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Tag: 2015

  • Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the security situation in Somalia of al Shabaab’s seizure of Buqda.

    Grant Shapps

    We assess that the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM’s) withdrawal from Buqda, and its consequent re-occupation by Al Shabaab, will have little impact on the security situation in Somalia, given Buqda’s limited strategic importance within the context of the overall AMISOM campaign.

    AMISOM and Somali National Security Forces (SNSF) have regained 75% of the territory formerly controlled by Al-Shabaab, forcing it out of many of its traditional strongholds, including major urban centres and its former headquarters in Baraawe. The current AMISOM offensive is designed to remove Al Shabaab from their strong holds in the Gedo, Bakool and Bay regions of Somalia. But Al Shabaab still holds ground in the lower Juba Valley and retains the ability to infiltrate other areas and cause instability.

    We continue to support African Union and SNSF efforts to defeat Al Shabaab, including through the provision of stipends, training, equipment and infrastructure enhancements, and capacity-building. We are also supporting stabilisation and countering violent extremism efforts, including working with the Federal Government of Somalia to develop counter-terrorism legislation.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to improve the quality of adult social care; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government is committed to improving the quality of adult social care. We have taken a number of recent steps to do so.

    In October 2014, we introduced a tougher inspection system by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Following inspections, the CQC now also awards each care service a single quality rating with providers rated as “Outstanding”, “Good”, “Requires Improvement” or “Inadequate”. Services rated “Inadequate” are being placed into Special Measure which means they could face closure if they fail to improve.

    These new ratings and other information about the type and quality of care at every care home and homecare service in the country are now available on NHS Choices and the MyNHS Transparency website, making it much easier for people to compare the quality of services.

    This year we introduced a Certificate of Fundamental Care, now known as the Care Certificate. This will help ensure that care workers can deliver a consistently high quality standard of care.

    The Department is funding and working with a number of organisations including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Skills for Care, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association on a range of projects to help adult social care organisations and staff improve the quality of care. These resources include new NICE Quality Standards and Guidelines which bring clarity to what excellence looks like in care and Commissioning for Better Outcomes – A Route Map* that sets out a series of commissioning standards that will be used as part of local government sector-led improvement to drive best practices in local authority commissioning under their new duties in the Care Act 2015.

    *Available at:

    http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/5756320/Commissioning+for+Better+Outcomes+A+route+map/8f18c36f-805c-4d5e-b1f5-d3755394cfab

    “

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department paid in spectrum charges in each financial year from 1999-2000 to 2014-15.

    Mike Penning

    The table below details the amount the Department paid in spectrum charges from 2009/10 to 2014/15. The variation in charges from 2010 is the result of Home Office reducing its holdings by sharing and releasing spectrum. Use of spectrum in the years from 1999 to 2009 remained at a constant level and our records indicate this was charged at £2,916,000 per annum.

    Financial Year/ Cost:

    2009-2010 £2,916,000

    2010-2011 £2,819,820

    2011-2012 £2,317,836

    2012-2013 £1,779,309

    2013-2014 £1,816,022

    2014-2015 £1,325,654

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reasons were for each application made by local authorities in England and Wales for care orders in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014 and (f) January to March 2015.

    Caroline Dinenage

    This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 10 February (HL4473) concerning meetings with Action on Smoking and Health, whether they have had meetings with the Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco; and whether they continue to uphold an embargo on closed meetings with the tobacco industry.

    Earl Howe

    Ministers and officials meet a range of organisations on a regular basis to discuss tobacco control. Details of Ministerial meetings with external stakeholders are published quarterly in arrears on the Gov.UK website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-overseas-travel-and-meetings

    No meetings were held by the Department over the period 1 January 2012 and 27 January 2015 with the Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco.

    The Department does not have an embargo on meeting any business or organisation.

    “

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to undertake a comprehensive, cross-government strategy and programme for health and work, as recommended by the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance.

    Earl Howe

    The Government currently does not have plans to undertake a comprehensive cross-Government strategy and programme for health and work, as recommended by the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the oral statement by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 19 November 2014 (HL Deb, col 505), whether they will confirm the terms of reference for their review of unsafe product recall, and name the chair of the review and the date by which it will report.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    I expect the review of consumer product recalls to be launched in early March 2015, The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) will make public the Terms of Reference, the name of the Chair and the timescale for the Review at that time.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) his Department and (b) HM Revenue and Customs has asked the (i) Panorama programme or (ii) Guardian for the documents reporting on the use by UK citizens of unregistered accounts in jurisdictions abroad to evade paying tax in the UK was based.

    Mr David Gauke

    I can confirm that HM Revenue and Custom (HMRC) has formally asked the BBC Panorama programme, the Guardian newspaper and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists for all data in their possession relating to off shore tax evasion.

  • David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the Regular Forces were stationed in Northern Ireland in 2014.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The number of UK Regular Forces stationed in Northern Ireland in 2014 can be found in the Ministry of Defence Quarterly Location Statistics on the Gov.UK website at the following link:

    www.gov.uk/location-of-all-uk-regular-service-and-civilian-personnel-quarterly-statistics-index

    The information is reproduced below.

    UK Regular Forces stationed in Northern Ireland in 2014 (as at October 2014)

    Officers

    210

    Other ranks

    2,130

    Total

    2,340

    Due to the rounding methods used, figures may not always equal the sum of their rounded parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.

    UK Regular Forces includes all trained and untrained personnel. Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve personnel, and mobilised reservists are excluded

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Jordanian counterpart on tackling ISIL.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK works closely with Jordan as they play a key and active role on the front lines of the fight against ISIL. Most recently, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) wrote to the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh, to extend his condolences following the brutal murder of Lieutenant Al Kassasbeh and to reiterate that the UK stands shoulder to shoulder with Jordan in the struggle against ISIL. The Foreign Secretary also met Foreign Minister Judeh twice in January, including at the Counter-ISIL Small Group Conference in London on 22 January, where discussions focussed on reviewing progress, strengthening coalition coordination, and providing further support to the Government of Iraq.