Tag: 2014

Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-31.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2013, Official Report, columns 611-2W, on electoral registration officers, which local authorities failed to meet performance standard 1 on using local government databases, in each year for which information is available.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission informs me that the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) who did not meet performance standard 1 in each year from 2008 to 2010 are shown in the table below. No EROs have been assessed as not meeting this standard in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Table: EROs not meeting Performance Standard 1

2008	2009	2010
Barnsley	Bradford	Barnsley
Berwick-upon-Tweed	Nottingham	Nottingham
Blaby	Sefton
Blackburn with Darwen
Brentwood
Chester-le-street*
Durham*
Harborough
Ipswich
North East Derbyshire
North Lanarkshire**
Nottingham
Sutton
South Lanarkshire**
Three Rivers
Windsor and Maidenhead
Weymouth and Portland
Walsall

*Chester-le Street and Durham are now part of County Durham unitary authority.

**North and South Lanarkshire are covered by one ERO

The Electoral Commission also informs me that it published its report, titled ‘Readiness for the transition to Individual Electoral Registration’, which included its assessment of ERO performance in 2013, on 31 March, and wrote to the honourable member with a copy of the report. The report explains that all EROs reported that they were meeting or exceeding standard 1 in 2013, and that the Commission is in the process of conducting a detailed analysis of EROs’ electoral registration data from the 2013 canvass, following which it will publish its final assessment of EROs’ performance.

November 1, 2022

Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of public libraries with a catchment area of more than 40,000 resident population were open at least 45 hours per week in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The detail requested is not held centrally by this Department. However the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) collect, annually, from the individual library authorities comprehensive information relating to library service provision in the United Kingdom, which includes data relating to the questions raised. Copies of CIPFA statistics are available in the House Library.

November 1, 2022
Lord Morrow – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morrow on 2014-03-31.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in light of the announcement that Atos Healthcare is exiting its contract in respect of fit-for-work tests, whether they plan to initiate an investigation with published terms of reference into that company’s performance, including complaints made directly to Atos Healthcare and through any other agency including the Department for Work and Pensions.

Lord Freud

The Department has closely monitored the performance of Atos Healthcare and will continue to do so until Atos exits the contract as described in the Written Ministerial Statement of 27 March 2014. There are no plans to carry out any investigations into performance.

November 1, 2022
Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the loudest decibel levels are that are produced by JSF 35B during operations aboard an aircraft carrier.

Mr Philip Dunne

The loudest operation to be conducted by the F-35B onboard an aircraft carrier is a Military Power take-off. The measured aircraft sound level of a Military Power take-off is approximately 145 dB at 135 degrees from the aircraft nose centre line, at a distance of 50 feet from the rear of the aircraft. The Military Power take-off is a standard operating procedure and managing exposure to noise is an integral part of normal embarked operations. This level of noise is similar to that of the Harrier, F18’s, F15’s and the same level as produced by an F-16.

November 1, 2022
Lord Willis of Knaresborough – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Willis of Knaresborough on 2014-03-31.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whatchanges to the existing arrangements for the periodic roadworthiness testing of motor vehicles and their trailers are envisaged following the repeal of European Union Directive 2009/40/EC and the agreement of a new directive at Strasbourg on 11 March.

Baroness Kramer

The negotiations on the new Directive have been very successful, in terms of avoiding substantive, potentially inappropriate, changes to the MOT system while enhancing road safety in several areas. There will be changes regarding testing pre 1960 vehicles, and we will discuss options with interested parties in coming months. There will also be minor changes in how test results are provided.

November 1, 2022
Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department’s review of arrangements for complaints and redress for people with education, health and care needs under the Children and Families Act 2014 will commence.

Mr Edward Timpson

The Department for Education, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice and others, is in the process of developing proposals for the review of redress and complaint arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The review will consider:
1. Whether the amended mediation arrangements set out in the Act provide parents and young people with a way of having their complaints considered in a holistic way and whether they reduce the number of appeals to tribunals.
2. How successful the new assessment and EHC planning process itself is at resolving disagreements.
3. If health and social care complaint arrangements are working for parents and young people.
4. What role the Tribunal might play in hearing appeals and complaints across education, health and social care.
Running parallel to the review will be pilots to test an expansion of the powers of the first tier tribunal to make recommendations about the health and social care elements of EHC Plans. We estimate that the pilots will begin in the spring of 2015 as the first appeals about the new Education, Health and Care Plans begin to be heard and that the pilots will last for two years as they build up the evidence on which to base any recommendations.

The Secretary of State for Education and the Lord Chancellor must lay a report on the outcome of the review before Parliament within three years of any of the provisions of Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 coming into force in September 2014. Interim findings from the pilots could be published before the final report on the review.
November 1, 2022
Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-03-31.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s (a) catering and (b) hospitality budget was in (i) 2012 and (ii) 2013.

Brandon Lewis

My Department has no separate budget for catering and hospitality in 2012 and 2013.

To assist the rt. hon. Member, I would note that this Government has dramatically cut spending compared to the last Labour Government and put in place far tighter rules and restrictions on spending.

· The Department spent £553,230 on catering and hospitality in 2008-09, and £456,142 in 2009-10.

· By 2012-13, spending had been reduced to £58,882 (plus £16,727 of delayed billing from the year before).

· We anticipate spending in the region of £36,000 in the year 2013-14 (the precise figure will be audited at financial year end).

The expenditure undertaken is essentially for light refreshments for a large number of small official events such as:

· European Regional Development Fund events (meetings with external visitors and Local Management Committee meetings);

· Conferences and workshops with representatives of local government, housing, planning and local communities;

· Public roadshows and Portas Pilot events;

· All-day recruitment assessment centres, training and induction courses.

We do not routinely incur any expenditure on refreshments for Ministers other than de minimis expenditure on tea and coffee for Ministers’ meetings with external visitors, or on the rare occasion when Ministers undertake overnight stays on official business outside London.

Our Departmental savings has also been assisted by terminating Ministerial group spending on Government Procurement Cards, as practiced by the Labour Government at taxpayers’ expense at the likes of Sky City Casino, the Cinnamon Club, the Wolseley, Brasserie 44, Boisdales, Inn the Park, Mango Tree, Shepherds, Incognico, Buffalo Bar, Mr Chu’s China Palace, Tantric Jazz and Fat Tuesdays.

We have showed that there is considerable scope for the public sector to generate significant savings in this area, as evident from the ongoing saving of up to half a million pounds a year.

To place our savings in context, as noted in the answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, House of Lords, Column 270WA, when the rt. hon. Member was Secretary of State, he spent £444,891 on catering, hospitality and refreshments in 2008-09 and £552,367 in 2009-10.

I know that the rt. hon. Member has a particular interest in biscuits, so to help quantify this amount, his spending in his last year in office is equivalent today to buying 720,479 packets of Jamie Dodgers from Waitrose (albeit, with a free cup of coffee thrown in).

November 1, 2022
Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the UK has made to Israel following the Israeli parliament’s consideration of legislation to allow force-feeding of Palestinian administrative detainees on hunger strike.

Hugh Robertson

Officials from the British Embassy in Tel Aviv met with an official from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office on 17 June, they expressed our concern over the bill.

November 1, 2022

Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-03-31.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times HMS Hermes docked in Portsmouth Harbour.

Mr Philip Dunne

The number of times HMS Hermes docked in Portsmouth Harbour for maintenance and refit, is shown in the following table.

Dates	Reason
September – November 1960	Maintenance
October 1961 – April 1962	Refit
October – November 1962	Maintenance
November 1966 – January 1967	Maintenance
March – May 1968	Maintenance
April – August 1969	Maintenance
December 1969 – January 1970	Maintenance
November 1978 – January 1979	Maintenance
March – May 1979	Maintenance
November 1979 – January 1980	Maintenance
March 1980 – May 1981	Refit
December 1981 – January 1982	Maintenance
March – April 1982	Maintenance
August – November 1982	Maintenance
July – August 1983	Maintenance

November 1, 2022

Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to reduce child obesity in Barnsley.

Jane Ellison

In April 2013, local responsibility for the prevention and management of obesity transferred from primary care trusts to local authorities.

Barnsley’s Health and Wellbeing board, run by Barnsley Council, is drafting a Health and Wellbeing strategy for the borough to support children and young people in avoiding the potential health problems related to child obesity, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases later in life.

Our national approach to tackling obesity includes engaging with a wide range of partners including businesses, health professionals and individuals. We have set national ambition for a downward trend in excess weight in children and have a well-developed and wide-ranging programme of actions. Obesity rates in children are levelling off.

Some of the key initiatives are Change4Life, Change4Life Sports Clubs, the National Child Measurement Programme and School Sports Funding.

This is in addition to measures being taken by other Government departments such as the School Food Plan, published by the Department for Education last year.

November 1, 2022