Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart from South Sudan on that country's membership of the Commonwealth; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Foreign Minister of South Sudan last raised their Commonwealth application with my hon friend the member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds MP), the former Minister for Africa, in June 2014. South Sudan’s application to join the Commonwealth is being assessed by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people with a disability work in his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Treasury publishes details on the diversity of its employees by pay range, including information on disability. The most recent information is in the Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts 2013/14 page 50, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-annual-report.
These data are based on the number of employees who have chosen to individually record their disability status on the departmental HR system. Any such declaration is voluntary and confidential.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote the reintegration of Somaliland into Somalia; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
It is for Somalia and Somaliland themselves to determine their future relationship and for neighbouring countries in the region to take the lead in recognising any new arrangements. Following the London Conference in February 2012, which “recognised the need for the international community to support any dialogue that Somaliland and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) or its replacement may agree to establish in order to clarify their future relations”, the TFG and Somaliland met for the first time at Chevening in the UK, in June 2012. They agreed to cooperate on matters of mutual interest. Somalia and Somaliland have held several further rounds of talks in Turkey, at Ministerial level.Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people were prosecuted under the Breeding and Sale of Dogs Acts in 2013; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
There were no prosecutions under the Breeding and Sale of Dogs Acts in 2013.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people working in his Department are over 65 years old; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Department had a total of 16 employees aged 65 and above as of 30 November 2014.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people with a disability work in his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
As of 30 November 2014, 77 of the Department's employees had declared themselves as being disabled. This accounts for 5.5% of the Department's workforce based on the Office of National Statistics headcount definition.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people working in his Department are over 65 years old; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anna Soubry
As of 1 October 2014, the number of civilians working in the Ministry Of Defence and its Trading Funds aged 65 and over was around 1,400.
It is the Department's policy to be an all-inclusive employer. Any form of unfair discrimination or harrassment on the grounds of an individual's gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marital status, age, non-standard working pattern or any other difference is totally unacceptable and therefore not tolerated in the workplace.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people with a disability work in his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anna Soubry
To build a world class Civil Service we need to recruit and retain the very best Civil Servants on merit, irrespective of whether they are disabled.
As of 1 October 2014, 47.48% (26,340) of staff in the Ministry of Defence and its Trading Funds have chosen to declare their disability status; of these, around 2,515 have made a positive disability declaration. This data is based on the numbers of employees who have chosen individually to record their disability status on the departmental Human Resource (HR) system. Any such declaration is voluntary and confidential.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people with a disability work in her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As at 30 November 2014, there were 237 members of staff in the Department for Education who had declared that they had a disability. The Department recently published internally its Diversity and Equality Plan to ensure continuing progress towards developing a highly capable, diverse workforce that represents the communities we serve.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people working in her Department are over 65 years old; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As at 30 November 2014, there were 12 staff in the Department for Education who were 65 years old and over. The Department recently published internally its Diversity and Equality Plan to ensure continuing progress towards developing a highly capable, diverse workforce that represents the communities we serve.