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Tag: 2015

  • David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will work with his international counterparts to request that the UN Secretary General appoint a Special Envoy for Sustainable Development.

    James Duddridge

    Effective follow up and implementation of the now-agreed 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is one of the UK’s top priorities at the United Nations. We continue to discuss this with the UN Secretary General, the wider UN system, and Member States. It would need to be clear what value any new UN special envoy would add to existing UN activity before the UK advocated such an idea, over and above existing sustainable development activities.

  • Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the (1) Mersey Waters, (2) Liverpool City, and (3) Sci-Tech Daresbury, Enterprise Zones in particular regarding new job creation and investment.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    DCLG publishes national and regional performance data collected from Enterprise Zones on a quarterly basis. Data is not published on individual zones. This data includes jobs attracted as well as investment and the number of business established.

    Based on the most recent quarterly monitoring returns, Enterprise Zones in the North, which include Mersey Waters and Sci-Tech Daresbury, have attracted 5,889 jobs including construction jobs, 150 new businesses and secured around £1,120 million of private sector investment. This data is self-reported but all efforts have been made to ensure its accuracy.

    Data for Liverpool City is not included, as it does not offer business rates discounts as part of the official Enterprise Zone programme.

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospitals in England treat arteriovenous malformations and pituitary ademomas with stereotactic radiosurgery.

    Jane Ellison

    There are eight hospitals which currently treat cerebral arteriovenous malformations.

    There are 10 hospitals which currently treat pituitary adenomas. This condition falls within the definition of a Tier 2 service in the new service model. It will, therefore, continue to be treated by a range of hospitals across the country.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government under what legislation the National Infrastructure Commission currently operates; whether the National Infrastructure Commissioners are being paid allowances or expenses for their work; and if so, on what basis, and how much.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The National Infrastructure does not currently operate under any legislation, but it will be legislated for when parliamentary time allows. Commissioners are being reimbursed all reasonable expenses properly and necessarily incurred in respect of their appointments. They are paid allowances in line with similar government positions.

  • Karin Smyth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Karin Smyth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers the Government plans to resettle in the Bristol City Council area.

    James Brokenshire

    Under the Immigration and Asylum act 1999, asylum seekers who need accommodation are housed in communities across the UK according to an agreed ratio, based on various regional factors. This is reviewed regularly. Within each region, UKVI has established working arrangements with local authorities in order to consider dispersal patterns and numbers. This includes consulting key corporate partners in the local area in order to assess regularly the impact of dispersal policy on a particular community.

    The COMPASS contract requires providers to liaise and consult with local authorities to ensure that accommodation provided to asylum seekers does not adversely affect local authority developments or community plans. Providers must also take into account the cultural compatibility of the environment; capacity of local health, education and other support services; concentration of accommodation of service users within particular areas; and the assessment of social tension risks.

    Following the expansion of the Government’s vulnerable person resettlement scheme, we have established a cross-Government committee to oversee the resettlement of vulnerable refugees and we are working closely with them and local authorities about future resettlement.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the UK Guarantees scheme.

    Greg Hands

    The UK Guarantees Scheme is an important mechanism for facilitating private investment in infrastructure in the UK. £3.7 billion of guarantees have been approved to date, enabling projects worth £23 billion to go ahead. As announced in the Autumn Statement, availability of the UK Guarantees Scheme will be extended to March 2021 to continue to support projects to secure private investment.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the Government has disbursed in aid to Afghanistan since 2007.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Between 2007 and 2013 (the latest figures available) UK bilateral aid expenditure in Afghanistan has totalled £1,422,500,000.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to raise awareness of financial scams targeting older people.

    Mike Penning

    The Government takes all types of fraud and financial scams extremely seriously. The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, published in 2013, places a strong focus on protecting those most at risk. The Home Office has recently completed a research project in order to better understand who in the UK is at risk from fraud and cyber threats, what makes them vulnerable and how to most effectively reach them. This will enable the Home Office and partners to develop ways to better protect the public, for example providing targeted fraud prevention advice.

    The Home Office also works with the City of London Police, which is the national lead force for fraud, to help all police forces to understand better who is vulnerable to fraud in their areas, and to work with local partners including the voluntary sector to help protect those vulnerable people from the threat from fraud.

    Action Fraud is the central reporting point for fraud and is operated by the City of London Police. It assesses the vulnerability of victims based on the financial and health impact of the reported fraud, and provides this information to forces. This enables police forces to make targeted interventions with those most at risk. When a serious threat or a new type of fraud is identified, Action Fraud places an alert on its website with advice for individuals to protect themselves from becoming victims. Members of the public can sign up to receive these alerts by email.

    The Home Office is also working closely with Financial Fraud Action UK and the British Bankers Association who have issued specific advice to consumers on telephone scams. This includes helping consumers know when they may be a target to these fraudsters, and advice on what information should never be shared, e.g. PIN number. In December last year Financial Fraud Action UK and the police announced a joint declaration to help consumers avoid becoming victims of financial fraud.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will take steps to enable the Government to direct the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland to investigate a complaint from a former police officer where matters giving rise to the complaint took place more than 12 months ago and there are exceptional circumstances which justify such an investigation being held.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The RUC (Complaints etc) Regulations 2001 allow the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland to investigate complaints into matters which took place more than 12 months ago in exceptional circumstances, for example when new evidence has come to light which was not reasonably available at the time of an original complaint.

    The Police Ombudsman is accountable to the Northern Ireland Assembly, through the Minister of Justice for Northern Ireland.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many pirate radio broadcasting installations have been taken off air by enforcement action in each of the last five years.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As part of Ofcom’sresponsibilityfor protecting and managing radio spectrum, enforcement operations arecarried out every year to remove pirate radio broadcasts. After the success of these operations, and the combined effort of local authorities, the number of pirate stations still broadcasting has significantly reduced, explaining the decline in number of pirate stations taken off air in 2014. This success has led Ofcom to launch a new initiative involving local authorities and other owners of high rise residential buildings to remove the presence of illegal broadcasters. The results have already been positive, with the complete removal of pirate radio broadcasters in the London Boroughs of Haringey and Islington.

    Year

    Number of Pirate Radio Stations

    Taken off the air
    2010 104
    2011 96
    2012 99
    2013 102
    2014 69


    Background

    This year Ofcom began a new initiative involving local authorities and other owners of high rise residential properties to remove the presence of illegal broadcasters from their buildings. Ofcom has implemented this strategy with a number of London boroughs already. The results have been positive, with the complete removal of pirate broadcasts in the London Boroughs of Haringey and Islington. Ofcom intends to pursue this further.