Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding from the public purse the UK will contribute to the Better Migration Management programme.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The €46 million ‘Better Migration Management’ programme is part of the EU’s joint work on addressing unmanaged flows from Africa under the Horn of Africa component of the €1.9 billion EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa. The UK has made no direct financial contribution to this programme. However, we have committed to a contribution of €3 million to the Horn of Africa component of the Trust Fund overall. That is in addition to the UK’s underlying contribution to the Trust Fund, which amounts to approximately 15% of the EU’s total €1.8 billion contribution, predominantly drawn from the European Development Fund.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle extremism in Sudan.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK has engaged directly with the University of Medical Sciences and Technology in Khartoum on counter extremism issues. This led to us supporting two parallel events in 2015 – one at the university in Khartoum and one in Manchester for alumni – which aimed to raise awareness and to engage staff, students and the graduate association on options for tackling the risks of radicalisation.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will list the joint projects between the UK and Sudanese governments that are tackling extremism in the Horn of Africa region.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We are not engaged in any joint projects with the Government of Sudan directly designed to tackle extremism in the Horn of Africa. We are, however, exploring options for cooperation in this area with relevant Sudanese Government bodies, as we believe the Government of Sudan has an important role to play in countering these threats.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claims classed as high risk renewals by HM Revenue and Customs have been referred to Concentrix in each of the three risk categories.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Between 1 August 2016 and 31 August 2016 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) automatically stopped 365,483 tax credit claims as a direct result of customers failing to comply with the requirements of the annual renewal process.
Alongside the annual renewal process, HMRC records the number of awards that have been amended, which could be stopped, reduced or increased. Therefore, data showing the total number of claims stopped following a compliance intervention is unavailable.
During the course of the contract, HMRC delegated a total caseload of 2,209,500 cases for high risk renewal checks by Concentrix. Of these 1,635,676 cases were not the subject of further investigation for fraud or error by Concentrix. This amounts to 74% of the total caseload.
The volume of high risk renewals referred to Concentrix are broken down into the three risk categories as follows:
Undeclared Partner: 1,398,908
Work & Hours: 564,983
Child Care: 245,609
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of tax credits referred to Concentrix by HM Revenue and Customs as high risk renewals were streamed out by Concentrix from further investigation for fraud or error.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Between 1 August 2016 and 31 August 2016 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) automatically stopped 365,483 tax credit claims as a direct result of customers failing to comply with the requirements of the annual renewal process.
Alongside the annual renewal process, HMRC records the number of awards that have been amended, which could be stopped, reduced or increased. Therefore, data showing the total number of claims stopped following a compliance intervention is unavailable.
During the course of the contract, HMRC delegated a total caseload of 2,209,500 cases for high risk renewal checks by Concentrix. Of these 1,635,676 cases were not the subject of further investigation for fraud or error by Concentrix. This amounts to 74% of the total caseload.
The volume of high risk renewals referred to Concentrix are broken down into the three risk categories as follows:
Undeclared Partner: 1,398,908
Work & Hours: 564,983
Child Care: 245,609
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the tax claims stopped directly by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the last 12 months had previously been referred to Concentrix by HMRC as high risk renewals.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Between 1 August 2016 and 31 August 2016 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) automatically stopped 365,483 tax credit claims as a direct result of customers failing to comply with the requirements of the annual renewal process.
Alongside the annual renewal process, HMRC records the number of awards that have been amended, which could be stopped, reduced or increased. Therefore, data showing the total number of claims stopped following a compliance intervention is unavailable.
During the course of the contract, HMRC delegated a total caseload of 2,209,500 cases for high risk renewal checks by Concentrix. Of these 1,635,676 cases were not the subject of further investigation for fraud or error by Concentrix. This amounts to 74% of the total caseload.
The volume of high risk renewals referred to Concentrix are broken down into the three risk categories as follows:
Undeclared Partner: 1,398,908
Work & Hours: 564,983
Child Care: 245,609
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax claims stoppages made directly by HM Revenue and Customs in August 2016 were related to compliance with annual renewals.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Between 1 August 2016 and 31 August 2016 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) automatically stopped 365,483 tax credit claims as a direct result of customers failing to comply with the requirements of the annual renewal process.
Alongside the annual renewal process, HMRC records the number of awards that have been amended, which could be stopped, reduced or increased. Therefore, data showing the total number of claims stopped following a compliance intervention is unavailable.
During the course of the contract, HMRC delegated a total caseload of 2,209,500 cases for high risk renewal checks by Concentrix. Of these 1,635,676 cases were not the subject of further investigation for fraud or error by Concentrix. This amounts to 74% of the total caseload.
The volume of high risk renewals referred to Concentrix are broken down into the three risk categories as follows:
Undeclared Partner: 1,398,908
Work & Hours: 564,983
Child Care: 245,609
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credits were stopped by HM Revenue and Customs during the week commencing (a) 8 and (b) 15 August 2016.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Between 1 August 2016 and 31 August 2016 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) automatically stopped 365,483 tax credit claims as a direct result of customers failing to comply with the requirements of the annual renewal process.
Alongside the annual renewal process, HMRC records the number of awards that have been amended, which could be stopped, reduced or increased. Therefore, data showing the total number of claims stopped following a compliance intervention is unavailable.
During the course of the contract, HMRC delegated a total caseload of 2,209,500 cases for high risk renewal checks by Concentrix. Of these 1,635,676 cases were not the subject of further investigation for fraud or error by Concentrix. This amounts to 74% of the total caseload.
The volume of high risk renewals referred to Concentrix are broken down into the three risk categories as follows:
Undeclared Partner: 1,398,908
Work & Hours: 564,983
Child Care: 245,609
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department advised the Northern Ireland Executive on human rights concerns and other sensitivities for Northern Ireland Co-operation Overseas Ltd undertaking a contract for Bahrain's prison system.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK Government continues to assist Bahrain in their reform agenda including by working with the Northern Ireland Cooperation Overseas programme, whose aims are to assist the Government of Bahrain to bring its justice system into compliance with international standards. The UK Government continues to have frank discussions with the Government of Bahrain about our concerns on human rights cases. We continue to encourage the Bahraini authorities to respect the rights of all its citizens and we have encouraged them to protect the universal rights of freedom of expression most recently at the UN Human Rights Commission meeting in September.
Asked by: Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has received representations from Northern Ireland authorities on potential human rights, reputational implications and other concerns for the Northern Ireland Co-operation Overseas Ltd undertaking a contract to work for the Bahraini prison system.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK Government continues to assist Bahrain in their reform agenda including by working with the Northern Ireland Co-operation Overseas programme whose aims are to assist the Government of Bahrain to bring its justice system into compliance with international standards. We enjoy a close relationship with the Devolved Administrations and would certainly work with the Northern Ireland authorities on any issue.
The UK Government continues to have frank discussions with the Government of Bahrain at all levels about our concerns on some cases brought against political opposition members and human rights activists.