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Tag: 2014

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the performance of the School Food Plan in increasing healthy breakfast provision in more deprived areas; and how much had been spent on this programme by April 2014.

    Mr David Laws

    As part of the school food plan, Magic Breakfast started work in March 2014 to set up breakfast clubs in schools where over 35% of pupils are eligible for free school meals and where there is currently no breakfast provision.

    We are currently tendering for a contract to evaluate the effectiveness of the breakfast clubs. The successful bidder will be announced shortly.

  • Chris Heaton-Harris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Heaton-Harris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Heaton-Harris on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people died from heat-related causes in the summer of (a) 2012 and (b) 2013.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who owns data on police information notices issued by police services in England and Wales.

    Damian Green

    Data on police information notices issued by Police services in England and
    Wales is not collected centrally and is owned by the individual police force
    that issued the notice.

  • 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 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Vietnamese counterpart on preventing child trafficking from that country to the UK.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK has a highly cooperative relationship with the Vietnamese authorities to tackle human trafficking, including of minors, from Vietnam to the UK.

    Our Embassy staff in Hanoi engage regularly with the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, to facilitate visits to the UK to showcase the mechanisms we have in place. Later this month high level officials from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will be visiting the UK Human Trafficking Centre of the National Crime Agency, the Home Office’s Modern Slavery Unit and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s (NSPCC’s) Child Trafficking Advice Centre and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to improve their understanding of the UK’s approach when working with victims of trafficking.

    Equally the Embassy has worked together with local authorities to open Compassion House in June 2013, a UK funded shelter in Lao Cai on the Chinese border for girls who have been trafficked.

  • Vernon Coaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Vernon Coaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will provide details of the projects supported by the Armed Forces Covenant (LIBOR) Fund since its inception; and how much funding has been given to each of those projects.

    Anna Soubry

    The £35 million LIBOR fund has now closed with the majority of the money being allocated in support of a total of 97 projects. A copy of the document detailing those projects and the funding they have received is attached. A small sum is being held back for contingencey purposes.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter of 30 April 2014 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to the chairmen of fire and rescue authorities and the Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Fire Service Management Committee, if he will put forward the revised proposals for consideration by firefighters and the Fire Brigades Union.

    Brandon Lewis

    It is common knowledge that we agreed to ask the Government Actuary’s Department to cost proposals put forward by the Fire Brigades Union. These were Fire Brigades Union proposals which the Government had not taken a view on.

    My letter to the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union of 23 April said “we are now considering this proposal across Government. While we are not yet in a position to respond positively to your suggested changes, I will inform you of the outcome of those deliberations as soon as possible”. I had also been clear with the Fire Brigades Union leadership that it was only possible to consider such proposals during a period when strike action was in abeyance. Rather than continue and finalise that constructive process the Fire Brigades Union leadership chose to call a halt to discussions prematurely by announcing strike action.

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jeremy Corbyn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Corbyn on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many conversions of office premises to housing have been notified to him since the lifting of planning approval requirements for such conversions; and how many social housing units have been included in such conversions.

    Nick Boles

    New homes are being created now because of the permitted development right for office to residential change of use. These new homes are helping to address the country’s housing need regardless of tenure. Developers seeking to convert an office to a residential property are required to seek prior approval from the local planning authority. A survey by Estates Gazette has found that there were more than 2,250 applications for change of use from office to residential in the first six months since the change was introduced. Some of these developments are, in themselves, each set to deliver more than 100 homes. The Department will begin collecting data on the number of prior approval applications from local planning authorities later in the year, covering applications from April 2014.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the status of the application for funding for extending sea berms and defences in Fairlight, East Sussex.

    Lord De Mauley

    Rother District Council has applied to the Environment Agency for funding for a study in 2015/2016, and a subsequent scheme in 2016/2017, under the Coast Protection Act 1949. The project is called ‘Fairlight Coast Protection Works phase 3′. The bid is being considered by the Environment Agency alongside other potential projects in England as part of a six year programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management works.

  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Permanent Council of the Organisation for Securityand Co-operation in Europe is considering Ukraine at is weekly meetings; and what recommendations, if any, it has so far made, in particular about conflict prevention.

    Baroness Warsi

    The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been at the forefront of the international response to the crisis in Ukraine over recent months. The crisis has been a regular topic of discussion on the Organisation’s agenda since the Permanent Council met to discuss it in special session on 3 March. Both the Permanent Council and the Forum for Security and Co-operation have discussed Ukraine on numerous occasions since then.

    The OSCE has launched a number of initiatives to contribute towards de-escalation of the crisis. On 21 March the Permanent Council agreed to the deployment of a Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine. That Mission, which includes a UK Deputy Chief Monitor and 9 UK staff, swiftly deployed across the country with a mandate to gather information, report on the security situation and assess how best to meet the concerns of all parties. The Mission is providing regular reporting and recently played a key role in the negotiation of the safe release of the Vienna Document unarmed military inspectors who had been detained in Slavyansk. In Geneva on 17 April the US, the EU, Ukraine and the Russian Federation agreed that the Mission should have a role in verifying the implementation of agreed steps towards de-escalation. The Government fully supports this Mission’s work and is actively backing it with both finance and personnel. The UK has so far contributed over £1 million and is currently the second biggest contributor to the Mission’s core costs.

    In addition to the SMM, the OSCE has been active in Ukraine through the work of its autonomous institutions, the High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Representative on Freedom of the Media, while there has been a rolling programme of visits by unarmed military inspectors under the Vienna Document 2011. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is sending a large scale mission of 1000 observers to monitor the Ukrainian Presidential Elections on 25 May. The UK will be providing 10% of the total number of observers with 10 Long term Observers and 90 Short Term Observers.

    There are no current plans for an OSCE Summit, while the next formal Ministerial Council is due to take place in Basel, Switzerland on 4-5 December 2014. However the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), been in regular contact with OSCE Chairman and Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, most recently when they met in Vienna on 6 May, while the Minister for Europe, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), spoke by telephone to OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier on the same day.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-05-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which official, with what job title, is responsible and accountable for departmental management information in the Department of Health.

    Earl Howe

    Within the Department of Health the official who holds responsibility for Departmental management information is Richard Douglas, Director-General for Finance and the National Health Service.