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Tag: 2014

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-03-12.

    To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the empty property business rates for the vacant properties recorded on the e-PIMS database owned by (a) the Law Officers’ Departments and (b) any executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies of the Law Officers’ Departments in the current financial year.

    Dominic Grieve

    The Law Officers’ Departments have been actively reducing their estate running costs since 2010 in line with Government policy and have already made significant savings.

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) estate rationalisation programme began in 2009 and is set to be completed in 2016, with most of the leases on empty property having expired by then. This programme has already led to a reduction in expenditure and increased efficiency. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has paid £320,178.38 in property business rates in the current financial year on the properties which are currently recorded as vacant on the ePIMS database as at 14 March 2014. The costs figure has been produced by DTZ who are CPS’ managing agents and has not yet been audited.

    The Treasury Solicitor’s Department owns a lease on a building which has some vacant space. This building attracts full business rates in the current financial year. This lease is due to expire in 2016. The estimated business rates for the vacant proportion of the property for 2013/14 are £59 372.71

    The remaining Law Officers’ Departments do not have any vacant properties.

  • Mel Stride – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mel Stride – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mel Stride on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on increasing the number and quality of apprenticeships for 16 to 18 year olds.

    Matthew Hancock

    We are on track to deliver 2 million apprenticeships over this Parliament.

    We continue to focus on quality, insisting that all apprenticeships are jobs, have a minimum duration of a year, include on the job training and meet the needs of employers. As a result the number of ‘full’ 16-18 apprenticeship starts – those with a planned duration of a year – have doubled.

    Apprenticeship reforms will further increase quality and simplify the system, making it easier and more desirable for employers to offer more apprenticeships in the future.

  • Mr Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mr Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Chuka Umunna on 2014-03-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many available school places there are at schools that provide specialist support for children and young people on the atuism spectrum in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) London, (d) Lambeth and (e) Streatham parliamentary constituency; and how many such places will be available in each of the next 15 years.

    Edward Timpson

    These figures are not collected centrally. The Department for Education does not collect information on the number of places available to provide specialist support in schools for children and young people on the autism spectrum. Local authorities are expected to keep their arrangements for providing special educational needs under review.

    We do collect the numbers of pupils in special schools in England with a primary need of ‘Autistic Spectrum Disorder’ are given in the table below.

    Pupils with special educational needs with a primary need of ‘Autistic Spectrum Disorder’ in special schools in England, January 2013

    Number

    England

    20,735

    London

    3,640

    Lambeth

    150

    Source: School Census

    Figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

    Information on special educational needs is published annually in the publication Special Educational Needs in England’, available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2013

    “

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they have made to support press freedoms in Sudan; and what role they consider such freedoms can play in the promotion of the National Dialogue process.

    Baroness Warsi

    Freedom of expression and an independent media are vital components of a genuinely open and transparent National Dialogue process. Our Embassy in Khartoum regularly raises this in discussions with the Sudanese Authorities, and jointly with the British Council is funding the Thompson Foundation programme to build capacity for Sudanese journalism. Examples include media training and a sponsored visit to London by Sudanese newspaper editors. During his visit to Sudan in January the Minister for Africa, my Hon Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mr Simmonds), met Sudanese journalists and editors and stressed to senior members of the Sudanese government the importance of open democratic space and respect for fundamental freedoms.

  • Ms Karen Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Ms Karen Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Karen Buck on 2014-03-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homeless households have been placed in temporary accommodation in each London local authority by councils other than their own in each of the last eight quarters.

    Kris Hopkins

    [Holding Reply: Monday 17 March 2014]

    I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her of 19 December 2013, Official Report, Column 713W.

  • Baroness Thornton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Thornton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thornton on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what monitoring they are conducting on the effect of the increase in tribunal costs on cases being brought concerning harassment in the workplace.

    Lord Faulks

    The Justice Secretary is committed to reviewing the impact of the introduction of fees in the employment tribunals system. The Ministry of Justice is currently finalising arrangements for the timing and scope of this review, to enable the impacts to be properly assessed, and we will be making an announcement in due course.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-03-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the recent finding in the Demos report, Introducing Generation Citizen, that 84 per cent of 14- to 17-year-olds intend to vote when they attain the age of 18, how they intend to ensure that such intentions to vote translate into first-time voting behaviour amongst young people; and what steps they are taking to ensure that education establishments are committed to registering all 16- and 17-year-olds to vote.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The new key stage 4 citizenship programme to be taught from September 2014 requires that pupils should be taught about “the different electoral systems used in and beyond the United Kingdom and actions citizens can take in democratic and electoral processes to influence decisions locally, nationally and beyond.”

    The government has also made available £4.2 million funding to all 363 local authorities and valuation joint boards in Great Britain and 5 national organisations. Electoral registration officers have been encouraged to support the delivery of Rock Enrol! in their area, a learning resource which not only provides an opportunity for young people to register to vote, but enables them to discuss the importance of doing so.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the dismissal of the United Kingdom’s challenge to the proposed financial transaction tax at the European Court of Justice, whether they have any plans to re-examine the extent of European Union competence in respect of United Kingdom taxation; and whether they consider that the application of such a tax would trigger a referendum under the terms of the European Union Act 2011.

    Lord Deighton

    The Court of Justice of the European Union ruling on 30 April deemed the UK challenge to the FTT was premature, but confirmed that the Government could challenge a future FTT Implementing Directive.

    The introduction of the FTT under the Enhanced Cooperation Procedure would not be a relevant transfer of sovereignty or power for the purpose of the “referendum lock” in the UK’s EU Referendum Act.

    The extent of European Union competence in respect of United Kingdom taxation was set out in the Balance of Competences Review, published 22 July 2013, and available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/taxation-report-review-of-the-balance-of-competences.

    “

  • 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 2014-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department collects on the number of men and women in prison who have previously been in local authority care.

    Jeremy Wright

    Prisoners are assessed on entry to prison for addiction problems and there is a package of support available to them. The MoJ’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme will provide individual support to all released prisoners. This will include identifying risks and needs for individual ex-prisoners, and providing services to address them.

    The Ministry of Justice does not collect these data centrally on a regular basis. However, a survey of 1,435 adult prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in 2005 and 2006 (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction – SPCR) provides self-reported estimates for each question.

    The full reports can be accessed on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr

    “

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

    Lord Colwyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2014-06-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the proposed reduction in the salaries of dental foundation trainees will have on the financial circumstances of young dentists.

    Earl Howe

    The Department is still considering the responses received to the recent consultation on the dental foundation trainee salary. One of the factors the Department will take into consideration will be the impact the proposed change will have on the financial circumstances of trainee dentists.