Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications and further submissions for (a) indefinite leave to remain, (b) family reunion, (c) EU Settlement Scheme, (d) family and private life, (e) British citizenship, and (f) asylum were marked as closed cases after an initial response was provided to the Member of Parliament so that no further correspondence was initiated with the Member even where the case had been progressed in 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of (a) fraud and (b) cyber crime were reported to Action Fraud in each of the last five years; and in each of those years what proportion of those incidents resulted in a prosecution.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Home Office collects data on the number of fraud and computer misuse cases reported to Action Fraud that have been recorded as crimes by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB).
Such data is published by the Office for National Statistics on a quarterly basis and the most recently available statistics for the year ending June 2022 can be found, here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesquarterlydatatables
Statistics on the investigative outcomes of those offences referred to the territorial police forces for investigation are published each year by the Home Office. The most recent publication was Crime outcomes in England and Wales 2021 to 2022 and can be found at this link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/crime-outcomes-in-england-and-wales-2021-to-2022
The Home Office does not hold information on cases that result in prosecution but the Ministry of Justice publish statistics on court outcomes by crime type including fraud. The latest statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-june-2022.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) independent and (b) state schools have joined the Teachers' Pension Scheme in the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
324 independent schools have left the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) between August 2019, when this information started to be compiled, and November 2022. 22 independent schools have joined the Scheme between January 2018 and November 2022.
State schools and academies cannot choose to leave the TPS. The records show that 1,008 academies have ceased to be registered as scheme employers and 4,383 new academy employers have been registered in the TPS between January 2018 and November 2022. This is a result of state schools converting to academies and some single academy trusts joining multi-academy trusts.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) independent and (b) state schools have left the Teachers' Pension Scheme in the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
463 independent schools have left the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) between January 2018 and November 2022. 37 independent schools have joined the Scheme between January 2018 and November 2022.
State schools and academies cannot choose to leave the TPS. The records show that 814 state schools have closed and so have ceased to be registered as scheme employers since January 2018. This is largely as a result of state schools converting to academies. 79 new state schools have been registered in the TPS since January 2018.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of President Biden's attempts to renegotiate the Iranian Nuclear Deal on (a) sanctions, (b) the freezing of Iranian assets, (c) the strength and stability of the Iranian regime, and (d) the stability of the Middle East.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Iran has refused to conclude a deal that would have restored the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with continued demands beyond the JCPOA's scope. We are considering next steps with our international partners.
We have been clear about our concerns over Iran's destabilising activity throughout the region including its political, financial and military support to a number of militant groups. The UK has designated over 200 Iranian entities and individuals in relation to human rights abuses, proliferation and terrorism.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will impose a ban on all Iranian political, diplomatic and government officials coming to the UK, in the context of recent civil unrest in Iran.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The Iranian authorities' mistreatment of protestors and journalists is a serious violation of human rights. The UK is committed to robustly holding Iran to account for its actions and on 10 October sanctioned the so-called Morality Police and seven individuals for serious human rights violations. Our ability to hold Iran to account is enabled, in part, by the UK-Iran bilateral relationship. On 3 October, we summoned Iran's most senior official in the UK to condemn the violent crackdown in Iran. Our diplomatic ties also enable discussion on other priority matters of UK national security, such as the Iran nuclear deal, Afghanistan and Iran's destabilising role in the Middle East.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who instigated the complaint against Judge Charles Falk to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) in April 2022; whether that complaint fell outside of the JCIO's three month limit for investigation of complaints; whether the investigation was carried out by a panel or a single person; how long that investigation took; and whether that investigation included interviews with (a) Judge Charles Falk and (b) any other relevant people involved in the case.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The independent Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) considers complaints in accordance with the Judicial Conduct (Judicial and other office holders) Rules 2014.
The rules enable the JCIO, with the agreement of a nominated judge, to consider information received in the absence of a complaint as if it were a complaint. That process was duly followed in the matter regarding Judge Falk. After careful assessment by the JCIO, there was no evidence of misconduct by the judge and the matter was dismissed.
With the exception of published information about disciplinary sanctions, information about judicial disciplinary matters is confidential, and further details cannot therefore be provided.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question
To ask the President of COP26, whether the Government plans to use the COP26 Conference to discuss the effects of global intensive animal agriculture on (a) climate change and (b) biodiversity loss; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
COP26 will hold a Nature Day event in Glasgow highlighting forests, agriculture and wider land use as key priorities to mitigating the climate crisis. We are calling for international action to reduce emissions from agriculture, deforestation and other land use. We are working with international partners to promote sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture; to mobilise increased and more targeted finance for nature; and to build the political consensus for ambitious action.
At the G7 summit, leaders committed to work to accelerate an inclusive global transition to sustainable and climate resilient agriculture, as well as committing to achieving net zero emissions no later than 2050.
The UK has also played a central role in promoting the ‘Leaders’ Pledge for Nature’, which now has over 80 signatories. The pledge sets out ten urgent actions to put nature on a path to recovery by 2030, addressing both biodiversity loss and climate change.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the inclusion of biomass in the Energy Charter Treaty on transition to cleaner renewable energy sources including wind and solar.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports the process to modernise the Energy Charter Treaty in a way that helps the global energy transition, such as the right for States to regulate to reach emissions reduction targets and a stronger focus on climate security issues.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department sought advice from Government lawyers at the time of the sale of Newton Rigg in 2011 on the efficacy of a deed of release purporting to absolve the parties pursuant to that sale from liability for negligence or fraud; and whether that deed of release was deemed by Government lawyers to be (a) ultra vires, (b) void for illegality and (c) contrary to public policy.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The government continues to follow the general practice of successive governments not to comment on legal advice that may or may not have been sought or received.