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Tag: 2015

  • Diane Abbott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diane Abbott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what (a) the amount of any underspend expected against departmental expenditure limits in the current fiscal year and (b) her Department’s latest forecast of total annually managed expenditure spend for this year is; and what the forecasts were for those sums at the time of the Summer Budget 2015 and March Budget 2015.

    Justine Greening

    The last main supply estimate was published in July 2015, and is available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/main-supply-estimates-2015-to-2016.

    DFID is currently forecasting to fully utilise its departmental expenditure limits (DEL) and annually managed expenditure (AME) as allocated and approved by Parliament.

    “

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which form of transport she used to travel to the COP21 climate change conference in Paris; and for what reasons she travelled by that mode of transport.

    Andrea Leadsom

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 16th December 2015 to Question 19533:

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-12-10/19533/.

    “

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the Quicksilver project to build out wifi and mobile infrastructure alongside rail lines; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    Project Quicksilver was a rail industry procurement led by Network Rail to improve mobile coverage along railway routes for the benefit of passengers.

    Despite receiving a number of positive bids, the industry was not able to find a solution that satisfied the commercial requirements of all parties and delivered the desired connectivity improvements. As a result, Network Rail terminated the procurement.

    The Government recognises that dropped calls and intermittent access to the internet are frustrations felt by many rail passengers. We are working with the rail and telecommunications industries to reach a collective understanding of the technical and commercial challenges and the potential solution to this problem.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will make representations to the Israeli government about the proposed demolition of the Israeli Arab village of Umm-al-hiran.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Embassy in Tel Aviv has raised the issue of demolition of the villages of Um-il-Hiran and Ateer with the Ministry of Justice and the Arab Affairs Officer at the Prime Minister’s office. The Embassy continues to monitor the situation closely and demonstrates concern by regularly visiting Bedouin communities in the Negev.

  • Lord Harris of Haringey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Harris of Haringey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harris of Haringey on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each of the last three years, in how many instances people have been imprisoned for defaulting on payment of their council tax.

    Lord Faulks

    Data showing how many people were imprisoned for non-payment of council tax in 2012, 2013 and 2014 are presented in the table below:

    Year

    Total

    2012

    107

    2013

    108

    2014

    89

    Notes:

    These data are sourced from the Libra Management Information System (MIS). As such this data set is not subject to the same levels of quality assurance as national statistics

    In extracting this data only offences of complaint for council tax committal application have been included where the court hearing date occurred within each year reported (i.e. between 1 January and 31 December).

    It should also be noted that, although committals to prison are reported as occurring within a particular financial year, the non-payment of council tax itself may relate to a previous financial year or even a period covering more than one financial year.

    Committal to prison for non-payment of council tax can be challenged through a judicial review in the High Court. The table below shows the number of judicial reviews relating to imprisonment for non-payment of council tax in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and the outcomes.

    Year

    Number of Judicial Reviews

    Upheld

    Refused

    2012

    0

    0

    0

    2013

    0

    0

    0

    2014

    2

    0

    2

    Notes:

    These data were obtained from a manual check of judicial reviews carried out specifically to answer this question.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to incentivise the development of new drugs to treat TB.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    DFID has supported the development of new drug combinations to treat TB since 2005. Funding is provided to the TB Alliance, a product development partnership (PDP). PDPs bring together partners from the public, private and philanthropic sectors to develop new products in a way that de-links the cost of development from the final cost of product. The TB Alliance is currently testing a number of new drugs combinations to simplify and shorten TB treatment times and provide new treatment options for drug resistant TB.

    In addition we committed in our manifesto to lead a major new global programme to accelerate the development of vaccines and drugs to eliminate the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. In November the Chancellor announced the new £1 billion Ross Fund which will deliver on this commitment. The Ross Fund will target infectious diseases including malaria and tuberculosis, supporting work to develop, test and deliver a range of new products (including vaccines, drugs and diagnostics) to help combat these diseases in developing countries.

  • 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 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the investigation General practice commissioning: in whose interests? by The Times and the British Medical Journal, whether they have plans to require that the boards of Clinical Commissioning Groups cannot enter into contracts with companies in which one or more of their board members has a financial interest.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We do not have any such plans.

    However, in all circumstances a clinical commissioning group must manage any actual or perceived conflicts in a way that is transparent, fair, and protects the integrity of their decision making.

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

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will encourage clinical commissioning groups to prevent inequalities through adequate HCP outsourcing and training on medical nutrition.

    Jane Ellison

    Preventing health inequalities is a priority for the Department of Health. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 placed a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need for reducing health inequalities between the people of England and the National Health Service. Clinical commissioning groups take forward this duty in terms of access to, and quality of, local services.

    The role of health care professionals is integral to this effort, given that they address a range of health unhealthy behaviours, including around poor nutrition and obesity. It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to prove high quality patient care. In the case of dietitians, this includes being able to accurately assess nutritional needs of individuals, groups and populations.

    NHS England has the lead in supporting the work of CCGs and, while it has previously undertaken a mapping exercise to gauge the extent of formal training and education on these issues for pre-registration courses, it is not currently undertaking any work on this.

  • Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Steel of Aikwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Steel of Aikwood on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the elections in Tanzania, particularly with respect to the devolved assembly in Zanzibar, and what representations they have made to the government of Tanzania or the Commonwealth Secretariat regarding the elections.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Despite some problems, the national elections in Tanzania were peaceful and generally well organised. We have extended our congratulations to President Magufuli on his victory. We are however deeply concerned at the decision to nullify the elections for the Zanzibar Presidency and Parliament. We have conveyed our concerns to the Government of Tanzania on a number of occasions including at senior levels, most recently during a meeting last week between the Tanzanian High Commissioner to London and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge).

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that the police are adequately trained to tackle online criminal activity involving young people.

    Mike Penning

    The last Parliament invested £860 million over five years through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) to increase the cyber security of the UK. The Chancellor also announced on 17 November that we plan to almost double investment in cyber security, including cyber crime, to £1.9 billion over the next five years. This will enable us to continue to invest in training at the national, regional and local levels. NCSP funding is being used to deliver specific training for officers in the National Cyber Crime Unit within the National Crime Agency (NCA), cyber teams within each of the Regional Organised Crime Units and local police officers and staff to increase their capabilities to tackle this issue.

    For example, the second Phase of the Mainstream Cyber Crime Training course was launched on 30 September 2015 by College of Policing to police officers and staff on cyber, digital and social media issues. The College and police forces also deliver a classroom-based course to police investigators, which includes bespoke modules on how young and vulnerable people become victims of cyber and digital crime online and what police can do to help, including preventing them from becoming victims.

    The National Cyber Crime Unit in the National Crime Agency has also recently launched a communications campaign to deter young people, particularly young males aged 12-15 with an interest in computer gaming, from becoming involved in cyber criminality. The campaign, launched on 8 December, is aimed at parents, teachers and young people to educate them about the risks of becoming involved, and the career opportunities for those with cyber skills.