Tag: 2014

  • Stephen Doughty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Doughty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what service level agreements his Department has with companies contracted to carry out the assessment process for the personal independence payment.

    Mike Penning

    The Personal Independence Payment service level agreements are published and available to view in Deposited Papers (House of Commons), deposited on 28 January 2013 – Deposit Reference DEP2013 – 0322. The service level agreements are set out in Annex 7.

    This information can be accessed from the link below:

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/?max=100&y=2013&search_term=Department+for+Work+and+Pensions&itemId=119004&sort=1&sortasc=False#toggle-322

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  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries were open at least five hours per week outside 9am to 5pm on weekdays in each of the years (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The detail requested is not held centrally by this Department and nor is it collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy as part of the annual public library statistics provided by individual library authorities.

  • Lord Stevens of Ludgate – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Stevens of Ludgate – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stevens of Ludgate on 2014-03-31.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Deighton on 27 March to remarks by Lord Myners, Lord Higgins and Lord Flight (HL Deb, col 676) and the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 3 July 2013 (WA 143), whether they continue to consider that borrowing from the central bank is illegal under Article 123 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; and, if so, what options are available in respect of government debt and quantitative easing while the United Kingdom remains a member of the European Union.

    Lord Newby

    The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England has operational responsibility for monetary policy. The MPC makes decisions on its policy tools, including quantitative easing (QE), in order to meet the 2% inflation target in the medium term.

    The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK’s economic policy framework. To use monetary policy tools to meet fiscal objectives, such as financing government borrowing, could conflict with the MPC’s objective of price stability and undermine confidence in the UK’s monetary policy framework. Additionally, government borrowing from the central bank is illegal under Article 123 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the near cash projected spending on the Equipment Plan and Equipment Support Plan is for each year to 2018.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Projected spending on the Equipment Plan and Equipment Support Plan is detailed in the annual Defence Equipment Plan. The most recent edition was published on 12 February 2014.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279440/defence_equipment_plan_2013.pdf

  • Lord Myners – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2014-03-31.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will establish a formal investigation, independent of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), into the FCA’s handling of the announcement it made via the press on 28 March of an investigation into closed insurance funds; and whether they have made an estimate of the financial consequences of the creation of a possible false market in insurance securities as a result of the initial announcement and subsequent amendments.

    Lord Newby

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Board has announced an investigation which will be independent of the FCA executive. A senior independent lawyer will investigate what went wrong and make appropriate recommendations.

    The Chancellor has written to the Chair of the FCA setting out the questions that the investigation should answer. This includes the question of to what extent a false or disorderly market was present in the period before the FCA issued its statement of clarification. The letter was copied to the Treasury Committee and has been published on the Treasury’s website.

  • Steve Baker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve Baker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Baker on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) feasibility and (b) cost to the public purse of enabling supply teachers to contribute to the teachers’ pension scheme.

    Mr David Laws

    Supply teachers are able to participate in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) where they are employed by an ‘accepted employer’. In the main, these are local authorities (LAs), academies and further education colleges. This includes supply teachers who are recruited by a supply agency but then employed directly, under a contract of employment, by the accepted employer. The LA, academy or further education college is responsible for meeting a number of obligations that fall to employers under the teachers’ pensions regulations, not least of which is to pay the employer contribution to the TPS.

    However, where supply teachers are self-employed or remain employed by the supply agency, and their services are provided under a ‘contract for services’, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS. This is because the Department for Education cannot mandate that private sector employers participate in the scheme.

    It is for LAs, academies and further education colleges to determine how supply teachers are employed – which can in turn enable access to the TPS under the current arrangements.

  • David Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support his Department has provided to Lancaster City Council to ensure affordable homes are built in rural areas in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency.

    Kris Hopkins

    There will be 228 affordable homes delivered in Lancaster area as a result of £6.9 million of government funding through the 2011 to 2015 Affordable Homes Programme of which 27 homes are in rural areas (defined as settlements with populations of less than 3,000 people).

    In 2011-12, half of the affordable homes built outside London were in rural local authorities and we have delivered over 5,000 affordable homes in the smallest rural communities (under 3,000 people) in the first two years of the current programme.

    The Homes and Communities Agency’s funding prospectus for the 2015-18 Affordable Homes Programme sets out how the Agency will continue to pay particular attention to the importance of delivery in rural areas in providing funding. The work of the Agency is also supported by a network of rural champions. The National Planning Policy Framework and Rural Exception Sites also help to address the housing needs of rural communities.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many meetings he has had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I have regular meetings with the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in my capacity as Foreign and Commonwealth Office Science Champion. However, as was the case under previous administrations, details of these internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraphs 7.22, 7.21 and 7.7 of Joint Service Publication 832, if he will place in the Library and on his Department’s website a copy of the Service inquiry regarding the collision of two Tornado aircraft over the Moray Firth on 3 July 2012.

    Dr Andrew Murrison

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right Hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mark Francois) on 3 December 2013, (Official Report, column 639W). It would be inappropriate to comment on any details relating to this incident prior to the publication of the Service Inquiry.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people received funding through the Cancer Drugs Fund in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.

    Norman Lamb

    Prior to April 2013, information on the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority (SHA) and data on the number of patients who received funding in each constituency and city was not collected. Information on the number of patients funded in West Midlands SHA and England in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 is shown as follows:

    Number of patients funded in 2010-11

    Number of patients funded in 2011-12

    Number of patients funded in 2012-13

    Total number of patients funded since Oct 20101

    West Midlands SHA

    292

    1,658

    1,534

    3,484

    England

    2,780

    11,798

    15,456

    30,034

    1 Some individual patients may be double-counted where a patient has received more than one drug treatment through the Cancer Drugs Fund

    Source: Information provided to the Department by SHAs

    NHS England has had oversight of the Fund since April 2013 and publishes information on patient numbers routinely on its website at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/

    In 2013-14, 5,695 patients in the Midlands and East region and 19,282 patients in England received funding through the Fund. In addition, 28 individual cancer drugs fund request applications were approved by the Cancer Drugs Fund panel in the Midlands and East region with 278 applications approved nationally.