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Tag: 2014

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions ministerial authorisation has been granted for expenditure which exceeded his Department’s internal efficiency control thresholds for (a) advertising, marketing and communications, (b) consultancy and (c) external recruitment; and what the (i) purpose and (ii) value of any such agreed expenditure has been in the last 12 months.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The Department for Education has its own internal efficiency controls thresholds and complies with the Cabinet Office controls.

    1. Advertising, Marketing and Communications expenditure above the Departmental threshold of £100,000 is submitted to Efficiency and Reform Group at Cabinet Office for final clearance.

    2. Consultancy expenditure above £20,000 (and is a new contract expected to exceed 9 months, an existing contract to be extended beyond 9 months or is expenditure for procurement related consultancy) is submitted to Cabinet Office for final clearance.

    3. Cabinet Office is not directly involved in recruitment approvals.

    The approved expenditure requests which have exceeded Departmental thresholds are published on a quarterly basis on the Department’s website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/approved-exemptions-to-the-efficiency-controls

    “

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, columns 367-8W, on armed conflicts: minerals, which UK companies he has met to discuss the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.

    Mark Simmonds

    I have met the following companies to discuss the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights – Anglo American, BG Group, BP, Dana Petroleum, Dominion Energy, Ophir Energy, Perenco, Premier Oil, Rio Tinto, Shell, Soma Oil and Gas, Stellar Diamonds and Tullow Oil.

  • Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to begin negotiations with Novartis on the procurement of the vaccine for meningitis B as part of the primary infant immunisation schedule.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government is taking the necessary steps to ensure this procurement is properly conducted.

    We are committed to introducing this vaccine in line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s recommendation, subject to the vaccine being available at a cost-effective price.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost was of renaming (a) the Case Resolution Directorate in 2011 and (b) the Case Assurance and Audit Unit in 2013.

    Karen Bradley

    It is not possible to answer the question, as information is not held in the
    appropriate format and to extract the data would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what monitoring her Department carries out on the amount of time taken by its contractor companies to carry out the required checks on people applying for spouse visas to the UK.

    Karen Bradley

    The Department does not contract with any companies to carry out checks on
    people applying for spouse visas.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he takes to ensure that statutory undertakers carrying out emergency works give notice to street authorities as required under section 57 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Failure by statutory undertakers to notify the highway authority when they carry out emergency works under section 57 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (NRSWA) is an offence. The authority concerned may issue a Fixed Penalty Notice, or the authority may initiate a prosecution against the undertaker for the offence.

    If the authority is a permitting authority under the Traffic Management Act 2004, section 57 of NRSWA is dis-applied, and is replaced with an offence of undertaking works without a required permit, which the authority may also deal with by Fixed Penalty, or may initiate a prosecution for the offence.

    These offences are all dealt with by the appropriate highway authority at a local level.

  • Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints his Department has received on the Access to Work scheme in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    Access to Work complaints are handled in accordance with the DWP two tier complaints process. The figures that are available since the introduction of that process are:

    Customer complaints received

    Year

    2011/12 (Q4 only)

    2012/13

    2013/14

    Number of complaints

    121

    75

    157

    “

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the (a) median and (b) mean value of top-up that the Government will contribute to each child under the tax-free childcare scheme.

    Nicky Morgan

    The government has published an Impact Assessment on Tax-Free Childcare here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-free-childcare-impact-assessment

    “

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he has given education authorities, free schools and academies on maternity pay for staff transferring schools during pregnancy.

    Mr David Laws

    Maternity Pay arrangements for most teachers transferring schools are set out in ‘Conditions of Service for School Teachers in England and Wales’ and wider employment legislation. Similar arrangements are determined by the ‘National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service’ for school support staff employed by local authorities. Academies and free schools are not bound by these arrangements but are free to adopt them for their staff if they choose to do so.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he plans to make to his Egyptian counterpart on press freedom in that country.

    Hugh Robertson

    The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) made a statement on 23 June expressing his concerns and urging the Egyptian Government to demonstrate its commitment to freedom of expression by reviewing this case as a matter of urgency.

    The Egyptian Ambassador Ashraf el-Kholy was summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on 23 June. FCO Political Director, Simon Gass told the Egyptian Ambassador that the British Government was deeply concerned by the verdicts, along with the procedural shortcomings seen during the trials. The British Ambassador to Egypt raised this issue in Cairo with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 24 June.

    British Ministers and diplomats will continue to urge the Egyptian Government to demonstrate its commitment to freedom of expression.