The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.
Elizabeth Truss
Under this Government’s transparency programme, details of spend is published on gov.uk which is available at: http://data.gov.uk/data/openspending-report/index
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.
Dan Rogerson
This table sets out the information requested in respect of 2012-13, the last financial year for which audited information is available. Information relating to 2013-14 will be available in July 2014, once the Department’s accounts for the year have been audited and published. The figures relate to the Core Department.
|
Consultancy firm |
Amount paid in 2012-13 (£) |
|
Ernst and Young |
1,012,378 |
|
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer |
587,922 |
|
Local Partnerships |
152,226 |
|
KPMG |
118,351 |
|
Bureau Veritas UK Ltd. |
105,185 |
|
Baker Tilly |
101,925 |
|
ADAS UK Ltd. |
99,138 |
|
GHK Consulting Ltd. |
71,424 |
|
Resource Decisions Ltd. |
64,800 |
|
Temple Group Ltd. |
44,380 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robin Walker on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what joint trade missions have been undertaken by the UK and the Republic of Ireland since 2010; and what steps he is taking to increase collaboration with the Republic of Ireland on trade and exports.
Michael Fallon
The UK and Ireland have embarked on a wide programme of cooperation following the visit of HM the Queen to Ireland in 2011. Led by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach, this programme is designed to develop and strengthen the relationship between the UK and Ireland over the next decade across a range of policy areas.
The UK and Ireland delivered the first ever joint trade mission between the two countries to the Singapore Airshow during the week commencing 10 February 2014. The UK-Ireland mission delegation consisted of 25 companies, 16 from the UK (including 9 from Northern Ireland) and 9 from the Republic of Ireland. Delivering a joint trade mission was one of the key deliverables for the 2014 PM/Taoiseach Summit.
UK Trade & Investment is committed to maintaining its work programme with Enterprise Ireland to further develop cooperation on trade promotion in support of UK and Irish business.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce specialist-led training for police services in England and Wales on domestic violence and coercive control.
Damian Green
The College of Policing sets standards of training for police officers and
staff in this important area of policing. Subject matter experts are already
used in developing training and delivery into forces, ranging from initial
training through to specialist training for Senior Investigating Officers.
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 assessment his Department has made of the effect of contracts for difference auctioning on small and medium-sized enterprises in the (a) renewable energy sector and (b) solar power industry.
Michael Fallon
The Department launched a consultation on our approach to competitive allocation of Contracts for Difference (CfDs) in January 2014. This included proposals to move to auctioning of CfDs from the first allocation this autumn. We carefully considered the responses to the consultation from small and medium-sized enterprises in the renewable energy sector and the solar power industry before confirming our policy position in the Government Response published on 13 May 2014. We will continue to engage with SMEs as we implement our proposals for competitive allocation to understand any difficulties they might face in participating in an auction for CfDs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Stringer on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the (a) level of world deforestation and (b) growth in world biomass power generation over the last 10 years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
Dan Rogerson
Latest figures, supported by recent publications from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, are that 13 million hectares of the world’s forest were converted to other uses or lost through natural causes each year in the last decade (2000–10), including 6 million hectares of primary forests.
Defra does not hold information on the growth in world biomass power generation over the last ten years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government has made to the government of Qatar about working conditions for those constructing FIFA World Cup 2022 stadiums.
Hugh Robertson
I raised concerns about migrant workers’ conditions with the Qatari authorities during my visit to Doha on 8-9 January. Our Ambassador and other officials have raised the issue on previous occasions and will continue to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions the Government has had with representatives of Freeview about improving the number of channels on offer for people in rural areas.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Ofcom estimates that 98.5% of UK households have access to 17 channels including those from the public service broadcasters (PSBs) on the digital terrestrial TV (DTT, or Freeview) platform, and that approximately 90% of UK households are also able to receive additional commercial DTT channels. Around 1.5% of UK households cannot easily receive DTT services with less than 0.5% not able to receive DTT services at all. However, DTT, cable and satellite digital television services together cover practically 100% of UK households, so that in all but the most exceptional of cases, everyone should be able to get digital television by one means or another. As well as subscription services, digital satellite TV offers non-subscription reception options for a one-off equipment and installation cost, but with no on-going monthly payments.
We have had no discussions with Freeview or Digital UK, who manage the DTT platform, about extending services and there are no plans to require broadcasters to improve the DTT coverage levels agreed for digital television switchover in 2006.
Purely commercial DTT services are not subject to the ‘near-universal’ coverage requirements which apply to PSB DTT services, and while the operators of the commercial DTT services were given the opportunity to extend their networks at the time of digital switchover, the operators determined that it was not commercially viable for them to build-out their services to additional transmitter sites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent in each of the last four years on counsel fees related to inquests into the deaths of those in custody.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is able to identify fees paid to counsel for inquest cases funded under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (“LASPO”) Act 2012 from April 2013 onwards. For the financial year 2013-14, the total value of counsel fees paid relating to inquests into the deaths of those in custody under the LASPO Act totalled £10,574.40.
This figure represents only those cases under the LASPO Act where payment has been made during 2013-14. Very few inquests that have been funded under the LASPO Act have been billed and paid in that period, as many are ongoing. Cases typically take over a year from approval of funding to payment of the final bill.
The total figure of £10,574.40 does not include information recorded in the LAA’s new costs management system, upon which a small pilot group of providers are currently processing their claims. The volume of claims being processed through this system represents around 1% of all claims.
The Legal Aid Agency does not hold the information requested centrally for cases funded under the Access to Justice Act 1999 (i.e. cases originally submitted prior to April 2013). Under the Access to Justice Act, ad hoc payments were made aggregating fees for the instructed solicitors and counsel on the case, and it is not possible to disaggregate the costs without checking each individual file.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about the implementation of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka of 27 March 2014; what technical advice and assistance his Department will provide to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for the investigation into alleged war crimes and human rights violations in Sri Lanka; and what representations he has made to the government of Sri Lanka about the UN Human Rights Council resolution.
Mr Hugo Swire
Our officials in Geneva continue to discuss the March 2014 UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) resolution with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). We will continue to fully support and work with the UN HRC and international partners to ensure proper implementation of this resolution. The OHCHR will lead an independent investigation into alleged violations. We continue to urge the Sri Lankan government to co-operate with the UN resolution.