The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much was spent on non-payroll staff in his Department in 2015-16.
Mark Lancaster
The amount spent on non-payroll staff in 2015-16 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much was spent by her Department on private school fees for children whose parents are stationed (a) in the UK and (b) overseas in the last financial year.
Rory Stewart
This information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost to the taxpayer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-10-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the drop in the value of sterling in recent months reflects the markets’ view of the likely future health of the UK economy.
Lord Young of Cookham
The UK has an inflation target, not an exchange rate target, and Her Majesty’s Government does not express a view on the level of exchange rates. Instead, the exchange rate is allowed to adjust flexibly in response to economic conditions and movements in sterling are determined by market forces.
This framework means we do not need to introduce exchange rate controls.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2015-10-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many places in category D prisons in England and Wales were occupied by prisoners in each month since January 2013.
Lord Faulks
Progression to open prisons is never automatic, and prisoners must generally be within two years of release before they can be considered for allocation. Public protection is paramount, only those prisoners who are assessed as low risk of escape/abscond and low risk of causing harm to the public are transferred to an open prison.
The following table shows the number of category D places that were available and occupied by prisoners in open prisons in England and Wales as at the last Friday in each month since January 2013. This information is published monthly on gov.uk
The data above does not include the number of places available and in use in category D units in otherwise closed prisons.
Breakdown of the population and capacity of the dedicated open estate from
January 2013 to October 2015.
|
Month |
Capacity |
Population |
|
Jan-13 |
5,131 |
4,933 |
|
Feb-13 |
5,131 |
4,953 |
|
Mar-13 |
5,131 |
4,982 |
|
Apr-13 |
5,131 |
4,993 |
|
May-13 |
5,131 |
4,988 |
|
Jun-13 |
5,131 |
4,981 |
|
Jul-13 |
5,131 |
4,988 |
|
Aug-13 |
5,131 |
4,994 |
|
Sep-13 |
5,131 |
4,990 |
|
Oct-13 |
5,131 |
5,005 |
|
Nov-13 |
5,203 |
5,048 |
|
Dec-13 |
5,217 |
4,993 |
|
Jan-14 |
5,217 |
4,932 |
|
Feb-14 |
5,217 |
4,994 |
|
Mar-14 |
5,217 |
5,037 |
|
Apr-14 |
5,339 |
5,159 |
|
May-14 |
5,339 |
5,122 |
|
Jun-14 |
5,339 |
5,087 |
|
Jul-14 |
5,339 |
5,082 |
|
Aug-14 |
5,374 |
5,011 |
|
Sep-14 |
5,374 |
4,943 |
|
Oct-14 |
5,397 |
4,846 |
|
Nov-14 |
5,397 |
4,814 |
|
Dec-14 |
5,397 |
4,759 |
|
Jan-15 |
5,405 |
4,666 |
|
Feb-15 |
5,329 |
4,680 |
|
Mar-15 |
5,131 |
4,691 |
|
Apr-15 |
5,453 |
4,922 |
|
May-15 |
5,468 |
4,876 |
|
Jun-15 |
5,544 |
5,020 |
|
Jul-15 |
5,569 |
5,019 |
|
Aug-15 |
5,569 |
5,062 |
|
Sep-15 |
5,520 |
5,076 |
|
Oct-15 |
5,550 |
5,127 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will take action to correct the six calculation errors made in the home energy efficiency calculation software known as SAP referred to in the letter to the Prime Minister from BDP Limited, dated 12 November 2015.
Andrea Leadsom
We are reviewing the energy efficiency standards which underpin the national calculation methodology for assessing fuel use in dwellings, the Standard Assessment Procedure or SAP.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) membership and (b) terms of reference will be of the extended Natural Capital Committee.
Rory Stewart
Professor Dieter Helm was reappointed as Chair of the Natural Capital Committee on 9 December 2015. The recruitment process to select the other members of the Committee is underway. The new Committee’s remit will be to advise Government on the development of an integrated 25 year environment plan to protect and improve our natural capital. The detailed terms of reference for the new Committee will be finalised once the Committee members are appointed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many multi-academy trusts do not have local governing bodies with powers comparable to those of maintained schools.
Edward Timpson
In a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT), individual academies do not have a separate legal identity and are all under the control of the trust board. Whether the trust board establishes local governing boards for each academy is a matter for the trust board to determine. In all cases the trust board remains accountable for all academies in the MAT.
The Academies Financial Handbook[1] sets out that academy trusts must publish on their websites up-to-date details of their governance arrangements in a readily accessible form. Trusts must also publish the names of their members and trustees, and the membership of any committees, in their annual financial statements, a copy of which is sent to the Education Funding Agency and filed with the Companies Registrar. Trusts are also required to inform EFA of the names of their chair of trustees, accounting officer and chief financial officer.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academies-financial-handbook-2015
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how his Department decides on allocation of funding to research councils; and what assessment he has made of the grounds for significant changes being made to the relative size of allocations to each research council compared to allocations in previous years.
Joseph Johnson
The allocations will be published shortly. As in previous years, the allocations will be made by ministers following discussions with BIS delivery partners.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 31677, what checks are undertaken to ensure that the terms of a Tier 2 (ICT) visa Certificate of Sponsorship are adhered to.
Mike Penning
A variety of checks are undertaken on sponsor licence holders and the migrants they assign certificates of sponsorship to. Compliance visits are undertaken during the licensing process and post-licensing audits are undertaken to verify the duties performed by the sponsored workers adhere to those set out by the sponsor in the certificate of sponsorship. Officers can request payslips, work contracts and evidence of duties performed by the sponsored worker during compliance visits. In some cases, other regulatory requirements are verified with other government departments or regulatory bodies during investigations of possible non-compliance. Officers can interview both sponsors and sponsored workers during compliance visits to seek assurances and gather information and evidence of compliance with the duties of sponsorship. Overseas we can undertake checks in to the credibility of the international presence of an ICT sponsor licence holder where there is concern to do so.
All roles are assessed to confirm the duties and salary meet the requirements set out in the standard occupation classification codes. The sponsored worker may also be called for interview during the visa consideration process to check their credibility and test the individual meets the requirements of sponsorship under Tier 2 (ICT).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-04-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to introduce standards to minimise the risk of the malfunctioning of electronic financial transactions and data storage by financial and public organisations; and what information is available to the general public to enable them (1) to choose which organisations and services to use, and (2) to know whether or not to use electronic systems depending on those services.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
On 18th March, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, Matthew Hancock, announced that the new National Cyber Security Centre will work with the Bank of England to produce advice for the finance sector for managing cyber security effectively. This will build on tools such as the Cyber Essentials scheme, which sets out the technical controls organisations should have in place to demonstrate that they are following a basic level of ‘good practice’ in terms of their cyber security.
It is the responsibility of firms to ensure the resilience of their Information Technology (IT) systems. Through the Dear Chairman Exercise I and II, the Financial Authorities have assessed large UK deposit-takers’ technology resilience, and are working with firms to ensure that further improvements are made and customers are protected.