The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office for National Statistics includes in its estimate of newly-created private sector jobs those which have been reclassified from public to private sector as a result of privatisation or outsourcing.
Mr Nick Hurd
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many firefighters in South Yorkshire retired before the age of 60 in each of the last 10 years.
Brandon Lewis
The Department collects information on numbers of normal and early retirements only, it does not collect information on the specific age of these firefighters at retirement. To assist the hon. Member a table containing this information has been provided.
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Wholetime and Retained Duty System firefighters leavers from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority 2002/03 – 2012/13 |
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Compulsory/voluntary age retirements |
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2002-03 |
30 |
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2003-04 |
26 |
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2004-05 |
43 |
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2005-06 |
35 |
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2006-07 |
19 |
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2007-08 |
29 |
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2008-09 |
64 |
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2009-10 |
43 |
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2010-11 |
27 |
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2011-12 |
18 |
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2012-13 |
30 |
The Department collects information on retirements at Fire and Rescue Authority level only.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2014, Official Report, column 650W, on armed forces: disciplinary proceedings, what the (a) number and (b) total sum was of ex gratia or other payments made to armed forces personnel incorrectly doubly punished following a police caution; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
No such ex-gratia payments have been made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment has been made by (a) the RIMNET network and (b) other bodies of the possibility that the sand fallout across the British Isles from the Sahara desert has been contaminated by long-lived radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests conducted by France in the Algerian Sahara in the 1960s.
Michael Fallon
The Radioactive Incident Monitoring Network (RIMNET) is the UK Government’s radiation monitoring and nuclear emergency response system which is operated on a 24 hour a day, seven days a week basis by the Met Office, on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Data from RIMNET has been inspected and shows no evidence of increased levels of radioactivity across the UK.
The Environment Agency (EA) undertakes a programme of far-field monitoring, away from nuclear sites, of radioactivity in air and rainwater. This programme involves constantly sampling air through filters in High Volume Air Samplers. Filters are changed on a weekly basis and subsequently analysed. Past Saharan dust events have not caused any detectable increase in radioactivity on the filters. Results for the changed filters on 31st March and 7th April should be available in the next few days. The results will be published as consolidated data in the annual Radiation in Food and the Environment (RIFE) report which is published jointly by a number of UK and devolved agencies. Previous RIFE reports are available here:
http://www.sepa.org.uk/radioactive_substances/publications/rife_reports.aspx.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Woodcock on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent of persecution of Christians in North Korea; what steps he is taking within the international community to address that issue; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Hugo Swire
I made clear in my response to Oral questions on 8 April that the UN Commission of Inquiry’s report documents a persecution of christians which is truly shocking. The UK played a leading role in ensuring a strong Human Rights Council resolution in response to this report. My Written Ministerial Statement on 31 March 2014 sets out a summary of the concrete measures in the DPRK resolution to ensure the work of the COI continues in order that those responsible for human right violations and crimes against humanity will one day be brought to account.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by her Department since May 2010.
Karen Bradley
Since May 2010, 77 posts have transferred from the Home Department to the private sector as a result of outsourcing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit budgeting advances were made between April 2013 and April 2014.
Esther McVey
Budgeting support is available at the start of a Universal Credit claim. The requested information is not currently available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of how much solar farm capacity (a) has been installed in the UK and (b) will be installed (i) in 2015-16 and (ii) by 2020.
Gregory Barker
Energy Trends published in March 2014, show that at the end of 2013, there were 2698MW [1] of installed capacity across all scales of solar photovoltaic. From January to the end of March 2014, the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), which tracks all renewables projects over 0.01MW through the planning system (including both building mounted and ground mounted solar PV), shows an additional 264.37MW [2] of solar PV installed.
It is not possible to state precisely how much solar PV will be installed in 2015-16.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/295362/ET_March_2014.PDF .
[2]
https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-05-02.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Highways Agency will be able to recover VAT in the same way as it can as an executive agency of his Department when it is transformed into a government-owned company.
Mr David Gauke
Special provisions apply to Government Departments and health authorities that enable them to recover VAT incurred on certain of their non-business activities. These are set out in section 41(3) of the VAT Act 1994.
New bodies are not automatically covered by the above provisions, but the Treasury keeps all taxes under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides to clinical commissioning groups about engagement with Local Safeguarding Children Boards.
Dr Daniel Poulter
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are statutory members of Local Safeguarding Children Boards under section 13 of the Children Act 2004, as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The inter-agency statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children, published by the Department for Education in 2013, describes the functions of Local Safeguarding Children Boards and the responsibilities of member organisations.
NHS England published its Safeguarding Vulnerable People in the Reformed NHS: Accountability and Assurance Framework in 2013 to complement the statutory guidance and support CCGs and other National Health Service organisations in fulfilling their safeguarding responsibilities.