The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings Ministers and officials of his Department have had with representatives of Uber since July 2015.
Andrew Jones
Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and are available via the gov.uk website.
Since July 2015, representatives of Uber have had one meeting with Department for Transport officials.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what 10 Downing Street’s wellness strategy is.
Matthew Hancock
The Cabinet Office takes the well-being of its employees seriously and provides a range of support, including the recent launch of the Cabinet Office Listening Service, resourced by staff who have been trained in active listening and emotional support. The service can provide upfront support to Cabinet Office staff dealing directly or indirectly with specific issues in their personal or working life or to help them to cope with mental health issues of any kind including depression, anxiety or stress. Listeners can also signpost individuals onto other relevant services such as the external Employee Assistant Programme which offers counselling, impartial advice and access to online health and wellness related resources.
The department has established an employee led WorkWell community to further develop and implement a strategy for wellness. Progress to date includes establishing resilience training for senior leaders and their teams, signing up to the Time to Change pledge on mental health, providing access to coaching and training in skills to improve wellbeing such as mindfulness. WorkWell are also seeking to increase awareness of opportunities to improve physical wellbeing at work including provision of on-site health checks.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.
James Wharton
None.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what forecast his Department has made of the cost of legal fees for the High Speed 2 project over the next five years; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Department has appointed a joint team of solicitors/parliamentary agents from Winckworth Sherwood and Eversheds LLP to provide support in relation to the HS2 Phase One hybrid Bill. The value of the contract as agreed with Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group is £10.5m. The contract duration is from March 2012 until six months after Royal Assent.
The Department has also appointed a joint team of solicitors/parliamentary agents from Winckworth Sherwood and Eversheds LLP to support the preparation of the HS2 Phase 2a hybrid bill, which is expected to be deposited in 2017. The value of the contract as agreed with Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group is £4.2m over three years, with the opportunity to extend the contract for an additional one or two years, subject to approval.
The Department also continues to instruct a number of barristers to support the HS2 project. However, the use of barristers is demand led and so the total cost of fees over the next five years is not possible to forecast.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2016-05-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether UK cluster bombs have been sold to the government of Saudi Arabia; and if so, when.
Earl Howe
The Governments of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed an agreement in August 1986 that covered the supply of BL-775 cluster munitions to the Royal Saudi Air Force. The last of these were supplied in early 1989. We are not aware of the sale of any other UK cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martin Docherty-Hughes on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Venezuelan counterpart on the humanitarian situation in Venezuela.
Sir Alan Duncan
This Government shares international concerns about the situation in Venezuela. Inflation and shortages of food and medicine are having a significant impact on ordinary Venezuelans, with many traveling temporarily across the border with Colombia to purchase basic goods.
Earlier this year 60 Venezuelan non-governmental organisations called on the Venezuelan Government to accept humanitarian aid, highlighting the reported scarcity of 80% of medicines and medical supplies.
We continue to encourage constructive dialogue between the Venezuelan Government and opposition political parties. We have raised our concerns over the deteriorating situation in the country directly with Venezuelan Ministers, urging respect for human rights and democratic values. We continue to encourage the Government to change its stance on humanitarian aid.
Our Embassy in Caracas promotes human rights, democracy and good governance. In April, Venezuela was designated a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights priority country for 2016/17. This allows us to expand our work, collaborating with both Venezuelan and international partners, including using British Overseas Development funding, to help resolve issues around food and medicine shortages.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many responses his Department has received to the consultation on local government retention of business rates.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Government’s recent consultation on Business Rates Retention received 454 responses from a range of local authorities, those with business interests and other organisations. The Government will publish its response to the outcome of this consultation in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent conversations he has had with his Nigerian counterpart on steps to eliminate Boko Haram.
James Duddridge
We regularly discuss Boko Haram with the Nigerian authorities at the highest levels. The Prime Minister discussed the issue with President Buhari in September and my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps), Minister of State at the Department for International Development, raised it with senior Nigerian officials, including the Nigerian National Security Adviser, during his visit to Abuja in October. We will continue to raise this issue with Ministers in the Nigerian Government, including with the Foreign Minister, once they have been appointed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2015-11-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the steps taken by the government of Germany in respect of acts committed by their colonial troops against the Herero and Nama people in South-West Africa in 1904–1908; whether they intend to take similar steps; and whether they will support requests for compensation.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The British Government has not made any assessment of the steps taken by the Government of Germany in respect of this matter. The issue of compensation is a bilateral matter between the governments of Germany and Namibia.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of when new IVF treatments that enable donor fertilisation to occur outside the woman’s body will be available through the NHS.
Jane Ellison
In all in-vitro fertilisation procedures fertilisation takes place outside of the body.