Tag: Thangam Debbonaire

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps the Government plans to take to protect the property ownership rights of UK citizens who own property in the EU after the UK has left the EU who (a) use the property primarily to rent out to others for holidays, (b) are the sole users, for holiday purposes and (c) are the sole users, and live there permanently.

Mr Robin Walker

At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people, including those living in other EU countries or who own property in the EU. It is already the case that all Member States are bound by Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights which obliges them to respect property rights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-11-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to support international efforts to improve tax transparency and accountability.

Mr David Gauke

A major focus of the UK’s G8 Presidency was tax transparency and combatting offshore tax evasion. As part of this the UK promoted the development of a new global standard for reciprocal automatic exchange of financial account information in order to effectively tackle the global problem of tax evasion. Due in large part to the UK’s leadership, over 90 countries and jurisdictions have now committed to the new global standard – known as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) – and will begin automatically exchanging information under the standard by 2017 or 2018. The receipt of large amounts of information on offshore accounts under the CRS will mark a step change in HMRC’s ability to crack down on tax evasion.

During our G8 Presidency, we also drove forward the international work on country-by-country reporting (CBCR), calling on the OECD to develop a template for CBCR reporting as part of the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. The OECD template is aimed at providing tax authorities with information on the global allocation of profits and taxes paid and accrued by multinationals, as well as indicators of economic activity in each country. The UK was one of the first countries to commit to implementing the OECD template for CBCR with legislation in the Finance Act 2015.

The final package of measures developed under the BEPS project was published by the OECD on 5 October 2015, and endorsed by G20 Finance Ministers at their meeting on 8 October and the G20 Leaders at their summit on 15-16 November. The UK welcomes the outcomes of the BEPS project and will give full consideration to the OECD’s recommendations.

In addition, the UK has actively supported the revision of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation, to ensure the effective exchange of information about cross-border tax rulings between EU Member States. This directive was agreed in October 2015, and will come into force from 1^st of January 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 16005, on malnutrition, how the Government plans to measure progress on its commitment to nutrition for 50 million people by 2020.

Mr Nick Hurd

The approach to measuring the commitment to improve the nutrition of 50 million people by 2020 is currently being finalised as part of the DFID aid review. Full details of the methodology for measuring these results will be published once this is completed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the compatibility with international law of NATO ships operating in the Aegean Sea returning migrants to Turkey.

Mr David Lidington

The purpose of this NATO activity is to provide monitoring, surveillance, and reconnaissance (MSR) of the Aegean migration routes to cue Turkish and Greek coastguards and Frontex (the EU’s border management agency) to intercept the migrant boats and disrupt the business model of illegal migration

If UK vessels encounter migrants in distress at sea, they will be rescued in accordance with international obligations and arrangements made for them to be returned to land. The choice of destination will be guided by international law and consideration for the safety of the migrants

The UK will act at all times in accordance with its obligations under domestic and international law. Turkey has agreed that rescued migrants who have travelled from Turkey can be returned to Turkey. We are co-ordinating our approach with our NATO Allies as well as with Frontex.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the presence of multilingual children in schools on the learning of monolingual children.

Nick Gibb

Analysis undertaken by the Centre for the Economics of Education in 2012 indicates that there is no association between the presence of children whose first language is not English and the educational attainment of their native English-speaking peers, after controlling for basic demographic characteristics and the schools these pupils attend.

In our recent consultation on a new national funding formula for schools, we proposed including an EAL factor in the formula. We are currently considering responses to the consultation and will come forward with further proposals in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that unaccompanied child refugees have access to information in a form and language appropriate to their age and language on their rights to apply for asylum or family reunion which includes information on the criteria used in and estimated timescales for determining applications.

James Brokenshire

Unaccompanied asylum seeking children who have arrived in the UK are referred to local authority children’s services as soon as possible.

As well as social work support, they have access to publicly-funded legal advice in relation to their asylum claim, to advice and guidance on the asylum process from the Refugee Council Children’s Panel, and to an interpreter if English is not their first language.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2016 to Question 37587, whether she is taking steps to reduce the time taken to process applications for the remaining children in refugee camps in Calais.

Mike Penning

Where an asylum claim is lodged in France by a minor with close family connections to the UK, both governments are committed to ensuring that process are in place to expedite reunification. Under the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK and France have committed to ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively. To assist the handling of such cases, the two Governments have established a permanent official contact group, agreed single points of contact within respective Dublin Units and the UK has seconded an asylum expert to the French administration to improve all stages of the process of identifying, protecting and transferring relevant cases to the UK. We continue to work with the French Government to improve processes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what timetable she has set for resettling 20,000 Syrian refugees in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Work continues with local authorities and international partners to deliver the Government’s commitment to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over the lifetime of this Parliament and we are on track to do this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps the Government is taking to enable UK citizens living in other EU countries to remain there if they (a) have retired, (b) are working in those countries with habitual residence status and (c) are working in those countries part of the time but without habitual residence status.

Mr Robin Walker

At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people, including those living in other EU countries or who own property in the EU. It is already the case that all Member States are bound by Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights which obliges them to respect property rights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department has taken to assess the impact of hydraulic fracturing in (a) national parks and (b) other environmentally sensitive areas.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government issued guidance on its planning policy on unconventional hydrocarbon development in National Parks, the Broads, AONBs and World Heritage Sites in July 2014, which clearly sets out the high level of protection accorded to these areas in respect to development.1

In addition, in July 2015 the Government laid draft regulations that define protected areas in which hydraulic fracturing will be prohibited. These regulations ensure that the process of high volume hydraulic fracturing cannot take place at depths above 1200 metres in National Parks, the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, World Heritage Sites and areas that are most vulnerable to groundwater pollution.2

We have also separately committed to ensuring that fracking cannot be conducted from wells that are drilled in the UK’s most valuable areas and are minded to apply these in Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Ramsar and Natura 2000 sites, as well as the areas covered by the draft Protected Areas regulations.3

[1]http://planningguidance.communities.gov.uk/blog/guidance/minerals/planning-for-hydrocarbon-extraction/determining-the-planning-application/

2]https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-defines-protected-areas-for-shale-developments

[3]https://www.gov.uk/guidance/oil-and-gas-licensing-rounds#surface-development-restrictions

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