Tag: 2015

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much (a) her Department and (b) each of its arm’s length bodies has spent on staff redundancies in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    The cost of compulsory redundancies is set out in Defra’s Annual Report and Accounts. These are published annually on GOV.UK and links are provided below.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-to-2015

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defras-annual-report-and-accounts-2013-to-2014

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defra-annual-report-and-accounts-2012-to-2013

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-and-accounts-2011-to-2012–6

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-and-accounts-2010-11

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to raise awareness amongst solicitors of the risks of their clients being targeted in scams by people purporting to operate in the name of their solicitor requesting transfer of funds; and what estimate he has made of the number of such scams that took place in the last three years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), as an independent regulator, is well aware of the risks identified by the honourable member. It regularly issues scam alerts and in July this year published a paper outlining key risks. This paper will be updated again next spring. The SRA has advised that in 2014 it issued 183 scam alerts.

  • David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with the British Veterinary Association on the control of bovine TB.

    George Eustice

    Defra has frequent dealings with the British Veterinary Association on bovine TB matters. One example is the meeting with the Association’s President and CEO on 21 September to discuss a number of consultation exercises in progress at that time.

  • Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mary Glindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officer grade staff were employed by NOMS on 31 March in each year since 2010; and how many such people were employed on the latest day for which statistics are available.

    Andrew Selous

    Information on the number of Band 3 to 5 prison officers in post, and on the number who joined and left the public sector Prison Service, is published in the National Offender Management Service Workforce Statistics Bulletin. The 30 September edition of the bulletin can be found at the link below.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics-september-2015

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she received the final report of the Lead Ammunition Group; and what discussions she has had with the Chair and other members of that Group since that date.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government is considering the independent Lead Ammunition Group’s report on the effect of lead shot on human and wildlife health and will respond as soon as possible.

    The Food Standards Agency has produced advice on the consumption of lead shot game which can be accessed at https://www.food.gov.uk/science/advice-to-frequent-eaters-of-game-shot-with-lead.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people are classified as long-term unemployed in Poole Unitary Authority area.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been spent on flood defences in Dartford in the last 12 months; and what such spending is planned in the next 12 months.

    Rory Stewart

    Over the past twelve months, the Environment Agency has spent over £240,000 maintaining flood defence assets in the Dartford borough. During the next twelve months the Environment Agency expects to spend over £300,000 for this purpose.

  • Lord Birt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Birt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 10 February (HL4482), what assessment they have made of what is an acceptable and safe level of borrowing for (1) individuals and households, (2) non-financial corporations, and (3) financial institutions.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The government does not have an explicit target for household or corporate borrowing. The government is adamant not to repeat the mistakes of the past, which is why it created the independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England to ensure that emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole are identified, monitored and effectively addressed.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by (a) his Department and (b) the Burmese government to stop the use of child soldiers in that country.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We welcomed the commitment the Burmese government made to ending the recruitment of child soldiers in signing the UN’s Action Plan in 2012. Since then Burma has made some progress, including the release of over 600 child soldiers and, in September, signing the Optional Protocol to the Convention on Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. However, we are clear that more still needs to be done. Access to military units and non-state armed groups continues to be restricted, release of child soldiers has been limited, and while recruitment of children has slowed, it has not ceased entirely. We are also aware of reports that children continue to be arrested for “desertion”. I raised this issue with Minister of the President’s Office, U Aung Min, when I visited Burma in July and we will continue to do so with the Burmese authorities, including to press for swift implementation of the Optional Protocol.

  • Lord Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lucas on 2015-12-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 8 December (HL3854), what were the dates of the last three written communications from HMRC to Trading Standards about VAT fraud among online traders operating from abroad, including email, and to what persons at what offices they were addressed.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue & Customs does not disclose communications it has with its enforcement partners, or the content of those communications, to avoid compromising sensitive policy and operational activities.