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Tag: 2014

  • Mike Crockart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Mike Crockart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Crockart on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what inflation adjustment measures are applied to the pensions paid to armed forces pensioners resident outside the UK.

    Anna Soubry

    Armed Forces pensions are currently uprated annually in April using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figure from the previous September. These are occupational pensions and are therefore paid, including any CPI increase, to scheme members wherever they reside in the world.

    The UK Government is confident that the people of Scotland will continue to support remaining within the UK. There have, therefore, been no discussions with the Scottish Government about this matter.

  • Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s response to the letter of 2 May 2014 from Mr Kishore Rao, the Director of the UNESCO Culture Sector, World Heritage Centre.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    DCMS has not issued a formal response to the letter of 2 May 2014. The letter has been passed to the planning authorities as part of that process.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-04-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to protect the property rights and security of Palestinians if peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are extended.

    Baroness Warsi

    I refer the noble Baroness, Lady Tonge to the answer I gave her on 21 November 2013 (Official Report, column WA233).

  • James Gray – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    James Gray – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Gray on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to change the funding support for Combined Cadet Forces.

    Anna Soubry

    We have set a target of expanding the number of Combined Cadet Forces (CCFs) in state schools.

    We are moving towards a model for all CCFs which will involve schools making a small contribution towards the running costs of their units, irrespective of which sector the school is in. We are working with schools to establish the best way forward and our current plan is that funding changes will happen in a phased manner over a four-year period from September 2015.

    The Secretary of State for Defence has not had discussions with the Combined Cadet Force Association (CCFA), although officials are in regular contact. The CCFA is represented on relevant Government cadet committees, and has been briefed on the planned changes.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2014-04-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to reintroduce the artificer rate into the Royal Navy.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    No, the Royal Navy has disestablished the Artificer system in favour of a more coherent engineering technician structure which sets a headmark of achieving accreditation through the appropriate professional institutions and apprenticeships.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the value of the land for which academy trusts currently have leasehold interest.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    When community schools convert to academies, the freehold is retained by the local authority and a lease is granted to the academy trust. In some circumstances, where the school governors or supporting foundation already hold the freehold, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, may allow publicly-funded school land to be transferred to an academy trust, which will have satisfied the Secretary of State as to its ability to operate a state-funded school.

    There are strict rules protecting publicly funded land used by academies, regardless of who holds the freehold. This is set out in published guidance, which is available online:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/protection-of-school-playing-fields-and-public-land-advice

    A copy of the guidance has been placed in the House Library.

    The Department does not hold information about the average value of land used for academies on a freehold or leasehold basis. Information about the number of academies that occupy land on a leasehold and freehold basis is not held centrally.

    “

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, column 193W, on electoral register, for what reasons the Electoral Commission does not collect data on the number of attainers registered as part of its monitoring of electoral registration officers.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that it reviews the data on registered attainers collected by the Office for National Statistics and, separately, carries out assessments of the accuracy and completeness of the registers periodically.

    The Commission also informs me that its current performance standards framework is designed to support Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in preparing for and delivering the transition to Individual Electoral Registration. The standards seek to ensure that EROs have appropriate plans in place to address the particular challenges in their registration area in order to maximise registration, and that they monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their activities.

    The Commission will continue to keep its performance standards framework under review and will consider whether specific information on the number of attainers registered should be included as part of the data it requests from EROs in the future.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to enforce the waste hierarchy in managing food waste and to prioritise prevention and redistribution for human consumption ahead of anaerobic digestion and composting

    Dan Rogerson

    In accordance with the waste hierarchy, voluntary agreements with business and the Waste and Resources Action Programme’s (WRAP’s) Love Food Hate Waste Campaign encourage action by households, food manufacturers, retailers and the hospitality and food service sectors to prevent food waste.

    If surplus food cannot be prevented, the next best option is to ensure it is redistributed for human consumption, and I have met with a number of companies and organisations which are looking at innovative ways to redistribute food.

    The Courtauld Commitment 3 supply chain target includes action on both prevention and redistribution. This dual target approach encourages redistribution as the most desirable route for any surplus food suitable for human consumption. Defra convened a Ministerial round table in July 2012 and requested WRAP to lead an industry working group to follow up on recommendations. As a key output of the group, WRAP has recently published research, guiding principles and good practice case studies to help industry take action. Further information is available at http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/foodredistribution.

    There will always be some unavoidable food waste. The Government’s Anaerobic Digestion Strategy is in place to reduce the amount of organic material going to landfill and drive the waste that is produced into energy recovery or recycling.

    “

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times the date set for the implementation of the personal independence payment programme has changed since that policy was introduced.

    Mike Penning

    Personal Independence Payment was introduced, as planned, to a limited geographical area from 8 April 2013 for new claimants. As further planned, it was extended nationally from 10 June 2013 for new claimants.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much in real-terms was spent on cancer services in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The information is shown in the following table:

    Estimated expenditure on cancer services and radiotherapy, 2008-09 to 2012-13, £ millions in 2012-13 prices

    Year

    Cancers and tumours

    Radiotherapy

    2008-09

    5,281

    401

    2009-10

    5,908

    435

    2010-11

    5,685

    467

    2011-12

    5,565

    473

    2012-13

    5,681

    485

    Sources:

    Programme budgeting data, NHS England

    Reference costs, Department of Health

    It is not appropriate for a given service to present reference costs as a proportion of programme budgeting expenditure. This is because radiotherapy data are calculated from reference costs, which are the unit costs to National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients. Reference costs do not represent all expenditure in the NHS, and are costs to NHS providers whereas programme budgeting data are expenditure by NHS commissioners.