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Written Question
Children in Care
Monday 25th June 2018

Asked by: Lord Fink (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children aged (1) five years old and under, (2) ten years old and under, and (3) 16 years old and under, were in care in each year between 2007 and 2017.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

The number of looked after children at 31 March in each year by age is available in the attached table.


Written Question
Aviation: Lasers
Friday 22nd September 2017

Asked by: Lord Fink (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been arrested on suspicion of endangering an aircraft with a laser pointer under the Aviation and Safety Act 1982 within the last 12 months.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)

The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of arrests broken down by offence group and police force area. These data are published in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins, and data can be accessed here: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2016

Data presented here are on the police power of arrest. In line with police recorded crime statistics, these data cover arrests for all notifiable offences carried out by police in England and Wales


Written Question
Unmanned Air Vehicles
Friday 15th September 2017

Asked by: Lord Fink (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times in the last 12 months a commercial aircraft runway in England and Wales has had to close temporarily due to a drone sighting.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 376/2014, safety-related events which endanger or which, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person have to be reported to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The Regulation requires that the reporting, analysis and follow-up to such occurrences remain confidential. However, the Regulation does permit information to be released on request to interested parties that have a genuine safety related need for the information. An application can be made at www.caa.co.uk/srg1605.

The CAA will shortly be publishing an Aviation Safety Review in accordance with the requirements of the Regulation. This will include detailed analysis of safety occurrences reported to the CAA in 2016 and is intended to inform the public about the level of safety in civil aviation in a clear, engaging and objective manner.


Written Question
Universities: Refugees
Thursday 27th April 2017

Asked by: Lord Fink (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many university places were awarded to people with refugee status in the UK in each year between 2010 and 2016.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)

Information on the number of people with refugee status who were awarded a university place via the UCAS system or who are enrolled at UK universities is not held by the department.

Student support is available to those recognised as refugees (and their spouses, civil partners and children named on the initial application for asylum), provided they have been ordinarily resident in the British Islands since being recognised by the Government as a refugee and are ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of the course. They are exempt from the three year residence requirement.

Asylum seekers who are recognised as refugees after the start of their course may qualify for support for the remainder of their studies as follows:

  • living cost support in any subsequent years of the course (and in the quarters following the award in the year of the award); and
  • fee assistance in any subsequent years of the course (and in the year of the award if the award is made within three months of the first day of the academic year of the course).

Management information from the SLC showing the number of refugee applicants awarded loans in England in each of the last six years can be found in the table below:

English Domiciled applicants with a refugee status awarded student loans

Academic years 2010/11 to 2015/16 (data effective as at the end of each academic year)

Academic Year

Number of refugees awarded loans

2010/11

2,500

2011/12

3,000

2012/13

3,700

2013/14

3,800

2014/15

3,900

2015/16

3,700

Source: SLC, Management Information

Note: Awards do not necessarily translate into payments. An awarded applicant will only receive payments once SLC has received confirmation from the student’s provider at the start of the academic year that the student has been registered on the course.


Written Question
Middle East
Thursday 20th November 2014

Asked by: Lord Fink (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Palestinian Authority about recent fatal attacks on the Metro train line running between East and West Jerusalem.

Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Our Consul-General to Jerusalem has met with advisers to President Abbas and senior officials in the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, where he has discussed the current tensions in Jerusalem including the attacks on the Jerusalem light rail. He has been urging Palestinian leaders to exert their influence to restore calm in Jerusalem, as our embassy in Tel Aviv has also been doing in its contacts with Israeli leaders.