Blog

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the operation of the procurement process in the Highways Agency.

    Andrew Jones

    Highways England complies with the Public Procurement Regulations. Each procurement exercise is led by a professional Procurement Officer who oversees the process to ensure that best procurement practice is followed.

    Highways England is continually looking to improve its procurement processes. For example, when a contract is being renewed, a contract working group (CWG) is established to consider lessons learnt from the previous contract and to look at opportunities to improve.

    Highways England is corporately accredited by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) which is an external endorsement of its procurement processes. CIPS Corporate Certification is an independent, comprehensive and procurement-specific assessment and signifies that Highways England has all the procurement governance mechanisms in place for effective and efficient procurement.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2015 to Question 12540, whether the process for Government approval of bus regulation as part of devolution deals referred to in that Answer will require secondary legislation or his formal permission.

    Andrew Jones

    The Buses Bill will be introduced later in this Parliamentary session, so proposals are still in development. It is therefore too early to confirm the process that may be proposed through the Bill.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many accidents involving aircraft there have been in the UK in each of the last five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Statistics for aircraft accidents in the UK are kept by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The Air Accidents Investigation Branch is required to investigate events which come within the definition of accident contained in Article 1 of the EU Regulation 996/2010. AAIB also investigates "serious incidents" as defined by the Regulation.

    The table below sets out the number of investigations that the AAIB has undertaken. These includes investigations into serious incidents involving commercial air transport aircraft for the sake of completeness.

    Year

    No of AAIB Investigations Commenced

    2014

    236

    2013

    245

    2012

    264

    2011

    251

    2010

    248

    CAA statistics differ slightly as they are based on reports made under the mandatory occurrence reporting requirements.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, on what dates he has met the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the potential effects in Scotland of a carbon price support exemption scheme since April 2015.

    David Mundell

    As indicated in my answer of 20 October, I have had a number of meetings and discussions on the important issue of opencast restoration and in particular the proposal for a carbon price support exemption. These have included discussions with colleagues from HM Treasury, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Scottish Government and Local Authorities.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the total cost to the public purse was of arrangements for the most recent visits to the UK by the (a) President of the US and (b) President of China.

    James Duddridge

    The full cost of inward State Visits is borne by a number of different Government Departments.

    The cost borne by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the 2011 State Visit by the President of the US was £395,095.

    We do not yet have the costs for the 2015 State Visit by the President of China. These will be published on the gov.uk website once available.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Prime Minister, when he plans to respond to the letter he received from the charity Memorial 2007 in May 2015 on funding for the Enslaved Africans Memorial in Hyde Park.

    Mr David Cameron

    My office has no record of a letter to me from the charity Memorial 2007 in May 2015.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she is taking to ensure that discussions on the Stormont House Agreement include tax credits.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    A range of issues are under discussion in the cross-party talks. These include welfare reform, the Executive’s budget and delivering longer term economic reform. The Government is committed to its long-term economic plan, key elements of which are tackling the deficit, making the costs of welfare sustainable and getting more people into work.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the closure of Just Solutions International and termination of all contracts and bids with Saudi Arabia breaks any agreement in the Memorandum of Understanding.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    No. The Memorandum of Understanding and the bids submitted by JSi are entirely separate and there is no link between the two.

  • Dr Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Dr Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Lisa Cameron on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complainers have had agreed special measures applied in court in cases of (a)childhood abuse and (b) domestic abuse in the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service does not collect this data.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to Answer of 21 October 2015 to Question 12217, when more discussions on judicial co-operation are planned to take place.

    Dominic Raab

    Discussions are ongoing and are being taken forward by the British Embassy in Riyadh. No work has yet been undertaken by the Ministry of Justice as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding.