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Tag: 2014

  • Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress he has made on plans to extend the funding of Victim Support beyond 2015.

    Damian Green

    The Ministry of Justice is extending grant funding arrangements to March 2015, for the provision of its core victims’ support service. These extended arrangements will cover all areas until October 2014, when a small number of Police and Crime Commissioners will move out of MoJ grant arrangements with Victim Support. The remaining majority of areas will continue to be covered by the grant funding arrangements until end March 2015.

    From April 2015, the MoJ grant arrangement with Victim Support for its core service will end as all Police and Crime Commissioners replace the MoJ grant arrangement with Victim Support with locally commissioned arrangements for support to victims. These arrangements may include Police and Crime Commissioner commissioning services from Victim Support, but are not restricted to this.

    Some national services, including the national homicide service, the court-based witness service, the rape support fund, and some telephone helplines will remain nationally commissioned by the Ministry of Justice. Victim Support is the current provider of some of these services and is able to compete for future provision of these services.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to achieve agreement at the UN climate summit in September 2014 on the amount of finance that will be pledged to assist developing countries with their climate actions.

    Mark Simmonds

    The UK is actively engaged in discussions on preparations for the UN Secretary General’s climate summit in September 2014. We welcome this opportunity to further build international momentum to tackle climate change, and towards a new global, legally-binding climate agreement in 2015.

    The UK is committed to the goal of jointly mobilising USD 100 billion of climate finance per year by 2020 from a range of public, private and alternative sources, and encourages all countries to work on strategies for scaling up climate finance. The UK is also actively supporting the development of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which we hope will be ready for initial resource mobilisation in 2014. The UK’s International Climate Fund (£3.87 billion of UK public funds provided by the Department for International Development, Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, in 2011-16) already supports a range of adaptation, low carbon development and innovative finance projects to assist developing countries with their climate actions.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the decision was made to embark on an expansion of the Public Defender System advocates.

    Simon Hughes

    The decision to expand the Public Defender Service was taken shortly before the advert for advocates was published on the 20th January 2014

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department gives local authorities on considering the potential flooding risks to land in neighbouring local authorities when making planning decisions.

    Nick Boles

    In the new planning guidance, launched on 6 March, we have made it crystal clear that councils need to consider the strict tests set out in national policy and, where these are not met new development should not be allowed. These tests, set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, include ensuring new development does not increase flood risk elsewhere. The tests are designed to protect people and property from flooding and give councils the robust ability to reject unacceptable planning applications.

    We also expect Strategic Flood Risk Assessments, prepared by local councils to inform Local Plans, to consider flood risks to and from surrounding areas in the same flood catchment.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Heidi Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his most recent estimate is of the average cost of housing an individual in (a) a probation hostel and (b) approved premises for 12 months.

    Jeremy Wright

    On release from custody, offenders who meet the referral criteria may be accommodated in an Approved Premises (AP). (APs were formerly known as Probation & Bail Hostels.)There are 100 APs in England & Wales, providing supervised accommodation for offenders under probation supervision. They also house a small number of defendants on bail.

    Most APs are managed by probation trusts and funded out of the total grant paid to the trust by the National Offender Management Service. The AP element is not separately identified. Because of this funding arrangement, it is not possible to provide the information requested without incurring disproportionate cost.

  • Andrew Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with the European Commission and her counterparts in EU member states on compensation requests to Israeli authorities for EU-funded aid projects demolished by the Israeli authorities.

    Mr Alan Duncan

    DFID and the EU regularly lobby Israel against the illegal demolition of Palestinian homes and infrastructure, and the forced transfer of people in Area C and East Jerusalem.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will take steps to ensure the negotiations between her Department and Praxis result in the continuation of the Secret Garden Service provided by that organisation.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The decision to invite Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) to take over management of Hillsborough Castle will provide a secure future for the castle and bring considerable economic benefits to the surrounding area.

    To deliver those benefits, HRP need control of the site currently used by Praxis in order to construct the infrastructure necessary to enable substantial visitor numbers to be welcomed to Hillsborough.

    The terms of Praxis’ use of the Walled Garden site were always clear that they would need to leave if given one month’s notice. Praxis confirmed over a year ago that they would leave if given one month’s notice.

  • Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Christopher Chope – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when officials of his Department in Harare last met the Zimbabwean government director of pensions to discuss distribution of the funds reserved for payment to overseas pensioners; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Simmonds

    We continue to pursue a resolution to the non-payment of Zimbabwe civil servant pensions and are in regular contact with the interested parties, including the Overseas Service Pensioners Association (OSPA) and the Federal Pensioners Association in Harare.

    UK officials last spoke with the Director of Pensions at the end of January and are still pursuing a response from the Zimbabwean Civil Service Commission to our letter from December 2013. We have also raised the issue since with other interlocutors, including the Zimbabwean Ambassador in London.

  • Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Harriet Harman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last discussed with his Nigerian counterpart the recent abduction of schoolgirls in that country; and when he next intends to raise this issue.

    Mark Simmonds

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) spoke to Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on 18 April about the case. The Foreign Secretary expressed the UK’s sympathies about this outrageous crime and offered UK assistance to Nigerian efforts to recover the girls.

    Officials at our High Commission in Abuja have met their Nigerian security and military counterparts regularly since the abductions and have repeated the Foreign Secretary’s offer of assistance.

  • Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Fiona O’Donnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona O’Donnell on 2014-04-30.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he will next meet representatives of energy-intensive industries to discuss the EU Commission’s draft Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines.

    Nicky Morgan

    Treasury ministers meet with a range of stakeholders on an ongoing basis, including energy intensive industries. For instance the Chancellor recently visited Tata Steel’s Port Talbot plant. The Chancellor has written to representatives of energy-intensive industries about the Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines and instructed officials to meet with them to discuss this issue.