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Tag: 2014

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 27 January 2014, Official Report, column 387W, on electoral register, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of gathering and holding information on the proportion of attainers who are registered to vote; and what assessment he has made of the usefulness of such information for improving the introduction of individual electoral registration.

    Greg Clark

    The Government has made no such estimate or assessment.

  • Huw Irranca-Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Huw Irranca-Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of work capability assessments appeals that were found in favour of the claimant heard by January 2014, were awarded zero points at the initial decision; and what proportion of such decisions were awarded to (a) the WRAG and (b) the Support Group.

    Mike Penning

    The information requested for all Work Capability Assessments is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the written statement by the Minister for Universities and Science of 7 April 2014, Official Report, columns 1-2WS, on Higher Education: student support, what revisions he plans to make to the draft statutory guidance, Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    There has been close liaison between the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills throughout the passage of the Children and Families Act 2014. As a result, no changes will need to be made to the draft statutory guidance, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether (a) a bat, (b) a dormouse, (c) a crested newt and (d) an owl survey has been carried out at Defence Infrastructure Organisation site Ashchurch; what the result of each such survey was; and if he will make a statement.

    Dr Andrew Murrison

    A baseline ecological survey was undertaken at Ashchurch in 2008 and updated in 2012. Following this survey no detailed assessments were undertaken for owls, as there have been no sightings or evidence of protected birds, or dormice, due to no suitable habitat being identified.

    Further detailed studies have been carried out for both crested newts and bats. Results of these surveys showed there was no evidence of crested newts and little evidence of bat activity across Ashchurch. However, one building had a small bat roost and there was a possibility of a bat roost in a second building.

  • Michael Dugher – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Michael Dugher – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Prime Minister, if he will publish in full the scope of the Cabinet Secretary’s review of the release of correspondence between Ministers relating to prevention of extremism.

    Mr David Cameron

    The Cabinet Secretary will respond to the hon. Member on this matter shortly. I will place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2014, Official Report, column 510W, on Electoral Register: young people, what steps his Department has taken to circulate the Rock Enrol! resources to (a) hon. Members, (b) members of the European Parliament, (c) members of the Scottish Parliament, members of the Legislative Assembly and Assembly members, (d) local councillors, (e) schools, colleges and universities and (f) local education authorities.

    Greg Clark

    The government has made available £4.2 million funding to all 363 local authorities (LAs) and valuation joint boards (VJBs) in Great Britain. The Government has written to Electoral Registration Officers and encouraged them to use this funding to support the delivery of Rock Enrol! in their area. Officials will continue to work closely with LA/VJBs in order to monitor and measure the outcomes.

    The Government is supportive of organisations that promote democratic engagement such as Bite the Ballot and welcomes lessons from their experiences.The Rock Enrol! learning resource is freely available on the gov.uk and Times Education Supplement websites amongst others. The Government is also working with a range of organisations, including the Association of Citizenship Teachers, to promote the use of Rock Enrol!

    For details of the Electoral Commission’s registration activities I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given by the Hon. Member for South West Devon on 22 January 2014, Official Report, column 209W [183573].

  • 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 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to support the proposed target to build resilience and adaptive capacity to climate induced hazards in all vulnerable countries in the upcoming Open Working Group negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals.

    Justine Greening

    The UK supports the strengthening of early warning and disaster risk reduction systems and related capacities with the aim of building resilience and protecting the poor and those in vulnerable situations from disasters and shocks, including climate-related extreme events.

    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.

  • Mr Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mr Andy Slaughter – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Andy Slaughter on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of free schools have changed their headteacher since opening.

    Edward Timpson

    The information requested is not held centrally.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of cases of vehicle insurance fraud in each of the last five years.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office holds no data on this.

  • Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Bill Esterson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2014-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time between judgement and sentencing in criminal trials in England was in the latest period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the trends in the time taken.

    Shailesh Vara

    HMCTS can only answer this question for trials in the Crown Court. The case management database for magistrates’ courts does not hold the date of conviction in a way we can calculate the time from conviction to sentence for all defendants so the only way we could answer the question would be to manually check each case file which would incur disproportionate costs.

    The Crown Court database does and Table 1 below shows the average length between the latest conviction date in a trial and the date of sentence. The trend has seen the time between conviction and sentence falling from an average of 35.8 calendar days in 2007-08 to 24.6 calendar days in the first half of 2013-14. When a trial has more than one offence the jury may not reach verdicts against all on the same day, and the sentence cannot take place until all offences have a verdict.

    Table 1 -Average length between conviction and sentence in Crown Court centres in England for defendants sentenced between April and September 2013

    Period

    Average

    April to September 2013

    24.6 calendar days

    2012-13

    28.2

    2011-12

    28.2

    2010-11

    30.2

    2009-10

    32.8

    2008-09

    34.4

    2007-08

    35.8

    Notes:

    1. The average number of calendar days between the latest jury conviction date and the earliest substantial sentence date.
    2. Includes cases where the defendant changes their plea to guilty during the trial.
    3. This is internal management information run specifically to answer this question.

    The judiciary are able to sentence following conviction without the need for additional hearings as a result of initiatives currently in place. The judicially lead early guilty plea scheme aims to have guilty plea cases concluded at a single hearing. Similarly the probation service are able to provide reports on the day of conviction to facilitate the sentencing of the defendant.

    “