The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, 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.
Nick Gibb
Information in the form requested is not held centrally and could be estimated only at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-11-27.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Economic Secretary to the Treasury plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland dated 12 November 2015.
Harriett Baldwin
I have replied to the hon. Member.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of tickets for the Thiepval Memorial event on 1 July 2016 have been allocated to applicants from (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
Tracey Crouch
Tickets to the Commemorative Event at the Thiepval Memorial were allocated in pairs to residents of the UK via a random ballot, which gave no weighting to residents of a particular area of the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with spouses or partners who are UK citizens have been detained in immigration removal centres in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
The data requested is not available centrally and is not routinely collected.
It could be provided only by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2016 to Question 19716 and 18 February 2016 to Question 26688, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) average and (b) total cost to the public purse of (i) appeals heard in the First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) which have a Home Office representative and (ii) appeals heard in the First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) which do not have a Home Office representative in each year since 2009-10.
James Brokenshire
The information requested is not held centrally by the Home Office and can only be collated at disproportionate costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on jobseeker’s allowance claimants taking up volunteer work of the requirement for them to spend 35 hours each week searching for work; and whether that assessment was conducted prior to implementation of that policy.
Priti Patel
There is no requirement for Jobseekers Allowance claimants to undertake 35 hours of job search a week. Claimants must however be actively seeking work in each week of their claim. This means they are expected to do all that they reasonably can to give them the best prospects of securing employment.
We recognise the benefits that volunteering can offer in enhancing a claimant’s prospects of finding suitable employment. Time spent volunteering may therefore be taken into account when considering whether a person has taken all appropriate steps to actively seek work each week.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34222, on the humanitarian situation in Madaya, what discussions she has had with her Russian counterpart about humanitarian access across Syria.
Mr Desmond Swayne
The UK plays a key role in opening up humanitarian access in Syria. At least 280 shipments of cross-border aid have been delivered because of the UK co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolutions 2165, 2191 and 2258.
The Department for International Development works closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as part of a whole of government response to the Syria crisis. The FCO are raising issues of humanitarian access across Syria with their Russian counterparts at every opportunity.
We continue to use our position in the UN Security Council and the International Syria Support Group to call on all sides to the conflict and their backers – including Russia – to respect International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and to ensure free, unimpeded access for humanitarian agencies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2016-05-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance has been issued to the courts to ensure that the option of a mental health Community Treatment Order is considered as part of a Community Sentence.
Lord Faulks
The National Probation Service provides sentencers with advice on requirements that could from part of a court ordered community order or a suspended sentence order. Guidance has been produced by the National Offender Management Service that is aimed at all partners, including the National Probation Service and the courts, to support increased use of Mental Health Treatment Requirements. This guidance can be found in the document Mental health Treatment Requirement – a Guide to Integrated Delivery, published on gov.uk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to increase the rate of new woodland planting.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
Forestry is a devolved matter and the answer refers to England only.
We encourage tree planting by championing sector-led initiatives, such as Grown in Britain and the Roots to Prosperity strategy. Their work to grow demand for wood from ground level up is helping develop the woodland economy. We also support the Woodland Carbon Code to help to attract private investment in woodland creation.
The window for Woodland Creation Grant applications for planting over the next two seasons, under the Rural Development Programme, closed on 31 March. We are continuing to process these applications and agreements are expected to be issued this month.
The Forestry Commission plans to re-open the £1m Forestry Innovation Fund for Woodland Creation Planning Grants for new applications this month. Funding for this has been confirmed by HM Treasury.
The Forestry Commission continues to support landowners to make applications through a series of workshops and online support.
As announced by the Chancellor in August, all Countryside Stewardship applications signed or agreed before the Autumn Statement will be fully funded, even when these continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what further steps he plans to take to allow local authorities to use capital receipts from the sale of its assets to fund local authority services; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Marcus Jones
The time limited flexibility, recently introduced by the government, allows local authorities to use capital receipts to fund the revenue costs of any project that is designed to generate ongoing revenue savings in the delivery of public services. Such projects will deliver an ongoing benefit for taxpayers.
Parliament has decided that capital receipts cannot normally be applied to finance revenue expenditure. This is consistent with the fundamental principle that long term assets should not be used to finance immediate costs. I have no plans to seek approval from Parliament to revoke this principle and allow local authorities to use capital receipts to fund ongoing service delivery.