Tag: 2015

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of Ofcom’s programme to monitor and enforce the cancellation and termination arrangements of different providers; and what steps he is taking to ensure that consumers can easily leave their communications contracts in future.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    In June 2015, Ofcom launched a monitoring and enforcement programme to assess the cancellation and termination arrangements of communications providers, and the impact these have on consumers’ ability to exit their communications service contract quickly, conveniently and without error. We will discuss with Ofcom any findings from its programme that show consumers have difficulty ending contracts, and work with them to identify whether action needs to be taken.

  • Phil Boswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Phil Boswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 11169, what discussions the Government has had with the devolved administrations on the recommendation in the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission’s report, State of the Nation 2014: Social Mobility and Child Poverty in Great Britain, published in October 2014, that unpaid internships should be eliminated by 2020.

    Nick Boles

    No formal discussions on unpaid internships have taken place between the UK Government and the devolved administrations following the publication of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission’s report in October 2014. The UK Government recognises that a number of the levers that can be used to influence social mobility are the responsibility of the devolved administrations, and we are keen to work closely with all partners to help improve social mobility across the United Kingdom.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to identify locations for potential electricity storage schemes that would best supplement the existing National Grid system.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department has recently commissioned a study to assess the level of system flexibility (e.g. electricity storage, interconnection, demand side response) that may be required in the future. This study will consider how much and what type of flexibility is both least regrets and optimal for our energy system. This study is expected to conclude in the spring.

    In addition, with support from a DECC innovation grant, a UK pumped hydro storage developer has assessed the potential viability of new pumped hydro sites around Great Britain. They concluded that up to 15GW of potential additional pumped storage capacity was available, using various criteria such as the presence of existing or potential reservoirs, grid connection distance and whether the site was in an environmentally sensitive area. Other pumped storage developers have independently identified over 1 GW of additional potential storage capacity.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the book value of the portfolio of mortgages sold by Cerberus to TSB, following the sale of UK Asset Resolution’s Granite portfolio, was on 13 November 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Following their acquisition of the Granite portfolio, Cerberus Capital Management LP announced that they have agreed to sell £3.3bn of the assets to TSB Bank plc.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will (a) discuss with the Moroccan ambassador to the UK and (b) instruct the British Ambassador in Rabat to investigate reports of intimidation, harassment and kidnapping of human rights defenders in the Occupied Territories of Western Sahara coinciding with the visit of King Mohamed VI.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I discussed Western Sahara on my recent visit to Morocco on 11 November.

    We continue to monitor the human rights situation in Western Sahara and raise any concerns with the Moroccan Government.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when the Government plans to publish its final findings from the eight market test pilots under the Exploring superfast coverage beyond 95 per cent programme.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Broadband Delivery UK’s Market Test Pilot scheme has been exploring alternative technologies, including wireless, with the aim of better informing how to provide superfast broadband to the hardest to reach premises. The results of these pilots will be published soon.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Russian counterpart on recent Russian military action in Syria.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    I met the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, in the margins of the Syria talks in Vienna in October 2015. In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has made numerous representations to the Russian Government regarding military operations in Syria.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to schools on meetings for prayer or religious instruction for pupils during break times.

    Edward Timpson

    Collective worship plays an important role in schools. It encourages children to reflect on belief, and helps shape fundamental British values of tolerance, respect and understanding for others. Parents can choose to withdraw their children from all or any part of collective worship.

    The Department does not issue guidance to schools specifically on the provision of meetings for prayer or religious instruction for pupils during break times.

    The Department does publish guidance on collective worship; it is for governing bodies to decide how best to meet the requirements of that guidance and the relevant legislation, which can be found online at GOV.UK:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/281929/Collective_worship_in_schools.pdf

    “

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

    Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of total NHS expenditure spending on maternity services represented in each of the last 10 years.

    Ben Gummer

    Not all of the information requested is collected centrally. Data for primary care trusts (PCTs) secondary healthcare commissioning spend on maternity services for the years 2005/06 to 2012/13 is shown in the tables below. Maternity services may also be commissioned in primary care environments. However, it is not possible to separately identify the amount of primary care expenditure on maternity services from the statutory accounting data collected by the Department.

    Table 1: 2005/06 to 2007/08. NHS expenditure figures on a pre-Clear Line of Sight resource budgeting basis.

    Year

    Maternity services commissioned by PCTs 2005/06 to 2012/13
    ( £ billion)

    Spend on maternity services as % of NHS revenue expenditure

    2005/06

    1.67

    2.25%

    2006/07

    1.62

    2.06%

    2007/08

    1.79

    2.07%


    Source:     NHS (England) Summarised Account (2005/06 to 2010/11)

    Table 2: 2008/09 to 2012/13. NHS expenditure figures on an aligned basis following the HM Treasury’s Clear Line of Sight programme.

    Year

    Maternity services commissioned by PCTs 2005/06 to 2012/13
    ( £ billion)

    Spend on maternity services as % of NHS revenue expenditure

    2008/09

    1.97

    2.25%

    2009/10

    2.41

    2.55%

    2010/11

    2.53

    2.60%

    2011/12

    2.62

    2.61%

    2012/13

    2.58

    2.52%


    Source:     NHS (England) Summarised Account (2005/06 to 2010/11) and the Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts (2011/12 and 2012/13).

    Notes:

    1. Commissioning expenditure on maternity services relates to the payments made by commissioners to providers for delivery of maternity services.
    2. The Clear Line of Sight HM Treasury alignment project simplified financial reporting to Parliament by ensuring improved consistency between accounts and HM Treasury budgeting rules.

    Following the abolition of PCTs and strategic health authorities at 31 March 2013, NHS England became responsible for the commissioning of healthcare in England via the network of individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The Department does not collect data on maternity services spend by CCGs.

    NHS England has published expenditure on ‘maternity and reproductive health’ services commissioned by CCGs for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £2.8 billion (4% of total CCG expenditure). CCG spend represents a proportion of overall NHS expenditure on maternity services. NHS England also commissions some services that were previously included within PCT estimates, such as antenatal screening services. NHS England is currently reviewing the data on direct commissioning expenditure and plans to publish this when finalised.

  • Crispin Blunt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Crispin Blunt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with veterinary experts on the use of colistin and colistin resistance in animals, food and humans.

    George Eustice

    I discussed the issue of colistin resistance on 1 December with the Chief Executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate following the publication of a report on the issue in relation to China.

    In November, the UK Government attended an EU workshop on the impact on public health and animal health of the use of antibiotics in animals, which included the use of colistin. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate has also held initial discussions on the use of colistin and colistin resistance with other experts across government, including the Food Standards Agency, Department of Health and Public Health England, and key industry bodies.