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  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in the Ministry of Defence to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    The Defence Board receives a monthly report on the performance of each of its Top level Budgets showing the forecast position against the allocated budget. It also receives information on the delivery of the Ministry of Defence’s key equipment and other projects. The Board assesses this management information at each meeting and takes action as and when necessary.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in the Department for Education to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.

    Lord Nash

    The Department for Education’s financial position is reviewed every month by the Department’s Management Committee.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the percentage cost over-run established by the management board for any budget in the Department of Energy and Climate Change to merit being tabled at the departmental management board; and how many times in the last 12 months that has occurred.

    Baroness Verma

    The departmental management board review the Department’s expenditure forecasts against Parliamentary control totals. No cost over-runs have been forecast in the last 12 months.

  • Lord Fellowes – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Fellowes – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Fellowes on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Lord Chancellor considers that the rehabilitation and behaviour of prisoners will be encouraged by preventing them receiving books by post.

    Lord Faulks

    Up to 12 books may be held by prisoners in their cell at any one time. Prisoners may have additional books stored locally at the prison. Every prison has a library, to which every prisoner has access.

    Ministers have not made any policy changes specifically about the availability of books in prisons. The changes to the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework we introduced last year in relation to parcels were introduced to ensure consistency across the estate and to make sure that security can be maintained. There have always been controls on the sending of parcels into prisons, and allowing parcels to be sent in unrestricted would be operationally unmanageable and would lead to a significant risk of drugs and other illicit items being smuggled into prisons.

    The National Offender Management Service works closely with the Shannon Trust to support schemes such as ‘Toe by Toe’, which includes peer mentoring to improve reading levels.

  • Lord Davies of Stamford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Davies of Stamford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Davies of Stamford on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of cuts to funding for tertiary education students aged 18 in Lincoln and the East Midlands.

    Lord Nash

    On 13 March we announced that we would mitigate the impact in academic year 2014/15 of the reduction in funding for 18-year-olds that we announced at the spending round in June 2013.

    Without this mitigation, the reduction in funding for 18-year-olds would have led to a reduction of around 2% of total funding for 16- to 18-year-olds in the East Midlands and 3% in Lincoln.

    The mitigation policy that we have just announced is to ensure that no institution will lose more than 2% of its 16- to 18-year-old funding in academic year 2014/15 as a result of the reduction in funding for 18-year-olds, and Lincoln College (the only further education college in Lincoln) will benefit from this mitigation. This will give schools and colleges more time to adapt to the change, including for those students who are already on courses.

  • Lord Davies of Stamford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Davies of Stamford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Davies of Stamford on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of students aged 18 who are doing Level 1 or Level 2 courses in Lincoln and in the East Midlands.

    Lord Nash

    Data for the City of Lincoln is not available.

    There are 2,196 students aged 18 studying level 1 courses and 3,040 students studying level 2 courses who live in the East Midlands region.

    Data is based on the 2012/13 R14 Individualised Learner Record, the latest available full year of data. Data refers to 18 year olds. This will not include any students on apprenticeship provision. Students who live in Lincoln or the East Midlands region do not necessarily study there. The numbers of students identified at each Level are based on the Notional Level of the Student’s Core Aim.

  • Baroness Seccombe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Seccombe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Seccombe on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps the Department for Communities and Local Government has taken to cut spending on Common Purpose leadership courses.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    I confirm that the Secretary of State has given a clear steer that spending on Common Purpose is not appropriate, and no expenditure has been undertaken since 2010. By contrast, the last Administration spent £235,950 on Common Purpose.

    In ’50 ways to save’ the Department’s best practice guidance on sensible savings, we recommended councils cancel spending on Common Purpose leadership courses as a practical way of saving money.

  • Baroness Seccombe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Seccombe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Seccombe on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the amount of surplus public land sold so far to support housebuilding and development.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    The Government has taken action to free up land for productive economic use. At the end of December 2013, the Public Sector Land Programme had sold surplus Government owned land capable of delivering over 68,000 homes in England as part of our ambition to dispose of surplus land with capacity for 100,000 homes by 2015. And through the recently concluded Strategic Land and Property Review the Government has identified scope to release £5 billion from its land and property between 2015 and 2020, creating opportunities for housing and economic development.The Government will look to quantify the housing and growth ambitions for this new programme by the time of the Autumn Statement.

  • Baroness Seccombe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Seccombe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Seccombe on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the breakdown of departmental private office spending on Government Procurement Cards between 2005–06 and 2009–10.

    Lord Deighton

    The breakdown of spend by Ministerial private offices in the departmental on Government Procurement Cards for 2005-06 to 2009-10 is in the table below. There are three types of spend within the definition of GPC, procurement, lodge and corporate cards.

    2005-06

    2006-07

    2007-08

    2008-09

    2009-10

    Chancellor of the Exchequer

    220,787.69

    239,967.84

    141,155.09

    95,124.66

    94,773.45

    Chief Secretary

    31,243.13

    40,350.89

    16,002.80

    13,834.62

    25,955.41

    Exchequer Secretary

    10,426.42

    12,784.10

    15,899.54

    17,146.39

    20,028.14

    Economic Secretary

    14,807.79

    80,689.90

    21,329.00

    14,060.81

    7,961.58

    Financial Secretary

    39,163.29

    28,673.99

    21,654.07

    46,993.19

    21,031.27

    Financial Services Secretary

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    16,187.33

    Total

    316,428.32

    402,466.72

    216,040.50

    187,159.67

    185,937.18
  • Baroness Seccombe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Seccombe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Seccombe on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the breakdown of departmental spending in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on catering, hospitality and refreshments in (1) 2008–09, and (2) 2009–10.

    Lord De Mauley

    This table sets out the information requested, in respect of Core Defra.

    £

    2008-09

    2009-10

    Catering and Hospitality

    426,317

    545,253

    Refreshments

    18,574

    7,114

    The figures for Catering and Hospitality include a subsidy paid to the Department’s providers of in-house catering, hospitality and refreshments. The Department no longer pays such a subsidy.