Tag: 2015

Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of the funding of £500 million for shared schooling in Northern Ireland is expected to come from her Department’s budget.

Mr Ben Wallace

In the ‘Stormont House Agreement’ signed on 23 December 2014, the UK Government agreed a contribution of up to £500m over 10 years of new capital funding to support shared and integrated education, subject to individual projects being agreed between the Executive and the UK Government.

In the recent ‘A Fresh Start: the Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan’ the UK Government agreed a number of further flexibilities to the funding commitments contained in the ‘Stormont House Agreement’ including that capital funding for shared and integrated education can be used to support shared housing projects, with individual projects to be agreed by the UK Government.

This funding to the Northern Ireland Executive will come from Her Majesty’s Treasury through the Northern Ireland Office.

January 1, 2023
Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing mandatory reporting of major vehicle malfunction incidents by the emergency services to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is not aware of any requirement for mandatory reporting of major vehicle malfunction incidents by the emergency services. There is a voluntary method by which emergency services can report to DVSA concerns of design or construction defects in automotive products. This has been in place for many years and is an efficient and effective method used by the emergency services.

January 1, 2023
Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans her Department has to increase electricity generation in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

Andrea Leadsom

Our priority is to ensure that British families and business have access to secure affordable energy supplies. We are working with National Grid to make sure there is always sufficient generating capacity available to meet demand even in challenging conditions, such as extremely cold weather.

National Grid forecasts show Peak demand for electricity for 2015/16 and 2016/17 is expected to be broadly stable, which is consistent with recent trends.

Since 2014 National Grid have had the ability to procure a Contingency Balancing Reserve and they have secured 2.4GW of capacity through this mechanism to ensure supplies for this winter.

On 15 October, Ofgem commenced its consultation on the extension of the cost recovery arrangements for the contingency balancing services to allow National Grid’s contingency balancing services to continue for the winters prior to the introduction of the Capacity Market in 18/19. National Grid’s Tender for the Contingency Balancing Reserve (subject to the outcome of the Ofgem consultation) opened on 2 November. The Government supports the position taken by National Grid and Ofgem that Grid should retain the ability to procure the contingency balancing services for the next two winters and that this tool will help ensure sufficient margins until the first delivery year of the Capacity Market.

Beyond winter 2017/18, the Capacity Market will take over as the long term solution for security of supply, driving new investment in gas and demand side capacity in the future. The first Capacity Market auction was successfully concluded in December 2014 and the next will commence on 8December 2015. We have announced our intention to procure a total of 47.9GW capacity for the delivery year 2019/20 and that the target capacity for the auction this December will be 45.4GW. The balance (2.5 GW) will be procured in 2018, one year ahead of delivery.

January 1, 2023
Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 7.3 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what the evidential basis is for the statement that 150,000 part-time students could benefit each year from a new system of maintenance support by 2020.

Joseph Johnson

This will be a new product, which is likely to differ from previous packages for part time students. It is therefore difficult to accurately assess its potential impact at this stage. The figures given are an initial central estimate of the number of students who could benefit from the new scheme consisting of the current numbers of students together with an element of modest growth. We have announced we will consult on the detail of the package and this will enable respondents to submit evidence on the potential numbers of students benefiting from the proposals.

January 1, 2023
Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what evaluation she made of the potential effect on delivering sustainable development (a) on the Government Estate and (b) in the UK of the planned reduction in her Department’s expenditure.

George Eustice

While the Spending Review has been driven by the need to contribute to the Government’s overall aim of eliminating the deficit, our settlement also reflects the vital importance of work done in all parts of Defra.

We are confident that the settlement will allow us to deliver our ambitions over the course of this parliament to safeguard our natural assets, support our food and farming industry and sustain a thriving rural economy.

In relation to the government estate, we are currently considering the future Greening Government Commitment arrangements. The current Greening Government Commitments, which were aimed at reducing government’s environmental impacts, have also led to financial savings (for example, the estimated savings from reducing energy, water and waste costs across government were approximately £94 million in 2013/14 compared to 2009/10).

January 1, 2023

Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2015 to Question 700, when she plans to (a) publish the evaluation report on the Access to Elected Office Fund and (b) make a decision on whether that fund should continue.

Caroline Dinenage

The number of people who have applied to the Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund is in the table below:

Financial Year	Number of applicants (some applicants made more than one application)
2012/13	27
2013/14	34
2014/15	48

The total amount claimed by successful applicants was £271,260 (out of awards totalling £418,733)

An evaluation of the pilot fund is currently being undertaken and will be published in due course. An announcement regarding the future of the fund is anticipated early in 2016.

The information on regional breakdown of expenditure and the diversity of candidates can be found in the tables below:

Region (location of election seat)	Amount claimed and paid (£)
East Midlands	1,099
East of England	480
Greater London	89,399
North East England	4,382
North West England	20,567
South East England	69,474
South West England	21,260
West Midlands	20,281
Yorkshire and Humberside	17,882
Total (rounded)	271,260

Political Party	Amount claimed and paid (£)
Conservative	32,361
Democracy 2015	350
Green	5,791
Labour	120,846
Liberal Democrat	32,601
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition	276
UKIP	53,236
Independent	25,798
Total (rounded)	271,260

Gender	Amount claimed and paid (£)
Male	139,524
Female	131,736
Total	271,260

Ethnic Group	Amount claimed and paid (£)
White; all backgrounds	218,117
Mixed ethnic origin	1,348
Asian; all backgrounds	26,680
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British	22,977
Other ethnic group	350
Prefer not to say	1,788
Total	271,260

January 1, 2023

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Indian government on re-opening border crossings to Nepal since discussions were held between the British and Indian ambassadors to Nepal on border blockages on 30 October.

Mr Hugo Swire

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 November 2015 to question 15614 which can be located at: www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers. In addition to this answer, I discussed the blockage at the border with the Indian Foreign Secretary during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to the United Kingdom.

January 1, 2023
Karin Smyth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who he was accompanied by at a cost to the public purse on each of his official overseas trips since his appointment.

Jane Ellison

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State is generally accompanied by an official from the Department and/or a member of staff from his private office when he is travelling on official business.

January 1, 2023
Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what care pathways are in place at each sexual assault referral centre; and what the average waiting time is for access to those pathways for (a) adults and (b) children under 18.

Jane Ellison

NHS England has set out care pathways for adult and child Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) services in its `Commissioning Framework for Adult and Paediatric Sexual Assault referral Centre (SARC) Services’, published in August 2015. Pathway services are wide-ranging, including safeguarding, social care, housing, other medical support and therapeutic counselling. The framework is now being rolled out across England and outlines the expected core service.

Data on waiting times into care pathways or therapeutic services in SARCs or referred to by SARCs, is not collected centrally.

January 1, 2023
John Mann – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department has allocated to meeting the UN targets on family planning; and in which countries such funding has been allocated.

Mr Nick Hurd

In 2014, the most recent year for which figures are available, UK spending on Family Planning was £203 million, exceeding our 2012 London Summit commitment to double our yearly spend in this area. We are currently developing our plans for the new spending review period, but in the past the majority of our country offices have had family planning programmes.

Multilateral, regional and civil society funding reaches many more countries. As well as a large commitment to the UNFPA Supplies programme (£356m until 2020), DFID also supports the FP2020 Secretariat, work on shaping reproductive health markets through the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition

January 1, 2023