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Tag: 2014

  • Kevin Brennan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kevin Brennan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his Statement of 9 June 2014, Official Report, column 269, on Birmingham schools, when Ministers of his Department were first made aware of allegations of extremism in schools in Birmingham.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education received the ‘Trojan Horse’ letter in December 2013. The Secretary of State has asked the Permanent Secretary to investigate how the Department dealt with warnings both since the formation of this Government in 2010 and before.

    Since receiving a copy of the Trojan Horse letter, the Department has been working closely with agencies such as Birmingham City Council, the police and Ofsted. Based on the Department’s evidence-gathering, the Secretary of State commissioned inspections by Ofsted and appointed Peter Clarke as Education Commissioner.

  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department last visited a private, voluntary or independent sector childcare setting in an official capacity.

    Elizabeth Truss

    Records show that the most recent visits undertaken to PVI provision by Ministers in the Department for Education are as follows.

    I visited Little Rainbows Day Nursery on 20 March 2014. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, visited Norwood Kennedy Leigh Family Centre in November 2013.

    It should be noted that we do not keep records of the specific business model of every nursery or childcare setting Ministers visit. Therefore, it is possible that other visits have been undertaken, details of which are not held centrally.

  • Meg Munn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Meg Munn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Munn on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to develop pilot projects of his proposals to allow further delegation of children’s social care functions.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Responses to the consultation on further delegation of children’s social care functions are currently being considered. Local authorities will be able to apply to the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme for support to make use of any new freedoms introduced, and the impact of activities funded through the programme will be robustly evaluated.

  • Mike Freer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mike Freer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will commission a study on measures to accurately record incidences of mis-stunning in abattoirs.

    George Eustice

    The Food Standards Agency already records instances of mis-stunning in slaughterhouses, so a study in this area is unnecessary. Details were given by the Minister for Public Health on 24 March 2014 : Column 132W – 134W.

    http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140324/text/140324w0005.htm#14032581000879

    “

  • Roger Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Roger Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Williams on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for what reason householders converting to higher efficiency natural gas condensing boilers are eligible for help under the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, but householders in rural areas converting to higher efficiency oil or liquid petroleum gas condensing boilers are not eligible.

    Gregory Barker

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth on 9th June 2014, Official Report, Column 21W.

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 42 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 which corresponds to an offence contrary to any provision specified in the table in paragraph 3 of the Schedule of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Prescribed Criteria and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2009 in each of the last four years.

    Anna Soubry

    The information will take time to collate, I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2014, Official Report, column 212W, on USA, whether either government places restrictions on the use of data shared between the UK and the US.

    Hugh Robertson

    Britain has a strong and longstanding intelligence relationship with the US. In both countries, intelligence work takes place within a strong legal framework. Our intelligence-sharing work with the US is subject to Ministerial and independent oversight and scrutiny by the Intelligence and Security Committee. As referred to in my answer to the honourable member on 11 June 2014, Official Report, column 212W, the Interception Commissioner in his latest annual report addresses the issue of intelligence sharing between the UK and its partners, including recording that the Regulation of Ivestigatory Powers Act 2000 strictly limits the lawful dissemination of intercept material to the minimum that is necessary for the authorised purposes.

  • 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 2014-03-26.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, columns 622-3W, on the Electoral Register: fraud, what comparative assessment he has made of the level of concern about electoral fraud in the UK and other EU countries.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that it regularly monitors comparative international research on electoral matters. Comparing the UK with other countries around the world, Gallup polls place the UK in the top third of countries in terms of confidence in the honesty of the electoral process.

    The most recently available Gallup data from 2007-08, showed that 40% of UK respondents said they did not have confidence in the honesty of elections in the UK. This was slightly lower than the findings from Germany (44%) and Italy (43%), but significantly higher than those from Denmark (5%), Finland (8%) and Sweden (8%).

    Full findings are at the following link:

    http://www.gallup.com/poll/111691/Worldwide-Views-Diverge-About-Honesty-Elections.aspx

    “

  • Liam Fox – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Liam Fox – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of recent territorial gains of the Islamist insurgent group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant; and if he will make a statement.

    Hugh Robertson

    The situation in Syria and Iraq is very serious and the territorial gains made by ISIL are deeply concerning. ISIL are a brutal terrorist group who want to impose rule on people using their extremist ideology, violence and extortion. Our objective is to see a prosperous and stable Iraq as part of a stable region. The recent developments clearly threaten this. In the immediate term we are very concerned about the large numbers of Iraqis being displaced from Mosul and surrounding areas. As well as a strong security response by the Iraqi forces, there needs to be a strong political solution.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have been given a prognosis that engagement in work is unlikely in the longer term have been placed in the work-related activity group for employment and support allowance since October 2008.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested is shown in the table below:

    Outcomes of functional assessments by prognosis of 2 years or more for the ESA work-related activity group, Great Britain: October 2008 – September 2013

    WRAG: Claimants with a prognosis of 2 years or more

    New Claims – Initial assessment

    11,800

    New Claims – Repeat assessment

    19,700

    Incapacity Benefit Reassessments

    73,100

    Source: Data in the tables above is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by Atos Healthcare.

    Notes:

    1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

    2. The outcome recorded is the final DWP Decision Maker’s decision or the recommendation made by the Atos Healthcare Professional where the Decision Maker’s decision is not yet available.

    3. The data presented above comes from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. It related to new and repeat ESA claims and Incapacity Benefit (IB) claims reassessments. In October 2008, ESA replaced IB for new claims. Starting with a trial in October 2010, and reaching a full scale national roll-out in April 2011, existing IB claims began to be phased out, with claimants reassessed to see if they qualify for ESA instead.

    The reassessment of existing incapacity benefits claimants started in October 2010 with a trial in the Burnley and Aberdeen areas. These are included in the table.