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Tag: 2015

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will bring forward proposals to extend the powers of the Groceries Code Adjudicator to consider complaints from primary producers.

    Jo Swinson

    The jurisdiction of the Groceries Code Adjudicator is defined by the Groceries Supply Code of Practice. The Code governs the commercial relationships between the ten largest UK supermarkets and their direct suppliers, and reflects the findings of the Competition Commission’s market investigation into the supermarket sector conducted between 2006 and 2008.

    There will be a statutory review of the performance of the Adjudicator next year in accordance with section 15 of the Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 221932, when the Joint Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy was published; what discussions he has had regarding the Strategy with his ministerial colleagues in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills since the fall in international oil prices; and what updates his Department has proposed to the Strategy since July 2014.

    Priti Patel

    Actions on fiscal matters fall under the responsibility of HM Treasury (as stated in the industrial strategy) and these actions are taken forward in collaboration with the Oil and Gas Fiscal Forum. The Forum is separate from the Oil and Gas Industry Council, who have responsibility for the Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy, in partnership with BIS.

    The Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy is kept under review by the Oil and Gas Industry Council. The Council met in November 2014 and is due to meet next in March 2015.

  • Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the implementation by local authorities of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The Cabinet Office asked Lord Young of Graffham, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Enterprise, to conduct a review of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

    The report, published on 13 February, shows the Act is having a positive effect where it is taken up. It finds that a number of local authorities have taken a leading role in implementing social value and names Durham Council as an example.

    The report makes a number of recommendations. The Government is considering these to ensure that the Act fulfils its full potential.

  • Paul Murphy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Murphy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Murphy on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many guests he plans to invite to the service of commemoration at St Paul’s Cathedral on 13 March 2015; and what proportion of those guests are family members of service personnel who died during operations in Afghanistan.

    Anna Soubry

    Approximately 2,000 invitations will be issued, of which over 900 have so far been allocated to the families of those who lost their lives in the conflict. A further 900 or so have been allocated to Service personnel and veterans.

  • Lord Myners – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they plan to take in connection with bankers who colluded in tax evasion or oversaw those perpetrating collusion.

    Lord Deighton

    HL4893

    Under the Swiss Agreement HMRC received a list of the top 10 destinations to where funds were moved in the period before the Agreement came into force. They are using this information together with information from compliance work to follow the proceeds of tax evasion.

    As with Lichtenstein agreement signed in 2009, HMRC is legally restricted by the Agreement’s terms from publishing the information provided.

    HL4896

    Where there is evidence of collusion in tax evasion or other wrongdoing, the relevant law enforcement agency would assess that evidence and decide whether to pursue an investigation.

    HMRC received the data from the French in April 2010 under very strict international treaty conditions, which limited its use to tax purposes only and prevented HMRC from sharing the data with other law enforcement authorities for investigating other potential offences.

    HMRC first asked for the conditions to be relaxed in August 2010. Following a number of more recent representations, the French authorities gave written confirmation on 23 February 2015 that they were lifting restrictions on the use and sharing of the data with other law enforcement agencies and regulators for the purpose of investigating criminal offences.

    As a result, HMRC has recently held a multi-agency meeting to discuss how the stolen HSBC Suisse data can be shared with them.

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel undertook Phase two training for Royal Air Force Music Services at the Headquarters Music Services, Northolt in 2013-14.

    Anna Soubry

    The requested detail for Financial Year 2013-14 is provided below:

    Number of personnel who

    completed Phase Two training

    Cost of providing Phase

    Two training

    Royal Marines School

    of Music (Portsmouth)

    22

    Information is not held

    centrally and could be

    provided only at

    disproportionate cost

    Royal Military School of Music (Army, Kneller Hall)

    66

    £2.8 million (approx)

    No personnel undertook phase two training with the RAF Music Services. The RAF recruits are fully trained musicians who undertake a rigorous audition process and are only admitted once their playing ability is proven.

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2014 to Question 217539, when he plans to publish (a) the Invitation to Quote for that contract including the Specification Requirements document, (b) details of the criteria against which suppliers were judged and (c) the invoice submitted for that work; and what the reasons are for the time taken to publish those documents.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Cabinet Office contracted Engine Partners LLP to provide communications support work for the Scottish independence referendum. The relevant tender documents and contract are available on the UK Government’s transparency portal, Contracts Finder, on the following web page:

    https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&lang=en&NoticeId=1674856.

    Information about the costs of this work is already publicly available as part of our routine transparency publications at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data

    “

  • Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action has been taken to ensure that the proposed Royal College of Teaching does not alienate some teachers with expensive annual membership fees.

    Lord Nash

    The Government welcomes the proposed establishment of a new, independent College of Teaching as a positive step towards raising standards and championing the professional status of teaching. However, a key determinant of such a body’s future success will be its independence from Government. For that reason any question of membership costs would be wholly for the new organisation itself to determine. It is clearly important, however, that a new body has broad appeal for teachers and is able to establish a strong membership.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what briefing his Department provided on (a) the promotion and sale of arms and military equipment and (b) human rights to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales before his trip to the Middle East; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    At the request of the British Government, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales undertook official visits in February to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Kuwait, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

    His Royal Highness’s visit to the Middle East was to help support Britain’s relationships in the region with key partners. His programme was designed to assist with key government objectives and the visit supported UK diplomatic, commercial and cultural interests in an important region of the world. Other themes of the tour included inter-faith dialogue, youth opportunities, and environmental sustainability.

    Details of all high-level briefings for Royal tours are always confidential.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were waiting to be placed on a GP list in Preston constituency on the last working day of (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    This information is not collected centrally. Patients are entitled to register with any general practitioner practice as long as they live within the practice’s catchment area and the practice has an open list.