Tag: 2014

  • 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 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, to how many Freedom of Information requests on aid projects her Department has declined to provide information in each of the last 12 months.

    Justine Greening

    The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) publishes a quarterly statistics bulletin concerning FOI responses from all government departments including DFID. The bulletin includes tables showing how many requests were granted in full, or resulted in some information being withheld or all information withheld. The MoJ statistics bulletin can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics

    “

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2014-04-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funds were provided in Barnett consequentials to the Northern Ireland Executive as a result of the flood relief funds granted in England and Wales.

    Danny Alexander

    The table below sets out the extra funding allocated to the Northern Ireland Executive through the Barnett formula to reflect new funding provided to UK government departments for flood defence measures at Budget 2014.

    Northern Ireland

    2014-15

    £m

    2015-16

    £m

    Flood Maintenance (Resource)

    0.7

    1.2

    Flood Maintenance (Capital)

    2.0

    0.8

    “

  • Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether a criminal conviction is a disqualification for a Community Rehabilitation contract.

    Jeremy Wright

    Final bids to run the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) are expected at the end of June 2014, and will be rigorously assessed against robust quality, legal, commercial and financial criteria. In the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, bidders were required to declare that their organisation, directors or partners or any other person who has powers of representation, decision or control had no convictions in relation to criminal offences such as conspiracy, corruption, bribery or fraud and that their organisation had no convictions for criminal offences relating to the conduct of their business or profession and acts of grave misconduct. As set out in the Invitation to Negotiate, bidders are required to notify the department of any changes to the position set out in their declarations or anything that may affect their continued participation in the competition and the department reserves the right to undertake a full re-assessment and, if grounds for rejection exist, exclude the bidder from further participation in the competition.

    The MoJ also undertook extensive due diligence of bidders on a range of matters, including integrity and legal compliance issues. As a consequence we have a robust and diverse market.

  • Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with mobile network operators about shared infrastructure; and if he will use the forthcoming review of the Electronic Communications Code to reform wayleases and rights of way for the implementation and maintenance of shared infrastructure.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Maria Miller, and I had a number of representations from mobile network operators about shared infrastructure. DCMS is considering the implications of the Law Commission’s report on the Electronic Communications Code which was published in February 2013. The analysis work is ongoing and I will make public the plans to reform the Electronic Communications Code in due course.

  • David Ward – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Ward – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases in Bradford are (a) pending and (b) being processed through his Department’s mandatory reconsideration mechanism.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not available.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff from (a) his Department and (b) the Atomic Weapons Establishment are on secondment to an institution in the United States involved in nuclear weapons development or nuclear warhead stockpile, stewardship, stability and safety research.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    There are no Ministry of Defence staff and fifteen Atomic Weapons Establishment staff employed by AWE plc on secondment to these institutions in the United States.

  • Biography information for Douglas Carswell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Biography information for Douglas Carswell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Douglas Carswell on Home Office.

    1

    Damian Green

    There have been no specific discussions with the Police and Crime Commissioner
    for Essex on incidents involving knives in Clacton.

    The Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme was announced by the Home Secretary on
    30 April 2014, and the intention is to launch the Scheme in the summer. The
    Scheme aims to achieve greater transparency and community involvement in the
    use of stop and search by the police and support a more intelligence-led
    approach leading to better outcomes, particularly improving the stop and search
    to arrest ratio.

    Only 9% of the 1.2 million stop and searches that took place in 2011/12 led to
    an arrest. The adoption of an intelligence-led approach to stop and search by
    the Metropolitan Police in January 2012 coincided with a fall of a third in the
    number of recorded stop and searches taking place between 2011/12 and 2012/13,
    while the proportion of resultant arrests increased from 8% to 12%. Meanwhile
    in the same period, offences recorded by the Metropolitan Police involving
    knives or sharp instruments fell by 20%.

  • Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 81W, on solar power, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the solar industry regarding changes to the 250-5MW FiT band for the purpose of encouraging greater deployment of mid-size rooftop solar PV.

    Gregory Barker

    I have been in regular contact with representatives of the Solar Trade Association and British Photovoltaic Association over the last few months, in the lead-up to the publication on 4 April of the UK Government’s Solar Strategy, the first of its kind in Europe.

    I have discussed with the Industry a range of options for removing the barriers to greater deployment of mid-scale building mounted solar PV. As set out in the Strategy, we will be considering specific proposals for doing this in the coming months.

  • Biography information for Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Biography information for Gerald Kaufman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Gerald Kaufman on Home Office.

    1

    James Brokenshire

    I wrote to the Rt. Hon. Member on 15 May 2014.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to protect each of the 26 species of bee that are under threat in the UK.

    Dan Rogerson

    Conservation of biodiversity is a devolved matter. Action in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved administrations.

    England’s biodiversity strategy, Biodiversity 2020, takes an integrated, large-scale approach to biodiversity conservation, exemplified by our Nature Improvement Areas initiative. This approach is designed to meet the habitat needs of many species, including threatened species of bee.

    The strategy recognises that there will also be a need to take targeted action for the recovery of certain priority species, including certain bee species, whose conservation is not delivered through wider, habitat-based measures. These species are catered for through Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme. The recent reintroduction of the short-haired bumblebee in the South East of England is one such example.

    Incentives for farmers and other land managers to conserve and enhance important wildlife habitats, including those for bees, are provided under Environmental Stewardship schemes. Following a review, new payments were introduced from 1 January 2013 to improve habitats and food for pollinators, including bees. These payments provide for the addition of wildflowers to buffer strips and field corners, and the provision of legume-rich and herb-rich swards.

    For the future, we are currently considering the scope for further enhancements for bees and other pollinators as part of wider environmental delivery through the reformed Common Agricultural Policy. Over £3.1 billion will be available up to 2020 to protect and enhance biodiversity under the New Environmental Land Management Scheme.

    Defra is also developing the National Pollinator Strategy for England to reflect the importance of bees and other insect pollinators to agriculture and biodiversity and in recognition that they face many pressures. A public consultation was launched in March 2014 and the final Strategy will be finalised in summer 2014.