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1138051

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Entry Clearances: Applications
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 263146 on Visas: Applications, if he will ensure that the processing of in-country visa services by Sopra Steria will not result in increased prices for visa services for (a) international students and staff at UK universities and (b) universities.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	275742
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The application fee for a visa or visa extension is paid to the Home Office and is not related to the service provided by Sopra Steria.</p><p>As part of the application process in the UK individuals must enrol their biometrics at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service centre which are run by Sopra Steria.</p><p>For the majority of applicants in the UK there are a variety of offerings for students and other employees at UK education institutions which include free appointments at core service points, access to enhanced service points and the premium lounge for a fee. Additionally, to help meet demand for the autumn increase in student applications a “Tier 4 Service Point” will also be offered by Sopra Steria for a fee. This cost of this is lower than the costs of an out of hours, enhanced service point or premium lounge appointments under the normal UKVCAS service and will save students the financial and logistical burden of travel.</p><p>As part of our governance processes, we work closely with SSL to ensure that excessive charges are not imposed on UKVI customers. Whilst SSL may offer added value services to customers, these are optional and aim to enhance the customer experience.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 15/07/2019 12:31:44 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1138067

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
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	Persecution of Christians across the Globe Independent Review
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the evidential basis was for the downgrading of the impact of persecution of Christians in the Middle East between the the Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review for the Foreign Secretary of FCO Support for Persecuted Christians and (a) Interim and (b) Final Report.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	275654
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>This is an independent Review. As the Foreign Secretary has stated, the findings of the report make for harrowing reading and we are concerned about the situation for all Christians, including those in the Middle East. The report states that further evidence will be published and will be available incrementally from 15 July on the Review's website.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 15/07/2019 10:48:52 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1138068

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration Controls: Northern Ireland
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) charged and (b) convicted as a result of Operation Gull in Northern Ireland in the last two years.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	275698
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office does not publish statistics on request for Operation Gull.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 15/07/2019 12:05:08 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1138134

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Recreation Spaces
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the merits of increasing green spaces in the UK to reduce the effect of flash flooding.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	275672
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>As set out in our 25 Year Environment Plan, this Government recognises the importance of green spaces for health and happiness as well as for environmental benefits such as sequestering carbon, absorbing noise, cleansing pollutants, absorbing surface water and reducing high temperatures. In the right place, using green spaces in towns and cities to help divert or store flood water can be beneficial, including using sustainable drainage systems such as permeable surfaces and ponds or natural flood management techniques in towns and cities as well as upstream.</p><p> </p><p>As we build more homes, preserving and creating green spaces in towns is more important than ever. We want to encourage local authorities to consider all flood management opportunities and developers to take into account all the benefits when deciding how much land to allocate as green space.</p><p> </p><p>To support this we have worked with colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to revise the National Planning Policy Framework to further encourage sustainable drainage systems, and published our Surface Water Management Action Plan which includes actions that will join up planning for surface water management and build local authority capacity. In addition, Natural England is developing a framework of national standards for green infrastructure in close consultation with stakeholders.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 15/07/2019 12:16:36 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138155

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Railways: Surveys
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department will update the National Rail Travel Overview Survey Report.
tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
tabling member printed	Dame Cheryl Gillan
uin	275643
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department is currently considering updating the National Rail Travel Survey, and will reach a decision in due course.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harrogate and Knaresborough answering member printed Andrew Jones question first answered 15/07/2019 11:03:15 answering member 3996 label Biography information for Andrew Jones
tabling member	18 label Biography information for Dame Cheryl Gillan

1138215

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Racial Discrimination
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of reports of racism against students and staff in UK universities in the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	275679
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The government takes all forms of hate crime extremely seriously. There is no place in our society - including within higher education – for hatred or for any form of harassment, discrimination or racism.</p><p> </p><p>The government is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students (OfS) to support work to address racism and other forms of harassment in higher education, including the implementation of UUK’s Taskforce recommendations. The government has also tasked the OfS to support this work, and over £2 million has been invested in projects tackling hatred and harassment.</p><p> </p><p>The department regularly meets stakeholders and representative bodies about student experience issues including racism, hate crime and harassment. Officials hold quarterly meetings with the OfS and UUK to discuss how to make progress on harassment and hate crime, including racism within the sector. In addition, I have recently held meetings with the Union of Jewish Students and Jewish student representatives about antisemitism on campus.</p><p> </p><p>The government expects providers to keep records of incidents disclosed to them and to act swiftly to investigate and address them. It is important to recognise that under-reporting is common. Higher education providers should look at how they can continue to break down barriers to reporting, in spite of the potential for it to lead to spikes in disclosures, and to make sure that students and staff feel safe and able to disclose racist incidents.</p><p> </p><p>Evaluation to date has shown that progress has been made but that there is still more to do. On 7 January 2019; I wrote to the Equality and Human Rights Commission to welcome their Inquiry into Racial Harassment in Higher Education Institutions. I look forward to the new evidence that this inquiry will bring and will review its findings carefully.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 275680 question first answered 15/07/2019 12:42:13 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1138222

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Higher Education: Equality
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of equality and diversity training provided by higher education institutions; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making that training mandatory.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	275681
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The government is committed to tackling inequalities. That is why, in October 2018, my right. hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, launched measures to tackle barriers facing ethnic minorities in the workplace, including a new Race at Work Charter and a consultation on ethnicity pay reporting.</p><p>Like all employers, higher education providers have responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) in relation to their staff. The government expects providers to comply fully with their obligations. As autonomous and independent institutions, it is for individual providers to ensure that the training they provide is appropriate.</p><p>The Equality Challenge Unit (part of Advance HE) has published guidance for higher education providers on embedding equality and diversity into HR policies. The Race Equality Charter also helps higher education providers to identify and address institutional and cultural barriers standing in the way of minority ethnic staff and students. The Athena SWAN Charter recognises work undertaken to address gender equality.</p><p>The regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), and its predecessor, have provided over £4.7 million in funding for projects tackling sexual harassment, online harassment and hate-based harassment. This includes projects with a focus on developing and providing training for both staff and students on matters such as bystander intervention and handling of reports and disclosures.</p><p>In guidance to the OfS, the government has asked the regulator to positively engage with work to counter harassment and hate-crime and to make campuses places of tolerance for all students, and work with providers on equalities issues.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 15/07/2019 12:23:39 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden