The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from her Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.
Mr Desmond Swayne
DFID does not maintain records of stationery lost or stolen. Therefore, it is not possible to estimate what the replacement cost would be.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, by how much the Government plans to increase the funding per place for apprenticeships.
Nick Boles
At the Autumn Statement, my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the Government will establish a new employer-led body to set apprenticeship standards and ensure quality. The body will be independent of Government and will also advise on the level of levy funding each apprenticeship should receive. Our expectation is that funding caps will be significantly higher for programmes which have high costs and are of high quality.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the criteria are for authorising an average speed monitored stretch of non-motorway highway; what measures are in place to prevent an artificially low speed limit being implemented and then being made subject to an average speed limit camera check; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Jones
It is up to the Highways Authority and the Police to decide whether to use cameras and how they wish to operate them. Guidance was issued in 2007 entitled “Use of speed and red-light camera for traffic enforcement: guidance on deployment, visibility and signing”.This can be viewed on GOV.UK. This guidance is not mandatory but on 20 October 2015 we wrote to local authorities drawing it to their attention.
The Department issued revised guidance entitled “Setting local speed limits” in January 2013 aimed mainly at local traffic authorities who are responsible for setting speed limits on local roads. It has been designed to help explain to everyone why and how local speed limits are determined. This guidance was revised following full public consultation in Summer 2012 and is available online on GOV.UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the financial savings to schools in (a) Pendle, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West as a result of its memorandum of understanding with Microsoft announced on 13 January 2016.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Due to this agreement with Microsoft, which runs until June 2018, schools stand to save an estimated £30 million. The agreement also gives them greater flexibility in their use of Microsoft software.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on working with the EU Commission on extending the Public Lending Right to e-lending in local libraries.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Department and the Libraries Taskforce are working with representatives of authors, publishers, public libraries, the PLR office and others, to ensure library service users have access to remote e-book lending, without charge, and to consider options to appropriately remunerate authors and other rights holders.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26338, on EU grants and loans, which organisations have received grants from the £71 million European Social Fund monies.
Mr Sam Gyimah
The European Social Fund provides support for young people aged 14-19 who were not in education, employment or training, or who were at risk of being so, for the period December 2013 to July 2015 (2007-2013 European Social Fund programme extended to 2015). This funding was awarded under contract following an open and competitive tendering process. The procurement process was administered by the Skills Funding Agency on behalf of the Education Funding Agency.
The list of organisations contracted to deliver this provision can be found here:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Cashman on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of including the Department for International Development in discussions and representations at the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference in Uruguay from 13 to 15 July.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
As I set out to the House on the 21 March, and in my answers of 5 April, and the noble Baroness Verma’s answer of 31 March, the British Government will send a delegation to the Global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and/or Intersex (LGBTI) Human Rights Conference taking place in Montevideo in July.
The Government is clear in its belief that human rights are universal and should apply equally to all people everywhere. We are opposed to all forms of discrimination and work to uphold the rights and freedoms of LGBTI people in all circumstances. We support the key objectives of the conference: to provide an important opportunity to share information, best practice and lessons learned with partners and to discuss how to better coordinate international efforts to support the promotion and protection of the rights of LGBTI people worldwide. We are committed to working with those countries that will be represented at the conference, and others, to better coordinate work to combat discrimination and violence against LGBTI people. This forms an important part of our wider international human rights work.
Precise composition of the UK delegation to the conference remains to be confirmed. With the exception of the co-hosts, the Governments of the Netherlands and Uruguay, we judge it likely that countries will be represented at official level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if her Department will maintain the 2014 commitment to ring-fence spending through the Contracts for Difference (CfD) for 100MW of marine energy in the UK and make the full 100MW available to developers during the 2016 CfD auction process.
Andrea Leadsom
In July 2014 the Government announced a 100MW minimum for wave and tidal stream technologies, including capacity from both the Renewables Obligation and Contracts for Difference, to the end of the first Delivery Plan period in 2019.
During the Budget on 16 March 2016, the Government announced the budget for CfD auctions this Parliament and that the Contract for Difference allocation round, planned to open later in 2016 will be available for projects with a Target Commissioning Window starting in the 2021/22 delivery year. We will be publishing further details in relation to the next allocation round, including on strike prices and whether there will be any minimum allocation later for wave and tidal stream technologies in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the finding in the King’s Fund report, entitled Deficits in the NHS 2016, published on 11 July 2016, that NHS providers and commissioners ended 2015-16 with a deficit of £1.85 billion, what steps he is taking to reduce that aggregate deficit.
Alistair Burt
It is clear that the National Health Service faces a significant challenge, and this is why we are investing the additional £10 billion the NHS has said it needs to implement its own plan for the future, with £6 billion frontloaded by the end of this year.
We have introduced tough new financial controls to cut down on waste in the NHS – including introducing caps for agency staff and management consultants, and introducing central procurement rules. In 2016-17, we have introduced a £1.8 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund to support providers to move to a financially sustainable footing. We will be providing intensive support to the most challenged NHS organisations through the new special measures programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial contribution they have received from the Church of England to fund the provision of facilities for refugees.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Government recently launched a community sponsorship scheme to enable community groups including charities, faith groups, churches and businesses to take on the role of supporting resettled refugees in the UK.