Tag: 2015

  • Nick Harvey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nick Harvey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Harvey on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assistance the Atomic Weapons Establishment is receiving from the US authorities on Project Pegasus.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) regularly discuss a range of nuclear matters with their US counterparts under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement. These matters include aspects of the capital investment programme at AWE, of which Pegasus forms a part.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information energy suppliers are required to provide (a) his Department and (b) Ofgem to assist with monitoring the roll-out of smart meters to vulnerable, low income and pre-payment meter customers.

    Amber Rudd

    On an annual basis larger suppliers are required to provide the Department with a qualitative report on their roll-out strategies, including plans to engage with vulnerable and pre-payment customers. Smaller suppliers are also required to provide annual data on their plans for engaging vulnerable customers. Low income households are not defined as a separate category.

    The Department also collects quarterly data from larger energy suppliers which includes details of smart meters installed and operated in pre-payment mode, and details of their plans for installing smart meters, including where those meters will be operated in pre-payment mode. The same information is collected annually from small suppliers.

    Ofgem collects data from the larger suppliers on the number of pre-payment meters that have been replaced with smart meters, and from January 2016 suppliers will report on the number of customers on the Priority Services Register who have a smart meter installed. This data will be collected annually. The larger suppliers will also shortly be submitting qualitative roll-out plans to Ofgem, explaining how they plan to develop their IT systems to support the rollout of smart pre-payment.

    Separately, Ofgem is reviewing suppliers’ policies and practices relating to charges for installing and removing pre-payment meters, which will also cover aspects of smart meter services. The review will also look at company practices in relation to security deposits, including for customers with smart meters. Ofgem will report on its findings in summer 2015.

  • Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much Nuclear Management Partners has received in executive staff costs in each year since it became the parent body organisation for Sellafield Ltd.

    Matthew Hancock

    The information requested is below:

    £k

    • 2008/09 3,211
    • 2009/10 8,463
    • 2010/11 9,068
    • 2011/12 11,066
    • 2012/13 8,629
    • 2013/14 6,658
  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Chinese authorities on religious freedoms in Zhejiang province.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    As stated in my response of 16 October 2014 (PQ 209774), we have concerns about all restrictions placed on freedom of religion or belief in China, including those placed on Christians in Zhejiang Province. We are particularly concerned by reports that a number of churches have had their crosses removed, been demolished, or forced to close. We regularly raise our concerns with Chinese counterparts and highlight them through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy. We last raised the issue of religious freedom in detail during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in May 2014.

  • Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many private prescriptions for (a) benzodiazepines, (b) z drugs and (c) antidepressants were issued in 2013; and whether such private prescriptions are included in the analysis by the NHS of prescription costs.

    George Freeman

    Information is held by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) on the numbers of original private prescriptions for controlled drugs that are listed in Schedules 2 or 3 to the Misuse of Drug Regulations 2001 (as amended) (“the 2001 Regulations”) and dispensed in the community in England by NHS community pharmacies. These pharmacies submit regular returns to the NHSBSA for monitoring purposes only with no cost information collected.

    No benzodiazepine drugs are listed in Schedule 2 to the 2001 Regulations. The benzodiazepines, flunitrazepam, midazolam and temazepam are listed in Schedule 3 to the 2001 Regulations. In 2013, the NHSBSA recorded 3,021 private prescriptions for these drugs, as defined within the British National Formulary Section 4.1.1 Hypnotics, Section 4.8.2 Drugs used in status epilepticus and Section 15.1.4 Sedative and analgesic peri-operative drugs. Other benzodiazepine drugs are listed in Schedule 4 to the 2001 Regulations. No “Z” drugs or antidepressants are listed in Schedules 2 or 3 to the 2001 Regulations.

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department offers on compensation available when police officers force entry into residential properties.

    Mike Penning

    The Police and Criminal Evidence Act Code of Practice B governs the searching of premises and the seizure of property from those premises by police officers. This includes the conduct of officers executing a search warrant (see paragraphs 6 to 6.15) and a note on compensation matters (see note 6.A). A copy of the PACE Code of Practice B can be found at GOV.UK.

    The execution of a search warrant is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of the force concerned and so too is the consideration of damage claims which, as PACE Code B makes clear, will depend on the circumstances in each case.

    The Department does not hold or collect data concerning the number of awards of damages paid out by police forces.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of days training of full-time equivalent staff employed in his Department was in each of the last three financial years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Ministry of Justice has made an offer to invest in the equivalent of five targeted learning days a year for each member of staff. This learning takes many forms to suit both the learner and the business, including e-learning, coaching, mentoring, work-based learning, job shadowing and face-to-face learning.

    The Ministry devolves budgets for training to its agencies, business groups and non-departmental bodies. These budgets are managed locally and the Ministry does not record this information centrally. Furthermore, the definition of training varies from one business area to another. Therefore to establish the Department’s training budget, amount spent on training and an average number of training days taken would require a Ministry-wide survey of all its local business areas and non-departmental public bodies. This would incur a disproportionate cost.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the average number of days training of full-time equivalent staff employed in her Department was in each of the last three financial years.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The number of average training days of full-time equivalent staff employed in my Department is not held in this format. This is because training takes place in many informal formats such as work-shadowing, on the job training and research etc, which are not formally recorded.

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Government has loaned to the insurance industry to assist with the costs of the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme in the first year of its operation.

    Mr Mark Harper

    The Government has not provided a loan to the insurance industry to assist with the costs of the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme.

  • Mark Lazarowicz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mark Lazarowicz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Lazarowicz on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2015 to Question 221729, how many former Incapacity Benefit claimants that were transferred to either jobseeker’s allowance or employment and support allowance had participated in a Work Programme in (a) Edinburgh, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK up to September 2014; and how many of those have found work as a result of that programme.

    Esther McVey

    Information on the number of Work Programme referrals, attachments and job outcomes, by payment group can be found at:

    http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/WorkProg/tabtool.html

    Guidance for users can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

    Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland.

    http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research.htm

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