Tag: 2014

  • Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Community Work Placement providers schemes (a) were operating by 28 April 2014, (b) were operating no later than 2 June 2014 and (c) are yet to commence; for what reasons any providers have breached of the 2 June 2014 commencement deadline; at what capacity the scheme is currently running; and when he estimates that the scheme will be fully operational (i) in Brighton and Hove Local Authority Area and (ii) nationally.

    Esther McVey

    Community Work Placements are being introduced in a phased approach from 28 May 2014 to 09 June 2014. Brighton and Hove started on 9 June 2014 and is taking placements as planned.

  • Mr Laurence Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mr Laurence Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Laurence Robertson on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what extra funding his Department plans to provide to smaller schools to help them to provide free school meals for under-sevens; and if he will make a statement.

    David Laws

    On 6 March the Department for Education announced that we will allocate additional funding totalling £22.5 million in the 2014-15 financial year to help small schools (those with a total roll of up to 150 pupils according to the January 2014 Schools Census) with the transitional costs of implementing the universal infant free school meals policy.

    Schools eligible for this funding will receive a minimum of £3,000 to be spent as they choose in support of their implementation of the policy, including for the purpose of improving kitchen or dining equipment.

    Further information is available in the departmental advice document on universal infant free school meals, which can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-infant-free-school-meals

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what analysis has been carried out by the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston into the effects on (a) human beings, (b) other animals and (c) the wider environment of the use of a nuclear warhead in the UK nuclear arsenal.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The effects of the use of a UK nuclear warhead are underpinned by modelling and analysis. The effects are dependent on a wide range of variable factors including: the yield and design of the weapon; the accuracy of the delivery system; the nature and construction of the target; the geographical characteristics of the surrounding terrain; geological conditions in the target area; the height of weapon burst; and the weather conditions at the target.

  • Nadine Dorries – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nadine Dorries – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, under what circumstances all members of a group of travellers are detained following the retention of one member of the group at a Border Force checkpoint.

    James Brokenshire

    All members of a group of adult travellers are assessed individually on arrival to ensure that they qualify for admission in line with immigration legislation. If one member of the group is detained for further enquiries but the rest of the group are granted admission then they are free to proceed without the detained person if they so wish.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, when electoral registration officers will be able to impose fixed penalty notices for non-registration.

    Greg Clark

    From 10 June 2014, alongside the introduction of individual electoral registration (IER), Electoral Registration Officers in England and Wales will be able to impose civil penalty notices for failure to respond to a notice of requirement to register on the electoral register. In Scotland this will be from 19 September 2014 alongside the introduction of IER in Scotland, following the Scottish referendum.

    In conjunction with the Electoral Commission we intend to collect information on the number of civil penalties issued for failure to respond to an IER invitation through each local authority’s Electoral Management System.

    Local authority staff who are responsible for the delivery of electoral registration have been fully trained on IER processes, including a module on notices of requirement to register and on civil penalties.

  • Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current level of (a) use and (b) availability is amongst offshore helicopter passengers in the oil and gas industry of emergency breathing systems that meet Category A of the Civil Aviation Authority’s relevant technical specifications.

    Robert Goodwill

    There are currently no Category ‘A’ emergency breathing systems (EBS) in use by, or available to, passengers on UK offshore helicopter flights. The EBS currently in use in the UK sector of the North Sea does not meet the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) higher Category ‘A’ specification contained in CAA Publication CAP 1034, primarily because it takes too long to deploy. The EBS used in the Norwegian sector also does not meet the Category ‘A’ requirement, primarily as it cannot be deployed underwater.

    EBS that would likely meet Category ‘A’ is commercially available. In particular the passenger short term air supply system (P-STASS) developed for the UK military, which the CAA understands is currently being considered by the industry, has previously been used for civilian operations (e.g. the Marine Incident Response Group).

  • 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 2014-06-04.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, with reference to the Answer of 24 February 2014, Official Report, column 19W, on electoral register, with which civic society organisations the Electoral Commission is proactively seeking partnership for the purpose of increasing electoral registration.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that it is seeking to establish new partnerships and ways of working with a wide range of organisations to help ensure voters are aware of what they need to do under the new system of individual electoral registration.

    In addition to the partnerships it is currently finalising, the Commission will continue seeking to establish new partnerships up to, and beyond, the next UK Parliamentary General Election in 2015 to achieve this. As partnerships are finalised, they will be highlighted on the Commission’s website and we will make members aware of where they can find this information when the first batch of information is published online.

  • Hywel Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Hywel Williams – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hywel Williams on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what agreement his Department has reached with the Welsh Government regarding the funding of electrification of the Great Western Line to Swansea and the Valleys lines.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Welsh and UK Governments agreed in 2012 to fund the electrification of the Valley Lines and the South Wales Main Line between Cardiff and Swansea. That agreement still stands and Network Rail is developing plans for electrification.

  • Thomas Docherty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Thomas Docherty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thomas Docherty on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many officials in his Department he expects to be involved in preparing the Department’s response to the Belgian government’s request for information regarding the Typhoon as a successor to their F-16 fleet.

    Michael Fallon

    The Eurofighter Typhoon programme is carried out in partnership with the Governments of Germany, Italy and Spain. This includes cooperation on exports. The Government of Belgium has expressed an interest in Typhoon as well as other competing aircraft as a potential replacement for their F-16 fleet. UK Trade and Investment have been invited, to participate in preliminary discussions at official level on Typhoon. United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI) officials are working with colleagues across Government, in the partner nations and with Eurofighter GmbH to coordinate a response.

    Within UK Government work on Typhoon export campaigns is led by UKTI, but HMG takes a collaborative approach to defence exports and so all campaigns are a cross departmental effort. Information on staffing numbers is not therefore available centrally.

    Ministerial responsibility for UKTI rests with my noble Friend the Minister of State for Trade and Investment (Lord Livingston of Parkhead). My noble Friend reports to my Rt Hon Friends the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, as the two responsible Cabinet Ministers.

    Information regarding Ministers’ meetings is published by the Department on the internet: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills&publication_type=transparency-data

    The Minister of State for Trade and Investment discussed Typhoon exports during his meeting with BAES on 18 December 2013. The Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills has no immediate plans to meet his Belgian counterpart.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what customer, user and satisfaction surveys were conducted in the last 12 months in the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the agencies that report to it; which of them have been reported to the management board in the last 12 months; and which were commissioned by the management board.

    Baroness Verma

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change has conducted 15 quantitative customer, user and satisfaction surveys in the last 12 months, the details of which are appended below. The results of all these surveys have been, or will be, published on gov.uk/decc.

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not have any agencies which report to it.

    No surveys were commissioned by the DECC Executive Committee: surveys are managed within individual policy areas, programmes and projects, with results reported to relevant internal boards.

    1. DECC Public Attitudes Tracker survey

    Quarterly waves

    2. Quantitative research into public awareness, attitudes, and experience of Smart Meters

    Two waves

    3. Smart Meters Early Learning Project Consumer Survey*

    One-off survey

    4. DECC Community Energy Survey

    One-off survey

    5. Green Deal Supply Chain research

    One-off survey

    6. Non-Participants in GD Supply Chain

    One-off survey

    7. Green Deal Household Tracker

    Three waves

    8. Green Deal assessments research

    Three waves

    9. Green Deal assessments research: Wave 1 follow up

    One-off survey

    10. Green Deal customer journey research

    One-off survey

    11. Research to explore consumer response to the potential use of winter fuel payments to invest in energy efficiency home improvements

    One-off survey

    12. Questions on GfK Omnibus survey exploring ways to paying for energy saving home improvements*

    One-off survey

    13. Questions on GfK Omnibus survey on Energy Performance Certificates and cash back incentives*

    One-off survey

    14. Survey of applicants to the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive*

    One-off survey

    15. Renewable Heat Premium Payment 2 evaluation*

    Two surveys of participating households.

    *Publication date to be confirmed.