Tag: 2015

Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proposals his Department has for further defence integration between the armed forces of EU member states; and whether defence integration will be included in the Government’s planned renegotiations of the terms of its membership of the EU.

Mr Julian Brazier

Her Majesty’s Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation;we believe we can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Although we welcome closer co-operation between the armed forces of EU and NATO member states, this needs to be based on improving defence capabilities across Europe, not creating new institutions. We will not support measures which would undermine member states’ competence for their own military forces, or lead to competition and duplication with NATO

02/11/2022
Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans for the next Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council to take place.

Grant Shapps

The next Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council will take place in London in the week beginning 30 November 2015.

02/11/2022
George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the likely effects of the ageing population on the costs of treating sight loss and eye health issues.

Alistair Burt

The Department has made no recent estimate of the number of people with sight loss, the likely number who will have sight loss in the future, or of the costs in treating sight loss and eye health issues.

Information on the number of patients who are blind or have sight loss is not collected centrally. However information is available on the number of people who are registered by local authorities as blind or partially sighted. At March 2014, the number of people on the register of blind people was 143,000 and on the register of partially sighted people 147,700.

Registration as blind or partially sighted is voluntary so the numbers registered are likely to be an underestimate of the total number of people living with sight loss. Research funded by the Royal National Institute of Blind People, published in 2009¹, estimated there were almost 2 million people in the United Kingdom living with sight loss and that this number would double to 4 million by 2050.

Information is collected centrally and published on NHS expenditure on `problems of vision’ across both primary and secondary care. In the latest year for which data has been published²for both primary and secondary care, 2012/13, primary care trust expenditure was £2.3 billion. The Department expects NHS England to commission services for eye health to meet any increased demand, as it would in any other area of healthcare. The ‘Five Year Forward View’³ sets out the vision for how services may be organised going forward.

¹ http://www.rnib.org.uk/sites/default/files/FSUK_Report.pdf

² http://www.england.nhs.uk/resources/resources-for-ccgs/prog-budgeting/

³ http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/5yfv-web.pdf

“

02/11/2022
Mary Creagh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many transit visas her Department has issued to Syrian refugees since May 2015.

Richard Harrington

In Q2 2015 (April to June – the latest period for which figures are available) no transit visas have been issued to Syrian refugees.

02/11/2022

Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of prison officers on detached duty was in each month since the introduction of the nationally co-ordinated detached duty scheme in October 2013.

Andrew Selous

Using centrally held financial records it is not possible, without incurring disproportionate cost, to determine the costs of the nationally coordinated detached duty scheme.

Information on the average monthly provision of Band 3 to 5 prison officers received as part of the nationally coordinated detached duty scheme, since November 2013, are shown in the table below. November 2013 was the first full month of the nationally coordinated detached duty scheme.

Average provision of Band 3 to 5 Prison Officers on detached duty to public sector prisons in England & Wales, November 2013 – June 2015

Month	Equivalent Full Time Officers
Nov 2013	110
Dec 2013	210
Jan 2014	210
Feb 2014	160
Mar 2014	130
Apr 2014	210
May 2014	160
Jun 2014	170
Jul 2014	230
Aug 2014	240
Sep 2014	230
Oct 2014	240
Nov 2014	230
Dec 2014	240
Jan 2015	260
Feb 2015	230
Mar 2015	210
Apr 2015	190
May 2015	260
Jun 2015	270

All figures in the tables are rounded to the nearest 10, with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. Rounding to 10 accurately depicts the level of certainty that is held with these figures. Values of 5 or fewer are denoted as ‘~’

02/11/2022

Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to prevent discrimination against single people.

Caroline Dinenage

Certain provisions in the Equality Act 2010 – for example permitted exceptions from the age discrimination requirements for retail concessions to students and pensioners – are likely to be of particular benefit to single people.

Single status is not a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010. In the provision of goods and services we believe there is a balance to be struck between the interests of single people and the commercial considerations of business. The government, therefore, has no plans to change the Equality Act 2010.

02/11/2022

Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many officials work in each section of the Northern Ireland Office.

Baroness Randerson

The number of staff working in each business group of the Northern Ireland Office in January 2015, the latest period for which figures are available, is shown below:

Business Group	Number of Staff
Senior Management	6
Business Delivery	40
Security and Protection	31
Legacy	23
Community Engagement	15
Economic Constitutional and Political	19

02/11/2022

Lord Kilclooney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the proposed acquisition of Aer Lingus by International Consolidated Airlines, whether they have made representations to safeguard the slots at Heathrow airport for flights by British Airways and Aer Lingus to Belfast City; and whether they have made representations to safeguard the slots at Gatwick airport for flights to Belfast City.

Baroness Kramer

The Government does not currently consider that there is a risk of air services between Belfast and London being lost. The routes remain commercially viable, with nearly two million passengers carried on almost 19,000 flights between the two Belfast airports and the five main London airports in 2013.

EU Regulations govern the allocation, transfer and exchange of slots at Heathrow, Gatwick and other slot co-ordinated airports in the UK. The purpose of the EU Slot Regulations is to support the operation of a single market for aviation by seeking to ensure airlines have fair and equal access to airports across the EU through the application of independent, non-discriminatory and transparent slot allocation procedures. The Regulations stipulate that the actual process of slot allocation is undertaken entirely independently of the Government, the UK Civil Aviation Authority or other parties. The Government has therefore made no representations to safeguard Heathrow or Gatwick slots for air services from Belfast.

In circumstances where vital air connectivity would be lost, EU law does provide some limited scope to protect regional air services by allowing Member States to establish public service obligations (PSOs) to protect air services to airports serving a peripheral or development region, or on thin routes considered vital for a region’s economic and social development. Where a PSO has been approved, this would permit slots to be ring-fenced at a London airport. There is no other mechanism for the Government to intervene in the allocation of slots at London airports.

As part of the 2013 Spending Round the Chief Secretary to the Treasury announced that £20million would be made available over the two years 2014-15 and 2015-16 through a Regional Air Connectivity Fund to maintain regional air access to London through the establishment of PSOs where there was the probability that an existing air service would be lost. The 2014 Budget announced a doubling of the Regional Air Connectivity Fund to maintain existing connectivity to London.

02/11/2022
Lord Patten – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which European Union legislation they have considered in framing the proposed draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015; what view they have taken on the applicability of the European Union legislation; and what is the basis for their view.

Earl Howe

As I said in the debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 on 24 February 2015 (columns 1570 and 1617-8) the Government is satisfied that the Regulations do not contravene any aspect of European Union law. It has carefully considered recent arguments relating to the Clinical Trials Directive (Directive 2001/20/EC) but is satisfied that the Directive is not relevant in this context as it relates to clinical trials of medicines.

02/11/2022
Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what incentives he is providing to encourage investment from Commonwealth countries in the UK.

Matthew Hancock

UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is the Government department that works to encourage foreign direct investment into the UK.

UKTI’s has teams focussed on attracting inward investment in Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand and all UKTI teams in Commonwealth countries together with UK based UKTI staff provide support for companies or funds considering inward investment into the UK.

02/11/2022