Category: Speeches

Lord Green of Deddington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-09-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in each month since December 2014, how many Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship were available, how many applications for such certificates were (1) granted, and (2) refused, and what was the minimum point score for successful applications.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The data requested is set out in the table below

Allocation Month	RCoS available	No of RCoS Granted	No RCoS refused	Minimum points score[1]	Minimum salary required to meet points score
Dec-14	2481	1819	0	32	£20,500
Jan-15	2416	1670	0	32	£20,500
Feb-15	2392	2409	0	32	£20,500
Mar-15	1690	1919	0	32	£20,500
Apr-15	2528	1888	0	32	£20,800[2]
May-15	2285	2277	0	32	£20,800
Jun-15	1690	1215	1329	50	£46,000
Jul-15	2040	1943	1201	45	£32,000
Aug-15	2347	2418	583	36	£24,000
Sep-15	1544	1520	891	35	£23,000
Oct-15	2111	1953	374	22	£22,000
Nov-15	2011	2100	0	21	£20,800
Dec-15	1989	1774	0	21	£20,800
Jan-16	1926	1441	0	21	£20,800
Feb-16	2439	1760	0	21	£20,800
Mar-16	2661	1748	0	21	£20,800
Apr-16	2175	1692	0	21	£20,800
May-16	2464	1849	0	21	£20,800
Jun-16	2575	1853	0	21	£20,800
Jul-16	2701	2238	0	21	£20,800
Aug-16	2695	1952	0	21	£20,800

(1) The points table used to score applications changed in October 2015.

(2) The minimum salary to qualify under Tier 2 increased from £20,500 to £20,800 in April 2015, in line with wage inflation. This information is available in the public domain and can be found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employer-sponsorship-restricted-certificate-allocations/allocations-of-restricted-certificates-of-sponsorship

01/01/2023

Jess Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the level of resources necessary for trading standards to fulfil the additional duties set out under the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2015 and (b) alternative arrangements for enforcing those regulations; and what discussions his Department has had with local authority trading standards and professional groups representing trading standards on the effect that those duties will have on their resourcing.

James Wharton

These Regulations do not change the nature of the existing enforcement responsibility for local authorities or set central targets for enforcement activity. Any additional burden is therefore assessed to be minimal.Discussions with local enforcement officers indicated that the additional burdens imposed by the annual reporting of existing duties would be minimal as enforcement activity should already be appropriately recorded locally.

01/01/2023
Ruth Smeeth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of her powers contained in the Stormont House Agreement to determine what can be disclosed to victims’ families.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

The UK Government has made clear that it is committed to providing full disclosure to the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) for the purpose of its investigations. This will give the HIU access to very sensitive information, including information which would, if disclosed generally, damage the UK’s national security and put lives at risk.

As acknowledged in the Stormont House Agreement, the UK Government has a duty to ensure that sensitive information is not released publicly where to do so would put lives or national security at risk.

01/01/2023
Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what guidance his Department has provided to Europe Direct on the information it provides to people in the UK in the period before the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not provided any guidance to Europe Direct on the information it provides.

01/01/2023
Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

Mark Lancaster

Information on non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, I am able to provide the following information for core Ministry of Defence Civil Servants.

Home to work travel allowance has been interpreted as Excess Fares Allowance. This is paid to staff who move from one establishment to another on the Department’s instruction. It is normally paid for a maximum period of four years and compensates the officer for additional travel costs they have incurred as a result of the move. The number in receipt of regular Excess Fares Allowance is 1,390.

Car allowance and subsidised health insurance are not routinely paid. There are, however, four officers in receipt of car allowance and 14 officers in receipt of subsidised health insurance as they retained their terms and conditions following an inward transfer from the private sector under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.

01/01/2023
Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of her Department’s (a) Senior Civil Servants and (b) core policy civil servants are based in London.

Andrea Leadsom

a) 99% of DECC’s Senior Civil Servants are based in London.

b) 99% of DECC’s core policy civil servants are based in London.

01/01/2023
Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria were used in selecting the members of the Guidelines Development Group who advised the Chief Medical Officer on the evidence base for the updated guidelines concerning alcohol consumption.

Lord Prior of Brampton

A group of 13 independent scientific experts were commissioned to report back to the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers and make recommendations on new low risk drinking guidelines. The members of the Guidelines Development Group were chosen according to the type of expertise they had and their individual ability.

01/01/2023
William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on the (a) costs and (b) margins of combined cycle gas turbine plants of (i) Supplementary Balancing Reserve and (ii) other Black Start ancillary support subsidy contracts to coal plants.

Andrea Leadsom

The Supplementary Balancing Reserve and Black Start contracts are two important services developed to support National Grid in managing security of supply. Responsibility for these services rests with OFGEM.

01/01/2023
Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what recent assessment the Commission has made of the security arrangements for screening mail received by hon. Members of each House of Parliament.

Tom Brake

A procurement process for a new contract for screening mail received by hon. Members is currently underway. A full review of the security arrangements and contract specification forms part of that process. This review is based on advice from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) as well as on a national standard specification for mail screening (PAS 97:2015).

Following an incident, the Parliamentary Security Department has recently revised and reissued guidance to Members and staff on what to do following receipt of a suspicious letter or package.

We do not comment in public on details of security arrangements. The Deputy Director of Security (Delivery) would be happy to discuss these arrangements in more detail with the hon. Member.

01/01/2023
Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-09-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of which specific rail service improvements the new East Anglia rail franchises would deliver for (1) Stansted Airport, and (2) Cambridge.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Under the new franchise agreement passengers travelling to and from Stansted Airport will benefit from new trains with free Wi-Fi from February 2019, and a minimum 12.5% reduction in anytime return fares and anytime single fares on the Stansted Express by early 2017. Almost all hourly services between Norwich and Cambridge are to be extended to provide a direct service to and from Stansted Airport.

Cambridge Station will similarly benefit from new trains with free Wi-Fi from February 2019. Additional train services are an earlier first service from Cambridge to Norwich and an additional evening service from Norwich to Cambridge.

Cambridge Station will be provided with a significant refurbishment. This will include construction of a pavilion to include a customer waiting area, train information displays and ticketing offices and ticket vending machines at the entrance to the station. Cambridge will also be provided with 1000 additional secure cycle spaces.

01/01/2023