The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-05-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate she has made of the projected savings of closure of the Area Electoral Office in Newtownards, County Down; and if she will make a statement.
Mr Ben Wallace
Management of Electoral Office resources is an operational matter for the Chief Electoral Officer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to reduce indemnity costs on general practice.
Alistair Burt
The Department and NHS England committed in the recently published General Practice Forward View to review the current arrangements for indemnity cover for general practitioners. To take this review forward, a General Practice Indemnity Steering Group has been established by the Department with NHS England to look at the rising cost of indemnity, and to bring forward proposals for discussion by the end of July 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what arrangements will be made to provide submarine operational cover while HMS Ambush in undergoing repairs; and what risks have been identified as a result of those arrangements.
Harriett Baldwin
It is UK policy that we do not comment on matters relating to submarine activity or operations as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
HMS AMBUSH is undergoing repairs at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, the duration of which is under review.
On 28 July 2016, the Director General of the Defence Safety Authority convened an independent Service Inquiry to investigate the circumstances of this incident. It would be inappropriate to comment further while this investigation is on-going.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to extend the time period for a Conclusive Grounds Decision in the National Referral Mechanism from 45 to 90 days.
Sarah Newton
All potential victims of modern slavery receive intensive and specialist support for a minimum of 45 days, plus a further 14 days if they are conclusively found to be a victim to assist with their return home, their reintegration into society or their transfer to mainstream support.
This level of support means that the UK is exceeding its obligations under Article 12 of the European Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT). The Government is piloting changes to aspects of the National Referral Mechanism and we will consider whether changes to existing arrangements are needed once the pilot has been evaluated.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what contact his Department has had with the US Atrocity Prevention Board.
Mr Philip Hammond
FCO officials regularly meet members of the board in the course of normal business, for example at Responsibility to Protect (R2P) meetings during this year’s United Nations General Assembly. The UK is also an active participant in the US-led informal grouping on atrocity prevention which meets every few months to discuss developments and policy priorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of job opportunities created so far by Enterprise Zones, including how many of those opportunities are full-time, part-time, work experience or apprenticeship opportunities, both within each zone and in the surrounding area.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The job opportunities which Enterprise Zones have attracted are published quarterly on a national and regional performance basis. The most recently published data covers the period up until the end of June 2015 and shows that the 24 Enterprise Zones established since 2012 have already attracted 20,676 jobs and that this number had increased by 9 per cent between March and June 2015.
Information on the type of jobs or the number of jobs within individual zones or surrounding areas is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cold weather payments have been made in each constituency in each year since their introduction; and what the total value of such payments has been.
Justin Tomlinson
Information on cold weather payments by constituencies is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-02-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff of HM Revenue and Customs’ Large Business Service worked on each of that service’s investigations relating to the tax of companies in each of the last six years.
Mr David Gauke
Until 31 March 2014, HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Large Business Service (LBS) dealt with the tax affairs of around 800 of the largest businesses in the UK. From 1 April 2014 HMRC’s Large Business directorate (LB) deals with the tax affairs of around 2,000 large businesses.
At 31 December 2015, the number of staff deployed in LB was 2,600.
At year end (31 March), the number of staff deployed in previous years was:
LB
2014-15 2,350
LBS
2013-14 1,303
2012-13 1,194
2011-12 1,306
2010-11 1,438
These staff are supplemented by specialists in other parts of HMRC. It is not possible to say how many staff were deployed on each investigation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in his Department.
David Mundell
For cleaning services the Scotland Office uses contracts through frameworks held by the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government. The Scotland Office does not set the wages paid by the contractors to its workers. Both contractors pay the national minimum wage, £6.70 per hour. From April, both contractors will increase their rate of pay to £7.20 in line with the new national minimum wage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart Blair Donaldson on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many colleges and universities have had (a) sponsorship licences revoked and (b) faced other restrictions related to allegations of English Language Test fraud; and what steps she plans to take to reconsider those revocations and restrictions.
Mike Penning
This data is published on the following website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/temporary-and-permanent-migration-data-february-2016
As this is linked to ongoing litigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.