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Tag: 2014

  • Mr Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mr Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) converter academies and (b) maintained schools achieved a higher percentage of students achieving five GCSE A* to C grades than the previous year in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13.

    David Laws

    The requested information is publicly available in the 2010/11[1], 2011/12[2] and 2012/13[3] performance tables.

    [1] http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/download_data.html

    [2] http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/2012/download_data.html

    [3] http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/2011/download_data.html

    “

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the merits of strengthening penalties for breaches of food law in reducing food fraud.

    Jane Ellison

    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the competent authority for the Food Hygiene Regulations. The FSA Board has, on a number of occasions, highlighted its concern that the level of sanction imposed by the courts for food hygiene offences has not been sufficient to deter offending. The sentences imposed are often small when set against the potential profits to be accrued from non–compliance with the Regulations. The FSA would welcome the strengthening of penalties for breaches of the Food Hygiene Regulations.

    The FSA is also keen to ensure that there is consistency in sentencing for food hygiene offences. They have approached the Office of the Sentencing Council and requested that they consider producing sentencing guidelines for food hygiene offences. They are currently working with officials from the Council, who are hoping to produce draft guidelines that can be put before the full Sentencing Council.

  • Stephen Mosley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Mosley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Mosley on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report of the Commission on Devolution in Wales published on 3 March 2014, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Wales on the potential implications for (a) rail services in Chester and (b) Chester railway station of the recommendation in that report to devolve the Wales and Borders rail franchise to the National Assembly for Wales.

    Stephen Hammond

    No discussions have taken place with my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Wales, on further devolution of responsibilities for the Wales and Border franchise and its implications for the division of responsibilities between the two Governments for rail services calling at, and the management of, Chester station.

  • Elfyn Llwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Elfyn Llwyd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Elfyn Llwyd on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of police staff in each police area in England and Wales have received training in sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harrassment Act 1997.

    Damian Green

    The College of Policing sets standards and provides relevant training products and services to police forces. The College of Policing training package on
    stalking has been completed 52,176 times between October 2012 and 31 May 2014 by police officers and staff in England and Wales.

    The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of police staff in each police area in England and Wales who have received training.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Seema Malhotra – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Attorney General, what the average timescale was for the Crown Prosecution Service to provide the Independent Police Complaints Commission with advice on criminal charges against current or former police officers suspected of involvement in serious crimes in (a) 2011 to 2013 and (b) 2008 to 2010.

    Oliver Heald

    The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) do not identify the number of cases referred to it for advice by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications his Department has received from academies seeking to change their admissions policies; and how many such applications his Department accepted.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Academies can only change their admission arrangements following the procedures set out in the School Admissions Code.

    During the 2013/14 academic year the Education Funding Agency has received requests to change admissions arrangements for 8 academies. Of these, 7 were approved and 1 was withdrawn by the academy trust.

    These figures do not include applications to change admissions arrangements that form part of a request for a wider change to an academy’s funding agreement, for example extending the age range, as this data is not recorded centrally.

  • Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much in discretionary housing payments has been allocated in Corby and East Northamptonshire constituency for those affected by the under-occupancy penalty in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

    Steve Webb

    Discretionary Housing Payments(DHP) are allocated by Local Authority not parliamentary constituency. The table below details the overall DHP allocation and the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) element for Corby and East Northhamptonshire local authorities.

    Government allocation of DHP by Local authority

    2013/14

    2014/15

    RSRS

    Total DHP

    RSRS

    Total DHP

    Corby

    £25,669

    £92,250

    £92,809

    £134,854

    East Northamptonshire

    £24,304

    £85,490

    £59,253

    £99,565
  • Rehman Chishti – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Rehman Chishti – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of prospects for successful negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme.

    Hugh Robertson

    The current negotiations with Iran are the best opportunity in years to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme. Negotiations so far, which have built on the Geneva interim deal, have been constructive, but challenging: any deal will require Iran to take significant steps to address comprehensively our proliferation concerns. However, there remains commitment on all sides of the table to reach a deal.

  • Mr Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Mr Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Frank Field on 2014-03-13.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will introduce legislative proposals to provide that the heirs of people who disclaim hereditary peerages cannot claim any hereditary right to membership of the House of Lords; and if he will publish details of how many people entitled to hereditary peerages have renounced their titles where their oldest eligible son has subsequently claimed the title on their death.

    Nick Clegg

    The Government’s proposals introduced to the House of Commons on 10 July 2012 included plans to end hereditary peerages altogether.The Government has no further specific plans to legislate in this area. Currently anyone in this position has every right to disclaim the title should they so wish.

    Eighteen people have disclaimed their titles since the passage of the 1963 Peerage Act, the first being the late Tony Benn. Of those disclaimed peerages, seven have subsequently been claimed by the entitled heir.

  • in each case – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    in each case – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by in each case on 2014-06-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the proposal to introduce contracts for difference auctioning has been reassessed following the European Commission’s adoption of the final state aid guidelines for environmental protection and energy for 2014–2020; if so whether they specifically considered (1) the risk of the proposal failing to conform with the Commission’s guidance that competitive bidding should be non-discriminatory due to the distinction the proposal makes between established” and “less established” technologies

    Baroness Verma

    The move to competitive allocation of CfDs has been a long-standing feature of Electricity Market Reform. In early 2014, the Government consulted on proposals to move straight to competitive allocation for some technologies. EU ‘Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020′ were adopted in principle on 9 April 2014. Prior to that adoption, the European Commission worked with member states on the development of the guidelines, including through draft versions and receiving comments.

    Implementation of key EMR policies is subject to State Aid approval, and the Government has been in discussion with the European Commission for some time to ensure our policies comply. These conversations remain constructive and we are making the strongest possible case for our policies which we believe are consistent with the new guidelines. To maintain effective working relationships with the Commission, we do not comment publicly on the specifics of cases.