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Tag: 2014

  • Jonathan Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jonathan Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Evans on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of project licences granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in Wales was in the (a) mild, (b) moderate, (c) substantial and (d) unclassified severity banding at the end of 2013.

    Norman Baker

    The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, was amended following the transposition of European Directive 2010/63EU, which came into force on 1 January 2013. Project licences are no longer accorded a severity banding and accordingly it is not possible to provide the information required as it is no longer collected.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2014-07-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that pay day loan companies are restricted from deliberately intimidating their customers.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government has fundamentally reformed the regulation of the payday lending market. Regulatory responsibility for consumer credit transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April. The FCA has transposed key parts of the OFT’s Debt Collection Guidance into binding rules, which sets out the types of business practices considered unfair and incompatible with fitness to operate.

    The FCA is undertaking a thematic review into payday lenders’ debt collection practices to ensure that firms treat customers who are struggling with repayments fairly. The FCA expects to publish the final report early in 2015 which will set out what practices it has found across the market and how it expects all firms in the market to make sure they are observing the right standards of behaviour.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Laurence Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of times fathers have had access to their children restricted in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what the reasons were for the restrictions; and if he will make a statement.

    Simon Hughes

    Details of the number of times fathers have had access to their children restricted in each of the last five years and the reasons for those restrictions are not held centrally and can only be obtained by manually checking every case file at disproportionate costs.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of options for increasing service frequencies on the Nottingham-Lincoln line; and what the revenue subsidy and capital cost of implications are of each such option.

    Claire Perry

    As stated in the Greater Lincolnshire Deal, which was part of the Local Growth Fund announcement on 7 July, the Department is committed to working with D2N2 and the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership and partners to help achieve their objective of increased service frequency between Lincoln and Nottingham via Newark.

    However, this is dependent on the affordability and value for money of the services. In addition, it is dependent on the level of local funding available to support these incremental rail services for the first three years, after which the Department would consider continuing with the services as part of its base specification. We are currently assessing the available options against the criteria above, taking account of likely revenue and cost implications alongside the latest funding offer from the stakeholders.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to promote the use of IT facilities in public libraries by participants in the Work Programme for job search and preparation; and if he will make a statement.

    Esther McVey

    Work Programme providers have flexibility to innovate and to design support that addresses the needs of individuals and the local labour market, rather than having to follow one size fits all processes. It is at the discretion of providers whether they choose to advise individuals to use any particular public facilities.

  • 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 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the total value is of all bids made in each region to each round of the Regional Growth Fund including the Exceptional Regional Growth Fund; how much has been committed to winning bidders in each such region in each such round; and how much such funding has been drawn down.

    Greg Clark

    The tables below provide a breakdown of the value of Regional Growth Fund (RGF) by region and round for RGF applications; the committed allocation of RGF to projects and programmes following due diligence. This data excludes those projects and programmes that have withdrawn. The third table sets out the amount drawn down by operational RGF awards to date and the financial years in which the remaining RGF and eRGF is committed through to 31st March 2017. The data is correct as at 2nd October 2014.

    Projects and programmes in Rounds 1 to 4 have until 31 March 2015 to draw down their funding and projects and programmes in Round 5 will be able to draw down funding until 31 March 2017. The Department agrees a draw down profile with each organisation when they sign their grant offer letter that matches the beneficiary’s own investment schedules and job commitments. The subsequent rate of draw down is then subject to the beneficiaries meeting the conditions.

    RGF Applications (£ million)

    Round 1

    Round 2

    Round 3

    Round 4

    Round 5

    Exceptional

    Total

    East Midlands

    231

    529

    124

    163

    56

    1,103

    East of England

    115

    131

    61

    50

    43

    400

    London

    74

    117

    26

    32

    4

    253

    North East

    343

    335

    353

    215

    98

    34

    1,378

    North West

    519

    535

    414

    322

    81

    9

    1,880

    South East

    185

    154

    145

    191

    24

    22

    721

    South West

    144

    232

    322

    219

    57

    15

    989

    West Midlands

    569

    282

    419

    176

    70

    16

    1,532

    Yorkshire and The Humber

    327

    434

    345

    240

    26

    1,372

    Nationwide

    215

    315

    565

    282

    241

    1,618

    TOTAL

    2,722

    3,064

    2,774

    1,890

    700

    96

    11,246

    RGF Committed

    Round 1

    Round 2

    Round 3

    Round 4

    Round 5

    Exceptional

    Grand Total

    East Midlands

    2

    64

    27

    35

    20

    0

    148

    East of England

    14

    35

    25

    15

    5

    0

    95

    Nationwide

    175

    95

    176

    50

    107

    0

    602

    North East

    34

    61

    111

    30

    55

    21

    313

    North West

    20

    182

    105

    86

    20

    5

    418

    South East

    0

    60

    54

    25

    6

    11

    155

    South West

    4

    71

    82

    13

    22

    5

    197

    West Midlands

    89

    95

    151

    55

    30

    17

    437

    Yorkshire and The Humber

    47

    78

    93

    40

    27

    0

    285

    Grand Total

    385

    742

    834

    349

    291

    58

    2651

    RGF Drawn Down by year (£ million)

    Financial Year

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    2016/17

    Total

    Actual paid – year to date

    465

    161

    551

    252*

    1,428

    Planned for whole financial year

    1165

    167

    133

    2,642

    The difference between the totals in tables 2 and 3 arises because RGF applicants have not always claimed the full grant available to them.

    *This is the actual amount paid to beneficiaries as of 2nd October 2014.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he will answer Question 200690 tabled by the hon. Member for Leeds Central on 13 June 2014.

    Kris Hopkins

    Question 200690 was answered on 26 June 2014, Official Report¸ Column 270W.

  • 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 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many fires have occurred onboard each variant of Joint Strike Fighter aircraft; and what the cause was of each fire.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    All aircraft variants of F-35 are currently within the Development Test phase of the overall programme. The aim of the Development Test phase is to reveal issues through testing so that solutions can be developed in order to deliver a capable aircraft to the Armed Forces.

    There have been no fires on-board either the F-35B (Short Take Off & Vertical Landing Variant) or the F-35C (Carrier Variant).

    There have been four fires on-board the F-35A (Conventional Take Off & Landing Variant) that the UK are aware of:

    The first fire was within the Integrated Power Pack (IPP) and was due to an internal valve failure. Ground personnel extinguished the fire which resulted in minor aircraft damage. This incident lead to a minor design change.

    The second fire was as a result of a hydraulic fluid leak onto a brake assembly following landing. Ground personnel extinguished the fire which resulted in minor aircraft damage.

    The third fire was due to a hot brake condition after landing which was extinguished by ground personnel and resulted in a replacement of the wheel/tyre assembly.

    Both brake fires remain under investigation with no immediate design change being considered as necessary.

    The most recent fire occurred on 23 June 2014 at Eglin Air Force Base during a takeoff roll. The root cause of the incident is currently being investigated.

  • Mark Menzies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Mark Menzies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to ensure that the risk of flooding is taken into account in any potential shale gas sites.

    Michael Fallon

    Any development (including a shale gas site) that is planned near a main river or a flood defence (including a sea defence) will require a flood defence consent from the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency is a statutory consultee in the planning process and can object to any development that they consider to be at high risk of flooding. The Environment Agency will continue to assess each site on a case by case basis and work with operators and local planning to ensure sites are protected from flood risk.

  • Andrew Turner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Turner – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department gathers on the number of people who move to another GP practice.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre has advised that data on the number of people changing general practitioner practice each year is not collected centrally.