Tough enforcement is the cornerstone of this Government’s immigration policy.
Those who break our laws should be removed from the country at the earliest
opportunity, and we will seek to remove any foreign national who
receives a custodial sentence for a criminal offence.

We removed almost 5,100 foreign national offenders in 2013/14 and over 23,000
since 2010. We are removing more offenders straight from prison, which saved
the taxpayer £27.5million in the last financial year. This is all despite a 28%
increase in appeals.

We are dealing with offenders who do not want to go home, and in some cases
whose home country does not want to take them back. This presents challenges
which we are determined to overcome. Chief among the challenges are the legal
barriers we face.

That is why this Government is the first to have a strategy for dealing with
foreign national offenders, including overcoming obstacles to their removal. We have
also introduced new powers in the Immigration Act (2014) which have cut the number
of grounds on which criminals can appeal deportation. More than 500 foreign offenders
have already been removed under the new ‘deport now, appeal later’ provisions.

The majority of foreign national offenders in the community were released by an
Immigration Judge, despite our strong opposition. Most offenders are subject to
reporting conditions and, where possible, electronic tagging. If a foreign
national offender fails to comply with these conditions by absconding, our
dedicated national absconder tracing team works with the police, other
government agencies and commercial companies to track down, arrest
and return absconders to custody. The Home Office is using intelligence
and working more closely with partners to maximise the impact of enforcement
activity.

The sugar regime is one of the most heavily regulated and distorting elements of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the agreement to end sugar beet quotas in 2017 is an important step towards removing these distortions.

Naturally, the Government is concerned by the effect that these reforms may have on sugar producers in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries highlighted in the report. This is why we encouraged the European Commission to establish a Fund of Euro 1.24 billion in 2006 to assist sugar producing countries to adapt. My Department will continue to engage with the European Commission, the Private Sector, and ACP countries to maximise the impact of these funds. We will also ensure that ACP countries continue to benefit from preferential access to the EU sugar market.

No details or estimates of the number of businesses or employees using the Employee Shareholder status within geographical regions or nationally are currently available.

No details or estimates of the number of businesses or employees using the Employee Shareholder status within geographical regions or nationally are currently available.

The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously and has increased the financial penalty percentage from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers, and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. These new limits are now in force where arrears are identified in pay reference periods on or after 7 March 2014. The Government will also bring in primary legislation as soon as possible so that the maximum £20,000 penalty can apply to each underpaid worker.

I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 205613 for details of penalties issued.

Awareness of the Fairtrade movement can be covered in Citizenship or as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education. Schools are free to decide what to include in their PSHE programmes and should tailor the content of PSHE lessons to take account of the needs and interests of their pupils.

The power of Fairtrade, championed by some of Britain's best brands, is undeniable. While it remains a commercial decision on whether or not to stock Fairtrade products and adopt Fairtrade Principles, sales of Fairtrade products in the UK rose by 14% in 2013/14 to £1.78bn.

Policy on Fairtrade products rests with the Department for International Development who have invested £18 million over six years in Fairtrade in order to help open up new markets in harder to reach places and also to break down trade barriers faced by women.

For our part, we are working with the British Retail Consortium to develop guidance which sets out how retailers can apply appropriate due diligence and reporting in respect of their supply chains to ensure that consideration is given to the manner in which goods are brought to market.

Enabling the world's poorest people to get a fair price for what they produce helps end poverty and also creates tomorrow's new markets for us to trade with.

I refer my Hon. Member to the reply given by the Department to his previous question number 223035, Official Report 09 February 2015.

This government is the first to have a strategy to remove foreign national
offenders.

Last year, this Government removed 5,097 foreign national offenders, and we
have removed over 22,000 FNOs since 2010. We have already removed over
500 foreign national offenders under the 'deport now, appeal later' provisions of the
Immigration Act which came into effect in July 2014. This is alongside FNOs
already being removed during their early removal scheme period. In 2013/14 we
removed more than 1,800 such FNOs.

Additionally we have introduced Operation Nexus, a joint endeavour between the
police and Immigration Enforcement officers, leading to the removal of over
3,200 individuals, joined the Schengen Information System (SIS II), extended
the use of checks of overseas criminal information and are working with the
Ministry of Justice to implement compulsory prisoner transfer agreements within
the EU.

Last year, this Government removed 5,097 foreign national offenders, and wehave removed over 22,000 FNOs since 2010.

The Government introduced the Immigration Act (2014) which allows us to serve quick decisions, earlier in the process. It places the emphasis on the foreign criminal giving us information at the outset. This is a fundamental change in the process and we have already removed over 500 foreign national offenders underthe 'deport now, appeal later' provisions of the Act.

The Act also introduced new powers to prevent criminals using family life arguments to delay their deportation.

We have also introduced Operation Nexus which is a joint initative between Immigration Enforcement and police forces. Nexus identifies offenders that are foreign nationals at the point of arrest and allows Immigration Enforcement to consider those criminals for administrative removal or deportation. This has contributed to the removal of over 3,200 individuals so far.

The Home Office has not made a comparative assessment of the costs of managing foreign national offenders in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

Ministers from all three Departments meet regularly to discuss priority countries for FNO removals and the implementation of the cross-departmental action plan.

The information requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The information requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Investing in a permanent workforce can have business benefits, however it is for employers and individuals to decide whether this is appropriate in any given situation. The Government has taken some steps to encourage more individuals to discuss different working patterns with their employer where it suits them. As of 30 June last year, all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service can make a statutory request to change their working pattern, for instance to request permanent hours. This is in addition to the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 which ensure all agency workers are entitled to information about relevant job vacancies within the hirer that would be available to a comparable employee or worker from day one of an assignment.

The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Small businesses are vital to our economy and our small business owners have driven this economic recovery. The Start-Up Loan Scheme has provided 18 loans, with a value of £44,515, to people starting a business in the Glasgow South West constituency.

We are committed to making Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and are doing this in a number of ways:

• £10 billion of financing will be unlocked for smaller business over the next 5 years by our British Business Bank;
• Government grants of up to £3,000 for better internet connectivity are available to small businesses;
• Growth Vouchers to help companies find and pay for professional strategic advice;
• GREATbusiness.gov.uk brings together all Government advice, guidance and support in one place and businesses can speak to or webchat with a helpline adviser direct using the Business Support helpline;
• £2,000 cut from the National Insurance bills of small firms through the Employment Allowance; and
• Businesses with up to fifty employees and start-ups are exempted from new regulations.

The information requested is not readily available for all special rules for the terminally ill benefits, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

For Personal Independence Payment new claims made under special rules for the terminally ill, please refer to the statistical ad hoc that was published on 28^th January to support discussions at the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-new-claims-ad-hoc-statistics

The Department does not hold the actual payment data for each franchised operator. However, the statutory accounts for each franchised operator can be used to provide a proxy for this payment with reference to the “Tax on profit on ordinary activities” in each Income statement and making the assumption that the tax is paid in that year.

On this basis the franchised train operator which paid the highest amount of corporation tax in each financial year from 2009-10 to 2013-14 is as follows

2009/10 West Coast Trains Limited

2010/11 Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited

2011/12 First/Keolis Transpennine Limited

2012//13 Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited

2013/14 Northern Rail Limited