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1042301

	registered interest
	date	16/01/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to develop an international student growth strategy.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen South
	tabling member printed	Ross Thomson
	uin	209353
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2019 answer text <p>The government fully recognises the important economic and cultural contribution that EU and international students make to the UK’s higher education sector. We want that contribution to continue and are confident – given the world class quality of our higher education sector – that it will. We welcome international students and there continues to be no limit on the number who can come here to study, nor any plans to limit any institution’s ability to recruit them.</p><p> </p><p>The UK remains a highly attractive destination for non-EU students, with their numbers remaining at record highs – over 170,000 non-EU entrants to UK higher education institutions for the seventh year running. The UK is a world-leading destination for study, with 4 universities in the world’s top 10 and 16 in the top 100 – second only to the USA. We actively promote study in the UK through the GREAT Campaign and to over 100 countries through the British Council.</p><p> </p><p>In the immigration white paper, published on 19 December 2018, the government proposed to increase the post-study leave period for international students following completion of studies to 12 months for those completing a PhD, and to 6 months for all full-time postgraduate students and undergraduate students at institutions with degree awarding powers. Going beyond the recommendations set out by the Migration Advisory Committee, these proposals will benefit tens of thousands of international students.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 21/01/2019 14:58:00 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4599 label Biography information for Ross Thomson

1133751

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Reoffenders: Domestic Abuse
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners given a custodial sentence for domestic violence have reoffended within a year of their release since 2015.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen South
	tabling member printed	Ross Thomson
	uin	267360
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>There is no specific offence of domestic violence. Conduct amounting to domestic violence can be present in a wide range of offences and is not readily identifiable from court sentencing outcomes.</p><p> </p><p>Information on how many prisoners who received a custodial sentence for offences involving domestic violence reoffended within a year of their release since 2015 may be held on court records, but could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as a manual search of court records would be required.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 27/06/2019 17:13:36 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4599 label Biography information for Ross Thomson

1078570

	registered interest
	date	27/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Employment and Support Allowance: Self-employed
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support self-employed people who need to claim employment support allowance.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen South
	tabling member printed	Ross Thomson
	uin	226720
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2019 answer text <p>We have successfully rolled out Universal Credit in all job centres nationally. Consequently, self-employed people, who have a health condition, can now claim either Universal Credit and/or New Style Employment and Support Allowance.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants who are eligible to claim New Style Employment and Support Allowance can do so by calling the Universal Credit helpline to request a claim form or by downloading and printing the form available on Gov.uk. Full details about how to apply (including information requesting forms in alternative formats such as braille) can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/how-to-claim-new-style-esa" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/how-to-claim-new-style-esa</a></p><p> </p><p>Claimants who are not eligible to claim New Style Employment and Support Allowance can claim Universal Credit online. For those unable to access or use digital services, assistance to make and maintain their claim is available via the Freephone Universal Credit helplines. The Universal Credit Service Centre will establish the best means of support available.</p><p> </p><p>A home visit can be arranged to support a claimant in making their initial claim and completing any other administrative tasks required to ensure their application is completed.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, to help claimants who may struggle making a claim, Universal Support is available, which is advice, assistance or support to help Universal Credit and New Style Employment and Support Allowance claimants with managing their claim or award.</p><p> </p><p>From 1 April 2019 Citizens Advice (England and Wales) and Citizens Advice Scotland will deliver a new “Help to Claim” service to support vulnerable claimants through the process of making a claim.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 07/03/2019 13:53:53 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
	tabling member	4599 label Biography information for Ross Thomson

780661

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2017
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the economic effect on Scotland of the increase in statutory minimum employee pension contributions in 2018 and 2019; and what estimate he has made of the number of people in Scotland who will be affected by those changes.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen South
	tabling member printed	Ross Thomson
	uin	110359
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/11/2017 answer text <p>Automatic enrolment was designed to increase the number of people saving for their retirement, and has been a great success to date. By the end of September 2017, over 8.7 million people had been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension – this included 523,000 people in Scotland</p><p> </p><p>We do want to encourage people to save more than the minimum, but we need to balance this with the fact that many people are not saving anything and contributing to a pension will be new to them. We also recognise that employers needed time to adjust so as to implement the reforms, and to help manage their costs. As such, our focus is on increasing the number of people saving and increasing contributions gradually over the next two years. For an individual, these are currently at 1 per cent, rising to 3 per cent in April 2018 and 5 per cent in April 2019</p><p> </p><p>We are currently undertaking a review of the policy and operation of automatic enrolment. This includes looking at the existing coverage of the policy; strengthening the evidence base concerning future contributions and how to improve individuals’ engagement with workplace pension saving so as to maximise saving for their retirement. The review work is led by a DWP team and supported by an external advisory group. We will report to Parliament by the end of 2017.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 02/11/2017 12:23:48 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4599 label Biography information for Ross Thomson

832903

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2018
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Personal Independence Payment: Aberdeen South
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people had personal independence payment decisions overturned because of (a) mandatory reconsideration and (b) an appeal hearing in Aberdeen South constituency in each year since April 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen South
	tabling member printed	Ross Thomson
	uin	125219
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2018 answer text <p>The table below shows the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions and the number and proportion of mandatory reconsideration decisions and appeal decisions where the award was changed, by financial year of the initial PIP decision since the introduction of PIP in the Parliamentary Constituency of Aberdeen South.</p><p><em>Number of PIP decisions, and number and proportion of mandatory reconsiderations decisions and appeal decisions where the award changed, by financial year of initial PIP decision.</em></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Financial year of initial PIP decision</p></td><td><p>Number of PIP decisions</p></td><td><p>Number of awards changed at MR</p></td><td><p>Proportion of PIP decisions changed at MR</p></td><td><p>Number of awards changed at appeal</p></td><td><p>Proportion of PIP decisions where award changed at appeal</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>#</p></td><td><p>#</p></td><td><p>#</p></td><td><p>#</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/ 15</p></td><td><p>560</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>1%</p></td><td><p>#</p></td><td><p>#</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/ 16</p></td><td><p>680</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>2%</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/ 17</p></td><td><p>1,030</p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>5%</p></td><td><p>40</p></td><td><p>4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18 (April 17 to Oct 17)</p></td><td><p>580</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>5%</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>2%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>2,950</p></td><td><p>110</p></td><td><p>4%</p></td><td><p>90</p></td><td><p>3%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Data has been rounded to the nearest 10 and nearest percent.</p><p>‘#’ means fewer than 5 in this category.</p><p>There will be some degree of retrospection in these figures over time due to changes in individual case outcomes, particularly with appeals. It is expected that there will be lower numbers of completed appeals in recent months due to the time lag in appeal completion.</p><p>Latest available data to October 2017</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 05/02/2018 14:01:27 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4599 label Biography information for Ross Thomson

838924

	registered interest
	date	08/02/2018
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will hold discussions with representatives of the Scottish Government on the effect of her policies on WASPI women in Scotland.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen South
	tabling member printed	Ross Thomson
	uin	127486
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2018 answer text <p>I have had regular correspondence with the Scottish Minister for Social Security on 16/07/2017, 25/08/17 and 05/02/18. As I said in my letter of 5<sup>th</sup> February,</p><p> </p><p><em>“</em><em>Should the Scottish Government wish to exercise their considerable powers to provide financial support to those impacted by the changes to the State Pension age they are able to do so. This would be entirely a matter for them and the UK Government would not seek to stop them”. </em></p><p> </p><p>There are no plans to meet with representatives of the Scottish Government to discuss this issue.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 23/02/2018 12:11:25 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	4599 label Biography information for Ross Thomson

1128042

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2019
	answering body	Northern Ireland Office
	answering dept id	21
	answering dept short name	Northern Ireland
	answering dept sort name	Northern Ireland
	hansard heading	Sovereignty: Northern Ireland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What recent assessment she has made of the benefits to Northern Ireland of being part of the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen South
	tabling member printed	Ross Thomson
	uin	910960
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>This Government has made clear on many occasions that we will never be neutral in expressing our support for the Union.</p><p>Northern Ireland benefits hugely from the Union and my steadfast belief is that Northern Ireland’s future is best served within a stronger United Kingdom.</p> answering member constituency Staffordshire Moorlands answering member printed Karen Bradley grouped question UIN 910961 question first answered 22/05/2019 14:13:03 answering member 4110 label Biography information for Dame Karen Bradley
	tabling member	4599 label Biography information for Ross Thomson

749570

	registered interest
	date	06/07/2017
	answering body	Department for International Trade
	answering dept id	202
	answering dept short name	International Trade
	answering dept sort name	International Trade
	hansard heading	Energy: Exports
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to encourage businesses in the energy sector to take advantage of new export opportunities and international trade.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen South
	tabling member printed	Ross Thomson
	uin	3576
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2017 answer text <p>The Department for International Trade (DIT) promotes trade and investment across the world and champions global free trade.</p><p>This department's support is targeted where government can add most value. We prioritise our global export promotion activity by identifying the sector-market combinations that present the greatest opportunities to achieve the maximum impact and success. The Department currently has 23 High Value Campaigns across the energy sector including oil &amp; gas, civil nuclear and renewables.</p><p>UK Export Finance (UKEF) actively works with project sponsors to bring business to the UK. In the past 5 years, UKEF has provided over £2bn in support of energy exports.</p> answering member constituency Chelsea and Fulham answering member printed Greg Hands question first answered 11/07/2017 13:55:05 answering member 1526 label Biography information for Greg Hands
	tabling member	4599 label Biography information for Ross Thomson

1020870

	registered interest
	date	07/12/2018
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Companies House: Registration
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to reduce the risk of fraud from the availability of personal information on the Companies House database.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen South
	tabling member printed	Ross Thomson
	uin	200149
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/12/2018 answer text <p>The Government considers that it is important that the information on the companies register should not become a tool for abuse. In response to concerns about the availability of residential address information on the register, we brought regulations into force in April to make it easier for people to have this information suppressed. We are also currently considering a broad package of reforms to Companies House, including the protection of personal information. We plan to consult on these reforms in 2019.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 12/12/2018 16:51:21 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4599 label Biography information for Ross Thomson

757865

	registered interest
	date	05/09/2017
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Industry
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress is being made on creating sector deals as part of the industrial strategy.
	tabling member constituency	Aberdeen South
	tabling member printed	Ross Thomson
	uin	8628
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/10/2017 answer text <p>There is good progress being made on a number of early sector deals, including the life sciences sector, which published a report to Government last week and intent to have reached agreement on six sector deals for the white paper later this year. The early sector deals will serve as an example of how Government can work with sectors of the economy to enhance their earning power. We are prepared to work with any sector which can organise strong leadership to address shared challenges and opportunities to grow the earning potential and engagement in their sector.</p><p> </p><p>.</p> answering member constituency Devizes answering member printed Claire Perry question first answered 10/10/2017 14:39:07 answering member 3974 label Biography information for Claire Perry
	tabling member	4599 label Biography information for Ross Thomson