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Tag: 2014

  • Mr Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mr Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of reductions in local government spending on the effectiveness of fire brigades.

    Brandon Lewis

    [Holding Reply: Monday 31 March 2014]

    Fire and rescue authorities are best placed to assess and manage their services and do this through integrated risk management planning. Fire and rescue authorities now attend 46 per cent fewer incidents than ten years ago and they allocate their resources according to local risk.

    There is still scope for fire and rescue authorities to make sensible savings, e.g. through reforms to flexible staffing and crewing arrangements, better procurement; shared services, collaboration with emergency services and other organisations on service delivery and estates, sickness management; sharing of senior staff, locally led mergers and operational collaborations, new fire-fighting technology, preventative approaches and working with local businesses.

    In his independent review, Sir Ken Knight concluded that fire and rescue authorities need to transform themselves to reflect the entirely different era of risk and demand they now operate in.

  • Jessica Morden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jessica Morden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much has been spent on courier services for passports outside the DX contract since 1 January 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    Her Majesty’s Passport Office has incurred no costs outside contractual
    arrangements with DX since 1 Januar

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-03-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, where the offence committed corresponds to an offence which would lead to automatic inclusion in the adults’ barred list, with the right to make representations, under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, in each of the last four years.

    Damian Green

    Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the Court Proceedings Database does not include the circumstances behind each case beyond the description provided in the statute. It is not possible to separately identify findings of guilt for sexual offences committed outside England and Wales from those committed within England and Wales. This information could only be obtained from the individual courts at disproportionate cost.

  • Keith Vaz – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were employed by HM Passport Office on (a) 1 January, (b) 1 February, (c) 1 March, (d) 1 April, (e) 1 May and (f) 1 June 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    The formal record for workforce data is made on the last day of each calendar
    month.
    Her Majesty’s Passport Office has employed the following numbers of full-time
    equivalents
    (FTEs).
    (a) On 31 December 2013: 3,333
    (b) On 31 January 2014: 3,390
    (c) On 28 February 2014: 3,434
    (d) On 31 March 2014: 3,469
    (e) On 30 April 2014: 3,489
    (f) On 31 May 2014: 3,506

    In order to ensure that the data is reported on a consistent basis, figures for
    April and May figures include 196 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) corporate services
    staff that transferred to the Home Office on 1 April 2014. This was part of a restructure
    of the Home Office Corporate Services function.

    Figures are for permanent civil servants employed by Her Majesty’s Passport
    Office, including Part Year Appointments and permanent members of staff
    employed on contracts for 9 months of the year. This excludes staff on secondment
    or loan, and agency and temporary staff – with these staff included, the March 2014
    figure is 3,444.

    Please note, Her Majesty’s Passport Office records migrated to the Department’s
    strategic record system during this period and are subject to enhanced validation
    checks. Several months in this time series have a variance of +/- 2 FTE.

  • Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2014-03-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to recognise passports issued by Russia to residents of Crimea following the annexation of that territory from Ukraine as valid travel documents.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The Government is clear that the UK does not recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea which we view as illegal.

    Some residents of Crimea already hold Russian nationality, and were in possession of a valid Russian passport before Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. Subject to any travel ban imposed upon an individual, the UK will continue to recognise any legitimate holder of a Russian passport with a valid UK visa or entry clearance as eligible to travel and seek entry to the UK.

    In terms of UK visa applications, those applying for visitor visas can apply at any location. Applications for visas in other categories should, in line with paragraph 28 of the Immigration rules, be made in the country or territory in which they are living. Therefore, Russian passport holders living in Crimea would be able to apply for a visit visa anywhere in the world, including Russia; but any non-visit applications would need to be made in Ukraine.

  • Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    Sheila Gilmore – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Leader of the House, what visits each of the Ministers in his Office have made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

    Mr Andrew Lansley

    In February 2013, I visited the Scottish Parliament to examine Parliamentary procedures and practices.

    In May 2013, the Deputy Leader of the House and I undertook an overseas visit to the European Institutions in Brussels. This visit provided an opportunity to consider and promote the role of national parliaments, including the House of Commons, in the processes of European legislation.

    In December 2013, the Deputy Leader of the House visited Northern Ireland to engage with various Northern Irish charities and campaign groups on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill.

    In February 2014, I and the Deputy Leader of the House visited the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff to examine Parliamentary procedures and the work of the Petitions Committee.

  • Baroness Seccombe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Seccombe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Seccombe on 2014-03-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the breakdown of departmental private office spending on Government Procurement Cards between 2005–06 and 2009–10.

    Lord Deighton

    The breakdown of spend by Ministerial private offices in the departmental on Government Procurement Cards for 2005-06 to 2009-10 is in the table below. There are three types of spend within the definition of GPC, procurement, lodge and corporate cards.

    2005-06

    2006-07

    2007-08

    2008-09

    2009-10

    Chancellor of the Exchequer

    220,787.69

    239,967.84

    141,155.09

    95,124.66

    94,773.45

    Chief Secretary

    31,243.13

    40,350.89

    16,002.80

    13,834.62

    25,955.41

    Exchequer Secretary

    10,426.42

    12,784.10

    15,899.54

    17,146.39

    20,028.14

    Economic Secretary

    14,807.79

    80,689.90

    21,329.00

    14,060.81

    7,961.58

    Financial Secretary

    39,163.29

    28,673.99

    21,654.07

    46,993.19

    21,031.27

    Financial Services Secretary

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    16,187.33

    Total

    316,428.32

    402,466.72

    216,040.50

    187,159.67

    185,937.18
  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) availability and (b) effectiveness of scrubber technology on maritime vessels.

    Stephen Hammond

    In October 2012, and again in March 2013, I chaired ‘round table’ meetings of industry stakeholders (from the shipping, ports, exhaust gas cleaning system technology, oil refining and logistics sectors) to consider the best way forward for compliance with the new international and EU sulphur requirements. The potential for reverse modal shift, the maturity and efficacy of scrubber technology and the scope for financial assistance to industry were all key to those discussions. The report commissioned by the UK Chamber of Shipping was produced as a result of those meetings, and officials have taken it into account in producing the Government’s Impact Assessment on the draft UK Regulations to implement the sulphur limits in national law.

    The Government went out to an eight-week public consultation on 29 April 2014 on those draft UK Regulations. Meanwhile, Government officials continue to work closely with the industry and to explore the scope for securing EU finance, possibly under the Trans-European Network (commonly known as TEN-T) programme and affordable capital from the European Investment Bank, for shipowners and ports who wish to invest in scrubber technology or in technology associated with the use of an alternative fuel, such as liquefied natural gas, to comply with the new limits.

    The UK Regulations will be reviewed in accordance with normal Government practice and consistent with the principles of better regulation.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Attorney General, for how many cases the Serious Fraud Office has sought additional funding from the Exchequer in the last two years; and on how many occasions such funding was granted (a) in part and (b) in full.

    Oliver Heald

    The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has sought additional funding in relation to three cases in the last two years, and this was granted in full on each occasion.

    Some additional funding has also been provided in relation to other matters as set out in the recent report of the Justice Committee on the SFO’s Supplementary Estimate for 2013-14.

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the proportion of jobseeker’s allowance claims processed within (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 30, (d) 40, (e) 60 and (f) more than 60 working days.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not available.