Tag: 2014

Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in UK steel output in the last five years on the (a) value of orders placed by Network Rail and Highways England to companies in the UK supply chain and (b) projected number of steel-carrying rail freight movements over the next three years.

Claire Perry

Network Rail advises that for its major use of steel it has a five year framework contract from April 2014 for the supply of new steel rails from Long Steels UK Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel. Network Rail is in close contact with Tata Steel to ensure continuity of supply.

Network Rail buys approximately 140,000 tonnes of steel rail per annum from Tata Steel, which equates to around 95% of total aggregated demand for Network Rail. This is supplied directly from Scunthorpe. Smaller contracts are also in place with Arcelor Mittal (Spain) and Voestalpine (Austria). These relate to the manufacture of very special steel products.

These volumes are broken down are as follows. The figures for 2015-16 are provisional:

Year	Tata Supply (Tonnes)	Tata Spend (£)
2011-12	137,762.2408	97,715,813.91
2012-13	142,022.9286	100,210,560.98
2013-14	158,891.8490	107,201,303.99
2014-15	138,387.2325	90,832,520.93
2015-16	138,000	87,713,500.74

Highways England does not procure steel materials directly. Despite the changes in UK steel output over the last five years, Highways England and its predecessor have continued to invest heavily in UK steel. During this period Highways England has used a category management framework as the main method of procuring steel gantries for the Strategic Road Network. To date circa 95% of this steel has been drawn from Tata Steel in the UK, which equates to approximately 11,000 tonnes of steel. The approximate framework spend is £30 million, of which about 35% will be steel procurement i.e. raw materials, and will equate to around £10.5 million.

As rail freight is a wholly commercial business and therefore has to respond to market changes as part of its operational model, the Government does not itself undertake assessments of the impact on rail freight of variations in the flows of specific commodities. Network Rail’s Freight Market Study, published in 2013, assumed a small recovery in the steel market based on information available at that time.

December 1, 2022

Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total value is of benefit overpayments which have been written off by his Department due to a failure to keep and maintain adequate records since 2010.

Justin Tomlinson

This information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

December 1, 2022
Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-10-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made on behalf of Phyoe Phyoe Aung who is currently detained in Burma.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have raised with the Burmese authorities our concerns at the violence which occurred during the student protests at Letpadan Monastery in March, when Phyoe Phyoe Aung and others were arrested. We have called for the Government of Burma to investigate the incident and for all remaining student demonstrators to be released from prison and charges to be dropped. Our Embassy in Rangoon is closely monitoring the cases of the 56 who have been charged, 48 of whom remain in detention, and have attended the most recent trial hearing in Thuyawaddy on 13 October.

December 1, 2022
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether, and to what extent, the report of the Herbal Medicines and Practitioners Working Group on the regulation of herbal practitioners represented the views solely of the Chairman.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Report on the Regulation of Herbal Medicines and Practitioners is Professor Walker’s independent advice to Government. As the Report acknowledges this advice was informed by the input of the Working Group.

December 1, 2022
Baroness Donaghy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Donaghy on 2015-10-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure the continued viability of teacher training delivered by school-university partnership other than through School Direct.

Lord Nash

The government is committed to the ongoing expansion of school-led initial teacher training (ITT). The move towards school-led ITT has created new opportunities for universities to grow their business: engaging directly with schools to become their chosen partner; and working with school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) to offer academic awards. In addition, the university sector as a whole has the opportunity to recruit trainees up to the same overall level as they have for the 2015/16 academic year. It is, therefore, not expected that this change of approach will have a substantial impact on the higher education sector.

December 1, 2022
Lord Wills – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2015-10-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to increase the number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduates in education or employment one year after graduation.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

The Government attaches great importance to the supply of science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills and the value that they bring to all sectors of our economy. It has commissioned two independent reviews into graduate employment and accreditation in STEM which aim to explore some of the issues around the employment outcomes of graduates from STEM disciplines.

Sir William Wakeham is leading the review into STEM disciplines. A second, separate review is being led by Sir Nigel Shadbolt and is considering the specific concerns related to graduates of Computer Science. [HL3019]. The reviews are due to report to Ministers in Winter 2015/16. (Note: further information can be found at http://www.hefce.ac.uk/kess/gradstemreview/)

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December 1, 2022

Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much was paid in (a) year-end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials of his Department in each of the last three years.

David Mundell

All staff in the Scotland Office are on assignment, secondment or loan from other Government bodies, in the majority of cases, the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Justice. Staff may be eligible for bonuses, in addition to basic salary, through their parent bodies’ pay arrangements.

The Scotland Office does not keep records of year-end performance payments or allowances to staff below Senior Civil Service level. These records are kept under staffs’ parent bodies’ pay arrangements. Scotland Office Senior Civil Service performance awards are agreed within a common framework set by the Cabinet Office and are published in the Scotland Office Annual Report and Accounts.

The Scotland Office is able to authorise directly non-consolidated and non-pensionable bonus payments in recognition of special effort, achievement and commitment, where the payment of such bonuses forms part of the individual member of staff’s terms and conditions. The current bonus arrangements do not apply to staff on assignment from the Scottish Government.

The following information shows the cost of such payments in the last three financial years:

Financial Year	Total Cost of Payments in-year bonuses	Number of Awards	Total Cost of Payments year-end (SCS only)	Number of Awards
2012-13	£3,050	7	£0	0
2013-14	£4,700	16	£0	0
2014-15	£0	0	£5-10	1

December 1, 2022

Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2015 to Question 12724, on the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, if he will place in the Library a copy of all advice that group has submitted to Ministers of his Department.

Mr Marcus Jones

Since 2012, the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group has advised Ministers on issues including training for journalists to tackle the negative portrayal of Muslims in the media; encouraging increased reporting and recording of anti-Muslim incidents and online abuse; supporting social media workshops to build the capacity of community organisations to promote positive narratives; and facilitating a number of regional road shows to engage communities on integration and tackling anti-Muslim hatred. The group also worked on the issue of disaggregation of anti-Muslim hate crime, as is done with anti-semitic hate crime. Last month, my Rt Hon Friend, the Prime Minister announced that police forces in England and Wales would be required to disaggregate religion based hate crime data.

The Working Group meets quarterly and uses this forum to advise Ministers on issues relating to anti-Muslim hatred rather than through official submissions.

The independent members of the Working Group volunteer their own time to take part in the group and can claim basic travel expenses for the meetings. As part of a broader role, one official in the Department provides secretariat support to the group and officials from across Government Departments attend quarterly meetings.

December 1, 2022
Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average time is for NHS Protect to complete an investigation.

George Freeman

This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

December 1, 2022
Alec Shelbrooke – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alec Shelbrooke on 2015-10-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s contract with Veolia for the disposal of hazardous, non-hazardous and special waste which expired on 31 March 2015, when the new tendering process will begin; and what weight will be given in that process to British companies.

Mr Philip Dunne

The contract with Veolia for the disposal of hazardous, non-hazardous, special and dry wastes on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Other Government Departments was extended and is now due to expire on 31 March 2016. It is expected that an invitation to tender for a new contract will be advertised in early 2016.

The MOD is required under relevant procurement regulations to treat all bidders equally and in a non-discriminatory way. This means that British companies will compete on an even playing field for this requirement.

December 1, 2022