Tag: Stuart C. McDonald

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department plans to issue to its staff on the application of residency tests to refugees applying for disability living allowance.

Penny Mordaunt

Refugees and people in Great Britain with humanitarian protection status who are disabled and in need of financial support are entitled to claim Disability Living Allowance, providing they meet all the necessary conditions of entitlement set out in regulations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum decisions identified as seriously flawed in her Department’s Quality Audit in the last 12 months were (a) reconsidered by officials as a consequence of that finding, (b) overturned as a result of that reconsideration and (c) overturned on appeal.

James Brokenshire

In the twelve months to September 2015, a total of 29,246 asylum decisions were made. Over the same period, 344 asylum decisions were identified as containing serious errors by the Department’s Quality Audit team. Those cases which are identified as containing Serious Errors before the decision is served are required to be put right before service. The detailed breakdown requested for ‘b’ and ‘c’ is not available and to obtain this data is not economically viable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-02-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there will be compulsory redundancy notices issued to staff based at HM Revenue and Customs Cumbernauld office in the next 12 months.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs currently has no plans to issue compulsory redundancy notices to staff based at its Cumbernauld office within the next 12 months.

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 conduct an impact assessment on the local economy of Cumbernauld of 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 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many further submissions under rule 353 of the Immigration Rules were made in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

James Brokenshire

Our records indicate that 22,149 1 further submissions under rule 353 of the Immigration Rules were made from 2013 to 2015. The breakdown of applications received is 8,088 during 2013, 7,206 in 2014 and 6,855 for 2015.

1 Relates to 18,143 people – due to a number of individuals making multiple further submissions.

Notes:

• The data only includes further submissions that are linked to an Asylum claim.

• The data includes main applicants only and does not include dependants.

• The data covers further submissions applications made between 01/01/2013 and 31/12/2015 (in line with data publications under the transparency agenda).

The data provided 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 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unsuccessful refugee family reunion applications during the last three years were rejected on the basis of the child being 18 years or older.

James Brokenshire

The family reunion policy allows those granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK to sponsor their pre-flight family members, i.e. spouse or partner and children under the age of 18, who formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country, to reunite with them in the UK.

Information on the applicant’s relationship with their sponsor is not collated centrally. As such it is not possible to identify how many applicants have applied for family reunion as adult children aged 18 or over or what the outcome was.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has conducted surveys with asylum seekers accommodated under her Compass contracts on what they felt about their (a) housing and (b) treatment by staff.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The overarching purpose of the COMPASS Inspection Regime is to ensure that the accommodation provided is safe, habitable, fit for purpose; that the overall service described in the COMPASS contracts is being delivered and to ensure that Service Users feel safe, secure and know how to raise concerns should they occur.

Following on from the audit into asylum seeker accommodation in Middlesbrough, UKVI have trialled various methods of gathering, recording and responding to service users’ feedback relating to service delivery as part of improving their inspection regime.

Following analysis from the trials conducted UKVI intends to agree a formal process which is to be rolled out across all provider Regions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many seriously or critically flawed decisions were identified in the Quality Audit of her Department’s asylum decisions in the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire

In the twelve months to September 2015 a total of 29,246 asylum decisions were made. Over the same period, 344 asylum decisions were identified by the Department’s Quality Audit team as containing serious errors and 4 identified as critically flawed. The Home Office continues to review processes and procedures as part of its ongoing work to improve decision making.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19830, when he plans to report on his review of the UK National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

Mr David Lidington

We are currently finalising the review of the UK National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (BHR) and intend to publish it shortly. We are honouring the commitment made by the previous Coalition Government, showing our ongoing commitment to BHR. The plan covers the work of a wide range of Government departments and we have consulted widely as part of the process of updating the plan. The UK is the first country to go through such a revision process.

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 (a) employees and (b) PCS representatives at HM Revenue and Customs Cumbernauld office on the proposed relocation of staff.

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.