Tag: 2015

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures her Department has established to safeguard 16 and 17 year olds who are victims of sexual exploitation.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual exploitation is a top priority for this Government. Significant progress has been made since the launch of the “Tackling CSE” report in March 2015. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice. All forces are training all police staff to respond to child sexual abuse, including call handlers, PCSOs, police officers, detectives and specialist investigators. And in January we will be launching a new national whistleblowing helpline for any employee – regardless of sector -to report bad practice in relation to child abuse. We have delivered the vast majority of a £7 million funding programme to support non-statutory organisations that have experienced a surge in demand on their services. This funding is to support the victims and survivors of sexual abuse, including children of all ages.

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2015-12-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will announce the new opening date for the airport on St Helena in order to bring certainty to investors in the island and to enable potential visitors to make appropriate travel plans from January 2016.

    Baroness Verma

    St Helena Government recently announced that subject to final certification and operational readiness, St Helena Airport is expected to be accepting commercial flights before the planned official opening of the Airport in May 2016. They plan to issue further information at the end of January 2016.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release, Prison building revolution announced by Chancellor and Justice Secretary, published on 9 November 2015, what plans he has for relocating prison populations in prisons in central London that are planned for closure.

    Andrew Selous

    On 9 November the Chancellor and Secretary of State announced their intention to build a prison estate which allows prisoners to be rehabilitated, thereby enabling them to turn away from a life of crime. This will involve building nine new prisons and closing old and inefficient prisons which do not support the aims of a redesigned estate. No decisions have yet been made on where new prisons will be built.

    We are currently considering which of our old and inefficient prisons will close. We will engage with stakeholders during the process of sale including valuation experts and potential developers in order to maximise the value achieved.

    Any relocation of prisoners will be done with careful planning. Where staff are affected they will be managed through the process of change using processes deployed during previous closures.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-12-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will develop a carbon capture and storage strategy for energy intensive industries.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The provision of ring-fenced capital support for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) was judged against other Government funding priorities as part of the Spending Review. Government has not taken the Spending Review decision lightly. The Government continues to view CCS as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors. Neither CCS Competition project proposed to capture CO2 from energy intensive industries.

    The detailed design and implementation of CCS policy changes have yet to be determined. The Industrial 2050 Decarbonisation and Energy Efficiency Roadmaps reports published in March 2015 identified a potential role for industrial CCS technologies in decarbonising the steel, oil refining, chemicals and cement sectors. DECC and BIS continue to engage with the energy intensive industries and academics to develop decarbonisation Action Plans by the end of 2016 as the second phase of this process.

    The Government remains committed to working with energy intensive industries including those in the Northern Powerhouse area. DECC provided £1million funding to Tees Valley Unlimited as part of the 2013 City Deal agreement to undertake an Industrial CCS feasibility study based on the chemicals and steel industry in the Teesside cluster and we continue to support that work. The devolution deal for Tees Valley, published in October this year, also included a commitment to explore how it can continue to develop its industrial CCS proposals.

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) what the total value of payments is and (b) how many payments have been made from the Flexible Support Fund to assist with childcare costs in (i) each region and (ii) each constituency in each of the last two years.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to monitor unauthorised entry into British territorial waters around British Overseas Territories.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Territorial waters around the British Overseas Territories are monitored through a variety of means. The level of monitoring is commensurate with any potential threat.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been paid to HM Revenue and Customs in fines for non-compliance with minimum wage legislation in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr David Gauke

    In 2014/15, HM Revenue and Customs identified 735 incidences of non-compliance and issued penalties of £934,660. They recovered arrears for 26,318 workers.

    I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 218083 for numbers of workers for the previous years, to the answer provided to her on 6 May 2014 at Hansard Column 110W for information on arrears, and to the answer provided to her at UIN 205613 with regard to penalties.

    I further refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 211605 for information on recovery of arrears.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lisa Nandy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2015-12-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department last met Wigan Council.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office meets regularly with local councils throughout the year on a number of different matters. A central record of all the meetings that are held is not maintained.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on tackling doping in sport.

    Tracey Crouch

    I will be meeting the World Anti-Doping Agency in the near future to discuss current doping issues. In addition, both my Department and UK Anti-Doping engage regularly with international counterparts on a range of sporting matters, including tackling doping in sport.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the economic benefits to the Calder Valley of the award of the new Northern rail franchise.

    Andrew Jones

    The Calder Valley route between Manchester and Bradford will see more trains and faster journeys, with the weekday service frequency between Bradford and Manchester being enhanced by 50% (from two to three trains per hour), a significant increase in evening services, a doubling of Sunday service frequency from one to two trains per hour, and new direct links from Bradford to Manchester Airport and from Bradford to Liverpool.

    Add this to the withdrawal of all Pacers by the end of 2019, an investment of £400 million in 281 brand newcarriages (some of which will operate on the new Bradford-Manchester Airport and Bradford-Liverpool services), and the refurbishment of the rest of the Northern fleet, we expect these enhancements to result in very substantial economic benefits for the area.