Category: Speeches

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to allow local authorities to set multi-annual budgets.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The annual balanced budget requirement is a key element of the local authority financial control framework. It means that the council is content that underlying income will cover ongoing costs and future commitments in a sustainable and manageable way.

    In addition to preparing annual balanced budgets local authorities should prepare multi-year Medium Term Financial Plans. In order to support effective multi-year financial planning the then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government published an historic four year local government finance settlement on 8 February 2016. Councils across England applied for the four year offer on the 14 October and the government will respond as soon as practicable.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gavin Newlands – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 11080, on deportation: appeals, in how many of the 426 cases referred to was certification withdrawn.

    James Brokenshire

    Of the 426 cases referred to in answer of 14 October to Question 11080:

    – none were certification withdrawn

    – 359 have been certified under Regulation 24AA

    – all data provided relates to the First Tier Tribunal only

    – 25 are listed as abandoned or withdrawn by the appellant

    – 89 were dismissed by the relevant tribunal

    The Home Office does not disclose country specific information as its disclosure could prejudice relations between the UK and foreign governments.

    Notes : (1) All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

    (2) Data Extracted on 28th September, 2015 in line with response to Question 11080

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the latest estimate of the cost of the Successor class submarine programme has increased to £31 billion; and whether he expects that cost to rise.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Designing and building submarines is one of the largest programmes and one of the most complex activities that the Ministry of Defence and UK Industry has ever undertaken. It is the purpose of a design phase to improve our understanding of costs and timescales, which we have now done. The current estimates reflect what we have learned since the design phase began.

    As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 (Cm9161), our latest estimate of the total cost to manufacture the four Successor submarines reflects greater maturity of the design and understanding of the supply chain, amounts to £31 billion; we will also set a contingency of £10 billion. This level of contingency represents about 35% of the costs to completion and is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects.

  • Liam Fox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Liam Fox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage zero-carbon housing; and if he will make a statement.

    James Wharton

    I refer my rt. hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 23 October 2015, PQ 12627.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and which (a) academies and (b) free schools applied to the Secretary of State to have their funding arrangements changed to allow them to vary their school admissions requirements in each year since 2009-10; and which such applications were approved.

    Edward Timpson

    In total, between 2012 and 2016, three requests have been considered by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) to vary in-year admissions arrangements of academies and free schools outside of the normal admissions timeframe. One relates to an academy and two to free schools. The two applications from the free schools were approved. The EFA was established in April 2012. We do not hold figures relating to this question prior to this date.

    The table below sets out the number of requests from academies and free schools considered and approved by the EFA from 2012-13:

    Requests to vary admissions requirements

    Academies

    Free Schools

    Approved

    2012-13

    0

    0

    0

    2013-14

    0

    0

    0

    2014-15

    0

    1

    1

    2015-16 Current financial year to date i.e. April 15 to Jan 16

    1

    1

    1

    Total

    1

    2

    2

    “

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many full-time equivalent officials are (a) budgeted for and (b) actually employed in each African country in which the UK has an Embassy or High Commission.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The attached spreadsheet (PQ 28132 – FTE Africa v0.3) details the number of UK based FCO staff budgeted for and employed in each African country which the UK has an Embassy or High Commission.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who was on the procurement board that recently awarded the new contract for type 2 diabetes education programme for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England advises that information about the average cost of the DESMOND and Empower structured diabetes education programmes in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland is not collected centrally.

    NHS England also advises that the evaluation panel for the new contract for the type 2 diabetes education programme comprised a range of clinicians and commissioning officers, including a patient representative, an equality lead, a specialist general practitioner and a nurse. The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Groups’ Governing Bodies considered the breadth of experience and skills of the panel was acceptable. A 12-week consultation with patients, which ended on 12 June 2015, informed the development of the contract specification.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the levels of public duty costs allowance for former Prime Ministers are determined.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Public Duties Cost Allowance (PDCA) was introduced to assist former Prime Ministers, still active in public life, with the costs of continuing to fulfil public duties. The PDCA is set in line with the annual Parliamentary Staffing Allowance allocated to Members of Parliament as determined by IPSA. In addition, former Prime Ministers are entitled to claim a pension allowance to contribute towards the pension costs of their staff. This is limited to a maximum of 10% of their staff salary costs.

    The Government is currently considering the decision of the First-Tier Tribunal.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government is making on educating young children about rural affairs, animal welfare and how to care responsibly for a pet; in what ways the Government monitors that progress; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Millions of schoolchildren across England will have the chance to plant saplings in their communities as part of a Government-backed scheme to give free trees to schools in partnership with the Woodland Trust. This will give children the chance to learn about trees and understand and connect with nature whilst making their school grounds and neighbourhoods cleaner and greener.

    The Government has published Codes of Practice on animal welfare and how to care responsibly for a pet, and animal welfare charities produce helpful information on this.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total amount of arrears recovered by HM Revenue and Customs for non-compliance with the national minimum wage is in 2016-17 to date; how many (a) workers and (b) employers those arrears relate to; and how many of those employers (i) were issued a financial penalty, (ii) self-corrected and paid those arrears back to the workers concerned without being issued a financial penalty and (iii) have been named and shamed for that non-compliance.

    Margot James

    HM Revenue and Customs do not provide ad-hoc data for National Minimum Wage/National Living Wage enforcement, although mid-year figures will be available later in the year.

    Employers found to have broken minimum wage law will be issued with a Notice of Underpayment by HMRC and will have 28 days to appeal against it. If the employer does not appeal or an appeal has been unsuccessful, HMRC will issue a case closure letter to the employer and refer them to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to be considered for naming and shaming. The employer will then have 14 days from the date of the case closure letter to make written representations to BEIS outlining whether they fall under any of the exceptional circumstances for not being named under the scheme. Employers issued with a case closure letter after 1 April 2016 will be named by BEIS in future naming rounds.