The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations he has received from his French, American and German counterparts on Britain’s decision to extend airstrikes to Syria.
Penny Mordaunt
My French, American and German counterparts have all welcomed the role we are now playing in Syria.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will provide additional resources to North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group to allow GP surgeries in that group’s area to take on new patients.
Alistair Burt
The Department is aware that three general practitioner practices in Clacton have temporarily closed their list to new patients. This is a matter for NHS England.
NHS England advises that it is working with these practices to agree actions needed to re-open their lists in the near future.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which UK assets were supporting the USS Harry S. Truman in the Persian Gulf on 12 January 2016.
Penny Mordaunt
On 12 January 2016 HMS Defender, a Type 45 destroyer, was providing air defence to the US carrier USS Harry S Truman as part of her recent role supporting both the French and American carriers in the Gulf.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to upgrade the housing stock in Cyprus for service personnel and their families; and when such work will be completed.
Mark Lancaster
The upgrading and refurbishment of the housing stock in Cyprus is a continuous process. This financial year, the Ministry of Defence has invested £4.4 million on upgrades of Service Families Accommodation (SFA) in Cyprus and this investment will continue in 2016-17. The Defence Capital Infrastructure Programme includes a further £28 million project to refurbish SFA in Cyprus from 2019-2025.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will estimate the cost of travel for (a) Ministers and (b) officials to attend EU meetings in each of the last three years.
Mr David Lidington
The Government publishes information about ministers’ and senior officials’ visits overseas on a quarterly basis in the transparency data section of the gov.uk website. Information on travel overseas for staff at Senior Civil Service Band 1 and below could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-05-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times the cross-department ministerial group to tackle illicit trade in tobacco has met since it was announced in the budget of March 2015; and whether they will set out the membership of that group, the issues that were discussed at each meeting and the intended outcomes.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The cross-department ministerial group to tackle illicit tobacco will meet for the first time later this month. This follows a number of productive meetings between officials in HMRC and other departments to identify the challenges and opportunities in the UK and internationally and determine a clear agenda for ministerial action. Further details on the group will be issued in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-06-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been invested in facilities at Barrow-in-Furness to support the Trident renewal programme in 2015-16.
Mr Philip Dunne
The infrastructure and facilities investments being made at the Barrow-in-Furness and Faslane sites are for all our submarines not just the Successor programme. I am withholding internal Ministry of Defence forecasts on future programme expenditure as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice on-going commercial negotiations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2016-09-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what functions are planned to become the responsibility of the proposed Solent combined authority; what estimate he has made of the costs of each of those functions in the next (a) 12 months, (b) five years and (c) 30 years; and if he will publish all information that his Department holds on those proposed functions.
Andrew Percy
The proposals for a Solent Combined Authority have been developed by local leaders and partners in the Solent and leaders in the Solent have been undertaking a consultation to inform their proposals and gather the views of local people. Following that it will be for the local authorities to decide if they wish to propose forming a Combined Authority.
Ministers and officials have held discussions with Solent partners on what additional powers and funding could be devolved to the local area, as we have with local areas up and down the country. These discussions have not as yet reached a conclusion although I expect that if a Solent Combined Authority is proposed to government a devolution deal could be rapidly concluded.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-11-10.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government plans to take in response to the Sixth Report of the Public Accounts Committee, HM Revenue and Customs performance in 2014-15, HC 393.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) recognise that their customer service has not been good enough, and have taken major steps to improve. This includes recruiting 3,000 new staff into customer service roles, available outside normal office hours when many of their customers choose to call.
These steps have started to make a difference. This month, HMRC have answered more than 80% of calls, and average queue times are now around 10 minutes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government is taking to help create renewable energy industry jobs in Dundee.
Andrea Leadsom
Government support has helped to create a thriving renewables sector and drive strong progress on UK supply chain development. According to DECC analysis based on BIS 2015: Size and Performance of the Low Carbon Economy the sector currently supports around 16,000 jobs in Scotland.