Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to appeal to the Government of Burma on the (a) release of Lahpi Gam on medical grounds and (b) medical care required by that prisoner.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We remain concerned about Lahpi Gam's ongoing detention and by reports of his poor physical health. In 2013, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention opined that his imprisonment constituted arbitrary detention and raised a number of concerns about the fairness of his trial. We regularly raise our concerns regarding political prisoners with the Burmese authorities.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his oral contribution of 27 March 2017, Official Report, column 9, what the financial budget allocated to support claimants who would otherwise have received work-related activity payment is.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The “Improving Lives: The Work, Health and Disability Green Paper” was published on 31 October 2016 and announces the Department’s new Personal Support Package.
In his 2015 Summer Budget, the Chancellor announced the removal of the Work Related Activity Component (WRAC) and the Limited Capability for Work (LCW) element from April 2017.
Announced alongside this was a support package of £330m over four years to support this group from April 17. In addition, an extra £15m will be made available through the Flexible Support Fund in both 2017/18 and 2018/19 to offer more targeted support at a local level.
‘Improving Lives, The Work, Health and Disability Green Paper’ provides further details of the overarching Personal Support Package for people with health conditions and disabilities, with a range of new interventions and initiatives designed to provide support that is tailored to the individual needs of claimants.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to table AS 08 Q of the Quarterly Immigration Stastics, October to December 2016, how many applications for asylum made during quarter 4 of 2016 were made by unaccompanied children who arrived in the UK (a) under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016, (b) through the Dublin III Regulation and (c) by their own initiative.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The period October to December saw 1,161 asylum claims registered by unaccompanied asylum seeking children. It is not currently possible to provide a breakdown however I have committed to publishing more detailed figures in future data releases.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many adult and juvenile repeat offenders in London who have not received a non-custodial sentence since Section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 came into effect have had (a) more than one previous knife conviction and (b) a previous conviction for a violent offence in addition to their previous knife crime conviction.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The government continues to monitor sentencing for bladed and offensive weapon offences. On 9 March the latest knife possession sentencing quarterly statistics bulletin was published and is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/knife-possession-sentencing-quarterly-brief-october-to-december-2016.
After the introduction of our two strikes legislation, people caught carrying a knife a second time are now more likely than ever before to go to prison.
Since commencement of Section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, London police forces secured:
(a) 364 sentencing occasions resulting in a custodial sentence where the offender had more than one previous knife possession offence. Of these, 298 resulted in immediate custody and 66 in a suspended sentence.
(b) 535 sentencing occasions resulting in a custodial sentence where the offender was previously convicted or cautioned for a violence against the person offence (other than knife possession). Of these, 375 resulted in immediate custody and 160 in a suspended sentence. The figures reflect whether the offender had a previous conviction or caution for a violence against the person offence (other than knife possession), before they committed their subsequent knife possession offence. The conviction or caution for the violence against the person offence may have occurred at the same time as, or on a separate occasion to, the previous knife possession offence.
The figures provided include both adult and juvenile offenders.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 6 March 2017, Official Report, column 561 on immigration: indefinite detention, on what date her Department plans to publish its plan for the future of the immigration detention estate.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department’s strategy for the future of the immigration detention estate will be communicated in due course.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish her Department's plan for the future of the immigration detention estate.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department’s strategy for the future of the immigration detention estate will be communicated in due course.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate of 6 March 2017, Official Report, column 561, when the current system of detention reviews will be replaced by individual removal assessments and reviews.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Following publication of the Government’s response to Stephen Shaw’s Report into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons on 14 January 2016, work continues on designing and implementing a more effective case management process to replace the existing method of reviewing detention. Case Progression Plans are intended to act as the single caseworking record for all individuals entering immigration detention. These Plans will replace detention reviews and other documentation currently used by the Detention Gatekeeper when assessing suitability for detention, and will ensure that caseworkers focus on progression towards an individuals’ return.
Wider rollout of Case Progression Plans is planned for later this year, subject to the findings from the evaluation of the pilot phase.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities (a) provided and (b) offered places under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016; and how many places were so provided or offered by each such authority.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
In accordance with the Immigration Act 2016 the Government conducted a comprehensive consultation with local authorities across the UK in order to assess capacity for the care of unaccompanied children. On the 13 May 2016 the then Immigration Minister wrote to all local authorities to provide an update on the launch of the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) and to encourage local authorities to participate in all schemes designed for children. On 7 June 2016 the then Immigration Minister, the Minister for Vulnerable Children and Families and the then Minister with responsibility for Syrian Refugees attended a national launch event in London which was attended by local authorities from across the UK.
This was followed by regional events in Leicester, Exeter, Middlesbrough, Leeds, Huntingdon, Bedford, Birmingham, Manchester, Llandidrod Wells, Edinburgh and two further events in London. These events outlined how unaccompanied children arriving from Europe would be placed into local authority care through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) and were attended by representatives from over 400 local authorities.
Following this nationwide programme of events, in September 2016 I wrote again to all local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland asking them to confirm how many unaccompanied asylum seeking children they could accommodate under the NTS. Home Office officials also maintained an ongoing dialogue with individual local authorities and regional Strategic Migration Partnerships.
We asked local authorities to consider carefully whether they have the infrastructure and support networks needed to ensure the appropriate care of these unaccompanied children before participating in the NTS
Local authorities told us they had capacity for an additional 400 UASC until the end of the 2016/17 financial year. This is in addition to the unaccompanied children already in local authority care. We estimate that at least 50 of the family reunion cases will require a local authority placement in circumstances where the reunion does not work out
It is for individual local authorities to decide the number of children they are able to accommodate but we continue to work with those not currently participating in the National Transfer Scheme to support them to do so at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the level of uptake of the marriage tax allowance is; what steps he is taking to increase the uptake of that allowance; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Marriage Allowance was introduced in April 2015, to recognise the importance of marriage in the tax system and support those on low incomes. Over 1.6 million couples have successfully applied for the Marriage Allowance, with around one million applying so far in this tax year.
The Government is committed to raising awareness of the savings the allowance will bring to eligible couples. HM Revenue and Customs ran a marketing campaign in the autumn of 2016, comprising radio, digital, social media and search engine advertising. A further round of advertising commenced on 20 February and will run through to 31 March 2017.
As with all efforts to promote awareness of tax reliefs and allowances, the Government will keep the effectiveness of these marketing campaigns under review.
Asked by: David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take in response to the letter of 10 January 2017 from the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner on identifying, referring and supporting victims of modern slavery in the UK's National Referral Mechanism.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We are reviewing the identification of and support provided to victims of modern slavery and are piloting a new National Referral Mechanism model. The pilot is due to end on 31 March and will be fully evaluated. The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s letter will be considered alongside the full evaluation of the pilot.