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Tag: 2014

  • James Wharton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    James Wharton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Wharton on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Honours and Decorations Committee last met to consider the recommendations put forward by Sir John Holmes regarding the rules for the awarding of military medals.

    Francis Maude

    The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) met in January 2014 and considered a number of recommendations put forward by Sir John Holmes regarding the rules for awarding military medals. The Committee’s report is now in the process of being formally approved.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the European Commission provides support to the victims of recent flooding in the Balkans; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Lidington

    The UK has worked closely with the EU European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), and offered advice and assistance during all phases of the flood response effort.

    In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), between 18 and 23 May a thirty-three person water rescue team from the British Fire Service was deployed to work alongside EU Force (EUFOR) Operation Althea and local rescue efforts. They rescued nearly 200 people, delivered large amounts of humanitarian aid, and helped restore power in villages North of Bijeljina.

    In Serbia, the UK provided 64 radios for the Serbian Ministry of the Interior, to assist with the coordination of their response teams; and donated £280,000 worth of heavy lift and transport vehicles to the Serbian Red Cross to aid their relief distribution effort.

    A team from the UK flew out to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the week commencing 20 May to assess likely humanitarian and recovery needs. Subsequently the UK provided £250,000 to support a World Vision flood response project in the region focussing on sanitation and health and providing support for 140,000 people made homeless by the floods. ECHO have released €3.2m in humanitarian aid to support the most vulnerable population in BiH and in Serbia and the Commission has reallocated a further €62m to support short to medium term recovery and reconstruction needs in the affected areas. To both the UK will have contributed 15 per cent and we will continue to work with the European Commission to try to identify any further assistance which could be made available from existing budgets.

    In BiH, EUFOR Operation Althea, to which the UK contributes troops in-theatre and in reserve, assisted the BiH Armed Forces in their response to the flooding. The First Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, who provide part of EUFOR’s intermediate reserve, and are in BiH for a routine operational rehearsal, are assisting the BiH Armed Forces in this regard.

    The government will continue to work closely with the EU, the UN and other international organisations to assess what further help might be given to help both Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina recover from the impact of the floods.

  • Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who (a) were given a non-custodial sentence and (b) were given their first custodial sentence in each year from 2004 had previously had (i) no criminal convictions, (ii) one criminal conviction, (iii) two criminal convictions, (iv) three criminal convictions, (v) four criminal convictions, (vi) five to 10 criminal convictions, (vii) 11 to 20 criminal convictions, (viii) 21 to 30 criminal convictions, (ix) 31 to 40 criminal convictions, (x) 41 to 50 criminal convictions, (xi) 51 to 75 criminal convictions, (xii) 76 to 100 criminal convictions and (xiii) more than 100 criminal convictions.

    Jeremy Wright

    It has not been possible to obtain this information. I will write to the Honourable member in due course.

  • Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to support the adoption of a target to ensure all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes by 2030 in the Open Working Group negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals.

    Justine Greening

    The UK supports a target to ensure all girls and boys complete primary and secondary education with relevant learning outcomes in the post-2015 sustainable development framework. This language is included in the most recent draft goals and targets list released by the co-chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on 2 June.

    The final targets in the post-2015 development framework will however be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations, in which the UK will play an active role.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    Andrew Gwynne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electorial Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the electoral registration figures were in each ward in the recent confirmation dry run conducted in (a) Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, (b) Tameside Metropolitan Council and (c) Denton and Reddish constituency.

    Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

    The ward results for Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council were as follows:

    The ward results for Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council were as follows:

    The ward results for the Denton and Reddish constituencywere as follows:

    Results for all wards are available on the Commission’s website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

    “

  • Jim Sheridan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Sheridan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Sheridan on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of his policy on binding votes for remuneration committees.

    Jenny Willott

    The Government’s reforms to increase the transparency of executive pay include a requirement that quoted companies put their remuneration policy to a binding vote of the company’s shareholders, at minimum, every three years.

    Shareholders also have an annual advisory vote on the annual remuneration report, covering what has been paid. Where this is rejected, the company will be required to re-submit their remuneration policy to a binding vote at the AGM the following year.

    It is too soon to form firm conclusions about the impact of the Government reforms, which only came into force in October last year.

    The Government is monitoring the impact of the reforms and will be taking stock of their impact after the voting season is over.

    The Government is keeping this policy area under review.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of his Department’s databases of people (a) in receipt of and (b) not in receipt of benefits for the purposes of data matching with the electoral register.

    Esther McVey

    Results of DWP data matching with the Electoral Register have been subjected to review by both the Electoral Commission and Electoral Registration Transformation Programme with positive results

    No separate assessment has been made of accuracy of data for benefit and non-benefit recipients for the purposes of data matching with the electoral register.

    To undertake such an assessment would entail disproportionate costs due to the need to contact and compare citizen details against data held by DWP.

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what incentives are in place to improve the uptake of hepatitis C treatment nationally.

    Jane Ellison

    Clinical commissioning groups have considerable local flexibility to introduce incentives where they wish to prioritise a particular issue, based on their population needs. There are no national incentives in place to support improved uptake of hepatitis C treatment in England.

  • Lord Storey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2014-03-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what regard they have given to pupil reflection in the new national curriculum.

    Lord Nash

    The new national curriculum, to be taught from September 2014, reflects a body of essential knowledge and core concepts in key subjects. The Government does not believe that it is appropriate for the national curriculum to set out how teachers should teach, or how they should structure their school day. The national curriculum has been slimmed down to allow teachers more flexibility to use their professionalism and expertise to create lessons that really inspire and engage their pupils, and help them to develop deeper knowledge and understanding of materials.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent Presidential elections in Syria on the prospects for future political reconciliation between the government and Opposition forces.

    Mr William Hague

    The recent Syrian Presidential elections were a parody of democracy designed to sustain the Assad dictatorship, held in the midst of a civil war and extreme regime violence with millions displaced from their homes unable to vote. They did not meet even the most basic requirements for free and fair elections.

    We judge that holding these elections was damaging to the political process. This is a view shared by the UN who warned that holding elections “will damage the political process and hamper the prospects for political solution that the country so urgently needs.”

    We will continue to support the moderate opposition who have a pluralistic, democratic vision of a future Syria and to create conditions for a future political settlement. A negotiated political transition in Syria, following the principles set out in the Geneva communiqué, is the only way to end the conflict and alleviate Syria’s humanitarian crisis.