The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is negotiating for a UK support element within the contact negotiations for the P8; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Philip Dunne
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her on 3 December 2015 to Question 17838.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the removal of housing allowance for 18 to 21 year-olds who receive universal credit in the number of (a) homeless people and (b) claimants living on temporary accommodation.
Justin Tomlinson
The Department continues to liaise with a range of key stakeholders as it develops exemptions to the removal of automatic entitlement to housing support for 18-21 year olds in Universal Credit. This includes discussing this policy with landlords, housing associations and charities.
Once this work has been completed we will bring forward detailed proposals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many local libraries closed in Lancashire in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014 and (d) 2015.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service that takes account of local needs within available resources. Government has the power to ensure public libraries comply with the law, and where individual authorities have failed to meet this duty we will – and have – intervened. While the Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not commission specific information relating to the closure of public libraries, the Department monitors closely proposed changes to library service provision throughout England. Desk research undertaken by the Department indicates that no local static libraries closed in the Lancashire Library Authority in 2012 – 2015.
This Government is helping libraries innovate, to ensure they serve the needs of local communities – particularly through the expansion of their digital offer. In the latest spending round we secured extra funding for our Libraries Task Force, set up in 2015, to promote the role of digital and share best practice between councils, and we have funded the rollout of free Wi-Fi so that it will be available in 99% of public libraries in England. E-book loans have rocketed more than four-fold from nearly 445,000 in 2011/12 to over 2.3 million in 2014/15.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Prime Minister’s announcement of 10 January 2016, Prime Minister pledges to transform sink estates, how the figure of £140 million relating to the redevelopment of 100 sink estates was calculated.
Brandon Lewis
I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer to him on 29 February, PQ 28338. The £140 million loan fund was determined as part of the Spending Review. The new fund will be used to lever in private sector funding to enable estate regeneration, and will be able to be drawn down alongside other supportive Government programmes. Under the right conditions some schemes could be self-financing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions were commenced by the Serious Fraud Office in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014 and (d) 2015.
Robert Buckland
The table below shows the number of individuals or bodies corporate against whom the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) instituted proceedings in each year but does not include persons outside the jurisdiction, for whom the court has issued a warrant of arrest under section 1 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 but in respect of whom no written charge or summons has been issued.
|
Year |
Number |
|
2012 |
12 |
|
2013 |
30 |
|
2014 |
20 |
|
2015 |
23 |
The SFO started two related sets of proceedings against Alstom Network UK. One in 2014, the other in 2015. Only the first set of proceedings is included in the table above.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-05-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the purpose of the concept of parity of esteem as applied to Northern Ireland; and why those standards of esteem are not applied in the rest of the UK.
Lord Dunlop
‘Parity of esteem’ is expressed and defined in the 1998 Belfast Agreement in relation to people living in Northern Ireland. That Agreement was reached following talks between the then UK Labour Government, several of Northern Ireland’s political parties – including the Ulster Unionist Party, Sinn Fein and others – and the then Irish Government. This Government sees parity of esteem as treating everybody in Northern Ireland fairly, with equal respect, just as it is committed to treating people fairly and with equal respect wherever they live in the United Kingdom.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what date the Financial Conduct Authority review on the disclosure of transaction cost information for workplace pension schemes is planned to be published.
Justin Tomlinson
The Government and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) remain committed to ensuring that members of pension schemes are able to obtain information about the costs and charges which they bear.
Governance bodies of defined contribution workplace pension schemes are obliged, under existing requirements, to assess transaction costs. The FCA is actively considering how to achieve greater transparency and standardisation of these costs, and plans to publish a consultation later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for customer service of changing the operation of the Security Industry Authority contact centre from telephone to email.
Brandon Lewis
The Security Industry Authority is moving towards a digital by default licensing system. We are aware that there have been issues during the transition to digital which have resulted in higher than expected volumes of customer contact.
We are working closely with the Security Industry Authority to ensure customer service issues are addressed; the Security Industry Authority have already increased the number of staff responding to customer queries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the provision of high-speed broadband infrastructure on productivity.
Mr Edward Vaizey
SQW Consulting’s UK Broadband impact study in 2013 estimates that the availability and take-up of faster broadband speeds will add about £17 billion to the UK’s annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2024.
This Government is helping increase productivity across the UK by investing in and widening access to key digital infrastructure. We are on track to deliver our commitment to provide superfast broadband coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2017.Our£40m Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme was taken up by over 55,000 small and medium sized businesses – who employ a million people right across the UK and are already reporting, on average, a £1,300 per year increase in profits and a new job being created for every four new connections. ThePrime Minister recentlyannounced plans to ensure that every home and business can have access to fast broadband by the end of this Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what criteria will need to be satisfied for sites to qualify for inclusion in a list of potential new build nuclear sites for the development of a small modular reactor.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government is currently undertaking a techno-economic assessment of SMRs which will provide a detailed analysis of the opportunities and challenges facing SMRs. The recent announcement by my Rt. Hon Friend Mr Chancellor of a competition to identify which SMR would offer the best value for development in the UK is a further demonstration of the Government’s commitment to exploring the potential of SMRs for the UK. As Government develops SMR policy further, we will address the issue of site identification for SMRs. No potential sites or siting criteria specifically for SMRs have currently been agreed.