Tag: Lord Roberts of Llandudno

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-11-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 22 September (HL1905), what is their latest assessment of the financial costs faced by Kent County Council in supporting asylum-seeking children, and what additional funding they are offering that council to help it to do so.

Lord Bates

The Government recognises the outstanding work of Kent County Council in caring for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). Home Office officials have met Kent officers to understand the additional financial pressures they facing as a result of the high numbers of UASC in their care and we continue to work through the detail. The Immigration Minister has met the Leader of Kent County Council to discuss the situation.

As well as working with Kent, we believe a national response is required. We are working closely with the Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Children’s Services to finalise plans for a new scheme to disperse unaccompanied child asylum seekers to the care of other local authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-11-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to co-ordinate the work of the various relief organisations in Syria.

Baroness Verma

Despite our best efforts, the UN appeals for Syria and the region remain critically underfunded. It is therefore critical that UN agencies use the most cost efficient and effective methods to deliver assistance to refugees in the region. The UK is at the forefront of efforts to ensure that this is the case and there have been substantial improvements in coordination – which saves lives – over the past year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-01-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial support they are offering to French authorities and NGOs to improve hygiene conditions at the Grande-Synthe refugee camp, in the light of reported concerns from the British Red Cross.

Lord Bates

The UK Government is not providing funding to support the migrant camps in Dunkirk or Calais. Instead, and in line with the joint approach of the UK and France as set out in the Joint Declaration of 20 August, the UK has committed to providing £3.6 million (or €5 million) per year for two years to help provide support and facilities elsewhere in France. This is so that migrants can be helped to enter the French asylum system in a safe, systematic and humane manner. Additionally, the UK has provided £530,000 (€750,000) to fund a project to identify those in the camps at risk of trafficking and exploitation, to transfer them to places of safety and to provide them with appropriate support within the French system.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have initiated any discussions in the past decade on global migration issues.

Lord Bates

The Government undertakes extensive engagement on global migration issues with international partners through multilateral and bilateral discussions. The frequency of engagement has increased since the migration crisis in summer 2015 and focuses on the root causes of the crisis and its consequences. UK participation in the Valletta Summit and the Khartoum Process are key parts of this engagement.

In order to tackle the unprecedented levels of illegal migration to the EU, we are prioritising interventions upstream in countries of origin and transit to reduce the need for migrants to leave their country of origin or move on from a safe third country. Action is being taking through regional initiatives, including Regional Development and Protection Programmes and overseas aid, including £1.12 billion of support to Syria. We are supporting work to strengthen the EU’s external border and joint action on human trafficking to crack down on those who profit from this vile trade. The Government recently announced that it will work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to lead a new initiative to resettle unaccompanied children from conflict regions. We have asked the UNHCR to make an assessment of the numbers and needs of unaccompanied children in conflict regions and advise on when it is in the best interests of the child to be resettled in the UK and how that process should be managed. This new initiative builds on the Government’s existing commitment to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees during this Parliament. More than 1,000 vulnerable Syrians refugees – around half of them children – have already been resettled through the scheme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total amount of lost revenue to the United Kingdom from the tax avoidance of UK citizens revealed by the Panama Papers.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

HM Revenue and Customs does not have access to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ data, but are exploring every avenue, nationally and internationally, to obtain it, so they can pursue the dishonest minority who seek to hide and dodge their taxes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-06-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many visitors from the EU came to the UK in (1) 2000, (2) 2010, and (3) 2015.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

In 2010 there were 20.3 million visits to the UK from the EU, and 24.2 million in 2015. This data is not available for 2000. This Government is committed to further increasing the number of visitors to the UK and growing the tourism industry across the whole of Britain, as set out in our Five Point Plan, which can be found on the attached report.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-09-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many heavy goods vehicles were checked on the A55 in North Wales during 2015 for (1) weight offences, (2) drivers’ hours offences, (3) mechanical condition offences, and (4) speeding; and of those, how many vehicles, or their drivers, received an immediate prohibition, and how many vehicles were registered outside the UK.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

On the A55 in North Wales during 2015 the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) can confirm (1) 119 heavy goods vehicles in total were checked for weight offences, eight of these vehicles were registered within Great Britain (GB) and 111 were registered outside of GB. Out of 119, 74 were found to have weight offences and received immediate prohibitions, four of these were registered within GB and 70 were registered outside of GB.

(2) 1445 vehicles were checked for drivers hours offences, 186 were registered within GB and 1259 were registered outside of GB. Out of 1445 vehicles checked, 276 received Drivers Hours Prohibitions; these are all immediate prohibitions. Of the 276, 12 were registered within GB and 264 outside of GB.

(3) Vehicles are checked for mechanical condition and checks are recorded for Motor Vehicle and Trailer separately. For the motor vehicle part only, 779 vehicles were checked for mechanical condition offences, 108 of those were registered within GB and 671 were registered outside of GB. Of the 779 vehicles checked, 192 were found to have mechanical condition offences, 20 were registered in GB and 172 were outside of GB. Of the 192, 71 received immediate prohibitions. Of those 71, 15 were registered within GB and 56 outside of GB. For the trailer part of the vehicle, 647 trailers were checked for mechanical condition offences, 42 of these were registered within GB and 605 were registered outside of GB. Of the 647 trailers checked, 252 were found to have mechanical condition offences, 6 were registered within GB and 246 were registered outside of GB; 70 out of the 252 trailers, received immediate prohibitions, four of which were registered inside GB and 66 were outside of GB.

(4) DVSA cannot provide accurate data for how may vehicles were checked for speeding due to how the information is recorded.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-10-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many claims made by young asylum seekers in Calais in the past 12 months were refused, and on what grounds.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The number of asylum claims made in France over any given period, and their outcome, is a matter for the French authorities.

The Dublin Regulation is the mechanism for determining responsibility for considering an asylum claim. If accepted for transfer to the UK, the asylum claim is considered in the UK after the individual has been transferred.

The Home Office has accepted responsibility to consider the asylum claims of over 80 unaccompanied minors from France under Dublin since the start of the year and many more are in train.

Dublin transfer requests involving children are now generally processed within 10 days by a dedicated team in the Home Office. Children can then be transferred within weeks and are now arriving in the UK on an almost weekly basis. A senior Home Office official has been seconded to the French Interior Ministry to help speed up the process of identifying children who may qualify for transfer to the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-11-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures are being put in place, in co-operation with the government of France, to support asylum seekers in Calais this winter.

Lord Bates

The French Government is responsible for the care of migrants in Calais, including support over the winter. However, both governments are committed to finding a sustainable solution to the situation in Calais. One aspect of the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August committed the UK to providing £3.6 million (or €5 million) per year for two years to help support a range of work to manage the migrant population in Calais. Additionally, the UK has provided £530,000 to fund a project to identify those in the camps at risk of trafficking and exploitation, and to provide them with appropriate support within the French system.

The UK and French Governments are unified in their response to these migratory pressures and both governments recognise the importance of close partnership and collaboration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-12-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many personal interviews with adults applying for a passport for the first time have been conducted in each year since such interviews were required, and what has been the total cost of conducting those interviews.

Lord Bates

The 2007-08 information below reflects the pilot and roll out of the Interview offices across this period of time. The increase in costs in 2008-09 reflects the final locations and staff starting. The reduction in costs between 2011 and 2012 reflects the reduction in locations.

Financial Year	Number of Interviews	Estate and staff costs (£)
2007-08	85,051	31,915,273
2008-09	261,438	37,316,440
2009-10	297,575	36,756,542
2010-11	296,312	31,087,014
2011-12	257,518	10,289,941
2012-13	283,341	9,269,802
2013-14	277,560	8,946,213