Tag: 2014

  • Damian Hinds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Damian Hinds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Damian Hinds on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on economic development in Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    I regularly hold discussions with Executive ministers on a range of economic issues.

    Last week, I chaired a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Task Force on Banking and Access to Finance which was established to help Northern Ireland businesses access finance.

  • David Winnick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Winnick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2014 Official Report, column 74W, on Members: Correspondence, when he expects to send a substantive reply to the letter of 30 April 2014 from the hon. Member for Walsall North about admissions to Walsall Academy which was separate from the letter sent to the Chief Executive of the Education Funding Agency; and for what reason that Answer does not mention that there was separate correspondence on the subject.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    My noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, responded to the hon. Member’s other letter of 30 April about admission arrangements at Walsall academy on 16 June. On behalf of the Department I would like to apologise for the delay in answering this letter.

    My reply of 10 June related to the letter with the reference (2014/0036207) quoted in the question.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Blencathra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2014-03-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been paid in legal aid fees over the last five years to law firms Public Interest Lawyers and Leigh Day to conduct cases alleging abuse by British soldiers.

    Lord Faulks

    The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases for those Iraqis alleging abuse by British Soldiers without disproportionate costs. Legal aid cases are not systematically recorded against nationality or cause of action.

    Leigh Day have not acted under legal aid in these types of cases. Public Interest Lawyers have acted for Iraqi clients under legal aid in cases seeking investigations into deaths and mistreatment.

    The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past five years were:

    Year

    Amount

    2008/09

    £628,527.75

    2009/10

    £267,433.88

    2010/11

    £439,268.02

    2011/12

    £331,238.85

    2012/13

    £54,387.48

    These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to devolve Air Passenger Duty to Scotland.

    Nicky Morgan

    Beyond the powers in the Scotland Act 2012, the Government has no plans for further devolution of tax powers to Scotland until the referendum on Scottish independence has been settled

    Budget 2014 announced the reform of air passenger duty with the abolition of bands C and D from 1 April 2015. This will eliminate the two highest rates of air passenger duty charged on flights to countries over 4,000 miles from Britain, cutting tax for millions for passengers to travelling to China, India, Brazil and many other emerging markets. This will mean that flights to South Asia and the Caribbean will pay tax at the lower band B rate.

  • Lord Harrison – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Harrison – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2014-03-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to incentivise good stewardship of assets by charities.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    Charity trustees have a legal duty to protect their charity’s assets and resources. The Charity Commission for England and Wales has published updated guidance on stewardship of charity assets which has been widely welcomed. As part of its charity law project, the Law Commission is currently considering the powers and duties of charity trustees in relation to social investment.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what individual student number controls his Department has set for each provider which has been granted specific course designation under his Department’s financial sustainability, management and governance checks.

    Mr David Willetts

    Provisional student number allocations have been issued to providers. However, those numbers will only be confirmed and where necessary adjusted when the provider has received designation or re-designation for the 2014/15 academic year. For the majority of providers that process is still on-going. We will publish student number control data when that process has been completed for all providers.

  • Chris Heaton-Harris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris Heaton-Harris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Heaton-Harris on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people with learning disabilities reported being bullied at school in each year for which figures are available.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education does not collect information on the number of people with learning difficulties reported being bullied at school.

    The Government is clear that bullying, for whatever reason, is totally unacceptable. All schools are required, by law, to have a behaviour policy with measures to address all forms of bullying including that which occurs online. Schools have the freedom to shape these measures in the context of their particular local circumstances and pupils’ needs. Schools are held closely to account by Ofsted for how well they deal with pupil behaviour and safety, which includes bullying.

    We are also providing £4 million of funding over two years from spring 2013 to four organisations – Beatbullying, the Diana Award, Kidscape and The Anti-bullying Alliance (ABA) with the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) – to develop effective initiatives that prevent and tackle all forms of bullying.

    As part of their funding, the ABA has recently published a guide to cyberbullying for SEND young people, which contains advice for schools on developing effective anti-bullying practice and we link to this report in our Departmental advice on bullying.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the revised plans for the roll-out of universal credit announced on 5 December 2013, what estimate he has made of the number of families which will be eligible for support for childcare through universal credit in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17, (c) 2017-18 and (d) 2018-19.

    Steve Webb

    I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given by my Rt. Hon. Friend the member for Wirral West (Esther McVey) to the hon. Member for Leeds West, Rachel Reeves, Official Report, 11 June 2014, column 174W.

  • Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mr David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has paid for the use of Interpol’s SLTD database in each year since 2010.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office accounting systems does not identify separate expenditure on the Interpol’s SLTD database. The information cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

  • Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cancer patients aged between 13 and 24 have (a) accessed treatments through the already approved Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) list, (b) applied for individual CDF requests, (c) had individual CDF requests put forward for consideration by the CDF panel, (d) had individual CDF requests approved by the CDF panel and (e) had individual CDF requests refused by the CDF panel in each of the last three years.

    Norman Lamb

    Prior to April 2013, information on the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority and information on the age of patients who received cancer drugs was not collected.

    NHS England has had oversight of the Fund since April 2013 and advises that it does not analyse Cancer Drugs Fund data by age ranges.