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Tag: 2014

  • Dr Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Dr Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Julian Huppert on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of passenger rail journeys that have been double counted because passengers have used multiple franchises to complete a single journey.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Secretary of State for Transport has made no estimate of the number of rail passenger journeys that have been double counted. The Office of Rail Regulation is responsible for rail passenger usage statistics and may have an estimate. Their contact details are:

    Address:

    Office of Rail Regulation

    One Kemble Street

    London

    WC2B 4AN

    Telephone: 020 7282 2000

    Email: rail.stats@orr.gov.uk

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

    Simon Hughes

    Staff within the Ministry of Justice (MoJ HQ), HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and Legal Aid Agency (LAA) can, but are not compelled to, declare their ethnicity. Consequently, definitive figures for the proportion of white British staff who have been dismissed or subject to formal disciplinary proceedings over the last five financial years cannot be provided.

    The MoJ Diversity report for 2012/2013 provides an overview of information on staff grievances, investigations, conduct and discipline. This can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279638/moj-diversity-data-report-2012-13.pdf

    This information has not been collated or published in respect of earlier financial years.

    “

  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the performance of the Pensions Regulator is assessed in relation to trends in (a) take-up of workplace pensions and (b) anticipated retirement income from current workplace pension accounts.

    Steve Webb

    The Pensions Regulator pursues five main objectives as set out in section 5 of the Pensions Act 2004. These objectives include the protection of benefits to the members of work-based pensions schemes. The Pensions Regulator’s key performance indicators are designed to operate in support of its statutory objectives.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Cabinet Manual, paragraph 5.38, whether the convention that the House of Commons should have an advance opportunity to debate significant military action applies to the deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles outside Afghanistan when operated from RAF Waddington.

    Greg Clark

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by the Minister of State for the Armed Forces, the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford, to PQ 198710.

  • Lord Bradley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Bradley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2014-04-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have (1) applied for, and (2) been granted, help through (a) the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, and (b) the Help to Buy equity loan scheme, in each of the ten districts of Greater Manchester.

    Lord Newby

    LORD NEWBY

    a) On 23 March, the Prime Minister announced that 2,572 mortgages were supported by the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme in its first four months. 342 of these were in the North West. The Government does not generally collect data on the number of applications participating lenders receive for mortgages supported by the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme. However, as a single submission to the Government, two of the largest lenders in the Scheme, Lloyds and RBS, have said they received 9,569 applications, and one of the smallest lenders in the Scheme, Aldermore, received 2,313 applications.

    Now the Scheme is open, the Government is collecting data on mortgages covered by the guarantee, and will report in due course.

    b) The Government publishes monthly statistics on the cumulative number of homes purchased (legal completions), with the support of Help to Buy: equity loans, by local authority in England. The data can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-monthly-statistics.

    “

  • Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people seeking asylum in the United Kingdom on the grounds of trans-related issues have been refused asylum and deported to their countries of origin over the last five years.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The Home Office does not centrally record this specific data and the information requested could only be obtained through a manual search of
    individual case files. This would exceed the cost limit.

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

    Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-04-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that library facilities in prisons, including the availability and ordering of books, are fit for purpose.

    Lord Faulks

    Prison library services are, in the majority of prisons, provided by Public Library Authorities. Prison libraries enable prisoners to receive, subject to the constraints of operating within a custodial environment, a service equivalent to that provided for library users in the community.

    We consider them to be fit for purpose.

  • Lord Laird – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2014-06-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what searches have been undertaken to find the missing files on pre-1998 Northern Ireland royal prerogative of mercy cases; how many are absent; where the paperwork would normally be filed; and whether such paperwork is passed to the National Archives on a routine basis after 30 years.

    Baroness Randerson

    Before 1998, the use of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (RPM) in Northern Ireland was relatively common since this pre-dated a number of statutory schemes which enabled sentences to be shortened for various reasons, for example where evidence had been given by prisoners to enable others to be convicted. The overwhelming majority of RPM cases during this period were not terrorist-related.

    The Northern Ireland Office continues to seek information on the use of the RPM between 1987 and 1997, including through contacts with other parts of Government which might hold relevant information.

    The NIO takes its records management responsibilities seriously and is compliant with all public records legislation and National Archives guidance. This includes routine reviews of records, compliance with records disposal schedules and transfers of records at 30 years to the National Archives.

  • Dr Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dr Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Julian Huppert on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure long-term capital funding for sixth form colleges.

    Mr David Laws

    The 2013 Spending Round confirmed the levels of capital funding that the Department for Education will receive between 2015 and 2021. This settlement will enable the Department to develop a long-term approach, allowing us to consider making allocations over a number of years, which would help schools, sixth-form colleges and their responsible bodies to plan with greater confidence.

    I am clear that in future years our funding should be better targeted to where it is most needed, and it is for this reason that the Department is currently collecting up to date information on the condition of school buildings, including sixth-form colleges, through a comprehensive survey. This survey is due to be completed by the summer and it is our intention that the results will be used to inform the allocation of capital maintenance funding from 2015-16.

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

    Lord Beecham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in how many cases since the passage of the Justice and Security Act 2013 applications have been made for closed material procedures to be employed; and how many have been successful.

    Lord Faulks

    In accordance with section 12 of the Justice and Security Act 2013, the Government will lay before Parliament, in the course of 2014, a report on the use of the closed material procedure under section 6 of that Act. This will include the numbers of applications made and whether such applications have been granted.