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Tag: 2015

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the target strength is for the Royal Navy Reserve.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    I refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by my right hon. Friend the previous Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) on 19 December 2013, (Official Report, column 124WS) on Future Reserves 2020, and the accompanying document that was placed in the Library of the House which sets out the planned growth of the trained strength of the Reserve Forces, together with the enlistment targets for the next five years.

    I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2015 to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mr Shannon) to Question 11812 which explained the improvements we have made to ensure we reach our target strength of 35,000 trained volunteer Reservists by 31 March 2019.

  • Lord Grocott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    Lord Grocott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Grocott on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Lord Privy Seal on 26 October (HL2541), whether they will publish the latest figures on the number of members of each party in the House, and the ratio of government to opposition members, including all those peers whose introduction has been scheduled.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    Including all those peers whose introduction or retirement has been advertised in House of Lords Business, and assuming no other changes to the membership of the House, as of 19 January 2016 there will be 249 members on the Conservative benches, 212 members on the Labour benches, and 112 members on the Liberal Democrat benches. This means that there will be 75 more peers on the benches of the largest two opposition parties than on the Government benches.


    That will be 29 more peers than at the end of the 2009-10 session, when there were only 46 more peers on the benches of the largest two opposition parties than on the Government benches.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many inspections were carried out under section 97 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 in each of the last 24 calendar months; which schools were so inspected; and whether each such inspection found that the institution breached section 96 of that Act.

    Nick Gibb

    This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether introducing an elected mayor will be a requirement of all future devolution deals with combined authorities.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Development of devolution deals is a bottom up process, in which areas bring us their proposals for the powers and budgets they want devolved to them. The accompanying governance arrangements they propose to support those powers and budgets must be commensurate with the scale of devolution they are seeking.

    Elected mayors provide that strong, single point of accountability which is essential for any devolution deal of the scale and ambition of the deals we have announced for Greater Manchester, Sheffield City Region, Tees Valley and the North East.

  • Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much of his Department’s funding allocated in the Spending Review 2015 will be for research and development expenditure up to 2020.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not have a dedicated research and development fund. Research to inform policy is conducted by FCO Research Analysts and by individual Directorates and overseas Posts, and funded from devolved budgets. It is therefore not possible to identify how much of the FCO’s allocated funding will be spent on these activities over the Spending Review 2015 period.

  • Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans Ofqual has to allow visas to be obtained for foreign students from countries in the emerging markets wishing to train for a professional pilot’s licence in the United Kingdom.

    Lord Bates

    The Home Office is responsible for UK visa policy.

    Flight training organisations can teach courses lasting up to six months to international students, under the short-term study visa route.

    Alternatively, they may use the Tier 4 visa route where the course lasts longer than six months and they hold a Tier 4 sponsor licence. To qualify for a Tier 4 sponsor licence, an institution must have a track record of teaching UK or EEA students, and be teaching courses which meet Tier 4 requirements. To meet Tier 4 requirements, a course must lead to an approved qualification, as defined in the Tier 4 Guidance for Sponsors.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the future of the mandated universal elements of the Healthy Child Programme for children aged 0 to five.

    Jane Ellison

    The commissioning of 0 to 5 years public health services transferred from NHS England to local authorities on 1 October 2015. Prior to transfer, Regulations were made to mandate the delivery of five universal health visitor reviews as set out in the Healthy Child Programme. The Regulations have a sunset clause that ends their effect on 31 March 2017, 18 months after coming into operation.

    The Regulations make provision for a review, by the Secretary of State, of the operation of the mandated elements. This will help inform future arrangements.

    In the interim, the Department is working with Public Health England, (as the strategic and professional lead for health visitor services), to monitor progress of the new arrangements.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans his Department has for the £1.8 billion of uncommitted Green Investment Bank funds following privatisation of that bank.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government allocated up to £3.8 billion of funds to Green Investment Bank (GIB) for investment in the period to March 2016. To date, GIB has made commitments totalling £2.1billion. Government will fund these and any further commitments GIB enters into during the current year to March 2016.

    GIB’s funding needs for the year 2016/17 are being considered as part of the current spending review and the outcome will be announced later in the year.

  • Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of animals that had been used in experiments and were classed as re-homed in government statistics in the last three years were sent for slaughter.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not collect data regarding the number of animals, used in scientific procedures, which after release from the controls of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, are subsequently sent directly to slaughter. Establishments are required to keep information of the source, use and final disposal of protected animals, bred kept or used at the establishment for any regulated activities, which would include whether an animal used was sent directly to slaughter.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the 2013 Lough Erne G8 Leaders’ Communiqué, published on 18 June 2013, what progress has been made on implementing the commitments in paragraphs (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3, (d) 8 and (e) 10 of that document; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    An update on UK progress of commitments in the G8 Lough Erne Leaders Communique can be found in the 2013 UK G8 Presidency Report, published on the Government’s website at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/271676/G8_report_WEB_FINAL.PDF

    Since then the Prime Minister has updated the House in June following the 2015 G7 summit. There has been significant progress on the Lough Erne commitments, including the finalisation of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting package (further information published on the OECD website), agreeing global standards on Automatic Exchange of Information in taxation and furthering international free trade agreements.

    In addition, the G7 publishes an accountability report which monitors progress on the promises made on development. The last report was published in 2013, and the next one will be published next year under the Japanese presidency.