Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has submitted evidence to the Prison Officers Pay Review Body; and what the reasons were for the time taken for that submission.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The government has now submitted its evidence to the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB), which outlines the pay proposals for all operational prison staff for 2017/18, following extensive talks with both the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) and the Prison Governors’ Association (PGA).
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she plans to take to ensure the independence of the Prison Officers' Pay Review Body from (a) prison service management and (b) Government.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Government respects and values the role of the independent Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) as a compensatory mechanism for Operational staff within the Prison Service for whom the inducement to participate in industrial action is prohibited by law.
The PSPRB members are independently appointed through the Public Appointments Team and the panel makes independent recommendations having considered evidence from both NOMS, in agreement with wider Government, and trade unions.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what grounds the order for the deportation to Singapore of Irene Clennell was given.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
All applications for leave to remain in the UK are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules. We expect those with no legal right to remain in the country to leave. Mrs Clennell has had no legal basis to remain in the UK since July 2014.
Mrs Clennell has spent the majority of her life, including her married life, in Singapore. She was granted indefinite leave to remain in 1992 but this lapsed after she went on to live outside the UK for more than two years. Mrs Clennell last entered the UK as a visitor in 2013 and went on to make an application to remain as the spouse of her husband in 2013. This was refused and her appeal rights were exhausted on 10 July 2014. It is right that we expect those with no legal right to remain to leave the UK.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he has taken to investigate allegations on Channel 4's Dispatches programme of 4 February 2017 that members of the armed forces and the RUC were involved in waterboarding detained persons in Northern Ireland in 1972.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The UK unreservedly condemns the use of torture or inhuman treatment. We work hard with our international partners to eradicate this abhorrent practice. We have consistently made clear our absolute opposition to torture and our determination to combat it wherever and whenever it occurs.
Preventing torture and tackling impunity for those who torture are essential components of safeguarding our security and are integral to a fair legal system and the rule of law.
The UK abides by its commitments under international law and expects all countries to comply with their international legal obligations.
The UK Government, including the intelligence and security agencies, never uses torture for any purpose, including to obtain information.
As in any circumstances, if anyone has evidence of any wrongdoing, that should be brought to the attention of the appropriate authorities for investigation.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of freezing rates of child benefit and child tax credit on families in Blaydon constituency.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government has considered the impact on all benefits and tax credits rates that are included in the four year uprating freeze. The Government has published an impact assessment at:
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to ensure that the ban on the use of microbeads, announced by her Department on 3 September 2016, is comprehensive and effective; and if she will inform the House of the lessons learned from the ban on those products in the US.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We are currently running a consultation on our proposals which end on 28th February 2017. The US ban has not yet come into force, but we will continue to monitor its progress and look to learn any lessons from its approach.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the level of business rates on NHS budgets.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Any healthcare provider which is a charity and using their property wholly or mainly for charitable purposes will be entitled to 80% mandatory rate relief. Charities in the healthcare sector make an important contribution to our society and it is right they should benefit from mandatory rate relief.
NHS properties, like almost all other buildings occupied by public bodies, have been subject to non-domestic rates since they were introduced. Operational costs related to property are taken into account at spending reviews in determining the overall level of funding for the NHS.
A £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme will provide support for the minority of properties which face an increase in rates as a result of the 2017 revaluation, and applies equally to public bodies such as the NHS.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the reasons are for business rate relief (a) being provided to private health companies and (b) not being provided to publicly funded health services.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Any healthcare provider which is a charity and using their property wholly or mainly for charitable purposes will be entitled to 80% mandatory rate relief. Charities in the healthcare sector make an important contribution to our society and it is right they should benefit from mandatory rate relief.
NHS properties, like almost all other buildings occupied by public bodies, have been subject to non-domestic rates since they were introduced. Operational costs related to property are taken into account at spending reviews in determining the overall level of funding for the NHS.
A £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme will provide support for the minority of properties which face an increase in rates as a result of the 2017 revaluation, and applies equally to public bodies such as the NHS.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether it is her Department's policy to provide information to prisoners and their families in the event of their transfer to another prison; and by what mechanism prisoners and their families can appeal a prison transfer.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Prison Rules require prisons to actively encourage prisoners to maintain outside contacts and meaningful family ties.
Prisoners also have a statutory entitlement to send and receive letters and are entitled to one free letter to inform someone they are being transferred. They are also given the access to make a telephone call on the day of their arrival to a new prison to inform their family of their new location if they have not been able to do so in advance. It is the prisoners’ responsibility to advise their family if they are transferring to another prison.
The prisoner can make an appeal through the complaints system and is entitled to a reply, which should provide clear reasons for their decision. If they are not satisfied with their response they can write to the Prison Ombudsman. Families can also raise any concerns directly with the Prison.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Northern Ireland Office Renewable Heating Incentive Scheme, published on 5 July 2016, what steps his Department is taking to support the Northern Ireland Executive to create an open and accountable process to investigate Renewable Heating Incentive overspend.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Northern Ireland Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive and not the Northern Ireland Office. The Northern Ireland Audit Office has responsibility for the financial and value for money audit of central government bodies in the Northern Ireland Executive.