The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-06-18.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy that public sector organisations should not be allowed to be associated with tax avoidance schemes.
Mr David Gauke
‘Managing Public Money’, is published by HM Treasury and provides advice and guidance to central government on the use of public funds. It confirms that public sector organisations should not engage in tax evasion, or tax avoidance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on which actors are currently involved in, or have helped to facilitate, recent violence in Kessab.
Hugh Robertson
We understand that a wide range of groups have been involved in the fighting, including Ansar al-Sham, and Sham al-Islam, as well as the al Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lyn Brown on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.20 of the Fire Statistics Great Britain 2012-13, what the reasons are for the difference in the number of primary fires in England attended by the Fire and Rescue Service reported in each table and table 1a of the appendices to the Fire Incidents Response Times, England 2012-13.
Brandon Lewis
I refer the hon. Member to my answer of today, Official Report, PQs 200566, 200567 & 200568.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of out-of-school street children in Tanzania.
Lynne Featherstone
DFID is the largest financier of the Global Partnership for Education and in Tanzania has supported the award of a £57m grant to implement the “Literacy and Numeracy Education Support (LANES)” programme. LANES targets the acquisition of reading, writing and numeracy skills among children in and out of school, targeting especially the marginalised.
DFID’s programme in Tanzania provides major support to basic education. In 2013/14 £24m of education sector budget support was provided directly to the Tanzanian government. In addition a £49m programme of support commenced, to improve the overall quality of primary education in seven disadvantaged regions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it remains his policy to meet the NATO target of spending 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence; and what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with their NATO counterparts on this issue.
Dr Andrew Murrison
The UK is one of just four NATO nations to spend 2 per cent or more of gross domestic product on Defence. On current plans, defence spending will continue to meet the 2 per cent target for the current Spending Review period. Decisions on public spending after 2015-16 will be made in the next Spending Review.
The question of Defence spending by European NATO partners is regularly discussed at NATO Defence Ministerial meetings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John McDonnell on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when supervision of prisoners on release serving less than 12 months will begin in England and Wales.
Jeremy Wright
The extension of statutory licence conditions and rehabilitation supervision to offenders sentenced to less than 12 months imprisonment is subject to the commencement of the relevant provisions in the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014. This change to the sentencing framework is a core element of the Ministry of Justice’s Transforming Rehabilitation Programme. Ministry of Justice officials are currently managing the transitional and implementation arrangements for the Programme, including the timing for commencement of this part of the Act.
We are on course to award and mobilise the new contracts for delivering rehabilitation services by 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many chemistry teachers undertook a chemistry subject knowledge enhancement course in each of the last five years.
Mr David Laws
There are two types of subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses: pre initial teacher training (ITT) SKE, to support recruitment of trainee teachers in shortage subjects; and post ITT SKE, to support workforce challenges in schools.
We have surpassed our target for trainees entering chemistry teacher training in each of the last three years, recruiting 121% of the target in 2011/12, 108% in 2012/13, and 127% in 2013/14.
In addition, the latest annual School Workforce Census (2013)[1] shows that 80.4% of chemistry teachers who teach pupils from years 7 to 13 have a relevant post-A Level qualification, up from 72.7% in the 2010 census[2].
Data for the number of chemistry SKE courses for 2009-2013 is below. Post ITT SKE courses were available only from the academic year 2011/12. SKE course data for 2013/14 is not yet available.
|
Academic year |
Number of pre ITT chemistry SKE courses undertaken |
Number of post ITT chemistry SKE courses undertaken |
|
2009/10 |
577 |
N/A |
|
2010/11 |
522 |
N/A |
|
2011/12 |
574 |
87 |
|
2012/13 |
399 |
91 |
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2013
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2010-provisional
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value of outstanding property development proposals on Network Rail land is.
Stephen Hammond
Network Rail is currently a private sector company limited by guarantee and the development of its property portfolio is a matter for the company, within the regulatory and incentives framework established for it by the independent Office of Rail Regulation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 30 October 2012, Official Report, column 146W, on food: charitable donations, and 7 March 2013, Official Report, column 1105, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) the Food Standards Agency has made of the compatibility of legislation to remove criminal and civil liability from good faith food donors with EU food safety laws.
Jane Ellison
We are advised by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that consideration was given to whether an exemption from European Union food safety law was available in respect of donations of food for charitable purposes in 2012. The FSA’s view at that time was that no exemption is available and as the FSA’s advice has not changed it does not consider that any further assessment of the issue is necessary.
The FSA published guidance on its web site in July 2013 on which charitable and community food provision does not require registration. This can be found at:
http://multimedia.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/hall-provision.pdf
Food supply not requiring registration is exempt from the requirements of food hygiene legislation although all such provision is still required to provide food that is safe.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 103W, on separated people: finance, whether the proposed external independent evaluation of the Help and Support for Separated Families Innovation Fund projects will include as a consistent measure across the different projects the increase in the number of children benefiting from regular child maintenance payments to meet their day-to-day living costs as a result of the interventions being tested.
Steve Webb
External independent evaluation of the Innovation Fund projects will measure improvement in the relationship between parents, and therefore, their likely ability to reach agreement on a range of issues affecting their children, including agreeing financial arrangements. As the primary aim of these projects is helping parents to resolve conflict and work together, we will not specifically be measuring the number of children benefiting from regular child maintenance payments