Tag: 2014

  • The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress was made towards improving the security and affordability of off-grid fuel supply at the third ministerial roundtable meeting on heating oil and liquid petroleum gas supply on 21 May.

    Baroness Verma

    My rt. hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy chaired the third Ministerial Roundtable meeting on heating oil and LPG supply on 21 May. My rt. hon Friend the Minister of State for Climate Change joined the roundtable discussion on off gas grid fuel poor households and support for off gas grid consumers. This continued the useful discussions government has had at the previous two Roundtables with representatives from industry, consumer groups, oil buying groups and others on how to improve heating oil and LPG supply to UK consumers.

    Issues covered at the third roundtable included the promotion of the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers’ Customer Charter, the messaging to consumers on buying oil early ahead of the winter and an update on the action government is taking more broadly to help fuel poor off-grid households. Full details of the meeting can be found in the minutes of the meeting which has been placed in the Library of the House.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jonathan Edwards – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which water companies operating in the UK use alternatives to chlorine as a disinfectant in drinking water.

    Dan Rogerson

    By law, water companies are required to supply safe drinking water at the tap. Companies are free to choose the technology they use to treat water and in doing so are required to ensure it is correctly designed, operated and maintained. Increasingly a combination of filtration and ultra violet light is used by companies in England and Wales as an alternative to chlorine.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of public expenditure on science on UK economic productivity figures.

    Mr David Willetts

    A number of academic studies find a positive link between research and development (R&D) investment and economic growth. Much of the relevant evidence was set out in a recent report for BIS "Insights from international benchmarking of the UK science and innovation system[1]" and the 2014 BIS Innovation Report[2].

    A further recent UK report estimated that public investment in science yields a social rate of return of around 20%, through its impact on private sector productivity[3]. This means that for every £1 spent by Government on R&D, private sector output rises by 20 pence per year in perpetuity. This effect could be larger where additional public spending on R&D attracts additional private R&D spending. The same report and other studies have shown that there is a "crowding-in" effect of public investment on R&D. The effect is greater in industries that conduct significant R&D or collaborate with universities.

    [1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/science-and-innovation-system-international-benchmarking

    [2]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/innovation-report-2014-innovation-research-and-growth

    [3]http://sciencecampaign.org.uk/UKScienceBase.pdf

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been given more than one life sentence on separate sentencing occasions in the last 10 years; and what the offences were for which they received those life sentences.

    Jeremy Wright

    A life sentence is mandatory for murder and discretionary life sentences are available to Judges for other very serious offences. This Government has introduced an automatic life sentence for a second very serious violent or sexual offence.

    Under a life sentence, the court determines the minimum period to be served in prison for the purposes of punishment and deterrence. Once that period has been served it is for the Parole Board to determine if and when the offender may be released from prison on life licence and subject to recall for the rest of their life.

    Table 1 shows the number of offenders who have been sentenced to life in the 12 months ending September 2013 who previously had one or more previous life sentence on a separate sentencing occasion within the last 10 years, in England and Wales. The table also shows details of their latest and previous offences for which they received a life sentence.

    The number of offenders who receive a second life sentence is small. A number of life sentence prisoners commit offences in prison which result in a second life sentence. Some life sentence prisoners can also receive a second life sentence on conviction for offences committed prior to being imprisoned (e.g. a previous murder or rape). Only one of the offenders shown in Table 1 had been released from prison on life licence when he committed a further offence which resulted in a second life sentence.

    The figures provided have been drawn from an extract of the Police National Computer (PNC) data held by the Department. The PNC holds details of all convictions and cautions given for recordable offences committed in England and Wales. In addition, as with any large scale recording system the PNC is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

  • 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 2014-06-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what date the Private Finance Initiative contract between HM Revenue and Customs and Mapeley Steps Contractor Limited was entered into.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Private Finance Initiative contract between HM Revenue and Customs and Mapeley Steps Contractor Limited was entered into on the 2nd April 2001.

  • Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison custody officers are employed at HMP Oakwood.

    Jeremy Wright

    As of 3 January, 255 fully-trained prison custody officers were employed at the prison.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of public libraries replenished their full lending stock within eight and a half years in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The detail requested is not held centrally by this Department. However the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) collect, annually, from the individual library authorities comprehensive information relating to library service provision in the United Kingdom, which includes data relating to the questions raised. Copies of CIPFA statistics are available in the House Library.

  • Baroness Thornton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Thornton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thornton on 2014-03-31.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the national averageweekly income in Burton for (1) men, and (2) women.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • 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 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the completion date is for refurbishment of existing hydrodynamics research facilities at the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston; what the cost is of the refurbishment; and what the expected lifetime is of the new facilities.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The refurbishment of the existing hydrodynamics research facilities at the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston is planned to be completed by summer 2016.

    The forecast cost of the refurbishment is £25.5 million.

    The refurbished facilities will have a range of expected lifetimes, estimated at between 10 and 15 years.

  • Baroness King of Bow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness King of Bow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-03-31.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Communities and Local Government will be paying new burdens funding to compensate local authorities for the additional costs of introducing local Council Tax Reduction Schemes in 2015–16.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    In line with the new burdens doctrine, we will be assessing the need for continued new burdens funding for Local Council Tax Support in 2014-15, alongside consideration of the allocation of Local Council Tax Support Administration subsidy.