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  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what steps he is taking to increase social mobility in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England; and what measures his Department uses to assess the effectiveness of the Government’s social mobility strategy.

    Mr Nick Clegg

    The Government is committed to improving social mobility, as set out in our social mobility strategy, ‘Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers’, published in 2011. The strategy sets out a plan for improving social mobility across the whole country, incorporating polices such as early education for two year olds from lower income families, the Pupil Premium and the Youth Contract.

    To assess the progress of this strategy, the Government has committed to reporting regularly on a set of key indicators to track closely whether we are moving in the right direction on social mobility; I chair a group of key Ministers to oversee delivery of the strategy, and the Government has created a new Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.

    These indicators were last updated in November last year, and will be updated again shortly.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    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.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding his Department allocated to the Conflict Pool for South Asia in each of the last three years.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The Conflict Pool is funded from a Treasury settlement which is separate from and additional to departmental budgets and is administered jointly by the Ministry of Defence, the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for conflict prevention and mitigation work. Details of Conflict Pool allocations are provided to Parliament annually in a Written Ministerial Statement. Statements for financial years (FY) 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 are attached.

    A Statement giving details of Conflict Pool allocations for FY 2014-15 will be released to the House shortly.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the results were of the recent interoperability training between RAF 41 (reserve) Test and Evaluation Squadron training with Swedish Air Force and their JAS39C Gripen aircraft.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The visiting Swedish aircraft were from the Swedish Air Combat Training School. This visit enabled both parties to conduct tactical development of our respective operational test and evaluation processes. It also provided a valuable opportunity to exchange experiences in this area.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the technical fault was with Typhoon aircraft T3 ZJ815 which forced it to land in Lajes Field; whether this fault has been rectified; and whether this aircraft has since returned to the UK.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Typhoon ZJ815 was on a pre-planned stop at Lajes Field on its return journey to the UK from exercise in the USA. A fault with the Inertial Measuring Unit on Typhoon ZJ815 was identified during routine pre departure checks at Lajes Field. The fault was repaired in situ and the aircraft returned to the UK.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of the visit of four RAF Typhoons to Edwards Airforce Base for interoperability trials with the Joint Strike Fighter; and what goals were (a) planned and (b) set in such training.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    No Typhoon aircraft have been deployed to Edwards Air Force Base.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 364W, on Reserve Forces, what the current national recruitment rate to the Army Reserve is.

    Anna Soubry

    I refer the hon. member to the UK Armed Forces Quarterly Personnel Report which is published by Defence Statistics. This shows Reserve trained and untrained strength figures, as well as movements into the Future Reserves 2020 populations. It is available on the www.gov.uk website at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-armed-forces-quarterly-personnel-report-2014

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) each English region have joined the (i) Army Reserves, (ii) Royal Naval Reserves and (iii) Royal Air Force Reserves in each year since 2010.

    Anna Soubry

    This information is not held in the format requested. Statistical data on recruitment to the Reserve Forces can be found in the Defence Statistics Quarterly Personnel Report at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-armed-forces-quarterly-personnel-report-2014

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 18 of Investing in Britain’s Future, Cm 8669, produced in June 2013, how he intends to spend the £250 million allocated to broadband in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    With local match funding, the £250m allocated to broadband in 2015-16 and 2016-17 will enable superfast broadband coverage to be extended to 95% of premises by 2017. The Department announced indicative funding allocations for local broadband project areas in February 2014. The first procurements for projects using this funding are now under way.

  • David Nuttall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Nuttall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many inspections each local authority has carried out to ensure compliance with the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 in each of the last three years.

    Michael Fallon

    The data in the detail requested is not held centrally. The total number of inspections carried out by local authority trading standards across all products, which would include those for furniture and furnishings, was 9,674 in 2011.