Tag: Stuart C. McDonald

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-03-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to consult with people in Cumbernauld on the proposed closure of HM Revenue and Customs Cumbernauld office.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) plans to create two new Regional Centres in Scotland, in Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2019-20, accommodating between 5,700 and 6,300 employees. HMRC’s new Regional Centres will give its staff all they need including a modern office environment, close to good travel and transport links. They will provide stable, high quality jobs and offer a wide range of opportunities for training and promotion and allow its staff to follow more varied career paths than have previously been possible.

HMRC will help all its staff work through their options. It will give everyone the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances with their manager ahead of any office closures or moves, so they know about any issues that need to be taken into account when making decisions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons take charge requests under the Dublin regulations have been refused since April 2015.

James Brokenshire

Whilst all asylum claims, including those accepted under Dublin III, are registered on the main immigration database the specifics of each case are not currently available in the form requested as the data is not held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-06-03.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government expects to complete its analysis of responses to the consultation on reform of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

Matthew Hancock

The Government is giving very careful consideration to the responses it received to the consultation. In particular we are looking closely to see if there is any scope to find a set of reforms that will deliver the Government’s objectives and which will be agreeable to the unions. I expect that we will be able to publish our analysis within the 12 week target set out in the consultation document.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding in the report by the National Audit Office, The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme, published in September 2016, that lack of access by resettled Syrians to personal independence payments and carer’s allowance may cause difficulties to some refugees and have a negative impact on their experiences.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK is a world leader in supporting vulnerable people fleeing conflicts around the world and, as such, we have established an effective system to accommodate and shelter resettled people.

Refugees and those who have humanitarian protection status, such as persons resettled under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme, are entitled to work and have access to some benefits upon arrival.

DWP has decided that the application of the Past Presence Test (PPT) should not apply to refugees for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and are currently considering how best to implement that change, including the impact to other benefits which use a similar PPT.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what coordination he is undertaking with other EU member states on the deployment of military assets to rescue migrants and refugees at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean.

Penny Mordaunt

The Royal Navy is not currently involved in a Search and Rescue Mission in the Mediterranean. However, HMS Enterprise, which is currently deployed as part of the EU Naval Forces Operation in the Mediterranean, will coordinate with assets from other EU member states in order to respond to vessels in distress.

In addition, a Royal Marine force protection team is deployed on board the Border Force chartered vessel MV VOS GRACE currently in the Aegean Sea, supporting the EU’s FRONTEX-led search and rescue operation.

In total, the UK has rescued over 12,500 people in the Mediterranean.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-03-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made on its studies of the steps taken by the utilities airlines and other industries in response to falling oil and gas prices; and whether the conclusions of those studies will be published.

Damian Hinds

The Treasury has engaged with industry to stress the importance of passing through wholesale cost reductions to consumers. The Treasury has produced internal studies to examine how far and how quickly the benefits of oil and price falls were fed through to consumers. We are pleased that recently the six major energy suppliers have announced cuts in their tariffs – it’s a good start but there’s more to do. The Government looks forward to the Provisional decision on remedies of the Competition and Markets Authority, due this month, and continues to monitor developments closely.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will estimate the number of people affected by the decision of 23 March 2016 of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in the case Qadir v Secretary of State; and what steps she plans to take to (a) notify those people affected and (b) support appeals of previous immigration decisions by those people affected.

Mike Penning

We are disappointed by the decision in Qadir and SM and, once we have the full determination, we will consider challenging it. Until we have the full determination, we cannot make an assessment of the number of persons affected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what offers of support the Government has received from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees for the processing of take charge requests under the Dublin regulations for people resident in the camp at Calais; and what response the Government has given to each such offer.

James Brokenshire

There is regular dialogue with the UNHCR on a range of migration issues.

Discussions have included Calais and the Dublin Regulation. Processing of these cases, however, remain the responsibility of the French and UK Governments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for refugee family reunion have been (a) made, (b) resolved, (c) granted and (d) refused by nationals from (i) Syria, (ii) Eritrea, (iii) Afghanistan, (iv) Iran and (v) Sudan in each of the last 12 quarters.

James Brokenshire

The information is provided in the table, based on the available published statistics which relate to the ‘Family: other’ category, which are known to very largely consist of family reunion cases .

The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas are published in ‘Immigration Statistics’, available from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics

This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the Standard of Official Statistics.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2015 to Question 8772, how many people have been rescued from the Mediterranean Sea each week since then by (a) HMS Enterprise and (b) all Royal Navy vessels.

Penny Mordaunt

The total number of migrants rescued each week by all Royal Navy vessels in the Mediterranean in support of the EU Naval Forces Operation tackling migrant smuggling and trafficking (EUNAVFOR Op SOPHIA) since 9 September 2015 are:

Week commencing	Number of Migrants Rescued by HMS ENTERPRISE	Number of Migrants Rescued by HMS RICHMOND
07-September 2015	0
14-September 2015	377
21-September 2015	220
28-September 2015	0
05-October 2015	639
12-October 2015	0
19-October 2015	0
26-October 2015	439	102
02-November 2015	134
09-November 2015	0
16-November 2015	0
23-November 2015	54
30-November 2015	414
07-December 2015	0
14-December 2015	0
21-December 2015	0
28-December 2015	188
04-January 2016	0
11-January 2016	0
18-January 2016	0
Total	2,331	236 Total 2,537

HMS ENTERPRISE deployed to the Mediterranean on 3 July 2015 and is the current UK contribution to EUNAVFOR Op SOPHIA.

In addition, the UK contributed HMS RICHMOND to EUNAVFOR Op SOPHIA from 25 October 2015 to 21 November 2015.