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Tag: 2015

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contingency plans his Department has for the funding of the new Northern and TransPennine franchises in the event that projected passenger number increases are not achieved.

    Andrew Jones

    Revenue risk for these two franchises lies with the franchisee, not the Department. This means the Department is not responsible for covering any shortfall in farebox revenue compared to the successful bidders’ expectations.

    The successful bids are backed by significant parent company support which can be called upon in life to ensure the liquidity ratios are met. Also both franchises were subjected to a financial robustness test as part of the bid evaluation process and considered low risk for the Department.

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what non-disclosure agreements the Ministry of Defence made in 2003–04, and on what date each agreement was made.

    Earl Howe

    The Ministry of Defence does not hold a central record of non-disclosure agreements and the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Question 18835, what alternative options will be available to single people claiming housing benefit who are under the age of 35 and are not able to afford a social tenancy from April 2018.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Discretionary Housing Payments will be available to help single people under 35 (claiming either housing benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit) if they need help transitioning to shared accommodation rate in April 2018.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the effect on the likelihood of people’s reemployment of their prior length of absence from work; and what steps the Government is taking to address that matter.

    Priti Patel

    It is not possible to quantify the exact effect of benefit duration on the likelihood of re-employment as information on the destinations of people leaving benefits is not recorded for all claimants.

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to match revenue spending on flood defence and protection measures to capital spending, and whether they plan to move towards a total expenditure budget for such measures.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    We are investing £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. The Government has confirmed that flood maintenance funding will be protected in real terms for the duration of this Parliament.

    There are no plans to move towards a total expenditure budget for flood defence and protection in this Parliament. The Environment Agency have advised us that the current funding is an optimal mix of resources funding (for maintaining defences) and capital funding to rebuild and improve defences as set out in the 6 year investment programme. We do not believe that there would be significant additional benefits from this flexibility at this stage.

  • Gavin Robinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gavin Robinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in what instances special or additional pension provision has been made for part-time military personnel in the last 20 years.

    Mark Lancaster

    Since the mid 1990s Reserves have had a variety of pension options to choose from when mobilised, including access to an Armed Forces pension scheme for the period of their mobilisation. However, there has been no special or additional pension provision made for part-time military personnel beyond the following statutory arrangements.

    Since 1 April 2015 all members of the UK part-time Volunteer Reserves have been enrolled in the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015 and for the first time all their attendance-based paid service now counts as pensionable. Prior to that, from 6 April 2005 to 31 March 2015, personnel serving on an Additional Duties Commitment (ADC) were eligible to join the Reserve Forces Pension Scheme 2005 (RFPS 05). Those members of the RFPS 05 still serving on an ADC on 1 April 2015 transferred to the new scheme unless they met the criteria for transitional protection.

  • Baroness Howe of Idlicote – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Baroness Howe of Idlicote – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Howe of Idlicote on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to implement the recommendations in Barnardo’s recent report Locked Out: Children’s experiences of visiting a parent in prison.

    Lord Faulks

    The Government agrees that strong family ties are an important part of helping prisoners turn away from crime, and the recommendations from the recent Barnardo’s report are currently being considered in the context of the wider prison reforms.

    All convicted prisoners have a long-standing statutory entitlement to a minimum of two visits every 28 days. In addition, prisoners may also be rewarded with additional visits for good behaviour and for engaging with their rehabilitation.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the (a) volume, (b) gross capital and (c) gross revenue costs of planned purchases of renewable energy is from other European countries.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We continue to make progress towards our renewable energy target of 15% final energy consumption by 2020. Provisional figures show 6.3% of final energy consumption came from renewable sources for 2013 and 2014, against a target of 5.4%.

    Progress on renewable electricity generation has been particularly strong with over a quarter of electricity generated, between April and June this year, coming from renewable sources.

    The Spending Review will be announced on 25th November, and a Department for Transport consultation will be running next year on increasing the amount of renewable transport fuel. We will carefully consider the impacts of both on the UK’s progress towards the renewables target of 15%, including whether there will be a role for trading.

  • Lord Lea of Crondall – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Lea of Crondall – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lea of Crondall on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government for what reasons they have decided not to follow the guidance set out in Chapter 14 of the Cabinet Office Guide to Making Legislation in respect of the Trade Union Bill, and in particular the requirement in paragraph 14.10 to publish the final impact assessment at the final proposal stage”.”

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    In line with the Cabinet Office guidance, we will publish a final impact assessment before enactment. The Government has already published consultation Impacts Assessments alongside the public consultations that support the overall package of reforms, as well as an equality impact assessment and will publish a further Impact Assessment on the Bill before Lords Committee.

  • Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 11 March 2015 to Question 226385, how many local authorities supported by PHE are developing withdrawal services for people affected by addiction to prescription benzodiazepine and drug tranquilisers.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England is currently working with two local authorities and one other area which is part of a Clinical Commissioning Group who want to improve their responses to addiction to medicines. These improvements are wide-ranging and do not necessarily involve developing bespoke services for people affected by specific medicines. There are also other areas which are looking at how they respond to addiction to medicines locally.

    Local authorities are responsible for commissioning effective services to meet the need of their local populations which experience dependence on any medicines or drugs, including treatment for people dependent on prescription benzodiazepines and tranquillisers.