Tag: 2015

Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what additional financial support he plans to make available to the NHS to deal with pressure on services in winter 2015-16.

Mr Jeremy Hunt

£400 million in resilience money has been invested in the National Health Service for this winter. Learning from previous years, we have put this money into the NHS baseline for 2015/16 so that the NHS can plan effectively at an earlier stage.

There will be no further additional money for the NHS ahead of winter.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2015 to Question 18024, when he plans for the membership of the Institute for Apprenticeships to be announced.

Nick Boles

The Chair and Board Members will be appointed through public appointments. The outcome will be announced as soon as the process allows in 2016.

January 1, 2023
Lord Birt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many breaches of government websites occurred in 2014.

Lord Bridges of Headley

For security reasons we do not comment on specific details of cyber security attacks. The Government takes cyber security very seriously; from 2011 to 2016, we have invested £860 million in a National Cyber Security Programme. We plan to almost double investment in cyber security to £1.9bn over the next five years.

January 1, 2023
Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many completed inspections were carried out by HM Revenue and Customs as part of its duty to enforce minimum wage legislation in 2014-15.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay back arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforces the national minimum wage (NMW) legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). It does so by investigating all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, and carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW across the whole of the UK.

I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 28587 for information on recovery of arrears and on the number of incidences of non-compliance on 26 November 2015.

In 2014/15, HMRC issued financial penalties on 735 employers totalling £934,660 for non-compliance with NMW legislation.

In 2014/15, HMRC completed 2,204 investigations as part of its duty to enforce minimum wage legislation.

Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should contact Acas on 0300 123 1100. HMRC reviews every complaint that Acas refer to it but these may not always lead to an investigation. In 2014/15, HMRC received 2489 worker complaints via the helpline.

January 1, 2023
Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent report from B’Tselem about the closure policy imposed in Jerusalem, what discussions they have had with the government of Israel regarding the new restrictions placed on Palestinians living in East Jerusalem that limit their movement.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We remain deeply concerned about restrictions on freedom of movement in East Jerusalem. Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv raised this issue with Israeli National Security Advisor Cohen on 2 November. Our Consul-General to Jerusalem also raised this issue with the Mayor of Jerusalem on 28 October.

January 1, 2023
Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions a special adviser in his Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

Brandon Lewis

Special Advisers have not undertaken any overseas trips with Ministers since May 2015.

January 1, 2023
Lord Beecham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they have made to promote diversity in the composition of the judiciary by reference to (1) socio-economic status, (2) ethnicity, (3) gender, and (4) age.

Lord Faulks

The Government fully supports a more diverse judiciary and has taken steps to improve representation, whilst still appointing the best people for the job.

In Courts and Tribunals the representation of women has risen to 32.3% of the judiciary, compared to 28.8% in 2012. Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) representation has risen to 7.4 % from 6.8% over the same period.

The Government works with its partners in the judiciary, the Judicial Appointments Commission and the legal professions through the Judicial Diversity Forum to take action to increase the diversity of the judiciary at all levels.

Recent initiatives include:
- Supporting the judiciary in the implementation of the ‘New Route to the High Court’ scheme. This offered high quality candidates support to apply for a Deputy High Court Judge selection exercise launched in July 2015. As this programme was aimed at encouraging diversity, places on this support scheme were limited to women, BAME candidates and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
- Holding outreach events, targeted at under-represented groups, such as ‘Women in the Judiciary: Making it happen’.
This work builds on significant legislative changes which:
- Introduced the equal merit provision into the final stage of the judicial appointments process, which allows diversity, in terms of gender and ethnicity, to be taken into account when two applicants are of equal merit. This has already been applied in seven JAC recommendations between October 2014 and March 2015;
- Extended salaried part-time working to the High Court and above to increase flexibility and make it easier to balance home and work life; and
- Introduced a statutory duty for the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice to encourage judicial diversity.
January 1, 2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what planning he has undertaken to ensure that any UN airstrikes in Syria are (a) co-ordinated with all participating countries and (b) do not harm UN relations with the Russian Federation.

Michael Fallon

UK airstrikes are undertaken as part of the Global Coalition’s counter-Daesh campaign and are coordinated by the Coalition’s Combined Air Operations Centre based at Al Udeid in Qatar. UK aircraft also abide by the provisions and procedures in the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Russia which aims to prevent flight safety incidents over Syria and Iraq.

January 1, 2023
Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will (1) produce a (a) Green Paper, and (b) White Paper, and (2) consult with Parliament, prior to recommending any legislative changes to parliamentary procedures following Lord Strathclyde’s review of the powers of the House of Lords.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston):

Lord Strathclyde is being supported in his review by a panel of external experts and a small secretariat of civil servants in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat does not include political advisers. The expert panel comprises Sir Stephen Laws, former First Parliamentary Counsel; Jacqy Sharpe, a former Clerk in the House of Commons and Clerk to the Joint Committee on Conventions; and Sir Michael Pownall, former Clerk of the Parliaments.

Several reviews have examined the powers of the House of Lords, including the Royal Commission on the reform of the House of Lords (2000) and the Joint Committee on Conventions referenced above (2006).

The review led by Lord Strathclyde is due to consider how to protect the ability of elected Governments to secure their business in Parliament in the light of the operation of certain conventions. The review will consider in particular how to secure the decisive role of the elected House of Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters; and secondary legislation.

Ministers regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

Lord Strathclyde will determine the way in which the review is undertaken and the content of his recommendations, including any definitions required. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost of the exercise at this stage, but neither Lord Strathclyde nor his panel of experts will be paid a fee. Lord Strathclyde is expected to seek views from a wide range of Parliamentarians, parties and groups in undertaking his review, and has issued a letter to all Parliamentarians inviting their input. He is also seeking views from the Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk of the House. Lord Strathclyde will report to the Prime Minister, and the Government will decide how to proceed upon receipt of his recommendations.

January 1, 2023
Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that supply chain contracts from the Beatrice offshore wind project will create jobs in the UK.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department, together with UKTI and BIS, work closely with the Beatrice offshore wind farm developer to ensure that UK companies are able to bid for contracts in an open and fair competition process to maximise the UK content in the wind farm.

Offshore Wind Developers have committed to achieving their vision statement of providing over 50% UK content in UK offshore wind farms. There is an agreed industry standard methodology in place for the Industry to measure and record the UK content in each offshore wind farm. The industry publishes the anonymised and consolidated results to allow the sector and the public to track the sector’s progress towards fulfilling their vision.

January 1, 2023