Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding has been provided to the Scottish Borders Council as part of the Syrian vulnerable person resettlement programme.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
All local authorities receive a 5-year tariff, per refugee resettled, to assist with costs incurred providing support to refugees they have welcomed through the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. In year 1 this totals £8,520 per refugee, with additional support for educational and medical needs. In years 2-5 local authorities receive £12,000 per refugee in total: tapering from £5,000 in year 2 to £3,700 in year 3, to £2,300k in year 4 and £1,000k in year 5.
Home Office Immigration Statistics on asylum and resettlement are published on a quarterly basis. This includes a detailed breakdown of the number of refugees resettled to each local authority.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the basis was for the UK’s financial aid to Iran of £16 million between 2013 and 2017; what assessment he has made of whether a proportion of that aid funded textbooks that reportedly promote extremism; and whether the UK currently provides funds to improve educational links to Iran.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Between 2013 and 2017, total FCO bilateral spending on Iran was approximately £4.4 million. These funds were spent on developing long-term people-to-people educational and cultural links between our two countries, including supporting English teachers, artists and Chevening scholars. Chevening supports exceptional young people all over the world to reach their potential, and remains open for applicants in Iran. We are not aware that any of this spending funded textbooks reportedly promoting extremism. The British Council do not currently operate or fund programmes in Iran.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking following Iran’s decision to suspend application of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Additional Protocol.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
Iran's continued systematic non-compliance with its nuclear commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) is hollowing out the non-proliferation benefits of the deal and jeopardising our efforts to preserve it. On 23 February, the Foreign Secretary, alongside his French and German counterparts, expressed our deep regret at Iran's suspension of the Additional Protocol and urged Iran to return to compliance with its JCPoA commitments. Our priority is now, with the parties of the JCPoA and the new US administration, to find a diplomatic way forward that realises the benefits of the deal.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support she is providing to Galashiels Job Centre to further assist the unemployed.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Through our Plan for Jobs, the department is providing broad ranging support for all jobseekers. Currently, support includes the Kickstart scheme, Job Finding Support, Sector Based Work Academy Programmes and Job Entry Targeted Support in Scotland.
In addition, the government is investing an additional £150 million into the Flexible Support Fund, which will increase the capacity of the Rapid Response Service, supporting people through redundancy and providing additional local support to claimants by removing barriers to work such as travel expenses for attending interviews and child care.
Our Jobcentre Work Coaches provide support on finding a job, help with retraining or skills advice, CV, job applications and access to the new vacancies we record every day, as well as signposting to our Jobhelp website. We are increasing the number of Work Coaches in Jobcentre Plus by 13,500 by March 2021. With 17 new Work Coaches joining the team at Galashiels Jobcentre in January.
The Galashiels Jobcentre team are working closely with Scottish Borders College to identify and deliver suitable provision for local residents, and have also partnered with employers in the area to deliver Mentoring Circles and Sector-based Work Academy Programmes.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new job placements have been created in the Scottish Borders as part of the Kickstart Scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer my Right Honourable friend to PQ 145013
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many workers in the Scottish Borders will benefit from the increase in the (a) National Living Wage and (b) National Minimum Wage from April 2021.
Answered by Paul Scully
This Government is committed to building an economy that works for everyone. Through the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW) the Government protects the lowest paid within our society. The National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage have increased every year since their introduction – and this extraordinary year is no exception.
On 1 April 2021, the Government will increase that NLW by 2.2% to £8.91. This will be the highest ever UK minimum wage. The NLW currently applies to workers aged 25+, however, from April 2021 it will be extended to those aged 23+, following previous recommendations from the LPC. The government will also introduce inflation-beating increases in the NMW rates for younger workers and apprentices of between 1.5% and 3.6% on 1 April 2021.
Across Scotland, our best estimates suggest that around 100,000 workers will benefit from the planned rise in the National Living Wage, with a further 15,000 benefitting from the planned rise in the National Minimum Wage rates.
Further details on the regional impact of the NLW/NMW rate increase are contained in the NLW/NMW 2021 Impact Assessment. You can find further information here.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how the UK is assisting the Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies with the roll-out of the covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, together with Public Health England, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the UK Vaccine Taskforce, are coordinating the deployment of vaccines to the Overseas Territories. Vaccines have so far been delivered to Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are currently finalising plans to deliver vaccines to the other inhabited Overseas Territories. Public Health England are coordinating the deliveries to the Crown Dependencies, the governments of which are taking forward the distribution of vaccine in their respective jurisdictions.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when she will next meet with the US Trade Representative; and what will be discussed at that meeting.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Secretary of State for International Trade looks forward to meeting with the US Trade Representative at the earliest opportunity, date subject to Senate confirmation processes.
We expect the meeting might cover the UK’s ambitious trade agenda with our largest trading partner, promoting free, fair and sustainable trade. We would expect this to include the UK-US Free Trade Agreement; priorities on the global stage such as reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), digital and environmental trade; and the swift resolution of trade disputes that are an unhelpful backdrop to the UK-US trade relationship.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the environmental benefits of banning microbeads in June 2018.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The ban on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products in 2018 was developed based on evidence of harm to the marine environment from microplastics, and specifically evidence of microbeads directly entering the marine environment through the water treatment process. It aimed to create a level playing field between businesses that had already taken voluntary action and those that continued to use microbeads. An impact assessment was carried out before the ban was implemented. The impact assessment can be found here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2017/178/pdfs/ukia_20170178_en.pdf.
More evidence is required to understand the full impact of microplastics, including microbeads, on the marine environment. We have been working to understand other sources of microplastics into the marine environment. This includes a Defra funded study, which investigated the sources and pathways of microplastics from tyres and textiles into the ocean:
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Gift Aid has been paid to charities in the Scottish Borders in each of the last three years.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.