Tag: 2014

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on the VSO ICS programme in each year since 2010.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID spending on the International Citizen Service (ICS) programme since 2010 is as follows:

    2010/11: £1,860,025

    2011/12: £4,849.043

    2012/13: £21,999,068

    2013/14: £19,863,471

    2014/15: £4,262,167 (to date)

    All of the spending in 2010/11, 2011/12 and £2,135,397 in 2012/13 was on the ICS pilot scheme with the remainder being the current contracted programme.

    All of this information is published on the development tracker website http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he received on the decision to give permission to the Russian company Rosoboronexport to exhibit its military technology at the Farnborough International Air show in July 2014.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    It is a commercial matter for Farnborough International Ltd (FIL) to whom they sell exhibition space, however the Prime Minister has not received any representations following their decision to allow Rosoboronexport to exhibit. In light of the continuing suspension of military cooperation with Russia, no representatives from the Russian government were issued with Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) invitations to the event. Russia was also removed from the list of countries eligible to use post-exhibition Open General Export Licenses (OGELs). The organisers also took the decision to ensure that no Russian military hardware was displayed and that there was no Russian military participation in the flying display.

  • Nigel Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nigel Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the net economic effect of High Speed 2 for the North-West.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Investment in HS2 will deliver widespread connectivity improvements, grow markets and increase opportunities to trade.

    The Economic Case for HS2 published in October 2013 estimates that 17% of the transport user benefits of the HS2 Y-Network are generated from trips originating in the North West. This equates to benefits of approximately £342m (PV, 2011 prices) in 2036. Further analysis by KPMG suggests the wider economic effects could be far greater.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jonathan Edwards – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the expenditure was of the Technology Strategy Board in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Wales in each of the last three years.

    Greg Clark

    Technology Strategy Board expenditure, including its support for Catapult centres, in each of the last three years in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales was as follows:

    Fiscal Year

    England

    Scotland

    NI

    Wales

    FY 11/12

    £210.38m

    £8.64m

    £2.32m

    £3.49m

    FY12/13

    £321.89m

    £17.49m

    £3.16m

    £4.18m

    FY13/14

    £378.46m

    £44.35m

    £7.05m

    £6.45m

    Total

    £910.73m

    £70.48m

    £12.53m

    £14.12m

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many additional Merlin helicopters will be upgraded from Mk1 standard to Mk2; and what the total cost of each upgrade will be.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Royal Navy Merlin Mk1 fleet is being modernised through the Merlin Capability Sustainment Programme. A total of 30 Merlin Mk1 helicopters are being modified to address existing and forecast avionic obsolescence and will then be known as the Merlin Mk2. The approved cost of the Demonstration and Manufacture phases of the programme is £805 million.

  • Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andy Sawford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that council tax support funding is passed on from billing authorities to parish and town councils in 2014-15.

    Brandon Lewis

    I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 5 February 2014, Official Report, Column 19-21WS, which sets out clearly the Government’s intention that the element of localised council tax support funding provided to local authorities which reflects reductions in town and parish tax bases should be passed down to those councils.

    I additionally wrote to Leaders of billing authorities on this issue on 6 January and 21 February 2014.

    The design and management of council tax support schemes is a local matter, and it is for local councils to work together to ensure that any relevant impacts are understood and taken into account.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Catherine McKinnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2014, Official Report, column 284W, on children: day care, if he will estimate the average annual cost of childcare in the UK for a child aged (a) two and under and (b) three to four using his Department’s Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents 2012-13 data.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents report provides information on the average (mean and median) amount paid by families for childcare in a reference week for pre-school age children. This information is not available broken down by age or on an annual basis.

    This information could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Food Standards Agency’s submission to the Inter-Departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review and all evidence submitted to the series of interviews with his Department’s staff conducted by researchers from the University of Leeds in 2008.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    I refer my Rt. hon. Friend to the answer given on 26 June 2014, Official Report, column 283W.

  • Richard Harrington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Richard Harrington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Harrington on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contingency plans he has in place to deal with an outbreak of Ebola virus in the UK.

    Jane Ellison

    The National Health Service has plans in place to deal with patients with infectious diseases as part of its core business. This includes plans to manage patients in line with infection control procedures, and where necessary in highly specialist infectious diseases facilities.A patient with Ebola virus infection would be cared for in the national High Level Isolation Unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London. In the unlikely event of an outbreak involving more than two people, specialist staff at this unit are trained and prepared to look after patients safely in an isolation ward, which would be dedicated for this purpose.

    In the UK, the procedures outlined in the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens guidelines, “The Management of Hazard Group 4 viral haemorrhagic fevers and similar human infectious diseases of high consequence”, are followed for any suspected case.

    Public Health England has assessed the risk of importation of Ebola in the UK as very low. It is extremely unlikely that an outbreak of Ebola would occur in the UK even if there was to be an imported case, as there are factors operating in West Africa which would not be seen in the UK.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the statement of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 206, on student visas, on what date her Department first became aware of the systematic cheating taking place in the tests of the Educational Testing Service.

    James Brokenshire

    Since the last election, the Government has taken action to reduce and control
    immigration and to crack down on the abuse of the system which the previous
    government failed to address. We have kept the main immigration routes to
    Britain under review and remain vigilant against abuse of the student visa
    system. Around 750 education sponsors have been removed from the register of
    those entitled to bring overseas students to the UK. We now know that almost
    400 of these were linked to the sponsorship of people who obtained invalid ETS
    certificates. Abuse of the student visa route has been the subject of various
    lines of inquiry for some time, but Immigration Enforcement officers, together
    with officials from UK Visas and Immigration and with the support of the
    National Crime Agency, began conducting a detailed and wide-ranging
    investigation into actions by organised criminals to falsify English language
    tests provided by ETS at the start of February.