Tag: 2015

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance and support her Department is providing to food sovereignty movements in developing countries; and if she will make a statement.

    Grant Shapps

    DFID supports strengthening household food security through improving agricultural productivity and improved incomes from agricultural production, building resilience against climate change and linking smallholder farmers to markets and supply chains. We help with a context-specific range of programmes, which all contribute to the inclusive and more sustainable economic growth that will lift poor people out of poverty.

    The UK Government believes that a key element in strengthening food security is to encourage diverse sources of supply. We will not support approaches that undermine open markets and free trade, which allows consumer choice and options for a healthier diet, and so does not specifically support food sovereignty movements in developing countries.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of how many Syrian refugees in the vulnerable persons programme will be resettled in (a) North East England, (b) North West England, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber, (d) the East Midlands, (e) the West Midlands, (f) the East of England, (g) Greater London, (h) South East England, (i) South West England, (j) Wales, (k) Scotland and (l) Northern Ireland by 2020.

    Richard Harrington

    We are still in discussions with many local authorities to establish whether they wish to participate in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has spent on (a) temporary agency staff, (b) consultants, (c) non-payroll staff, (d) administration and (e) marketing and advertising in real terms in each year since 2010-11.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department’s spend on temporary agency staff, consultancy and administration for the financial years from 2010/11 to 2014/15 is published in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts and is included in the tables below.

    (a) Temporary Agency Staff

    Temporary Agency Staff (£m)

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    Department for Transport (central)

    6.87

    4.10

    6.85

    12.80

    15.77

    Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

    3.70

    1.00

    3.13

    1.22

    0.98

    Driving Standards Agency

    0.34

    0.00

    0.01

    0.13

    0.80

    Highways Agency

    3.76

    2.45

    1.01

    5.83

    9.82

    Maritime and Coastguard Agency

    0.48

    0.17

    0.14

    0.57

    1.07

    Vehicle Certification Agency

    0.15

    0.12

    0.17

    0.36

    0.14

    Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

    1.00

    1.59

    2.28

    3.02

    5.39

    Department Total

    16.30

    9.43

    13.59

    23.93

    33.97

    (b) Consultancy

    Consultancy (£m)

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    Department for Transport (central)

    5.54

    5.57

    10.30

    8.12

    19.25

    Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

    0.76

    0.48

    0.56

    0.70

    0.12

    Driving Standards Agency

    0.10

    0.00

    0.00

    0.04

    0.31

    Highways Agency

    3.87

    0.30

    0.19

    0.27

    0.00

    Maritime and Coastguard Agency

    0.13

    0.05

    0.10

    0.13

    0.00

    Vehicle Certification Agency

    0.00

    0.00

    0.00

    0.05

    0.00

    Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

    0.39

    0.01

    0.07

    0.97

    0.09

    Department Total

    10.79

    6.41

    11.22

    10.28

    19.77

    The figures for temporary staff and consultancy have been produced based on Cabinet Office definitions for these categories of expenditure. Consultancy is defined as work of an advisory nature designed to inform policy or to assist with strategic decisions and complex legal issues. Temporary Staff category includes expenditure where it is clear that specific individuals are being engaged to work on projects and ‘business as usual’ functions.

    Please see (d) Administration for further information

    (c) Non-payroll Staff

    Most non-payroll expenditure is included as either Temporary Staff or Consultancy answered in parts (a) and (b) above, with the exception of:-

    Non-Payroll Staff (£M)

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA)

    1.68

    1.76

    2.05

    2.18

    3.04

    VCA figures include overseas contractors and locally employed staff. There was a large increase 2013/14 to 2014/15 as they took over a Turkish contract.

    (d) Administration

    Administration costs reflect the costs of running the Department, including staff, accommodation, IT costs, and operating lease rentals. The administration budget figures below are substantially lower than the 2009-10 figure of £297m.

    Department for Transport Spend Category (£m)

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    Total Administration Budget

    276.26

    216.74

    242.93

    240.08

    271.38

    To ensure that the Department was resourced to deliver its agenda, particularly around letting and managing rail franchise contracts following the Laidlaw and Brown reviews, HM Treasury agreed to switch £25m from DfT’s Programme to Administration budgets, increasing the Department’s 2014-15 Administration budget to £275m, plus £13m for depreciation.

    The increases in (a) temporary staff and (b) consultancy spend was covered in this switch.

    Notes:

    1. Government Car & Despatch Agency disbanded during 2012/13 following which the work has been undertaken within the Department. The Administration therefore falls under Central Administration section from

    2013/14 onwards.

    2. General Lighthouse Authorities consolidated into the Department’s accounts for 2013/14 and beyond.

    (e) Marketing and Advertising

    Spend on marketing, including marketing related advertising, by the Department and its Executive Agencies for the financial years 2012/13 to 2014/15 is set out in the table below.

    Marketing spend in 2014/15 is 83% less than the £48.4 million recorded for 2009/10.

    Marketing related expenditure (£m)

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    Department for Transport (central)

    3.47

    4.79

    5.96

    Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

    0.56

    Nil

    Nil

    Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency1

    –

    –

    0.23

    Driving Standards Agency1

    0.04

    0.03

    –

    Government Car and Despatch Agency2

    Nil

    –

    –

    Highways Agency

    0.46

    0.43

    1.91

    Maritime and Coastguard Agency

    0.18

    0.16

    0.21

    Vehicle and Operator Services Agency1

    0.06

    0.06

    –

    Vehicle Certification Agency

    0.04

    N/A

    0.05

    Department Total

    4.80

    5.47

    8.36

    Notes:

    1. The Driving Standards Agency and Vehicle and Operator Services Agency became the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in April 2014.

    2. The Government Car and Despatch Agency ceased on 30 September 2012.

    Most of the additional spend in 2014/15 compared to the previous year is attributable to the THINK! Drug Drive campaign in March 2015 supporting the implementation of new enforcement regulations and the Highways Agency public information campaign on the implementation of new traffic management and payment methods at the Dartford Crossing.

    Figures for 2010/11 and 2011/12 were not prepared and could be compiled now only at disproportionate cost.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on educational materials for prisons in 2014-15.

    Nick Boles

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills funds the Skills Funding Agency to administer and deliver education in the majority of adult prisons in England via the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS).

    The OLASS budget for 2014-15 was £145.6m. This figure includes funding for the National Careers Service in custody. It excludes a number of private prisons where the operator is responsible for providing education under their contract with the National Offender Management Service.

    The OLASS budget includes funding to cover the provision of educational materials. The costs of those materials are not collected separately.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that residents in council areas with low levels of business rates are protected from the effects of the change to funding council tax benefit by retained business rates in 2020.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    By the end of this Parliament, when local government will keep 100% of the £26 billion of business rates they raise locally, our ambition is that local councils will meet their spending needs, including local council tax support, from local taxation and other locally raised income. At the point that we introduce 100% business rates retention, there will continue to be a measure of redistribution to ensure that no authority loses out just because it starts from a relatively weaker position.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many assaults there were on staff working for (a) London Underground, (b) London Overground, (c) London buses, (d) Docklands Light Railway and (e) Tramlink in each hour of the day in 2014.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport does not collect this information.

    However, I am able to say that the British Transport Police will shortly be launching Project Servator, which aims to detect and deter crime on the railways. It deploys highly visible and unpredictable police patrols to prevent a range of criminal activity, from pickpocketing and theft to more serious crimes including terrorism.

  • Lord Oates – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Oates – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current food security situation in Ethiopia.

    Baroness Verma

    We are extremely concerned about the impact of the current drought on the food security situation in Ethiopia. A joint Government of Ethiopia and UN assessment is underway and we are in touch with our UN and Non-Governmental Organisation partners on the ground to determine the extent of need.

    In October, the Government of Ethiopia announced that about 8.2 million people are in need of emergency food aid, up from the 4.5 million estimated in August. The number of severely malnourished children under five years old admitted to therapeutic feeding programmes this year has increased notably.

    Britain has acted quickly and decisively by providing emergency support for 2.6 million people. This includes food aid for 2.1 million people for a month. The Government of Ethiopia has also committed its largest ever response to a drought. The international community will need to work hard with the Government of Ethiopia to prevent the crisis from worsening in the coming months.

    DFID is at the forefront of resilience work to reduce the impact of crises in developing countries. In Ethiopia, DFID’s Productive Safety Nets Programme (PSNP) has helped turn desert land into land that can be farmed again.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprenticeships were available in the (a) food and (b) tourism sectors in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2015.

    Nick Boles

    Apprenticeship starts by academic year and the framework of the apprenticeship is published at the FE data library (first link) as a supplementary table to a Statistical First Release (second link):

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/477738/apprenticeships-starts-by-sase-framework.xls

    “

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which regulations his Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date; which regulations his Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

    Anna Soubry

    All regulations implementing EU legislation that have been introduced since 2013 and their associated impacts can be found on www.legislation.gov.uk. The impact of future regulations that implement EU legislation will also be available on this site in due course.

    “

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 2.64 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, which education-related statutory duties on local authorities she plans to remove; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Savings of £600 million will be made by reducing the Education Services Grant (ESG), including phasing out the additional funding that goes to schools and local authorities. We will be making a small efficiency saving (around £80 million) from the ESG in 2016-17, and will be setting out our proposals for savings from 2017-18 in the New Year. This will include consulting on the details of the statutory duties that will be removed.