Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label previous answer version answering member constituency answering member printed answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

100664

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Overseas Students
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his policy is on excluding foreign university students from net immigration targets.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	211742
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>Net migration statistics are produced by the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS). In line with the internationally agreed UN definition, these statistics define a migrant as someone changing their normal place of residence for more than a year. This includes students in net migration in the same way as other migrants. Other countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand also include students in their net migration figures. <br><br>Net migration measures the difference between the number of peoplecoming the UK and the number leaving, so if students return home after<br>their studies, their impact on long-term net migration will be minimal. The ONS has recently improved its methodology so that it is possible to<br>better identify students in the emigration flows to give a more accurate measure of the contribution of students to overall net migration.In the last year, 124,000 non-EU students came to Britain to stay for more than 12 months, and the ONS estimates that only 50,000 left the country. <br><br>All migrants who are in the UK for 12 months or more have an impact on our communities, infrastructure and public services. Changing the way we measure migration would not make any difference to our student migration policy. There is no cap on the number of students who can come to the UK, and the county remains open to the brightest and the best.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 05/11/2014 14:46:23 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

92995

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Typhoon Aircraft
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the current service life in flight hours is of Typhoon aircraft.
	tabling member constituency	Moray
	tabling member printed	Angus Robertson
	uin	210205
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 October 2014 to Question 210204. This can be found at the following link;</p><p>http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&amp;max=20&amp;questiontype=AllQuestions&amp;house=commons%2clords&amp;uin=210204</p> answering member constituency Ludlow answering member printed Mr Philip Dunne question first answered 05/11/2014 16:33:27 answering member 1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne previous answer version 23156 answering member constituency Ludlow answering member printed Mr Philip Dunne answering member 1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne
	tabling member	1433 label Biography information for Angus Robertson

100609

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Civil Servants: Languages
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government which languages have been studied by civil servants and diplomatic staff at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Language School; and how many civil servants and diplomatic staff have studied each language.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL2340
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>Since the Language Centre opened on 19th September 2013 a total of 45 different languages have been studied there either full or part-time by 813 students. Of those students, 779 are Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff and 34 are from other government departments (OGDs) (including staff from the following departments: Ministry of Defence, Cabinet Office, the Department for Business, Innovation &amp; Skills, Home Office, Ministry of Justice, UK Trade and Investment, the Department for International Development, HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and the House of Commons). An additional 60 FCO staff have trained at the Institut Francais. Staff across the Civil Service can also access the FCO Language Centre library to continue to develop their own language skills outside formal study and 58 OGD staff have taken advantage of this offer so far.</p><p>It is important to note that when more appropriate, staff from OGDs also receive language training outside of the FCO Language Centre through use of the Civil Service-wide contract with Language Services Direct (the company that run the FCO Language Centre) or at the Institut Francais if French is required. Since September 2014, 113 OGD students have received language training on their own premises via the FCO contract.</p><p>The table below provides a breakdown of the languages that have been taught at the FCO Language Centre:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Albanian</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Arabic</p></td><td><p>186</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Azeri</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bosnian</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bulgarian</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Burmese</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cambodian</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Czech</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Danish</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dari</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dutch</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Farsi</p></td><td><p>33</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Finnish</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>French</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Georgian</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>German</p></td><td><p>40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Greek</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hebrew</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hindi</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Indonesian</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Italian</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Japanese</p></td><td><p>33</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Korean</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Macedonian</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mandarin</p></td><td><p>93</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Norwegian</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pashto</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Polish</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Portuguese</p></td><td><p>47</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Romanian</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Russian</p></td><td><p>84</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Serbian</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sinhalese</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Slovak</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Slovene</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Spanish</p></td><td><p>153</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Swedish</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tajik</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Thai</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tigrinya</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Turkish</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Turkmen</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Urdu</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Uzbek</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Vietnamese</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>813</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 05/11/2014 15:51:51 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

100610

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Civil Servants: Languages
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they expect to see an increase in the numbers of United Kingdom civil servants capable of fulfilling the language requirements for applications to the European Civil Service; and if so by how many, and by when.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL2341
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government is working to increase the number of applicants to the European Civil Service and to increase civil service language training. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) supports all UK applicants, including civil servants, through the EU recruitment process, including advice on how to pass the recruitment tests in a foreign language. The European Fast Stream programme has been re-structured for 2014 and the training updated. As part of this, the language training provided to participants has been revised and tailored to offer more effective preparation for the Commission’s entry exam known as The Concours. There is also language training offered to civil servants through the FCO language centre. Some Government Departments also offer training in-house in different languages.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 05/11/2014 15:54:59 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

100611

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Civil Servants: Languages
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how civil servants from all departments with the wish or the potential to benefit from a course at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Language School are identified.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL2342
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text Full-time language training is available to all staff on appointment to one of the 674 designated ‘speaker’ roles based across the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)’s network of posts overseas. Appointment is made following an advert, application and selection by interview for a position. All positions (including speaker roles) in the Senior Management Service are also advertised across the Civil Service. A number of positions (including speaker roles) in the delegated grades are also advertised across the Civil Service via ‘Interchange’. All FCO staff (or staff from other governmental departments (OGDs) if on Interchange) and their spouses/partners posted to non-speaker roles in a foreign country also have the option of taking up language training to reach a basic level (Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) – A2 Confidence foreign language proficiency) to help settle into a new posting overseas. FCO staff who wish to develop skills in a foreign language can also attend a rolling programme of part-time lunchtime or evening classes in 12 languages. Where there is space in these classes, OGD staff are offered places based on language learning needs analyses by Departments. Language Services Direct (the company who run the FCO Language Centre) also provide part-time classes to a number of OGDs (the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Cabinet Office, the Department for Energy and Climate Change, the Department for International Development, Members of Parliament, UK Hydrographic Office) on their own premises or at Language Services Direct premises (HM Revenue and Customs). Language Services Direct also run a bespoke training package for staff from both the FCO and across the Civil Service wishing to apply for positions within EU institutions. A number of OGDs also appoint staff, following their own internal appointment processes, to their own ‘speaker’ roles overseas and are able use the Language Centre for training, or receive training at their own premises from Language Services Direct. To-date over 130 OGD staff have been trained either full-time or part-time at the Centre or at their own premises. answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 05/11/2014 15:56:28 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

100566

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Welfare Assistance Schemes
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 15 October (HL1906), whether they will place in the Library of the House the findings of their review into the impact of the abolition of the Discretionary Social Fund.
	tabling member printed	Baroness King of Bow
	uin	HL2303
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions are undertaking a review into how local welfare provision has been used in 2013/14 and its anticipated use in 2014/15. The Department are making plans to publish the review shortly. A copy will be placed in the Library of House.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 05/11/2014 14:01:03 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
	tabling member	143 label Biography information for Baroness King of Bow

100584

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	answering body	Department for International Development
	answering dept id	20
	answering dept short name	International Development
	answering dept sort name	International Development
	hansard heading	Afghanistan
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the United Kingdom intends to ensure that at the London Conference on Afghanistan, due to take place on 24–25 November, Afghan women in attendance will be able fully to participate in the Conference’s deliberations.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead
	uin	HL2321
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>As co-hosts of the London Conference on Afghanistan (LCA), the UK government has agreed the overall invitation list in partnership with the Afghan Government. However, decisions on civil society attendees have been made by Afghanistan civil society themselves (rather than the UK or Afghan Government) through a democratic process in Kabul. At least 45% of these elected, sponsored attendees are Afghan women who are scheduled to contribute fully to the civil society event and its outcomes<em>. </em>The make-up of the official Afghan government delegation is for the Afghans themselves to decide, however we will be encouraging them to ensure that this includes female Afghan representatives.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Northover question first answered 05/11/2014 17:49:18 answering member 2539 label Biography information for Baroness Northover
	tabling member	3895 label Biography information for Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead

100658

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept id	63
	answering dept short name	Energy and Climate Change
	answering dept sort name	Energy and Climate Change
	hansard heading	Electricity Generation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, given the requirements of the Climate Change Act 2008, how they will ensure that all new and refurbished power generating capacity in the United Kingdom is contributing towards the meeting of carbon targets; and how they will ensure that higher carbon infrastructure is not being locked in that will make the meeting of carbon targets harder and more expensive in the future.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Worthington
	uin	HL2389
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Climate Change Act established a legally binding target to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% below base levels by 2050. The Act introduced a system of carbon budgets which provide legally binding limits on the amount of emissions that may be produced in successive five-year periods, setting the UK on a least cost trajectory to 2050.</p><p>A comprehensive package of policies has been put in place to meet future carbon budgets, which includes reducing the carbon intensity of power generation.</p><p>Electricity market reform (EMR) provides support for all low carbon technologies including nuclear, Carbon Capture Storage and renewables. The EMR delivery plan also provides an outlook to 2030 illustrating different scenarios for power sector decarbonisation consistent with our carbon plan and budgets.</p><p>This approach increases energy security and minimises costs to taxpayers and consumers, while reducing emissions.</p> answering member printed Baroness Verma question first answered 05/11/2014 14:26:05 answering member 3790 label Biography information for Baroness Verma
	tabling member	4235 label Biography information for Baroness Worthington

100455

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Undocumented Migrants
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to deport illegal migrants to their home country.
	tabling member constituency	Dover
	tabling member printed	Charlie Elphicke
	uin	211615
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>We have recently legislated in the Immigration Act 2014 to make it harder for illegal migrants to remain in the country undetected and to encourage people to leave of their own accord. The provisions include implementing a penalty for those landlords who rent property to immigrants without leave in the UK, denying free access to most secondary healthcare in the UK to illegal immigrants, requiring banks to check against a database of known immigration offenders before opening accounts, introducing new powers to check the immigration status of applicants before issuing a driving licence and revoking the driving licences of those migrants who have overstayed, and introducing new powers to clamp down <br>on those trying to gain immigration advantage by entering into a sham marriage or civil partnership. <br><br>We have also used the Immigration Act to streamline the process of enforcing the removal of illegal migrants when necessary. We have reduced the number of appeal rights from 17 to 4, and set out clearly in primary legislation the right balance on Article 8 rights, to prevent individuals from playing the system. We have also streamlined the process of serving immigration decisions to reduce bureaucracy and further accelerate the system.<br><br>We also introduced on 1 January 2014 new regulations allowing us to prevent the re-entry to the UK for up to 12 months of EEA nationals who are<br>removed for failing to exercise treaty rights, unless they have a valid reason to be here. <br><br>These measures support and enhance our immigration enforcement capability, with teams operating on a targeted, risk-based approach across the country to detect and remove illegal migrants. This effort has also been given fresh impetus with the break-up of the UK Border Agency and the creation of a focused Immigration Enforcement operational command.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 05/11/2014 14:44:27 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
	tabling member	3971 label Biography information for Charlie Elphicke

100445

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Entry Clearances: West Africa
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what visa arrangements are being made for citizens of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea whose visas are expiring or expired and whose return flights have been cancelled by the relevant airlines.
	tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
	tabling member printed	Dame Joan Ruddock
	uin	211471
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that there should not be a general ban on international travel or trade to the countries affected by ebola. This is consistent with the position of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, whose advice for British nationals is that travel for essential reasons should continue. Nationals from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone whose flights have been cancelled but whose visas are expiring or expired are therefore expected to re-arrange their flights and leave the UK at the earliest opportunity. <br><br>However, the Government is monitoring the situation closely.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 05/11/2014 14:41:36 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire previous answer version 24350 answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
	tabling member	190 label Biography information for Dame Joan Ruddock