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Tag: 2014

  • Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to strengthen vocational education in Nigeria.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID recognises the importance of vocational skills training for reducing poverty among young people in Nigeria, and is currently considering options on how best to support the sector to increase the economic opportunities available to marginalised groups of young men and women in six of the poorest states in Northern Nigeria.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Rehman Chishti – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage local media and regional broadcasting in Kent and Medway.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Government recognises the important role local media plays in communities, and has created the foundations for new local TV services to establish themselves and enrich UK television with quality local news and programming. Ofcom has received applications for a local TV licence in Maidstone, and we expect an award to be made soon. More widely, 25 local TV services have been licensed to date, and further launches will take place over the summer and autumn.

  • Anne Main – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Anne Main – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much local authorities in (a) St Albans, (b) Hertfordshire, (c) the East of England and (d) the UK have returned to his Department in unused discretionary housing payment funding since 2011; and what steps he is taking to ensure that such funds are targeted towards those most in need.

    Esther McVey

    The Department has responsibility for the funding of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) in Great Britain, but not the UK. The table below shows the amounts of unused DHPs returned to the Department since 2011 for the respective areas. The figures for 2013/14 will be available in due course once the information has been collated from local authorities.

    Local Authority Area

    Under Spend since 2011

    St Albans

    £18,717

    Hertfordshire

    £72,108

    Eastern England

    £1,494,137

    Great Britain

    £20,982,679

    The Department provides local authorities with a guidance manual and good practice guide to aide them in the administration of the DHP scheme. This has recently been updated following informal consultation with stakeholder groups and local authority practitioners. The new guidance encourages councils to make longer term awards where appropriate to those with ongoing needs.

  • Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what preliminary tests his Department conducted to assess whether it was feasible to recruit and train the required number of reserves within the necessary timescale envisaged by the Army 2020 proposals.

    Anna Soubry

    Following the Strategic Defence and Security Review, a three month exercise was undertaken which examined a range of force structure options which built upon analysis undertaken during the review. These options were then tested for their efficacy against a wide range of scenarios. The options were then assessed by a senior judgement panel, chaired by the Vice Chief of Defence Staff. Included in this panel were the Assistant Chiefs of Staff for the Royal Navy, Army and royal Air Force. The panel took decisions collectively and all members were fully involved and consulted.

    In July 2011 an Independent Commission to Review the UK’s Reserve Forces, chaired by my hon. Friend, the member for Canterbury and Whitstable (Julian Brazier) and General Sir Nicholas Houghton, then set a target of 30,000 for a trained Army Reserve. This judgement was reached in the knowledge that the strength of the Territorial Army had been over 70,000 in the 1980s.

    Subsequent work was then undertaken to establish the timescales to build the trained strength of the Army Reserve to 30,000. This was set out in the Written Ministerial Statement and paper placed in the Library of the House by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) on 19 December 2013 (Official Report, column 124WS).

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what incentives were (a) offered to (b) accepted by priority investors in relation to Royal Mail privatisation.

    Michael Fallon

    No incentives were offered to priority investors.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recruits are expected to commence Phase 1 training at ITC Catterick in financial year 2014-15; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    The number of recruits programmed to start training at AFC Harrogate and ITC Catterick in financial year 2014-15 is shown in the table.

    Establishment

    2014-15

    AFC Harrogate

    1,450

    ITC Catterick

    2,750

    Figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in ‘5′ are rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-04-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many business rates appeals to the Valuation Office Agency are currently classified as (a) outstanding, (b) received and (c) cleared, by region; and what the current median time taken in days is to clear business rates challenges in each region.

    Mr David Gauke

    Table 1 shows the latest available statistics on proposals (appeals), by region, to amend the 2010 rating lists. The numbers provided cover England and Wales for the duration of the 2010 rating list as of 30 September 2013.

    Table 1: Proposals to amend the 2010 Rating Lists

    Region

    Total Received1,2

    1 Apr 10 to 30 Sept 13

    Total Cleared1,2

    1 Apr 10 to 30 Sept 13

    Total Outstanding1,2 at 30 Sep 13

    Median time to clear (days)

    30 Sept 13

    England and Wales

    572,780

    409,680

    163,100

    360

    England

    544,550

    388,850

    155,700

    360

    North East

    23,030

    17,370

    5,660

    360

    North West

    79,090

    58,620

    20,470

    370

    Yorkshire and the Humber

    52,920

    41,150

    11,770

    330

    East Midlands

    34,530

    26,520

    8,010

    300

    West Midlands

    53,310

    40,540

    12,770

    320

    East

    53,340

    37,530

    15,820

    380

    London

    119,130

    71,540

    47,590

    400

    South East

    77,700

    56,440

    21,260

    380

    South West

    51,500

    39,150

    12,350

    350

    Wales

    28,230

    20,830

    7,400

    360

    1 Figures may not sum to the totals due to the rounding of figures.

    2 VOA Official Statistics, Local Rating Lists: Business Rates

    (Experimental Statistics): Table As, November 2013

    http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/_downloads/xls/NDR_TableA_All_2010.xls

    “

  • Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 6 May (WA 322), what form the review of asylum support rates will take; and which stakeholders will be consulted.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The review is an internal Home Office one, to ensure that the payments provided to destitute asylum seekers are sufficient to cover their essential living needs consistent with the judgement of 9 April. The Home Office has met with represenatives of "Still Human Still Here", a coalition of organisations with an established interest in the issue. The review will take full account of both their views and the details of the judgment of 9 April.

  • John Healey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library the model and detailed methodology used for the forecast of the effects of affordable rent on housing benefit expenditure published by his Department in the document, Impact Assessment for Affordable Rent, in June 2011.

    Kris Hopkins

    The Affordable Rent Impact Assessment, published in June 2011, sets out the methodology and assumptions used at the time to model the expected impact of Affordable Rent on Housing Benefit expenditure. The Impact Assessment is published here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6021/1918816.pdf

    “

  • Lord Eames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Eames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Eames on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to review pensions currently paid to former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    There are no plans to review pensions currently paid to former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment.