Written Statements
(10 years, 3 months ago)
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Office of Fair Trading (Contingencies Fund Advance)
(10 years, 3 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Jenny Willott)
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills wishes to report that a cash advance from the Contingencies Fund has been sought for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
The advance is required to meet an urgent cash requirement on existing services pending parliamentary approval of the 2013-14 supplementary estimate. The supplementary estimate seeks an increase in the net cash requirement in order to settle material liabilities recognised in the prior year.
Parliamentary approval for additional cash of £5 million will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the Office of Fair Trading. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £5 million will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.
The advance will be repaid upon Royal Assent of the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Bill.
ECOFIN
(10 years, 3 months ago)
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The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Sajid Javid)
A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council will be held in Brussels on 28 January 2014. The following items are on the agenda to be discussed.
Current legislative proposals
The presidency will provide information on the ongoing work on financial services dossiers.
Implementation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism
The European Central Bank (ECB) will provide an update on the state of play of the implementation of the single supervisory mechanism (SSM). The establishment of the SSM will help to safeguard euro area financial stability and is critical to restoring market confidence over the medium-term.
Presentation of the Presidency work programme
The Greek presidency will present its six-month work programme for ECOFIN. The main themes of the presidency are: growth, jobs and cohesion; further EU/eurozone integration; migration, borders and mobility; and maritime policy.
Follow-up to the European Council meeting on 19-20 December 2013
Council will hold an exchange of views on the December 2013 European Council conclusions regarding the implementation of the compact for growth and jobs. The UK supports the objectives of the compact to promote growth and competitiveness and tackle unemployment.
Implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact
Council will be asked to endorse a draft Council decision on the existence of an excessive deficit in Croatia and a draft Council recommendation to put an end to the present excessive deficit situation.
Counter-Terrorist Asset-Freezing Regime
(10 years, 3 months ago)
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The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Sajid Javid)
My noble Friend the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, Lord Deighton, has today made the following written ministerial statement:
Under the Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc. Act 2010 (“TAFA 2010”), the Treasury is required to report to Parliament, quarterly, on its operation of the UK’s asset-freezing regime mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 1373.
This is the 12th report under the Act and it covers the period from 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013. This report also covers the UK implementation of the UN al-Qaeda asset-freezing regime and the operation of the EU asset-freezing regime in the UK under EU regulation (EC) 2580/2001 which implements UNSCR 1373 against external terrorist threats to the EU. Under the UN al-Qaeda asset-freezing regime, the UN has responsibility for designations and the Treasury has responsibility for licensing and compliance with the regime in the UK under the Al-Qaeda (Asset-freezing) Regulations 2011. Under EU Regulation 2580/2001, the EU has responsibility for designations and the Treasury has responsibility for licensing and compliance with the regime in the UK under part 1 of TAFA 2010.
Annexes A and B to this statement provide a breakdown, by name, of all those designated by the UK and the EU in pursuance of UN Security Council Resolution 1373.
The following table sets out the key asset-freezing activity in the UK during the quarter ending 31 December 2013:
TAFA 2010 | EU Reg (EC) 2580/2001 | Al-Qaeda Regime UNSCR 1989 | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assets frozen (as at 31/12/2013) | £82,000 | £11,0001 | £58,0002 |
Number of accounts frozen in UK (at 31/12/13) | 54 | 10 | 26 |
New accounts frozen (during Q4 2013) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Accounts unfrozen (during Q4 2013) | 7 | 0 | 3 |
Number of designations (at 31/12/2013) | 38 | 373 | 284 |
(i) New designations (during Q4 2013) | 0 | 0 | 4 |
(ii) Delistings (during Q4 2013) | 1 | 0 | 4 |
(iii) Individuals in custody in UK (at 31/12/2013) | 15 | 0 | 0 |
(iv) Individuals in UK, not in custody (at 31/12/2013) | 3 | 0 | 3 |
(v) Individuals overseas (at 31/12/2013) | 12 | 11 | 220 |
(vi) Groups | 8 (0 in UK) | 26 (1 in UK) | 62 (0 in UK) |
Individuals by Nationality | |||
(i) UK Nationals4 | 13 | n/a | n/a |
(ii) Non UK Nationals | 17 | - | - |
Renewal of designation (during Q4 2013) | 11 | n/a | n/a |
General Licences | |||
(i) Issued in Q4 | (i) 0 | ||
(ii) Amended | (ii) 0 | ||
(iii) Revoked | (iii) 0 | ||
Specific Licences | |||
(i) Issued in Q4 | (i) 4 | (i) 0 | (i) 1 |
(ii) Amended | (ii) 2 | (ii) 0 | (ii) 0 |
(iii) Revoked/Expired | (iii) 0 | (iii) 0 | (iii) 0 |
1This does not duplicate funds frozen under TAFA. 2This figure reflects the most up-to-date account balances available and includes approximately $64,000 of funds frozen in the UK. This has been converted using exchange rates as of 31/12/2013. | |||
3This figure is based on ex-designations where the UK freeze forms the prior competent authority decision for the EU freeze. 4Based on information held by the Treasury, some of these individuals hold dual nationality. |
Legal Proceedings
An appeal against designation made under the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2009 and TAFA 2010 was ongoing in the quarter covered by this report, brought by Zana Abdul Rahim. Two civil claims relating to designations are also ongoing, one brought by Gulam Mastafa against the Treasury and other Government Departments, and another brought by an individual, known as “M”, against the Treasury. The challenge under s63(2) of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 brought by Mohammed Al Ghabra against the Treasury and joined to be heard with his claim for judicial review against the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was withdrawn by the claimant. In the quarter to 31 December 2013, no criminal proceedings were initiated in respect of breaches of asset freezes made under TAFA 2010 or under the Al-Qaeda (Asset-freezing) Regulations 2011.
Annex A: Designated persons under TAFA 2010 by name5
Individuals
1. Hamed Abdollahi
2. Bilal Talal Abdullah
3. Imad Khalil Al-Alami
4. Abdula Ahmed Ali
5. Abdelkarim Hussein Al-Nasser
6. Ibrahim Salih Al-Yacoub
7. Manssor Arbabsiar
8. Usama Hamdan
9. Nabeel Hussain
10. Tanvir Hussain
11. Umar Islam
12. Hasan Izz-Al-Din
13. Mohammed Khaled
14. Parviz Khan
15. Waheed Arafat Khan
16. Osman Adam Khatib
17. Musa Abu Marzouk
18. Khalid Mishaal
19. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
20. Ramzi Mohammed
21. Sultan Muhammad
22. Yassin Omar
23. Hussein Osman
24. Muktar Mohammed Said
25. Assad Sarwar
26. Ibrahim Savant
27. Abdul Reza Shahlai
28. Ali Gholam Shakuri
39. Qasem Soleimani
30. Waheed Zaman
Entities
1. Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)
2. Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN)
3. Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC)
4. Hizballah Military Wing, including External Security Organisation
5. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
6. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—General Command (PFLP-GC)
7. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
8. Sendero Luminoso (SL)
Annex B: Persons designated by the EU under Council Regulation (EC)2580/20016
Persons
Hamed Abdollahi*2. Abdelkarim Hussein Al-Nasser*3. Ibrahim Salih Al Yacoub*4. Manssor Arbabsiar*5. Mohammed Bouyeri6. Sofiane Yacine Fahas7. Hasan Izz-Al-Din*8. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed*9. Abdul Reza Shahlai*10. Ali Gholam Shakuri*11. Qasem Soleimani*
Groups and Entities
1. Abu Nidal Organisation (ANO)
2. Al-Aqsa e.V.
3. Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade
4. Al-Takfir and Al-Hijra
5. Babbar Khalsa
6. Communist Party of the Philippines, including New People’s Army (NPA), Philippines
7. Devrimci Halk Kurtulu Partisi-Cephesi—DHKP/C (Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army/Front/Party)
8. Ejército de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Army)*
9. Fuerzas armadas revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC)*
10. Gama’a al-lslamiyya (a.k.a. Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya) (Islamic Group—IG)
11. Hamas, including Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem
12. Hizballah Military wing, including external security organisation
13. Hizbul Mujahideen (HM)
14. Hofstadgroep
15. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development*
16. International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF)
17. Islami Büyük Dogu Akincilar Cephesi (IBDA-C) (Great Islamic Eastern Warriors Front)
18. Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF)
19. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) (a.k.a. KONGRA-GEL)
20. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
21. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
22. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—General Command (PFLP-GC)*
23. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)*
24. Sendero Luminoso (SL) (Shining Path)*
25. Stichting Al Aqsa
26. Teyrbazen Azadiya Kurdistan (TAK)
5For full listing details please refer to: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/current-list-of-designated-persons-terrorism-and-terrorist-financing
6For full listing details please refer to: www.gov.uk
*EU listing rests on UK designation under TAFA 2010.
Boundary Commission for England
(10 years, 3 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
I should like to inform the House that I have made the following reappointments under schedule 1 to the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986:
Mr David Elvin QC, reappointed as a Member of the Boundary Commission for England, effective until 11 January 2019; and
Mr Neil Pringle, reappointed as a Member of the Boundary Commission for England, effective until 30 June 2019.