Category: Speeches

Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many staff in each of the armed services work at the level of interpreter in each language.

Earl Howe

The Armed Services recognise 48 languages for which they declare a capability. The Joint Arms Control Implementation Group is the only unit which employs personnel in the direct role of interpreter. Across the Armed Services a total of 697 personnel are recorded as holding a level of language qualification and currency that is functional or above. These are broken down as follows:

	Army	RAF	Royal Marines	Royal Navy	Total
Functional	160	56	17	31	264
Professional	191	52	17	41	301
Expert	85	27	5	15	132
Total	436	135	39	87	697

The number of languages that Ministry of Defence (MOD) employees could conceivably need to converse in is extremely broad. The MOD employs professional interpreters for more niche languages and has robust strategies in place to ensure the quality of contractors’ interpretation skills.

01/01/2023

Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 25082, how many unauthorised entries were recorded in relation to each of the bases listed in the Answer; what form of unauthorised entries were recorded in each case; which cases were investigated by (a) the Ministry of Defence Police, (b) a military police force and (c) a local civilian police force; and which such investigations led to a prosecution.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) treats all unauthorised entries to military bases very seriously. They are investigated to a level commensurate with their complexity and impact by Military Police, MOD Police or local constabulary.

A breakdown of unauthorised entries to military bases recorded within the MOD for 2015 is set out in the attached table. None of these incidents resulted in any significant ramifications for Defence security.

In drafting the answer to these questions, it has become apparent that the answer to Question 24141 was incorrect, understating the number of unauthorised entries to military bases in 2015 by one, the correct number is 45; a second security incident of this category occurred at MOD Lyneham. The information has been corrected in this answer.

01/01/2023
Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to publish post-occupancy evaluations of primary and secondary schools built under wave 1 of the Priority Schools Building Programme.

Edward Timpson

The Department for Education is collecting a range of post-occupancy data on schools built under wave 1 of the Priority Schools Building Programme. This data considers all potential benefits realised including user satisfaction and building performance. The results of this exercise will be published once it is complete.

01/01/2023
Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP practices in Greenwich borough have vacancies for practice nurses; what the consequential cost savings were per practice in (a) 2015-16 and (b) the current financial year to date; and if he will make a statement.

David Mowat

The information requested is not centrally held.

01/01/2023
Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to substitute any funding for High Speed 2 that was part of an EU grant.

Andrew Jones

The funding envelope of £55.7 billion for delivering HS2 does not rely on EU grant funding. HS2 was awarded a grant of €39 million from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for ground investigation works. My Department will work with HM Treasury to see if this should be covered by the government’s commitment to provide continuity of funding for participants in EU programmes (announced by my Right Honourable Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the 13th August). I refer my Right Honourable Friend to my response of the 15th September, UIN 46680, (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=46680).

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01/01/2023
Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what average time his Department took to respond to freedom of information requests in each year since 2005.

Alun Cairns

The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on timeliness. These can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.

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01/01/2023
Maria Caulfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Caulfield on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools in Lewes constituency receive pupil premium funding.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Details of the schools in Lewes constituency which are receiving pupil premium funding in 2015-16 are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/439865/Pupil_premium_final_allocations_2015_to_2016_by_school_in_England.ods.

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01/01/2023
Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing the Natural England report, Vital Uplands, published in 2009, in respect of restoration of deep upland vegetation to control hillside water run-off and valley flooding.

Rory Stewart

The Vital Uplands report of 2009 was withdrawn by the previous Natural England Board and Management Team. Natural England, the Environment Agency, Defra and by academic institutions continue to closely monitor the complex science and evidence around upstream mitigation, through peatland, forestry and other natural measures. Some such measures have now been funded by the Government and piloted in schemes such as that in Pickering in Yorkshire. Natural upstream mitigation will be a key element of our planning at a catchment level, currently being taken forward through the Cumbrian Floods Partnership and our 25-year Environment Plan.

01/01/2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what role the UK pharmaceutical industry is playing in the development of a vaccine for the Zika virus.

Jane Ellison

The United Kingdom pharmaceutical industry will play a leading role in the development of a vaccine for the Zika virus, in collaboration with a range of the UK’s infectious disease experts, who are world leaders in this area.

In the Spending Review, the £1 billion Ross Fund, run jointly by the Department of Health and Department for International Development, includes over £350 million for the development of new vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for infectious diseases.

Particularly noteworthy within this, the UK Vaccine Network, with up to £120 million of funding, brings together industry, academia and Government to finance the development of new vaccines for priority infectious diseases with epidemic potential, including Zika. Indeed, the Network will launch a major funding call to finance the development of vaccines for Zika and other priority diseases at the end of February.

01/01/2023
Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls have been made to the Universal Credit 03456000723 number to date; what the average duration is of such calls; what the average cost is of each call; and how much revenue in total has been generated by these calls.

Priti Patel

To date, 2.2million calls have been answered by Universal Credit agents. The average call duration is 07:29 minutes. This information includes calls to the 0345 number and to the 0845 number it replaced.

Calls to 0345 numbers are charged to the customer at the same rate as a call to a standard local or national geographic number. The cost is dependent on the customer’s tariff and will be taken from inclusive bundled call minutes where applicable.

Information about call charges are available at the following link https://www.gov.uk/call-charges

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The Department generates no revenue from these calls and is unable to comment on revenue generated by other parties

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01/01/2023