Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals in relation to caste discrimination in the UK.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
This Government opposes caste discrimination. We are aware of the Employment Appeal Tribunal judgment in the case of Tirkey v Chandok which opens the possibility that a legal remedy for claims of caste-associated discrimination already exists under current legislation, namely the ethnic origins element of Section 9 of the Equality Act 2010. We are considering the implications of the judgment for discrimination law and specifically for the duty on caste in Section 9 (5) of the Act.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects work to (a) start and (b) be completed on the electrification of the Barking to Gospel Oak line.
Answered by Claire Perry
Enabling works are due to commence in October 2015, with major on site works due to commence in June 2016. Passenger services on the electrified route are due to be available for use by passenger operators by 30 June 2017.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding has been allocated to Network Rail for the electrification of the Barking to Gospel Oak line.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department for Transport and Transport for London have respectively allocated £90m and £25m towards the electrification of the line (2013 prices).
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what monitoring he has undertaken of the results of Permitted Development Rules that allow for conversion of commercial properties to housing; and what proportion of the new dwellings are for social rent.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
This Government is committed to providing more homes on brownfield land, and our change of use reforms are helping turn under-used or redundant office space into badly-needed accommodation, at no cost to taxpayers. The policy helps increase housing supply, including greater provision of studio and one-bedroom flats for young people. This policy is particularly beneficial in London, given the high demand for housing.
Research published by Knight Frank in May 2014 estimated that nationally, prior approval applications had been secured for over 3.2 million square feet of new housing.
An analysis by Planning magazine in November 2014, surveying London, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham, Manchester and Sheffield, estimated that a total of 17,425 new homes had been given permission across those specific cities.
Research by Estates Gazette (EGi) in the year from May 2013 identified 303 schemes across London, delivering 8,924 new homes. The hon. Member may wish to note that in Islington alone, there were 26 schemes which were set to deliver 617 new homes.
My Department has been collating formal statistics on office to residential conversions since April 2014. A total of 1,436 prior approval applications were granted from April to December 2014, and a further 1,155 applications were made where prior approval was not necessary. These will deliver a significant volume of housing.
Those who seek to oppose these reforms need to spell out exactly where they think new homes should go instead.
We do not hold information on the tenure of such dwellings.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the (a) legal and (b) judicial costs to the UK have been of contesting the claim brought by Mauritius under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to date; and what estimate he has made of future such costs.
Answered by James Duddridge
The legal costs in terms of Counsels’ fees incurred by the UK in defending the proceedings brought by Mauritius were £681,220. As the award has been handed down by the Arbitral Tribunal, we do not at this stage expect there to be any significant future legal costs.
The Tribunal has concluded that Mauritius and the UK should share the costs of the Tribunal in hearing this case. In that regard, the UK has made a payment of 1.3 million Euros (approximately £957,000). We will shortly be receiving a final note of fees of the Tribunal. We understand that it is likely that the UK’s payment exceeded the UK’s share of the Tribunal’s costs and that accordingly, a proportion of the UK’s payment will be remitted back. We therefore cannot at this stage give a final indication of the Tribunal’s total costs.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal assistants are employed under the Independent Living Fund.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
The Independent Living Fund does not collect or record data on how many personal assistants are employed by its users, either directly or through an agency.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to increase the Access to Work budget upon the closure of the Independent Living Fund in June 2015.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
The Independent Living Fund (ILF) provides direct cash payments to enable severely disabled people to purchase personal care or help with domestic duties from a care agency or a privately employed personal assistant. Following closure of the Fund in June 2015 funding and responsibility for former ILF users will transfer to local authorities in England and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales.
Access to Work provides support for disabled people in work or engaged in a work centred activity, it has limited overlap with the Independent Living Fund and no discernible budget impacts from this change.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria his Department applies to ensure the level of the Access to Work budget is responsive to need.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
DWP operates a continuous planning cycle which incorporates forecast for demand, changes in economic indicators and resource requirements to deliver agreed service standards. Access to Work is part of this planning cycle.
This planning process ensures Access to Work funding is set at a level that enables the scheme to meet existing customer demand and support new customers eligible for support.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on whether the recent KPMG report is the first independent study there has been on the feasibility of resettlement in the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Answered by James Duddridge
Both the 2002 and the current feasibility studies of resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory involved external consultants. The scope and scale of the most recent study delivered by KPMG was much broader than the 2002 report.Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Bahrain concerning the cases of Nabeel Rajab and Hussain Jawad and other human rights activists charged with expression-related offences.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I have raised Mr. Rajab’s case with senior representatives of the Government of Bahrain and encouraged the Bahraini authorities to ensure due process is followed and international norms of justice are upheld, including with regards to freedom of expression. The Government is also following Mr Jawad’s case closely. The British Embassy in Bahrain has raised the allegations of mistreatment made by Mr Jawad with the Ministry of Interior’s Ombudsman. I understand that Mr Jawad’s complaint has been referred to the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and a criminal investigation is underway. The Ministry of Interior Special Investigation Unit is aware of the UK’s concerns about this case. British embassy officials have attended Mr Rajab and Mr Jawad’s court appearances.