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  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to allow local authorities to set multi-annual budgets.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The annual balanced budget requirement is a key element of the local authority financial control framework. It means that the council is content that underlying income will cover ongoing costs and future commitments in a sustainable and manageable way.

    In addition to preparing annual balanced budgets local authorities should prepare multi-year Medium Term Financial Plans. In order to support effective multi-year financial planning the then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government published an historic four year local government finance settlement on 8 February 2016. Councils across England applied for the four year offer on the 14 October and the government will respond as soon as practicable.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of how many households affected by Pay to Stay will receive funds from Right to Buy.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Government believes that, as a matter of fairness, tenants on higher incomes should contribute a fairer level of rent. This might lead to more tenants exercising their Right to Buy, but the two policies are not linked.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the BBC Trust and Ofcom on the implications for users of the BBC requiring registration and identification to use iPlayer.

    Matt Hancock

    The case for requiring user verification for the iPlayer was discussed during the Charter Review process and the White Paper, published in May, made clear that the Government thinks there is a case for iPlayer to require verification both to improve enforcement and allow BBC content to be ‘portable’ for UK licence fee payers. However, it will ultimately be up to the BBC to decide if and how they wish to implement this.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations she has received on the decision of the BBC to require registration for using iPlayer from 2017.

    Matt Hancock

    We have received no representations about this matter.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what responses he plans to give to the request by the Iraqi Kurdish forces in Mosul for equipment to protect them from an ISIL/Daesh chemical attack; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry of Defence has provided a wide range of support, equipment and ammunition to the Kurdish Regional Government, working with the Global Counter Daesh Coalition and Coalition partners. While the UK has not itself provided chemical defence equipment, the Coalition has coordinated the provision of substantial stocks of appropriate personal protection equipment from other Coalition partners to the Kurdish Regional Government that meet the needs of the Peshmerga in this important area.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many claims under the Human Rights Act 1998 against British soldiers in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan the Government subsequently found to be spurious in each year since 2009-10.

    Mike Penning

    Legal actions citing the Human Rights Act, whether judicial reviews or personal injury claims, are normally brought against the Secretary of State for Defence rather than against individual Service personnel (on the basis that the Ministry of Defence is vicariously liable for their acts). The Courts allow or dismiss claims in whole or in part. There have been approximately 1,400 such judicial review claims and 1,000 personal injury claims stemming from our military oprations in Iraq and Afgahnistan. The vast majority of them have not yet been heard, as they are queued behind a small number of lead cases. It is the view of the Government, based on the findings of the Al-Sweady public inquiry and other evidence, that large numbers of these claims are likely to be exaggerated or spurious.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value was of his Department’s naval maintenance contracts by shipyards in (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales in the last 10 years.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how his Department monitors the obligations it places on its subcontractors to pay bills within 30 days.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to implementing a prompt payment policy throughout the supply chain. We place a contractual obligation on our prime contractors to pay their subcontractors within 30 days.

    As with all contractual issues, in relation to direct contracts between the MOD and its suppliers, we would investigate any breaches to contract conditions on a case-by-case basis. While there is currently no established method of monitoring prompt payment outside of our direct contracts, we are working to update MOD contractual conditions to strengthen the prompt payment obligation throughout the supply chain.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) training and (b) specific operational advice has been provided to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on (i) political authorisation of military operations, (ii) targeting of aerial operations and (iii) after-action reviews on operations in Yemen in the last 12 months.

    Sir Michael Fallon

    As part of our ongoing Defence engagement with Saudi Arabia the UK has provided training to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) both in the UK and in Saudi Arabia, including International Targeting courses for RSAF personnel, to improve their targeting processes and to support International Humanitarian Law (IHL) compliance.

    The UK has supported the development of the coalition Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT) and delivered two training sessions in Saudi Arabia on the process for investigating alleged IHL violations. The UK has not been directly involved in investigations undertaken by the JIAT, has not provided any specific operational advice to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for operations in Yemen and has not provided training on political authorisation of military operations.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) technical and (b) personnel support has been provided to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to investigate possible breaches of (i) targeting procedures, (ii) the rules of engagement and (iii) international humanitarian law on operations in Yemen in the last 12 months.

    Sir Michael Fallon

    It is important that all parties to the conflict in Yemen conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into all incidents where it is alleged that International Humanitarian Law (IHL) has been breached. We regularly raise the importance of compliance with IHL with the Saudi Arabian Government and other members of the military coalition.

    The UK has supported the development of the coalition Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT) and delivered two training sessions in Saudi Arabia on the process for investigating alleged IHL violations. We have not been directly involved in investigations undertaken by the JIAT.