology Unit has been consulting with stakeholders on a range of options for implementing the Review’s recommendations. This includes an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of various options to take forward the main recommendation of establishing a ‘National Death Investigation Service’.

Recommendations on the preferred option will be presented to Home Office Ministers in October 2016. In parallel, the Pathology Delivery Board, chaired by the Home Office, assessed all the recommendations and established a programme of work to address them individually. This programme has progressed to completion and is set to be formally signed-off at the next meeting of the Pathology Delivery Board, chaired by the Home Office, in November 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many new jobs have been created in each region and constituent part of the UK since 2010.

Mr Rob Wilson

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government has taken to improve forensic pathology services in England and Wales other than those based on the Hutton review of forensic pathology since the General Election in 2015.

Brandon Lewis

The Home Office Forensic Pathology Unit has worked alongside the forensic pathology profession, National Police Chief’s Council, Chief Coroner, the Royal College of Pathologists and other senior stakeholders towards continuous improvement of the service. Improvements include the delivery of a robust system of annual appraisal and revalidation, an annual audit of pathology reports and ongoing oversight of standards through monitoring individual pathologist’s workload and quality.

Together this package of improvements ensures that forensic pathologists’ work is now quality assured in order to protect the Criminal Justice System. The Home Office continues to support and fund trainee forensic pathologists to maintain long-term capability.

Furthermore, the Home Office Pathology Unit identified a shortage of sub-speciality pathologists who support forensic pathologists in complex cases. To resolve the capability gap a recruitment and training programme has been established that has resulted in greater resilience in paediatric, bone, eye and neuro-pathology support to the service.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many new cases have opened after the establishment of the Complex Casework Directorate; and how many such cases were resolved by way of granting a leave.

James Brokenshire

Complex Casework Directorate was set up to be responsible for the remaining un-concluded asylum cases where the initial asylum application was lodged before March 2007. The work to review and communicate decisions to the cohort of older asylum cases was completed by the end of December 2014, other than for a small number of cases that were on hold, although work continues to progress the removal of applicants who received a negative decision from the Home Office and who otherwise have no lawful basis to remain in the United Kingdom.

As of 31 December 2015 there were 524 older asylum records requiring review, and a further 742 were on hold. These cases were on hold for legitimate process reasons. There are no dormant records.

The older asylum records relate to asylum applications made prior to 5 March 2007, and there are therefore no new cases, although cases that are reopened following contact with an individual whose record was previously closed are added to the cohort of older live asylum records. It is not possible to say how many reopened cases were subsequently granted leave without incurring disproportionate cost.

Information relating to older asylum records is published as part of the Asylum Transparency Data. This data includes the work in progress, on take of people who enter the cohort and the number of individuals granted leave.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Shabana Mahmood on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government has taken as a result of the conclusions and recommendations in the Hutton review of forensic pathology in England and Wales, submitted to the Minister of State for Crime and Prevention in March 2015.

Brandon Lewis

The Pathology Delivery Board, chaired by the Director of Home Office Science, assessed all the recommendations in the Hutton review and established a programme of work to address them individually. This programme has progressed to completion and is set to be formally signed-off at the next meeting in November 2016.

In particular the Hutton review identified a lack of training for first attendees at the scenes of sudden and unexpected death therefore a new policy for police investigation of such cases has been developed. Also autopsy data is now included within the homicide index enabling consistency between police forces in England & Wales regarding the use of forensic pathology services. This helps to address Hutton’s concern over inconsistent approaches between forces. Furthermore, a national register of sub-speciality pathologists has been established to meet the shortfall in such capability identified by Hutton. It was also recommended by Hutton that there should be a review of the code of practice for forensic pathologists to address a number of concerns. This is being progressed by the Forensic Science Regulator.

Options for implementing the main recommendation in Professor Hutton’s review, namely for the establishment of a ‘National Death Investigation Service’; has been the subject of consultation with stakeholders since the review’s completion. Recommendations on the preferred option will be presented to Home Office Ministers in October 2016.