UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2015

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what specific changes are needed to her Department’s policies to ensure that the UK meets the EU target of 15 per cent of energy to be sourced from renewable sources before 2020; and what the timetable is for implementing each of those changes.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We continue to make progress towards our renewable energy target of 15% final energy consumption by 2020. Provisional figures show 6.3% of final energy consumption came from renewable sources for 2013 and 2014, against a target of 5.4%.

    Progress on renewable electricity generation has been particularly strong with over a quarter of electricity generated, between April and June this year, coming from renewable sources.

    The Spending Review will be announced on 25th November, and a Department for Transport consultation will be running next year on increasing the amount of renewable transport fuel. We will carefully consider the impacts of both on the UK’s progress towards the renewables target of 15%, including whether there will be a role for trading.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they have made to the violence against women in South Sudan since conflict broke out in December 2013.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We remain deeply concerned by the situation in South Sudan and are responding accordingly. We are pressing the Government of Sudan to progress its commitments to tackle violence against women and raised this issue most recently with the Minister of Defence in November. The UK’s humanitarian programme has a strong focus on protection, including supporting the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence. We are also supporting projects that empower women and seek to provide justice to the most vulnerable groups, including women and girls. Additionally, the UK played a key role to ensure the new mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan has an even stronger focus on protecting civilians, including women and girls.

  • Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department plans to make an announcement regarding resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory by Chagos islanders.

    James Duddridge

    A twelve week public consultation ended on 27 October. Nearly 850 written responses were received from as far afield as Tanzania, Switzerland, Thailand, France, and of course the main Chagossian communities in the UK, Mauritius and Seychelles. Officials are continuing their analysis of these, and the results of meetings held with Chagossians in their own communities, to allow a decision on a way ahead soon.

  • Baroness Redfern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Redfern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance is being offered to social work teams to equip them with the necessary resources to provide high quality and affordable residential care both (1) nationally, and (2) in North Lincolnshire.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Government is committed to improving the quality of adult social care and has taken a number of steps to improve it in all localities.

    The Department is working with its delivery partner Skills for Care to improve training and development for the workforce. In April 2015, 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.

    Ultimately it is a local decision as to how to allocate resources for social care, as such the Department cannot comment specifically on North Lincolnshire.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women held in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre have legal representation.

    James Brokenshire

    All detainees at immigration removal centres are able to access legal advice through a duty solicitor scheme provided by the Legal Aid Agency.

    Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) inspected Yarl’s Wood between 13 April and 1 May 2015 and reported that waiting times for duty advice surgeries were short.

  • Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 14 December (HL4095), why the occupations of those appointed as lay magistrates are no longer recorded.

    Lord Faulks

    The information is no longer recorded because it does not form part of published statistics on the magistracy. Additionally, the enduring accuracy of the recorded information could not be guaranteed subsequent to appointment.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance he provides to local authorities on the enforcement of the prohibition on private hire vehicles plying for hire; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport’s Best Practice Guidance for taxi and private hire licensing advises local authorities that the safety of the public depends on authorities having effective enforcement mechanisms in place.

    The Guidance adds that it is desirable to ensure that taxi and PHV enforcement is at least partially directed to the late night period when problems such as touting and illegal plying for hire are most prevalent.

    It is for local licensing authorities to determine how they allocate resources for enforcement, which will vary according to local circumstances. Licensing authorities are also advised to liaise closely with the police when undertaking enforcement activity.

  • 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 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the NHS Strategic Projects Team is to be held to account for the advice it gave to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group, and to the NHS Commissioning Board, on the contract for older people’s services in Cambridge and Peterborough.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England advises that it will be commissioning an investigation into the circumstances leading up to the termination of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership LLP to deliver urgent care for the over 65s and adult community services. This will include the role of the Strategic Projects Team. NHS England is also considering how similar contracts will be managed and assured in the future.

  • Andy McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andy McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the annual change in tax revenue from extending the national living wage to those aged between 18 and 25.

    Mr David Gauke

    Younger workers tend to have less experience than older workers in the labour market, and so there is a risk that too high a wage rate may make them relatively less attractive to employers. So, to minimise any negative impact on employment of younger workers, the National Living Wage is limited to those 25 and over. The Government has not therefore made an estimate of what the fiscal impact of this policy change would be.

    The Office for Budgetary Responsibility estimate that, by 2020-21, the National Living Wage will increase income tax and NICs receipts by around £0.1bn, as set out in Table B.3 in of their July 2015 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. They assume that, by 2020-21, the overall impact of the policy on the public finances is to reduce public sector net borrowing by £0.2bn.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the UK’s membership of the European Union in comparison to membership of the European Economic Area.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The EU Referendum Act 2015 sets out the Government’s commitment to publish information about rights and obligations that arise under EU law as a result of the UK’s membership of the EU, and examples of countries that are not members of the EU, but have other arrangements with the EU. This information will be published at least 10 weeks before the referendum.