Tag: 2015

Margaret Hodge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will ensure that any agreement on a central registry of beneficial ownership in Montserrat includes access for the public with legitimate reason.

James Duddridge

I refer the Right Honourable Lady to the answer given by my Hon Friend the member for Hertfordshire South West (David Gauke), the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 16 October to questions 10437, 10438 and 10448, which sets out the criteria we expect the Overseas Territories to meet in relation to their central register of company beneficial ownership, or similarly effective system. We are in discussions with the Montserrat authorities on this and are offering technical assistance as they develop their proposals.

January 1, 2023
Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of UK aid spending in reducing levels of illiteracy in Pakistan.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The Pakistan programme is DFID’s largest bilateral investment in education worldwide. More than 6.3 million primary school children and 3.7 million secondary school children have benefited since 2011. Working in partnership with provincial governments and the private sector, we aim to get more children into school, staying longer, and learning more.

DFID has funded the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for the last three years. The report includes a wide range of data on education, including pupil enrolment, provision of facilities, and learning outcomes. In their 2015 report, published on 17 December 2015, ASER reports on national progress on literacy in rural areas for example it shows that grade 5 literacy levels in English have improved by 7 per cent. DFID interventions in the education sector since 2011 are likely to have had a positive impact on literacy levels in Punjab and Khyber Phaktunkhwa, given the focus on improved facilities and teaching, and pupil and teacher attendance. It is not however possible to claim a direct correlation between the ASER data and DFID’s investment.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department plans to give to local authorities to ensure that they are able to provide new affordable housing to people on low incomes.

Brandon Lewis

More council housing has been built since 2010 than in the previous 13 years. 2014 saw the highest number of council housing starts for 23 years.

Almost £222 million of extra borrowing headroom has been allocated to 36 councils in England to support over 3,000 new affordable homes in 2015/16 and 2016/17.

The 2011-15 Affordable Homes Programme exceeded expectations – delivering 186,000 new affordable homes -16,000 more than the target. In addition, this Government is committed to delivering a further 275,000 new affordable homes by 2020. Through the 2015-18 Affordable Homes programme, we have already allocated around £1.4 billion to support this delivery

The Government is committed to helping hard working people across the country to own their own home. We believe that shared ownership has an important role to play in helping those who aspire to home ownership but may be otherwise unable to afford it.

We launched a one-off £36 million funding package in August to pave the way for the first wave of Starter Homes on brownfield sites that would otherwise not be built on to help more young people into discounted home ownership. Of this, up to £10million will be made available to councils in England. 200,000 Starter Homes will be built by 2020/21.

Right to buy additions are due within 3 years of sales: 3,694 new Right to Buy addition starts and acquisitions were delivered against 3,054 additional homes sold in the first year of the scheme. Receipts from the sale of Right to Buy homes will continue to help authorities to build new additional properties.

January 1, 2023
Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he expects applicants for payments under CAP to be able to register their identity using GOV.UK Verify as planned under the new CAP regime.

Matthew Hancock

Applicants can already register and sign in online for Rural Payments with GOV.UK Verify.

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January 1, 2023
Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what total amount of funding has been allocated to the Superconnected Cities project.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Super Connected Cities Programme had an allocation of up to £150m, to support broadband and digital projects across 22 citiesup to March 2015. The Chancellor extended the connection voucher scheme to 50 cities from April 2015 on a first come first serve basis, with up to £40m of that funding available for this.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether UK universities are required to admit support dogs for adults with autism.

Joseph Johnson

Higher Education Institutionsare autonomous and independent bodies, and have clear legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to support their students, including those with autism.

Under the Equality Act 2010 institutions have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people to ensure students are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students.

January 1, 2023
Stephen Tim – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Tim on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 2730, what progress she has made on establishing a school on the site of the former East Ham police station.

Edward Timpson

We have investigated a number of options for utilising the former East Ham Police station, which we continue to progress. This includes working with the Regional Schools Commissioner to identify free school trusts who may wish to open on the site.

Given the sensitivity of the discussions I am not able to release further information at this stage.

January 1, 2023
Wes Streeting – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) MRI scanners and (b) computerised tomography scanners there are in England; where each such scanner is; and how old each such scanner is.

George Freeman

Information on the number, age and location of magnetic resonance imaging scanners and computerised tomography scanners is not collected centrally.

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 assessment her Department has made of the probability of the UK not being able to rely on electricity interconnectors to the continent as in previous years because of French and Belgian supply being limited until 2020 due to the closure of old fossil fuel plant and nuclear reactors in those countries.

Andrea Leadsom

National Grid makes an assessment of the extent to which all GB interconnectors can be relied upon at times of system stress. This is based on an assessment of European markets. In recent years we have, in fact, observed increased efficiency of the interconnectors and imports to the UK system at times of peak demand. As market coupling is further implemented, we expect this to continue. This is assessed on an annual basis to take into account any changing market dynamics. For this winter, forward power prices suggest net imports to GB over interconnectors with continental Europe.

Beyond these market arrangements, should GB need additional support, it is also possible for National Grid as the System Operator to call upon interconnectors at a time of system stress.

January 1, 2023
Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on agency workers to cover clerical agency staff in each month since May 2015; and which companies provided those services.

Mike Penning

The information requested is published in the department’s annual accounts. These can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/217243/moj-annual-report-accounts-2010-11.pdf

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/MoJ/2012/moj-annual-report-accounts-2011-12.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/208728/moj-annual-report-2012-13.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/323308/moj-annual-report-2013-14.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/434016/moj-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-15.pdf

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January 1, 2023