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  • Jack Dromey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jack Dromey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the European Regulation on a European Single Market for Electronic Communications on blocking access to child sexual abuse material online.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    My Department supports the blocking of access to child sexual abuse material by industry and we are actively seeking to ensure that all European regulation, including the electronic communications framework – which is currently under review – does not impede this. The Government’s primary concern during negotiations on the Connected Continent (or Telecoms Single Market) Regulations was that the Internet Watch Foundation’s (IWF) ability to block access to illegal images of child abuse was protected, and we are confident we have ensured this. Going forward, we will continue with our aim to ensure any future European regulation allows the blocking of such content.

  • Teresa Pearce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Teresa Pearce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when the ministerial working group on preventing and tackling homelessness will next meet; and what the membership of that group is.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness will meet in the New Year. The group consists of Ministers from ten Departments – Ministry of Justice, Department for Education, Department of Health, Department for Work and Pensions, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Defence, Home Office, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Government Equalities Office, and Department for Communities and Local Government.

  • David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will amend the Local Government Pension Scheme to permit boycott, divestment and sanctions policies; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    We will issue guidance to local government pension scheme administering authorities in the spring on how their policies on environmental, social and corporate governance matters should reflect foreign policy and related issues. This will make clear that their predominant concern should be the pursuit of their financial return on investments and that they should not pursue boycott, divestment and sanctions policies unless they are consistent with UK foreign policy.

  • Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Tim Farron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, from what date his Department has been advertising the Right to Buy scheme for housing association tenants; and how much has been spent on (a) television, (b) radio, (c) print and (d) social media advertisements for the scheme.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department has not undertaken any advertisement for the extension of the Right to Buy to housing association tenants not currently eligible and as such has incurred no costs. The Department recently set up a ‘register of interest’ so we could keep these tenants up to date with any developments. This is run on our existing Right to Buy website at no additional cost and we also signpost the register through other owned channels.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of using the facewatch application to reduce the number of fire engine call outs to false alarms.

    Greg Clark

    We have made no assessment of the effectiveness of using Facewatch to reduce call outs to false alarms. Decisions on operational matters, including how to reduce and respond to false alarms, are best taken at the local level by fire and rescue authorities and their principal officers in the light of individual circumstances.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, how many graves in each church yard in each diocese in England were vandalised in 2014.

    Mrs Caroline Spelman

    The information requested is not retained at the national level and would incur a disproportionate cost to produce.

    Wilful damage and theft of monumental stonework causes much emotional and financial distress. The Church is continuing to work with local Dioceses, police, insurers and local communities to improve security and awareness.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, in which (a) local and (b) national newspapers the Church of England plans to place advertisements with the text of the Lord’s Prayer.

    Mrs Caroline Spelman

    The Church of England has no plans advertisements of the Lords Prayer in local or national newspapers. Many national and local newspapers have already covered the story. As of 27th November 2015 online articles had received over 5.15 million views.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what investment the Church of England has in cinemas and buildings housing cinemas.

    Mrs Caroline Spelman

    The Church Commissioners’ UK investments include just over £300,000 of directly held cinema group shares. In addition the Commissioners have indirect investment exposure to cinemas via property holdings in the Metrocentre, Bluewater and Cheshire Oaks retail shopping centres, all of which contain cinemas. Finally, the Commissioners have identified a very small indirect exposure to a cinema in our UK private equity portfolio.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the £600 million additional funding for mental health announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 will be allocated to (a) talking therapies, (b) perinatal mental health support and (c) crisis support.

    Alistair Burt

    The additional £600 million for mental health over the next five years announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement is additional to current spending. The levels of funding in individual years and the specific mental health service improvements it will fund will be determined in the new year, once the Mental Health Taskforce has reported.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the £600 million additional funding for mental health announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 will be allocated in (a) the 2015-16 financial year and (b) each financial year.

    Alistair Burt

    The additional £600 million for mental health over the next five years announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement is additional to current spending. The levels of funding in individual years and the specific mental health service improvements it will fund will be determined in the new year, once the Mental Health Taskforce has reported.