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Tag: 2014

  • Mr Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mr Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Gordon Marsden on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects to appoint the working group to assess the impact of the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 in the shipping industry; what the terms of reference will be for that group; and what the expected timeframe will be within which it will report its findings to Ministers.

    Stephen Hammond

    Discussions have already been held with government, association and union representatives and we have a broad understanding. A meeting of interested parties will be convened within the next two months and will focus that understanding into formulating the terms of reference and to agreeing the membership of the group. The review will be fully compliant with Section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 (working on ships and hovercrafts) 2011.

    Another action of that meeting will be to set the timeframe in which the Group will report back. Members of the Group will be asked to give consideration to their own timescales that will be necessary to deliver their contributions to the Group. Therefore while Section 6 sets an absolute deadline of 17th July 2016 it would be expected for the working group to publish it report before then.

  • Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 12 March (WA 375), in relation to the United Kingdom general aviation sector, what action has been taken to ensure cross-party cooperation and support for the Civil Aviation Authority in encouraging the growth of a vibrant United Kingdom general aviation sector.

    Baroness Kramer

    The Government and Civil Aviation Authority are taking forward a programme of work aimed at encouraging the growth of a vibrant general aviation sector. This has involved consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. My Noble Friend, Lord Rotherwick, secured a Question for Short Debate on the regulation of general aviation on 21 January 2014 [Official Report, column GC319], at which there was wide support for our programme of work.

  • Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what powers the Child Support Agency has to investigate the weekly expenses of parents who are paying child maintenance.

    Steve Webb

    Section 14 of the Child Support Act 1991 and the Child Support Information Regulations 2008 provide the Child Support Agency and Child Maintenance Service with wide powers to obtain information from parents and third parties for the purpose of making decisions relating to child maintenance, including those decisions which relate to establishing the child maintenance of a Paying Parent.

    The Receiving Parent is not responsible for estimating the weekly expenses of a Paying Parent. The Child Maintenance Service, which administers the 2012 Scheme, is built to make best use of taxable income information that is regularly and reliably available from HMRC. However, in the 1993 and 2003 schemes, administered by the Child Support Agency, the Receiving Parent can sometimes be asked to provide evidence of expenditure in order to support an application for a variation on the grounds of “lifestyle inconsistent with declared income”.

  • Lord Bradley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bradley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent assessment they have made of the adequacy of National Health Service community physiotherapy services for patients who have had (1) knee, and (2) hip, replacement operations.

    Earl Howe

    No assessment has been made centrally of the adequacy of National Health Service community physiotherapy services for either hip or knee replacement operations.

    The commissioning of community therapy services is a matter for clinical commissioning groups using the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance where available.

    Recently, case-mix adjusted health gain following hip and knee replacement has been added to the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Tool “Commissioning for Value”. This data should facilitate conversations between commissioners and their provider trusts.

    The Health & Social Care Information Centre publishes a National Joint Registry (NJR) of patient reported outcome measures (PROMs), which measures health gain in patients undergoing hip replacement, knee replacement, varicose vein and groin hernia surgery in England, based on responses to questionnaires before and after surgery.

    The Best Practice Tariff for total hip and knee replacements pays for the whole episode of surgery and hospital based rehabilitation. Payment of the Best Practice Tariff for primary hip and knee replacement surgery is conditional on criteria linked to data collected through the NJR PROMs. If a provider’s NJR PROMs falls into the lowest 5% nationally in terms of outcomes the commissioner is able to remove the Best Practice Tariff funding unless a plan is made for how to improve the services.

  • Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what audit requirements are (a) in place and (b) planned for generating stations over 1Mw in size that use solid biomass or biogas.

    Gregory Barker

    The Renewables Obligation (Amendment) Order 2014, which came into force on 1 April 2014, requires generating stations with a total installed capacity of 1MW and above that use solid biomass or biogas to provide an annual sustainability audit report in respect of the biomass that they use. There are exceptions for landfill gas, sewage gas, municipal waste, manure and for other fuels which do not meet the specific definition of biomass within the Renewables Obligation (RO).

    The audit report must be prepared to ISAE3000 standard or its equivalent, and must be prepared by a person who is not the owner or operator of the station or a connected person. In the case of biomass which is not waste or derived from waste, the audit must cover the information provided by the operator of the station in respect of the land criteria or Timber Standard, and greenhouse gas sustainability criteria. In the case of biomass which is waste or derived from waste, the audit must cover the information provided by the operator of the station that the biomass was waste or wholly derived from waste. Other detailed requirements for the audit report are set out in article 54B of the Renewables Obligation Order 2009, as inserted by article 15 of the Renewables Obligation (Amendment) Order 2014.

    A similar audit requirement is planned to apply to Combined Heat and Power (CHP) stations receiving support under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) if they choose not to source fuel from the RHI Biomass Suppliers List (BSL), a list of suppliers selling sustainable fuel, but instead report against the RHI sustainability criteria to Ofgem.

    It is intended that the Contracts for Difference (CfD) awarded for bioenergy under the first Electricity Market Reform Delivery Plan will follow the same approach on sustainability audit as set out under the Renewables Obligation.

    Ofgem, as the administrator of the Renewables Obligation, carries out a programme of audits of accredited generating stations, primarily to guard against fraud and error. This can include stations over 1MW in size that use solid biomass or biogas. They also ensure that a generating station remains an eligible renewable generating station for the purposes of the RO, that Ofgem holds the most up-to-date information for a station, and that the correct number of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) has been issued to the generator in question. The audits are carried out on a rolling basis, with targeted audits where it is deemed necessary. The CfD Counterparty company will be empowered under the Contracts for Difference to audit any generating station it chooses, with 1 business day’s written notice, to check compliance with agreed Fuel Measurement and Sampling procedures.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which powers he is seeking to repatriate from the EU.

    Mr David Lidington

    As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) said in May, Brussels has got too big, too bossy, too interfering. It should be nation states wherever possible, Europe only where necessary.

    Our reform priorities are to make the EU more democratically accountable, more competitive and more flexible.

  • Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of speed awareness courses; and what information her Department collects on speeding and driving offences committed by drivers who have undertaken such a course.

    Karen Bradley

    The number of drivers that opted for a National Driver Offender Retraining
    Scheme (NDORS) speed awareness course rather than accept penalty points on
    their driving licence in 2010 is 447,833, in 2011 is 772,180, 2012 is 926,155 and in
    2013 is 953,464. These reflect the latest updated figures.
    The offer of a speed awareness course is at the discretion of the police. To be
    deemed eligible there must be no excessive speed or other offences committed at
    the same time. Information on previous motoring convictions is not taken into
    account.
    The Department for Transport and the police are in advanced stages of
    commissioning a long term study to assess the effectiveness of speed awareness
    courses.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

    Mr Francis Maude

    The Prime Minister’s Office and the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office are integral parts of the Cabinet Office.

    Declaration of ethnicity for staff is voluntary and it is therefore not possible to provide the information requested.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what measures are in place to ensure that aid given to foreign countries is used for the purposes intended; and what proportion of such aid not being used for those purposes would result in future aid being denied to that country.

    Justine Greening

    DFID has a number of controls in place focussing on monitoring and evaluation, including both internal and external audits and reports from the International Development Committee and the Independent Commission for Aid Impact.

    DFID has strong internal review processes in place to make sure projects are properly monitored and closed if they are not delivering good results and value for money.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence will consider the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations where they are relevant and proportionate to the subject matter of the contract, and seeking best value for money in procurement.