Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,what the Pension Protection Fund has determined the value of Johnston Press pension deficit to be.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Johnston Press Pension Plan is currently in the Pension Protection Fund’s (PPF) assessment period, where it will be assessed whether the scheme’s funding level is sufficient to secure pensions to its members at least equal to the level of compensation the PPF would pay. If the scheme’s funding is not sufficient, then it will transfer into the PPF and compensation will be paid at 100 per cent for individuals over their scheme’s retirement age at the date of the insolvency, and 90 per cent of the member’s accrued benefits, subject to an overall cap for everyone else. Benefits accrued post 1997 will be linked to PPF indexation going forward.
There are around 5,000 pension scheme members who will be affected.
The Pensions Regulator and the PPF are working together with the administrators to understand the circumstances surrounding the sale and its implications for the Johnston Press Pension Plan.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what progress the UK Government has made on an islands' deal; and when the Government plans to publish details on that deal.
Answered by David Mundell
My officials continue to engage with the Islands Councils in order to understand their aspirations for a Deal.
We have either agreed a Deal or have agreed to negotiate a Deal, for each of Scotland’s seven cities, along with Ayrshire and our Borderlands. This amounts to a commitment so far of over £1 billion to support economic growth across Scotland. In consultation with HM Treasury, I hope to agree commitments to further Deals in due course.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied child refugees have been re-settled in Scotland in each of the last three years; and how many of those children were resettled with family already living in Scotland.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS) resettles ’at-risk’ refugee children from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including their families. Our aim is to resettle up to 3,000 people (children and families, where the child at risk is part of a family unit) through the scheme by 2020.
The scheme does not solely target unaccompanied children, but on UNHCR’s advice also extends to vulnerable ‘children at risk’, such as those threatened with child labour, child marriage and other forms of abuse or exploitation. It is open to all at risk groups and nationalities within the region.
The scheme, which is the largest resettlement effort aimed specifically at children at risk from the MENA region, is in addition to the Government’s commitment to resettle 20,000 refugees from Syria under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS).
The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2018.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to ensure the publication of all information in relation to Airspace Change Programmes.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In October 2017 the Government published revised air navigation guidance to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the aviation industry. This guidance requires airspace change sponsors to consult with those who may be affected including airspace users and communities and to take their views into account when finalising their proposals.
A key requirement in the guidance is the need for sponsors following the Air Navigation Guidance 2017 to carry out a full assessment of the airspace options they are considering. This assessment takes into account the health effects of the proposals.
Under the new CAA airspace change process (CAP 1616) all relevant information is published on the CAA website. For proposals being considered under the old CAP 725 process, we have asked the CAA to ensure that the final proposals submitted to it for approval are also published on its website.
As agreed with CAA, any airspace change sponsor who had launched their public consultation on their proposal before 2 January 2018 is being assessed against the requirements of CAP725 and the Air Navigation Guidance 2014.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that the health impacts of communities under proposed flight paths are taken into account in decisions on Airspace Change Programmes, including the recommendation of the World Health Organisations that people can receive eight hours of undisturbed sleep.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In October 2017 the Government published revised air navigation guidance to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the aviation industry. This guidance requires airspace change sponsors to consult with those who may be affected including airspace users and communities and to take their views into account when finalising their proposals.
A key requirement in the guidance is the need for sponsors following the Air Navigation Guidance 2017 to carry out a full assessment of the airspace options they are considering. This assessment takes into account the health effects of the proposals.
Under the new CAA airspace change process (CAP 1616) all relevant information is published on the CAA website. For proposals being considered under the old CAP 725 process, we have asked the CAA to ensure that the final proposals submitted to it for approval are also published on its website.
As agreed with CAA, any airspace change sponsor who had launched their public consultation on their proposal before 2 January 2018 is being assessed against the requirements of CAP725 and the Air Navigation Guidance 2014.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department takes to ensure that the views of affected communities are taken into account in decisions on Airspace Change Programmes.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In October 2017 the Government published revised air navigation guidance to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the aviation industry. This guidance requires airspace change sponsors to consult with those who may be affected including airspace users and communities and to take their views into account when finalising their proposals.
A key requirement in the guidance is the need for sponsors following the Air Navigation Guidance 2017 to carry out a full assessment of the airspace options they are considering. This assessment takes into account the health effects of the proposals.
Under the new CAA airspace change process (CAP 1616) all relevant information is published on the CAA website. For proposals being considered under the old CAP 725 process, we have asked the CAA to ensure that the final proposals submitted to it for approval are also published on its website.
As agreed with CAA, any airspace change sponsor who had launched their public consultation on their proposal before 2 January 2018 is being assessed against the requirements of CAP725 and the Air Navigation Guidance 2014.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people claiming asylum in Scotland have had to wait longer than the Government’s six-month target for a decision on their claims in each of the last three years.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office does not publish data relating to the number of cases where a decision has been made after 6 months.
Whilst we can provide data on the current addresses of asylum claimants, data on the place of residence at the time of initial decision could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The latest release of the asylum transparency agenda can be found in table ASY_10 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-may-2018
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of students receiving child tax credits and who will be transferred to universal credit this year in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK; and what assessment she has made of changes in the level of funding for those students.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We have made no such estimate. Claimants currently only migrate from existing benefits to Universal Credit following a relevant change of circumstance that would previously have prompted a new claim to another existing benefit. Therefore it is not possible to estimate with accuracy when such changes may occur.
We will start to move legacy benefit claimants to Universal Credit as part of our Managed Migration process from July 2019. At this point, claimants will receive transitional protection if their overall Universal Credit entitlement would be less than under the old system, provided that their circumstances remain the same.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has received representations on the establishment of a Marine Protected Area in the Weddell Sea; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Mundell
The UK is a co-proponent for Marine Protected Area (MPA) proposals in the Weddell Sea and in East Antarctica, both of which will be presented to the next Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) meeting in October for adoption. As an active member of the CCAMLR, the UK is leading calls for the development and establishment of a network of Marine Protected Areas across the Southern Ocean.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking to tackle food poverty in Scotland; whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on trends in the use of food banks; and if he will make statement.
Answered by David Mundell
Work is the most effective route out of poverty and this Government is committed to helping people find work through a wide-range of support, targeted to each individual’s personal circumstances. While food banks represent an impressive response by civil society and faith groups to support vulnerable people, we also provide a strong safety net through the welfare system and will spend over £90bn in welfare support to people below State Pensions age in 2018/19.