Tag: 2014

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much local authorities have spent on external contractors employed to deliver childcare services, excluding fostering and adoption in (a) 2014 to date and (b) each of the last three years.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Through its Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme, the Government is supporting local authorities to take new approaches to maximise the capacity and skills brought to bear in improving services for the most vulnerable children. Part of that work involves giving local authorities greater freedom to test new delivery models and harness external ideas and expertise by allowing them to delegate children’s social care functions to external providers.

    In November 2013 we gave all local authorities the power to operate in this manner. So far five providers have registered with Ofsted as performing these functions on behalf of local authorities.

    Local authorities also make widespread use of contractors in the provision of children’s services such as residential care and foster care.

    The Government does not collect data on local authority spend on external contracts.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Bahrain about the death of Abdulaziz al-Abbar.

    Hugh Robertson

    We are saddened to hear about the death of Abdulaziz Al- Abbar. We encourage the authorities to carry out a timely and thorough independent investigation.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passport applications have been processed by the passport office in Belfast in each year since 2010.

    James Brokenshire

    The table below shows the number of passports processed by the Passport Office
    in Belfast.

    Year

    Number of passports processed

    2010

    364,688

    2011

    408,628

    2012

    427,422

    2013

    433,530

    2014 (until 31 May)

    294,998

  • Nadine Dorries – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Nadine Dorries – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many successful prosecutions for abuse of power of attorney were brought forward in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

    Simon Hughes

    The Government is committed to protecting elderly and vulnerable people, and to ensuring that anyone responsible for abuse is dealt with appropriately.

    The Public Guardian has power to investigate cases where concerns are raised about the actions of a person acting under a power of attorney, and to apply to the Court to revoke the power of attorney where necessary to prevent abuse. The Public Guardian will refer cases to health and care authorities, who can act under statutory safeguarding powers to protect an individual who may be at risk, and to the police if he suspects a criminal offence has been committed.

    We are currently considering whether the Public Guardian needs additional powers to strengthen his role in safeguarding elderly and vulnerable people, including the power to continue an investigation after a power of attorney or court order has been revoked or disclaimed. This would require changes to primary legislation.

    Data on prosecutions for fraud, or for ill-treatment and neglect under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, do not specify whether the allegation relates to a person acting under a power of attorney. The Government’s response to the House of Lords Select Committee’s report on the Mental Capacity Act includes a commitment to review the use of the criminal offence under s44 of the Act.

  • Lord Judd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Judd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that any extension of the mutual defence agreement with the United States is designed to assist the fulfilment of the purposes of the non-proliferation treaty and to fulfil the undertaking in that context given by the existing nuclear powers.

    Baroness Warsi

    We are committed to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons and firmly believe that the best way to achieve this is through gradual disarmament negotiated through a step-by-step approach within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The UK has a strong record on nuclear disarmament and continues to be at the forefront of international efforts to control proliferation, and to make progress towards multilateral nuclear disarmament. The UK-USA Mutual Defence Agreement is, and will continue to be, in full compliance with our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

  • Lord Noon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Noon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Noon on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of proposed cuts in counter-terrorism funding and personnel in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

    Baroness Warsi

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Counter Terrorism Programme Fund (CTPF) is the main fund for terrorism-related assistance to foreign countries used by the FCO Counter Terrorism Department. This is complemented by other budgets used for counter-terrorism related activities and the tri-departmental (FCO, Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence) Conflict Pool, as set out in the Written Ministerial Statement on 24 June 2014, Official Report, column WS107-108. We constantly monitor and review our projects, programmes and diplomatic engagement as our part of the wider Government efforts on counter-terrorism, to ensure our resources are having the maximum possible impact in the right places as the global security environment changes. It is not the case that important activities have ceased or are now under-funded.

    The FCO’s work on counter-terrorism goes well beyond CTPF – it is at the heart of our diplomacy across our overseas network, particularly in areas of instability. We have, for example, recently: opened an embassy in Mogadishu to support our work on stability and security in Somalia; brought together key players on Nigeria to secure much needed assistance to tackle the threat from Boko Haram; and continued our work to stop terrorists getting their hands on money to fund their activities through leading efforts on disrupting financial flows from sources such as ‘Kidnap for Ransom’.

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 197W, on Mapeley, whether HM Revenue and Customs reviewed these commercial provisions following the raising of financial concerns by Mapeley in November 2001.

    Mr David Gauke

    There have been no material changes to the relevant commercial provisions in the STEPS contract. A copy of the contract can be viewed on the National Archive website at http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/freedom/steps-contract.htm

    “

  • Mark Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Mark Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to help the tourism industry retain its role as a key provider of skills and training for the UK workforce.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    The Government has recently launched a new Tourism Council, whose remit is jobs, skills and enterprise. The Council is a partnership between Government and industry and will be jointly chaired by myself, Matthew Hancock MP, the Minister for Skills and Enterprise, and Simon Vincent, Chair of the Hospitality Guild and Hilton President, Europe, Middle East and East Africa. In March, the Prime Minister announced that there will be two new apprenticeship Trailblazers for Tourism and Hospitality.

  • John Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    John Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what mechanisms his Department has put in place to monitor the amount of available capacity in the UKOP, GPSS and MLP UK pipeline systems.

    Michael Fallon

    Both the UKOP and MLP pipeline systems are privately owned and operated. Currently there are no statutory provisions that require private pipeline owners and operators to make available commercial information on spare capacity.

    The GPSS is a government owned pipeline and DECC is able to obtain information regarding available capacity on request.

    Following the recent cross- government review of the role of both the UK refining and import sectors in UK, and in recognition of pipe-line access being cited as an issue by some stakeholders, the new independently chaired Midstream Oil Government and Industry Task Force will take forward further work on this issue.

  • Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-06-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of his Department’s consumption in kWh of (a) gas and (b) electricity in each month since June 2010; and what the cost of such consumption has been in each such month.

    Mr David Lidington

    I attach a table which shows the monthly consumption and the annual cost of electricity and gas for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s UK estate. To provide a breakdown of monthly utility costs from June 2010 would incur a disproportionate cost.