UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2015

  • Matt Warman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Matt Warman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matt Warman on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to improve the provision of work in prisons; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Selous

    We want prisons to be places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition, with incentives for prisoners to learn and for prison staff to prioritise education and work. Improvements have been made to increase work but we want to go further. We are looking at the ways in which this might be achieved.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the effect of potential reforms of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the Good Friday Agreement; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Government was elected in May with a clear mandate to implement its manifesto commitment to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights.

    We believe that it is entirely possible to do that in ways that are consistent with the Belfast Agreement.

  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the removal of the reference in the Ministerial Code to having to comply with international law and treaty obligations alters the legal obligations of ministers.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Ministerial Code is normally updated and reissued after a General Election. The updated Code makes clear that Ministers must abide by the law. The obligations of Ministers under the law including international law remain unchanged.

    Information relating to internal discussions and advice is not disclosed.

  • Rebecca Pow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Rebecca Pow – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase investment in rail infrastructure and services to provide additional public transport support for construction of Hinckley Point C nuclear power station.

    Claire Perry

    The Department has provided £2.8m funding to Somerset Council to upgrade transport links before construction begins. It will help guide the Council on the development of business cases for road, rail and public transport changes and on bidding for funding to support this, including seeking an appropriate contribution from third parties.

  • Lord Stevenson of Balmacara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Stevenson of Balmacara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stevenson of Balmacara on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will support the proposal by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to invite the Sir William Borlase Grammar School to open a new grammar school in Maidenhead in the near future.

    Lord Nash

    Current legislation prohibits the introduction of a new grammar school. The government has been clear that we have not changed the law in this area.

    The government is supportive of all good and outstanding schools that seek to expand, in order to deliver more school places and greater choice to parents. Any school proposing such an expansion would need to demonstrate that it was a genuine continuation of an existing school. Schools that have successfully proposed an expansion have met a high threshold and other schools would need to do the same.

  • Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Gould of Potternewton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2015-11-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the costs to the NHS of the £200 million reduction in the Public Health Grant to local authorities for 2015–16.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Local authorities are best placed to make an assessment of local public health needs, and to prioritise and deploy their available resources accordingly, in partnership with the National Health Service. The NHS will continue to provide a vital role in the delivery of public health services.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he is making to large businesses on paying the living wage.

    Nick Boles

    The National Living Wage (NLW) will be introduced in April 2016. It will be mandatory for employers of all sizes to pay their workers the new NLW if those workers are over 25 and are not in the first year of an apprenticeship. The Government encourages all employers to pay more than the statutory minimum rates when they can afford it.

  • Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Lister of Burtersett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Lister of Burtersett on 2015-11-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of those responding to the 2012 consultation Measuring Child Poverty supported the exclusion of any income measure; and whether they will name those organisations that supported the exclusion.

    Lord Freud

    The Government’s response to the consultation on new measures of child poverty can be found in Annex E of the attached document. The analysis of the results in 2013 recorded that two respondents to the consultation said income should not be included in a measure of child poverty.

    We cannot give the names of the respondents due to Data Protection Act requirements. However, one was from an academic organisation and the other was from a frontline service.

    The Government wants to focus future effort on tackling the root causes of child poverty. That is why the life chances provisions in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill will introduce new measures of worklessness and educational attainment, and why we have committed ourselves to introducing a set of non-statutory indicators including ones on family breakdown, problem debt and addiction. These measures will focus action on the areas which the evidence indicates will make a sustainable difference to children’s lives – now and in the future.

  • Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of households in receipt of tax credits in each of the last five tax years for which data are available did not make a claim in the following tax year.

    Damian Hinds

    The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures are being taken in the UK to safeguard moderate Muslims from Islamophobic crime, in the light of the recent terrorist attacks around the world.

    Lord Bates

    The Government takes the safety of the Muslim and all other communities extremely seriously, and deplores all forms of hate crime. We are concerned by reports of increased attacks against Muslims in recent weeks, and we are working with the police and community groups on monitoring the situation and taking appropriate action where required.

    The police constantly review events and potential threats to ensure everything is being done to protect our communities from terrorism, hate crime and the impact of public protest.

    After the attacks in Paris the police have increased their presence on some streets and at some locations, and they will be intensifying their approach at events in big cities. Officers are working closely with London’s communities and businesses to provide advice and reassurance. Government officials are also speaking to community organisations such as Tell MAMA to ensure that we are aware of the current issues around anti-Muslim hatred and to ensure that we increase reporting of it.

    The Government is committed to tackling hate crime. That is why we have announced a new cross-Government Hate Crime Action Plan. This will be taken forward in partnership with the communities that it seeks to protect, and will include a range of actions across Government. We have also announced that from 2016, police forces will be expected to record data on hate crimes against Muslims and members of other religious groups, to allow us to properly assess the scale of the problem we are facing.

    Our Counter-Extremism Strategy, published in October, outlines how we will further protect British Muslims, including communities worried about Neo-Nazi groups who may be planning crimes such as attacks on Muslims.