Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures her Department has put in place to track foreign national offenders upon release back into the community since May 2010.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Tough enforcement is the cornerstone of this Government’s immigration policy.
Those who break our laws should be removed from the country at the earliest
opportunity, and we will seek to remove any foreign national who
receives a custodial sentence for a criminal offence.
We removed almost 5,100 foreign national offenders in 2013/14 and over 23,000
since 2010. We are removing more offenders straight from prison, which saved
the taxpayer £27.5million in the last financial year. This is all despite a 28%
increase in appeals.
We are dealing with offenders who do not want to go home, and in some cases
whose home country does not want to take them back. This presents challenges
which we are determined to overcome. Chief among the challenges are the legal
barriers we face.
That is why this Government is the first to have a strategy for dealing with
foreign national offenders, including overcoming obstacles to their removal. We have
also introduced new powers in the Immigration Act (2014) which have cut the number
of grounds on which criminals can appeal deportation. More than 500 foreign offenders
have already been removed under the new ‘deport now, appeal later’ provisions.
The majority of foreign national offenders in the community were released by an
Immigration Judge, despite our strong opposition. Most offenders are subject to
reporting conditions and, where possible, electronic tagging. If a foreign
national offender fails to comply with these conditions by absconding, our
dedicated national absconder tracing team works with the police, other
government agencies and commercial companies to track down, arrest
and return absconders to custody. The Home Office is using intelligence
and working more closely with partners to maximise the impact of enforcement
activity.
Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the target time is from the point of application for people with (a) cancer and (b) motor neurone disease to receive their benefit entitlement under the special rules for terminal illness.
Answered by Mark Harper
I refer my Hon. Member to the reply given by the Department to his previous question number 223035, Official Report 09 February 2015.
Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of participants in the Employee Shareholder Status scheme in (a) Glasgow South West constituency, (b) Glasgow city region, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK.
Answered by David Gauke
No details or estimates of the number of businesses or employees using the Employee Shareholder status within geographical regions or nationally are currently available.
Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses are participating in the Employee Shareholder Status scheme in (a) Glasgow South West constituency, (b) Glasgow City Region, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK.
Answered by David Gauke
No details or estimates of the number of businesses or employees using the Employee Shareholder status within geographical regions or nationally are currently available.
Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to encourage retailers to stock more Fairtrade products and adopt Fairtrade principles.
Answered by Jo Swinson
The power of Fairtrade, championed by some of Britain's best brands, is undeniable. While it remains a commercial decision on whether or not to stock Fairtrade products and adopt Fairtrade Principles, sales of Fairtrade products in the UK rose by 14% in 2013/14 to £1.78bn.
Policy on Fairtrade products rests with the Department for International Development who have invested £18 million over six years in Fairtrade in order to help open up new markets in harder to reach places and also to break down trade barriers faced by women.
For our part, we are working with the British Retail Consortium to develop guidance which sets out how retailers can apply appropriate due diligence and reporting in respect of their supply chains to ensure that consideration is given to the manner in which goods are brought to market.
Enabling the world's poorest people to get a fair price for what they produce helps end poverty and also creates tomorrow's new markets for us to trade with.
Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to raise awareness of the Fairtrade movement in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Awareness of the Fairtrade movement can be covered in Citizenship or as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education. Schools are free to decide what to include in their PSHE programmes and should tailor the content of PSHE lessons to take account of the needs and interests of their pupils.
Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's report, The Impact of EU Sugar Policy Reform on Developing Countries, published in February 2012, what steps her Department is taking to mitigate the effect of those reforms on those countries.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The sugar regime is one of the most heavily regulated and distorting elements of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the agreement to end sugar beet quotas in 2017 is an important step towards removing these distortions.
Naturally, the Government is concerned by the effect that these reforms may have on sugar producers in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries highlighted in the report. This is why we encouraged the European Commission to establish a Fund of Euro 1.24 billion in 2006 to assist sugar producing countries to adapt. My Department will continue to engage with the European Commission, the Private Sector, and ACP countries to maximise the impact of these funds. We will also ensure that ACP countries continue to benefit from preferential access to the EU sugar market.
Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers were fined for not paying their employees the national minimum wage in 2013-14.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously and has increased the financial penalty percentage from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers, and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. These new limits are now in force where arrears are identified in pay reference periods on or after 7 March 2014. The Government will also bring in primary legislation as soon as possible so that the maximum £20,000 penalty can apply to each underpaid worker.
I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 205613 for details of penalties issued.
Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the preventative and early intervention measures trialled in the foreign national offenders action plan.
Answered by James Brokenshire
This government is the first to have a strategy to remove foreign national
offenders.
Last year, this Government removed 5,097 foreign national offenders, and we
have removed over 22,000 FNOs since 2010. We have already removed over
500 foreign national offenders under the 'deport now, appeal later' provisions of the
Immigration Act which came into effect in July 2014. This is alongside FNOs
already being removed during their early removal scheme period. In 2013/14 we
removed more than 1,800 such FNOs.
Additionally we have introduced Operation Nexus, a joint endeavour between the
police and Immigration Enforcement officers, leading to the removal of over
3,200 individuals, joined the Schengen Information System (SIS II), extended
the use of checks of overseas criminal information and are working with the
Ministry of Justice to implement compulsory prisoner transfer agreements within
the EU.
Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the costs of managing foreign national offenders in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office has not made a comparative assessment of the costs of managing foreign national offenders in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.