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Tag: 2015

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what communications he has had with the European Commission in respect of his plans to hold a departmental golden share in the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.

    Matthew Hancock

    DECC officials had initial discussions with the Commission on the possibility of a special (or ‘golden’) share for the Hinkley Point C project. Any arrangement will be designed to be fully compliant with existing EU legislation.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on ratification of the EU-Central America Association Agreement; when he expects the UK to ratify the agreement; and when the two remaining pillars will be applied.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We strongly support the EU-Central American Association Agreement, which was signed in 2012. The Agreement supports our policy objectives for Central America via three important pillars of political dialogue, development cooperation and trade. We believe that these are the right tools to support economic growth, democracy and political stability in Central America and the UK has supported the Agreement’s progress through its negotiation, signature and conclusion stages.

    The trade pillar of the Association Agreement has been provisionally applied since 2013. The two remaining pillars will be applied as soon as the remaining EU Member States ratify. I have not had any recent discussions with my EU counterparts on this issue. However, I have recently discussed the Agreement with a number of Ambassadors to the UK from Central American countries and have had the occasion to discuss it while visiting the region – most recently on my visits to Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama last year. The preparatory work prior to ratification is ongoing. The next stage will be to seek parliamentary approval for a draft Order in Council that will specify the Association Agreement as an EU treaty. I expect a draft Order to be laid early in the next Parliament.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222493, what records NHS England keeps of the medicines that are paid for by the industry rebate payments through the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.

    George Freeman

    The Mandate for 2015-16 has set a firm NHS England budget for 2015-16, which is £3 billion (3%) higher than its budget for 2014-15. This increase takes into account a number of things, including additional funding for the National Health Service announced in the Autumn Statement and the fact that the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) payment in 2015-16 is now forecast to be higher than originally expected.

    All the PPRS payments go back into spending on improving patients’ health and care and it will be up to NHS England how they split that overall budget between clinical commissioning groups, specialised commissioning etc. Following normal Government accounting rules, there is no separately identified ring-fenced funding stream associated with the PPRS payment. Accordingly, it would not be possible to identify what or how many medicines are paid for by PPRS payments.

    The Government believes that NHS commissioners and providers are best placed to decide how to allocate their budgets to deliver improvements in the outcomes for patients. The PPRS includes a number of commitments for improving patient outcomes and for improving patient access to clinically and cost effective medicines.

  • Julian Huppert – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julian Huppert – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Huppert on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to explore the possibility of resettling Syrians to the UK via private sponsorship from individual British citizens who have expressed interest in offering accommodation to Syrians in need; and what discussions she has had with the Local Government Association on ways in which local authorities can indicate their interest in resettling Syrians in their communities.

    James Brokenshire

    We have not considered a private sponsorship model for the resettlement of Syrians through the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme. We do not believe this is appropriate given the vulnerabilities of those arriving in the UK as we need to ensure that the correct level of support and accommodation is in place before they arrive in the UK.

    After launching the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme last January, the Home Secretary wrote to the Chairman of the Local Government Association on 11 February 2014 encouraging local authority participation and the contents of this letter have been cascaded across local authorities. As the scheme has progressed, we have continued to engage closely with local authorities who have expressed an interest in participation.

    Following the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) pledging conference in Geneva on 9 December 2014, a number of additional local authorities have also expressed an interest, and we are in discussions with them. We are grateful to the local authorities who are supporting the scheme, and we remain confident that we can continue to meet the needs of arrivals in the UK under the scheme as planned. We expect the scheme to help several hundred Syrians over three years, and we welcome further offers of support from local authorities as the scheme progresses.

  • Gerry Sutcliffe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Gerry Sutcliffe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerry Sutcliffe on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the availability of front-of-house staff within the Courts Service to assist with the completion of official documents.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service administrative staff provide help to courts and tribunals users directly at court buildings and hearing centres. Help is also provided by staff at call centres and through guidance provided on-line. While HMCTS staff cannot provide any legal advice, they are able to provide general help on procedure, including, where appropriate, guidance on the completion of court documents. Depending on the circumstances staff will also signpost users to appropriate advice agencies for this purpose. Through its budgeting and workforce planning processes HMCTS endeavours to ensure all activities are resourced to meet the demands of the service.

    Where a party appears unrepresented in the Magistrates’ Court, the Legal Adviser has a general duty to assist and this includes providing assistance with the completion of court forms.

  • Katy Clark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Katy Clark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Stornoway was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in January 2015.

    Mr John Hayes

    Where there are specific issues at a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Her Majesty’s Coastguard uses the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

    These historic risk assessed watch level assessments at MRCCs err strongly on the side of caution. As each MRCC joins the evolving national network the number of Coastguards at any of the individual centres becomes less significant. The flexibility of the new arrangements means that it is more important to consider the number of Coastguards available on the growing network.

    Based on the risk assessment which characterised the previous model, during January 2015 Stornoway MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 31 occasions out of 62 shifts, and Belfast MRCC was staffed below risk assessed levels on 25 occasions out of 62 shifts.

    Work continues on the fresh appraisal I have asked for on the relationship between the available levels of resource and need in the light of the benefit of the new structure.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 223098, what the value is of overpayments recovered from Work Programme providers since June 2011.

    Esther McVey

    The overpayments recovered from Work Programme providers since June 2011 to 31st January 2015 is £30m, which is less than 2% of total expenditure on the programme.

  • David Davis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    David Davis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to protect organisations and businesses in the UK from cybercrime and large-scale cyber-attack.

    Mr Francis Maude

    I refer my Rt hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement I made on Thursday 11 December 2014 to the House; “Third Annual Report on Progress on the UK Cyber Security Strategy: Protecting and Promoting the UK in a Digital World” and the accompanying progress report “The UK Cyber Security Strategy: Report on progress and forward plans – December 2014”.

  • Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Oliver Heald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2015 to Question 218966, whether he plans to publish financial data on national non-domestic rates before 12 February 2015.

    Kris Hopkins

    Financial data on national non-domestic rates to be collected by councils in England in 2015-16 will be published on 18 February 2015. The data will be available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/national-non-domestic-rates-to-be-collected-by-councils-in-engalnd-2015-to-2016.

  • David Winnick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Winnick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason officials in her Department told the hon. Member for Walsall North that she would not be accompanied by a prospective parliamentary candidate on her visit to an academy in that constituency on 9 February 2015; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Departmental officials organise official government business including visits. They would not be expected to be involved in arrangements with Prospective Parliamentary Candidates.

    Rivers Primary Academy was first informed that the Secretary of State for Education was planning to visit on 5 February 2015. The arrangements were then made and confirmed on 6 February 2015, on which date the Department also alerted the hon. Member to the planned visit.