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Tag: 2014

  • Graham Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Graham Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation she undertook with (a) non-governmental organisations, (b) civil society, (c) church organisations, (d) front-line professionals, (e) social workers and (f) local authority and Health Service staff on the creation of a modern slavery helpline prior to her announcement that such a helpline was being set up.

    Karen Bradley

    We are working closely with the NSPCC to pilot a Modern Slavery Helpline as part of a wider communications and marketing campaign, to raise awareness of modern slavery. The helpline will be established by the end of July 2014. We are working with a number of non-governmental organisations and law enforcement agencies to ensure that all callers to the helpline can access any additional help, advice and support they need.

    Training will be provided to all call handlers working on the helpline, which will be delivered by the NSPCC Child Trafficking Advice Centre and the
    Metropolitan Police Service, building on their specific expertise and knowledge in this area. The training will include the nature of modern slavery, the information to be obtained from individuals who call the helpline as well as organisations that can provide further support and guidance. There are no specific costs to the Home Office associated with providing this training.

    Each call to the helpline will be considered on a case-by-case basis and, where an individual requires further information or advice, the helpline call handlers will provide the details of other organisations for the caller to contact, as appropriate. This is regardless of whether the caller is from an EU or non-EU country.

    Stakeholders, including NGOs, have been engaged in the communications and marketing campaign which underpins the helpline.
    The NSPCC is ideally placed to deliver what we need given their existing infrastructure and expertise in safeguarding issues. The NSPCC runs a number of helplines, including Childline, FGM helpline and the Child Trafficking Advice Centre (CTAC) line. We have engaged NSPCC by means of a formal Grant Agreement, not a Contract, which will be managed using standard Home Office grant terms and conditions in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money.

  • Mike Wood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mike Wood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Wood on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many serving military personnel have been arrested and charged with indictable offences by civilian police forces in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested is not collected centrally by the Home Office. Aggregated data on arrests supplied to the Home Office do not include information about whether persons arrested were serving military personnel.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much No. 10 Downing Street paid to (a) G4S, (b) Serco, (c) Sodexo, (d) GEOAmey, (e) Capita, (f) Atos, (g) Mitie, (h) Working Links, (i) A4E, (j) MTC Amey, (k) GEO Group and (l) Carillion in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13 and (iv) 2013-14.

    Mr Francis Maude

    The Prime Minister’s Office and the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office are an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

    As part of my department’s transparency programme, any spend over £25,000 is available on the Department’s website. Since January 2011, all contracts over £10,000 in value are published on Contracts Finder (http://www.contractsfinder.co.uk/).

    “

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Regional Air Connectivity Fund has been used to support air links to and from Northern Ireland since that fund was created.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Regional Air Connectivity Fund has not currently been used to support air links to and from Northern Ireland.

    The fund can be used maintain existing domestic air connectivity to London where there is a risk that an existing link may be lost, and to provide financial support to develop new routes from airports of less than five million passengers per year.

    Northern Ireland is well-connected by air to London with over 18,000 flights per year between the two Belfast airports and the five main London airports, carrying over two million passengers. The first use of this fund was announced earlier this summer to protect the air route between Dundee and London through a Public Service Obligation.

    With regards to providing Start-up aid for new routes, the Department for Transport is working with the Treasury to develop guidance that will clarify how the Government will expect to interpret the European Union State aid guidelines on start-up aid for new air routes. The Department for Transport expects to publish this guidance in the autumn.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions took place between (a) Ministers in his Department, (b) officials, (c) the Financial Adviser to HM Government and (d) the banking syndicate working on the privatisation of Royal Mail with priority investors on the length of time shares in the privatised business would continue to be held.

    Matthew Hancock

    We did not seek assurances from priority investors on the length of time that they would hold the Royal Mail shares that they bought.

    Our intention was to ensure that RM started out with a core of long-term, stable investors who understood the business, along with some hedge fund participation to ensure liquidity in the aftermarket. We achieved that.

    We did not expect the shareholder register to remain static. Some investors have sold their shares, presumably because the share price reached their target price. Others have bought shares. There is still a wide range of views on the value of this company.

  • 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 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when Military Aviation Authority Regulatory Article 1210 replaced Ministry of Defence Business Procedure 1201 with regards to air safety.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Military Aviation Authority (MAA) Regulatory Instruction 02/11, issued on 28 January 2011, mandated a Risk Management framework to support Aviation Duty Holder decision making and replace existing procedures. This was superseded by Regulatory Article 1210 on 1 August 2011.

  • Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the localisation of council tax support on the operation and activities of parish and town councils.

    Brandon Lewis

    I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 5 February 2014, Official Report, Column 19-21WS, which sets out clearly the Government’s intention that the element of localised council tax support funding provided to local authorities which reflects reductions in town and parish tax bases should be passed down to those councils.

    I additionally wrote to Leaders of billing authorities on this issue on 6 January and 21 February 2014.

    The design and management of council tax support schemes is a local matter, and it is for local councils to work together to ensure that any relevant impacts are understood and taken into account.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions ministerial authorisation has been granted for expenditure which exceeded his Department’s internal efficiency control thresholds for (a) advertising, marketing and communications, (b) consultancy and (c) external recruitment; and what the (i) purpose and (ii) value of any such agreed expenditure has been in the last 12 months.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The Department for Education has its own internal efficiency controls thresholds and complies with the Cabinet Office controls.

    1. Advertising, Marketing and Communications expenditure above the Departmental threshold of £100,000 is submitted to Efficiency and Reform Group at Cabinet Office for final clearance.

    2. Consultancy expenditure above £20,000 (and is a new contract expected to exceed 9 months, an existing contract to be extended beyond 9 months or is expenditure for procurement related consultancy) is submitted to Cabinet Office for final clearance.

    3. Cabinet Office is not directly involved in recruitment approvals.

    The approved expenditure requests which have exceeded Departmental thresholds are published on a quarterly basis on the Department’s website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/approved-exemptions-to-the-efficiency-controls

    “

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, columns 367-8W, on armed conflicts: minerals, which UK companies he has met to discuss the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.

    Mark Simmonds

    I have met the following companies to discuss the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights – Anglo American, BG Group, BP, Dana Petroleum, Dominion Energy, Ophir Energy, Perenco, Premier Oil, Rio Tinto, Shell, Soma Oil and Gas, Stellar Diamonds and Tullow Oil.

  • Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to begin negotiations with Novartis on the procurement of the vaccine for meningitis B as part of the primary infant immunisation schedule.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government is taking the necessary steps to ensure this procurement is properly conducted.

    We are committed to introducing this vaccine in line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s recommendation, subject to the vaccine being available at a cost-effective price.