Tag: Tania Mathias

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason UK consular services did not allow medical experts from Gaza to travel to the UK to attend the recent conference at Kingston University on trauma in war zones.

James Brokenshire

In order to safeguard an individual’s personal information and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Home Office is limited in what information it can provide when the request is made by someone who is not the applicant. The Home Office is, therefore, unable to provide the information requested.

All applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to update the Heathrow Airport London (Noise Abatement Requirements) Notice 2010 to require higher minimum rates of climb for aircraft taking off from Heathrow Airport.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The requirements are kept under review to take account of any relevant new evidence. However, I have no plans at present to update the Heathrow Airport London (Noise Abatement Requirements) Notice 2010.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support the children and families of alcoholics.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England (PHE) is engaged in a work programme which aims to reduce alcohol-related harm to individuals, families and society. PHE works closely with local authorities to support their work of assessing local alcohol-related need and commissioning services and support to meet that need, including identification and brief advice, alcohol treatment and helping ensure that young people’s substance misuse services target vulnerable young people.

PHE is producing a report on the harm alcohol causes to people other than the drinker, in collaboration with governments in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This report will look at the impact of alcohol on others, including the children of parents with alcohol problems. It is due to published this year.

PHE will also provide estimates of the number of children likely to be affected by their parents’ alcohol use and provide advice to national and local government on where action could have the greatest impact on improving life chances.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to restrict the amount spent by local authorities on legal support and advice in special educational needs and disability tribunals.

Edward Timpson

It is up to local authorities to decide how best to spend their Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) budgets, based on an analysis of local need. The reforms in the Children and Families Act 2014 were designed to make the SEND system less adversarial for parents and young people, as well as for local authorities. The process of Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and plan development is designed to be collaborative, meaning that most disagreements should be resolved early on. Where disagreements persist, we have introduced a requirement to consider mediation, which has often proved effective in reducing the need to make an appeal to the SEND Tribunal. For example, in 2015, 75% of disagreements over EHC plans for which mediation sessions were held did not result in a Tribunal appeal in that year.

The SEND Tribunal aims to be facilitative and accessible, so that it should not be necessary for either parents or local authorities to employ legal support when making or defending an appeal. No additional weight is given to evidence because it is presented by a lawyer and many parents and local authorities successfully pursue their case without legal representation.

The Department is currently conducting a Review of Disagreement Resolution Arrangements, as required by the 2014 Act, which will report to Parliament by 31^st March 2017. The Review is looking at how the system of disagreement resolution is working for children, young people and their families, which includes enquiring about the costs incurred by both families and local authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the definition of Designated Individual referred to in paragraph 53 of the Guide to Powers and Safeguards published in the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill, CM 9152, of November 2015, will include parliamentarians.

Mr John Hayes

A Designated Person is an individual within a public authority who authorises a request for communications data and is independent of the investigation for which the authorisation is sought. They must apply additional considerations to an authorisation to access communications data in respect of sensitive professions which include Parliamentarians. This is set out in paragraph 51 of the Guide to the Powers and Safeguards in the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the rates of climb of aircraft taking off from Heathrow Airport compared to other (a) UK and (b) European airports.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department for Transport (DfT) has not made any assessment of rates of climb from Heathrow airport compared to any other airports. The Government is aware of an independent report published last year on climb rates at Heathrow airport.

The airport is working with the industry and the CAA to understand the issues and what this means from a noise perspective. DfT sits on the Heathrow Noise Community Forum where this work programme is being taken forward.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government is taking steps to reduce the number of flights between non-UK airports entering UK airspace.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government is not seeking to reduce the number of overflights in UK airspace. The ability to overfly UK airspace is a freedom of the air which we have granted to other signatories of the International Air Services Transit Agreement as well as non-signatory States on a bilateral basis.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, to which countries of concern on human rights the Government has authorised arms sales in the last year.

Mark Garnier

From January 2015 – March 2016 licences have been granted for military goods to the following countries of human rights concern:

Afghanistan; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Burundi; Central African Republic; China; Colombia; Democratic Republic of Congo; Egypt; Iraq; Israel and The Occupied Palestinian Territories; Maldives; Pakistan; Russia; Saudi Arabia; Somalia; South Sudan; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Syria; Turkmenistan; Venezuela; Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Further details on all licences granted for export are publically available as Official Statistics at www.gov.uk.

All export licences are issued in strict accordance with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria and any sanctions or embargoes that may be in place at the time an application is submitted for consideration.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-12-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the rationale is for setting the interest rate on the repayment of student loans under the new system at three per cent.

Joseph Johnson

Interest rates on student loans vary according to a number of factors, including a borrower’s level of earnings, and whether they remain in contact with the Student Loans Company to ensure they are repaying when they are eligible to do so.

The maximum interest rate for the post-2012 system is the Retail Price Index (RPI) figure plus 3%. The maximum rate applies whilst the borrower is studying; is the maximum interest rate for those borrowers earning £41,000 and over; and is the default interest rate for those borrowers who fail to keep in touch with the Student Loans Company.

Once a borrower is due to repay, a variable rate of interest will be charged, which is dependent upon income. Borrowers with an income of £21,000 or less will accrue interest at RPI. For a borrower with income greater than £21,000, a real rate of interest will be tapered in, reaching a maximum of RPI plus 3% at an income of £41,000 or more.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Israeli government on the displacement of Bedouin people from townships in the Negev.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

I discussed the Bedouin in the Negev with Head of the Joint List MK Ayman Odeh during my visit to Israel on 18 February. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv are following developments closely, and we continue to encourage the Israeli authorities and Bedouin communities to work together to identify satisfactory solutions.