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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 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the equipment procured by his Department was sourced from UK small and medium-sized enterprises in each year between 2010 and 2015.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Cabinet Office Data published in February 2015 shows that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) combined direct and indirect expenditure with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a proportion of total procurement spend was 19.4%. This represents some £3.9 billion in 2013-14 and £3.8 billion in 2014-15.

    The MOD published details of its direct contracts with SMEs in the Finance and Economics Annual Statistical Bulletin: Trade Industry and Contracts. Details for each year since financial year 2010-11 can be found at the link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical/mod-industry-trade-and-contracts-2015

    It should be noted that the statistics are for all contracts placed with SMEs, including those for equipment and other services.

    It is the MOD’s ambition to spend 25% both directly and indirectly with SMEs by the end of this Parliament.

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will fund the NextGen Skills Academy higher apprenticeships in order better to support games employers.

    Nick Boles

    We are introducing a UK-wide levy for all larger employers to help fund the increase in quantity and quality of apprenticeship training in England. The levy will put employers in charge of how and where apprenticeship budgets are spent by creating a fund which they can use to pay for external training for their apprentices.

    As part of the apprenticeship reforms, employer-led Trailblazers are designing new apprenticeships to meet their skills needs. Over 1300 employers – including in the Digital Industries and Visual Effects sectors, such as Framestore – are currently involved in designing new apprenticeship standards. These include apprenticeships in occupations at a range of levels such as Digital & Technology Solutions Professional (L6); Software Developer (L4); Junior 2D Artist (Visual Effects) (L4); Games Quality Assurance Technician (L4) and Assistant Technical Director (Visual Effects) (L4).

    The NextGen Skills Academy links to Amersham and Wycombe College and was awarded £2.7m of Employer Ownership Pilot funding for a 3 year project focusing on the VFX, animation and games industry in September 2014. The project is now led by Framestore and managed by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations he has received from his French, US and German counterparts on the UK’s decision to extend airstrikes to Syria.

    Michael Fallon

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 10 December 2015 to Question 18966.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the relationship between household income and (a) taxi and (b) bus use.

    Andrew Jones

    The number of trips and distance travelled per person per year for different household income levels (based on data for households in England in 2014) are given in the table.

    Household income is gross equivalised income, which accounts for household size and composition.

    Real household income quintile

    Lowest real income level

    Second level

    Third level

    Fourth level

    Highest real income level

    All income levels

    Trips per person per year by main mode:

    Local and non-local buses

    96

    72

    53

    43

    35

    60

    Taxi/minicab

    14

    11

    9

    9

    10

    10

    Distance (miles) per person per year by main mode:

    Local and non-local buses

    465

    407

    308

    251

    193

    326

    Taxi/minicab

    61

    43

    42

    51

    85

    56

    “

  • Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) nurse consultants, (b) modern matrons and (c) community matrons were employed in the NHS in the (i) latest period for which figures are available and (ii) same period in 2009-10.

    Ben Gummer

    The following table shows the number of nurse consultants, modern matrons and community matrons employed in the National Health Service in England.

    full-time equivalent

    August 2010

    August 2015

    Nurse consultants

    1,007

    882

    Modern Matrons

    4,802

    3,919

    Community Matrons

    1,536

    1,214

    Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre monthly workforce statistics

    Data is not available for August 2009 as the monthly workforce statistics commenced in September 2009.

  • Jess Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jess Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the level of resources necessary for trading standards to fulfil the additional duties set out under the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2015 and (b) alternative arrangements for enforcing those regulations; and what discussions his Department has had with local authority trading standards and professional groups representing trading standards on the effect that those duties will have on their resourcing.

    James Wharton

    These Regulations do not change the nature of the existing enforcement responsibility for local authorities or set central targets for enforcement activity. Any additional burden is therefore assessed to be minimal.Discussions with local enforcement officers indicated that the additional burdens imposed by the annual reporting of existing duties would be minimal as enforcement activity should already be appropriately recorded locally.

  • Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to limit the damage to local communities and economies from flooding.

    Rory Stewart

    We are investing an unprecedented £2.3 billion in 1,500 flood defence improvement schemes over the next six years. This will provide better protection to at least 300,000 households, up to 420,000 acres of agricultural land, over 200 miles of railway and 340 miles of roads.

    In addition, flood maintenance spending will be protected in real terms over this Parliament.

    Over the five years of the last Parliament, our flood defences schemes have better protected over 255,000 households.

    This is on top of the £1.7 billion invested in the last Parliament and the £1.5 billion spent between 2006 and 2010.

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the announcement by BAE Systems on jobs, related to production of the Eurofighter Typhoon on 12 November 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be lost which are related to the production of that aircraft.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    BAE Systems issued a statement on 12 November 2015 confirming that the company was taking action to reduce the Eurofighter Typhoon production rate; it also confirmed its intention to reduce the workforce within its Military Air and Information business by up to 371 roles. The majority of the affected posts are based at the company’s Samlesbury site, with the remainder at its Warton facility.

    Decisions on the capacity and capability of any company, including the division of work between sites, primarily rests with the company concerned.

  • 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 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the benefits that the Growth Accelerator Programme has had for small and medium-sized enterprises since the launch of that programme.

    Anna Soubry

    The Growth Accelerator was launched as our economy was still recovering from the worst recession this country had faced in 100 years, presided over by the hon Member’s party. An interim evaluation of the Growth Accelerator programme was published in November 2014.

    Thanks to the difficult decisions made by this government and the last, we now have the fastest growing economy in the developed world and a record number of businesses and as part of our continued commitment to live within our means and pay down our debts, we took the decision to discontinue the Business Growth Service in the Spending Review.

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    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 recent steps she has taken to continue to ensure the security of the electricity supply in the UK.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The government takes security of supply very seriously. We have worked with National Grid and Ofgem to put an effective plan in place for this winter and we are already taking prudent steps to manage margins in winter 2016/17.

    DECC officials have worked with National Grid and Ofgem on National Grid’s winter outlook process for 15/16 which has informed the procurement of the Contingency Balancing Reserve for this winter.

    National Grid and Ofgem agree that Grid should retain the ability to procure the contingency balancing services for the next two winters and the Government supports this position. On 15 October, Ofgem commenced its consultation on the extension of the cost recovery arrangements for the contingency balancing services to allow National Grid’s contingency balancing services to continue for the winters prior to the introduction of the Capacity Market in 18/19. National Grid’s Tender for the Contingency Balancing Reserve (subject to the outcome of the Ofgem consultation) opened on 2 November.

    The Capacity Market, a key part of our reform of the electricity market, will drive new investment in gas and demand side capacity in the future. The first Capacity Market auction was successfully concluded in December 2014 and the next will commence on 8December 2015. We have announced our intention to procure a total of 47.9GW capacity for the delivery year 2019/20 and that the target capacity for the auction this December will be 45.4GW. The balance (2.5 GW) will be procured in 2018, one year ahead of delivery.