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Tag: 2014

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding is currently allocated to higher education institutes to assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities to disabled students under the Equality Act 2010.

    Mr David Willetts

    In the academic year 2013/14 £15 million was allocated to Higher Education Institutions through theHigher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) grant, to help them recruit and support disabled students. This figure was an increase of £2 million on the previous year and has been maintained by HEFCE for 2014/15. This is in addition to the direct support provided to disabled students through the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA). In England, £125.1 million was spent on providing DSA in 2011/12.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many soldiers who enlisted in the Army aged (a) under 18 and (b) 18 years and above dropped out before completing phase two training in the last 10 financial years.

    Mr Mark Francois

    ‘Enlistment’ has been interpreted as those who joined the untrained strength, for example those that begin Phase 1 training. Totals for the period between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2014 are shown below:

    Age on Entry Untrained Strength
    Intake Outflow
    Under 18 35,190 12,300
    18 and over 64,950 17,250
    Unknown 430 430
    Total 100,570 29,980

    Source: Defence Statistics (Army).

    Personnel may leave the Army for a number of reasons, including medical and fitness factors, disciplinary reasons, or voluntary withdrawal. Those who join-up under 18 years of age have a statutory right to discharge from the Armed Forces within six months if they feel they are unsuited to service life.

    The figures in the table exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves.

    Where an individual’s entry date is blank on the records, the age on entry has not been able to be calculated and is shown as ‘unknown’.

    Figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in ‘5′ have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not be the sum of their parts.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority to publish their review on removing barriers to entry and expansion in retail banking.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Budget 2014 detailed that the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority will publish a review of their work on removing barriers to entry and expansion in retail banking later this year.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Cathy Jamieson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the target time is for dealing with passport applications.

    James Brokenshire

    Expected service standards for passport applications are given at
    www.gov.uk.

    Information in respect of the Member’s constituency is not available and the
    cost of collating it would be disproportionate.

    The table below shows the proportions of UK passport applications in each of
    the last 12 months which have been processed within the published service
    standards.

    2013

    % straightforward applications processed within the published timescales

    % non-straightforward applications processed within the published timescales

    June

    100%

    97.8%

    July

    100%

    96.9%

    August

    100%

    96.4%

    September

    100%

    96.0%

    October

    100%

    95.9%

    November

    99.99%

    96.5%

    December

    99.99%

    96.3%

    2014

    January

    99.99%

    96.8%

    February

    99.98%

    98.1%

    March

    99.95%

    96.8%

    April

    98.59%

    99.6%

    May

    92.26%

    93.9%

  • Robert Flello – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Robert Flello – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether officials from the British Embassy have visited Huber Ballesteros in La Picota prison in Bogota.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK cannot interfere in Colombia’s judicial process but will continue to raise any concerns regarding due process and conditions with the Colombian authorities.

    The Embassy is currently awaiting authorisation from the Municipal Criminal Court to visit Huber Ballesteros in prison.

    To date, the British Embassy has not yet been authorised to visit Huber Ballesteros in prison, this is despite requesting permission on six different occasions.

    No representatives of the British Embassy were able to attend the preliminary hearings in the case of Huber Ballesteros due to unrelated security concerns. His trial will take place on 26 and 27 of June and the British Embassy intends to send Officials to observe this.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what criteria her Department uses for decisions on contracts to consultancy groups on development projects.

    Justine Greening

    Procurement tendering processes conducted by my department are completed in accordance with EU directives. Contracts are awarded following a competitive tendering process. Invitations to tender are specific to the nature of the intervention required.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of morale within the National Offender Management Service; and what assessment he has made of the effect on levels of morale of the Transforming Rehabilitation programme.

    Jeremy Wright

    Probation Trusts ceased operating at the end of 31 May 2014. The majority of offenders are now being supervised by staff working in 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies while high risk offenders and those who have committed the most serious offences are being supervised by the National Probation Service. The new structure was tested thoroughly prior to the transition, with staff and cases beginning transfer into the new structure prior to formal transition on 1 June. Formal dissolution of the Probation Trusts will take place following audit of their 2014/15 accounts in the autumn of 2014.

    The leadership of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) remain committed to maintaining morale through the effective leadership of change and continued positive engagement across the organisation. Throughout this significant change programme regular communication has been provided across NOMS to keep people informed about the reforms. We understand the challenges large scale reforms such as this can pose, and we are working closely with probation staff to make sure they can raise any issues quickly. Probation staff at all levels are working hard to implement these vital reforms on the ground and we will continue to support them throughout this process.

  • Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Graham Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) cats, (b) dogs and (c) horses were retired and rehomed under European Union Directive 2010/63/EU in 2013.

    Norman Baker

    The Home Office does not hold the information requested.

    Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, authority may be given to
    re-home animals where those animals were bred or held for supply for use in
    regulated procedures, or were intended for use in regulated procedures, or have
    been used in regulated procedures. This may also apply to animals which are
    being kept under the care of the Named Veterinary Surgeon after completing
    procedures and is always contingent on our acceptance of certain reassurances
    relating to Section 17A of the Act. Records of each animal re-homed would be
    kept locally at the licensed establishment so that they can be available to
    Home Office Inspectors on request.

    European Directive 2010/63/EU, which was implemented in the UK and other Member
    States on 1 January 2013, does not provide legal grounds on which the UK can
    impose a mandatory obligation of re-homing under the Animals (Scientific
    Procedures) Act 1986. Nevertheless, we have provided guidance on re-homing
    animals in our Guidance on the Operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures)
    Act 1983, section 5.21.

  • Caroline Flint – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Caroline Flint – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will place in the Library a list of all projects supported by the International Climate Fund.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The International Climate Fund is £3.869bn of climate finance, over 2011/12 to 2015/16, for developing countries to help them tackle climate change.

    The portfolio of International Climate Fund investments is growing and therefore additional projects will be approved and start up during the course of 2014/15. I have deposited a list of International Climate Fund projects up until 2013/14 in the House Library.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of the United Arab Emirates to ensure that Ahmad Zeidan is given his full legal rights and protections whilst in the custody of that government.

    Hugh Robertson

    It would not be appropriate for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to discuss the details of an individual case. However, consular officials have provided full consular assistance to Mr Zeidan since we were informed of his detention and will continue to do so. In any case where we have concerns about the welfare or human rights of a British National, with their permission, we will raise these.