The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many times he has (a) met and (b) corresponded with a minister of the Welsh Government on the draft Wales Bill in the last 12 months.
Joseph Johnson
The Wales Office is the lead Government department on the draft Wales Bill, and is the primary point of contact with the Welsh Government on matters related to the draft Bill.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-12-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will provide statistics detailing civil legal aid claims and grants by sector broken down by protected characteristics since January 2010.
Lord Faulks
Legal aid is a vital part of our justice system, but we cannot escape the continuing need to reduce the deficit. The Coalition Government reformed legal aid to reduce its cost and ensure the system commands the confidence of the public. As part of our public sector equality duty, the Legal Aid Agency has made it a contractual requirement that providers have an Equality and Diversity policy in place.
The number of civil claims by sector broken down for protected characteristics are shown in the tables below for the period 2010-11 to 2014-15. Figures for grants or applications at this level of detail are not held for the Legal Help and Controlled Legal Representation categories of civil legal aid and so figures for grants have not been provided.
The not for profit sector providers are shown based on the administrative system classification and all other providers are classified as solicitor firms. Where values for the protected characteristics are not held, unknown or the claimant has preferred not to state their answer, they are included within the unknown category.
The MoJ routinely publishes statistics on client characteristics for each area of legal aid on an annual basis on the government website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect equipment gifted to the Lebanese armed forces between 2012 and 2015 on that country’s ability to secure its border with Syria against (a) the spread of the Syrian conflict, (b) the movement of Hezbollah fighters supporting the Assad Regime and (c) the movement of Daesh fighters.
Penny Mordaunt
The UK is committed to the security of Lebanon, including helping the Lebanese state secure its borders. From 2012-2015 we used over £30 million to help the Lebanese army raise and equip three Land Border Regiments (LBRs) deployed along the border with Syria. The project provides the LBRs with border towers, non-lethal equipment, mentoring and training. This has had a direct effect in mitigating contagion from the war in Syria. The border regiments successfully repel frequent attacks by Daesh on Lebanese territory. 75% of the Syria-Lebanon border will be under state control by March 2016, and the rest will be further secured with the establishment of a fourth LBR in financial year 2016-17.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the procedures set out in the procurement policy note, Measures to promote tax compliance published in February 2014.
Matthew Hancock
These new measures on tax compliance, introduced in 2013, enable government departments to exercise their power to exclude firms bidding for government contracts where they have been non-compliant in meeting their legal tax obligations.
The policy is compatible with the existing procurement process and is being updated to clarify the use of mandatory and discretionary exclusion criteria, contained in the new Public Contracts Regulations 2015, concerning tax compliance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish from the Minister for Local Growth and the Northern Powerhouse of 18 February 2016, on accountability of combined authorities, what his policy is on the appointment of hon. Members from the constituent districts to the scrutiny, overview and audit panels of combined authorities.
James Wharton
The scrutiny requirements for combined authorities are set out in Schedule 5A to the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, as inserted by the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016, which provide that overview and scrutiny committees of combined authorities have powers to call in decisions and to involve other persons in their work. Schedule 5A also provides for secondary legislation which must ensure that the majority of members of an overview and scrutiny committee will be members of the combined authority’s constituent councils and that at least one member of an audit committee is an independent person. The scrutiny requirements of the Local Government Act 2000 do not apply to combined authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5646), 14 March (HL6504) and 24 March (HL6955), what was the purpose of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) no longer placing lay summaries of human embryo research proposals on the HFEA website prior to consideration by the Licence Committee.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that it is unable to provide information about this decision beyond that set out in the response to the Noble Lord on 24 March (HL6955). The HFEA’s Business Plan for 2016/17 commits the organisation to a review of the operational aspects of applications for research licences.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36326, what representations she has received from (a) schools and (b) union representatives about the provision for academy trusts to charge teachers for car parking services on school grounds; and if she will make a statement.
Edward Timpson
The Department has not received any representations on this matter from schools or union representatives. As we stated in the answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36326, academy trusts have the freedom to make decisions which reflect the local circumstances of their school. We expect these decisions to be made in a fair and transparent way.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the safe levels of acetaldehyde to which workers in the chemical industry can be exposed.
Justin Tomlinson
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has no plans to commission an assessment of the levels of acetaldehyde that workers are exposed to in the UK chemical industry.
Acetaldehyde has been assigned a Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL). WELs are concentrations of hazardous substances in the air, averaged over a specified period of time, referred to as a time-weighted average (TWA). Two time periods are used; long-term (8 hours) and short-term (15 minutes). For acetaldehyde these are concentrations of 37 milligrams per cubic meter (mg.m-3) and 92mg.m-3 respectively.
Substances that have been assigned a WEL are subject to the requirements of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH). COSHH requires employers to prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances. Under COSHH, control is defined as adequate only if a) the principles of good control practice are applied; b) any WEL is not exceeded; and c) exposure to asthmagens, carcinogens and mutagens are reduced as low as is reasonably practicable. As part of the assessment required under regulation 6 of COSHH, employers should determine their own working practices and in-house standards for control of exposure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many international flights have been taken by (a) Ministers, (b) civil servants and (c) special advisers in his Department in an official capacity since his Department was created.
Greg Hands
Following her appointment on 13 July 2016 the Prime Minister established the Department for International Trade (DIT).
Until such time as a transfer of functions order establishes the Secretary of State as a corporation sole, the Department for International Trade remains a unified Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department for accounting purposes.
As the Department for International Trade is being formed, accurate data for overseas flights is unavailable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will ensure that any agreement on a central registry of beneficial ownership in Montserrat includes access for the public with legitimate reason.
James Duddridge
I refer the Right Honourable Lady to the answer given by my Hon Friend the member for Hertfordshire South West (David Gauke), the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 16 October to questions 10437, 10438 and 10448, which sets out the criteria we expect the Overseas Territories to meet in relation to their central register of company beneficial ownership, or similarly effective system. We are in discussions with the Montserrat authorities on this and are offering technical assistance as they develop their proposals.