The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-03-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the International Tennis Federation about the issue of equal prize money for men and women in tennis tournaments.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
HMG has had no such discussions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what formal public consultation will need to take place when Sustainability and Transformation Plans are given approval by NHS England.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Where Sustainability and Transformation plans envisage changes to the way that NHS services are commissioned or delivered, it will be the responsibility of the relevant clinical commissioning groups to involve patients and the public in considering and making decisions on those proposals, in line with their duties under the National Health Service Act 2006.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2016-06-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that British manufacturers have fair access to the tendering process to promote the use of UK parts in foreign-made railway trains on the UK rail network.
Claire Perry
We are encouraging SMEs, new entrants and innovators to work with the industry to identify and take advantage of initiatives benefitting the supply chain and improving access to the market to ensure that the UK remains competitive and develops the capacity for orders at home and abroad. It should be noted that over 2,000 railway vehicles are currently on order (being manufactured or to be manufactured) in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-09-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the Basildon Clinical Commissioning Group spending less than the national average on mental health services, according to NHS Benchmarking figures.
Lord Prior of Brampton
No such assessment has been made by this Department. NHS England advises that the National Health Service benchmarking data for 2014/15 (the latest data available) shows that, compared to a demographically similar cluster of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), Basildon and Brentwood CCG spends slightly more than the cluster average on mental health services (£13,499,988 per 100,000 population against £13,080,187) and is therefore not considered an outlier. This analysis of the benchmarking data is used because within the CCG cluster the prevalence of mental health conditions, and therefore the appropriate spending, is likely to be comparable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on the transportation of nuclear warheads between RNAD Coulport and AWE Burghfield in each of the last three years.
Harriett Baldwin
All vehicles involved in the transportation of nuclear warheads are subject to a rigorous maintenance and inspection regime, carried out by highly skilled and experienced technicians. Inspections are made prior to each use, as well as six monthly safety and annual mandatory inspections.
The costs of the transportation of nuclear warheads between RNAD Coulport and AWE Burghfield are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The security of the nuclear warhead convoy was assessed by Ministry of Defence Security Advisors in September 2016 as overall ‘satisfactory’, demonstrating that ‘performance meets the required policy standard’.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has met vehicle manufacturers to discuss the availability of liquid petroleum gas vehicle models in the UK market and their potential effect on air quality.
Andrew Jones
As part of a consultation in 2014 on amendments to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) the department considered the potential benefits of biopropane in delivering GHG savings. In recognition of this, the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation was subsequently amended to increase rewards for suppliers of that fuel from April 2015.
The department, working with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, have evaluated a range of options for tackling poor air quality; this formed the basis of the Government’s draft air quality plans that recently went to public consultation. Switching to LPG can provide air quality benefits but may not be easily deployed in all vehicle types.
As part of the department’s 2014 Clean Vehicle Technology Fund (CVTF) grant scheme, Birmingham City Council were awarded £500,000 to enable the conversion of 80 older black cabs from diesel to LPG which will help improve air quality on some of the most polluted roads. There is a possibility of funding through the current CVTF grant scheme being used to support further LPG conversions in other areas.
We are considering many competing priorities across Government as part of the Spending Review, including measures to tackle air quality pollutants and reduce other harmful emissions. The outcome of the Spending Review will be announced later in the autumn.
The department regularly meets with motor manufacturers and their representative body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Discussions on how manufacturers can act to tackle poor air quality cover a range of measures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.149 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, on what basis the total amount allocated to local authorities for funding temporary accommodation has been calculated.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Spending Review and Autumn Statement announced that funding of the Temporary Accommodation management fee will be devolved to local authorities from 2017/18, giving them more freedom and flexibility in how they use this funding. Current levels of funding will be maintained and, in addition, councils will receive £10 million a year more. The Department for Communities and Local Government will set out the precise detail of how the new funding will be distributed in 2016/17. The Department will work closely with local authorities and other partners to ensure that funding will be allocated in order to most effectively help councils tackle homelessness.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) arrests and (b) convictions for laundering money there were from which countries in each year between 2010 and 2015.
Mike Penning
The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK has a robust anti-money laundering regime. The National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing was published on 15 October 2015. This identified the threats and vulnerabilities we face in these areas, and an action plan will be published shortly, setting out the steps that we will take to address them.
To lead our law enforcement response to this threat, in 2013 the Government created the Economic Crime Command (ECC) of the National Crime Agency (NCA). The ECC has established a new International Corruption Unit in the NCA to provide a single centre of excellence in this field.
The Home Office collects data on arrests at offence group level, which includes groups such as ‘fraud and forgery’ and ‘theft and handling stolen goods’. Details on arrests for specific offences are not centrally collected.
The number of people prosecuted, convicted and given a custodial sentence for money laundering offences, in England and Wales, from 2004 to 2014 (the latest data available), can be viewed on the Ministry of Justice website at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014
Under “Criminal justice statistics outcomes by offence data tool” by selecting the offence: 38 Money laundering. The Ministry of Justice is unable to identify from centrally held data the country of origin of a defendant convicted of a money laundering offence or the country where the money originated from.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-02-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which organisations, projects, ministries of the Palestinian Authority and public services have received funding from his Department in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the last three years.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided funding in 2013 to the Al Aqaba Village Council; Qalandia Local Council; the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Prime Minister’s Office; the PA Ministry of Justice through the Slynn Foundation; in 2014 to the Al-Yanoun Village Council; The Slynn Foundation (with Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law); and in 2015 to the Al Aqaba Village Council; The Palestinian Commission Against the Wall and Settlements and the Sinjel Municipality.
We also provided funding to the PA Ministry of Justice from 2012-2014 for a sustainable transformation of the Ministry to become a high performing institution for rule of law within the OPTs and a beacon for other PA Ministries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he received representations from the US military based at USAF Lakenheath before the recent use of USAF F-15s to kill an individual in Libya allegedly involved in the planning of terrorist acts; and whether he gave authorisation for such an act.
Penny Mordaunt
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 29 February 2016 to Question 903769.