The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many RAF aircraft are conducting military operations against ISIS in Iraq.
Penny Mordaunt
UK aircraft deployed in the fight against ISIL consists of eight Tornado, two C130 transport aircraft, one Voyager re-fueler, one Sentinel surveillance aircraft, one Airseeker surveillance aircraft and Reaper remotely piloted aircraft.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-04.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost of using external agencies for recruitment to senior Civil Service posts in his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Harriett Baldwin
HM Treasury have not had a separate budget for senior civil service recruitment in the last 5 years and has no record of using external agencies to recruit to senior civil service posts during this period.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what Government spending was on the Plug-in car grant in each of the last five years; and what estimate his Department has made of Government spending on that grant in each of the last five years.
Andrew Jones
The plug-in car grant awards consumers a discount on the cost of a new ultra low emission vehicle. It has proved successful in growing the UK’s early market for ultra low emission vehicles, which is now the largest in the EU and the fourth largest in the world. The Government intends that nearly all cars and vans will be zero emission by 2050.
Government spending on the plug-in car grant in each of the last financial years was as follows:
2010/11 £1m
2011/12 £4.5m
2012/13 £11m
2013/14 £20.5m
2014/15 £90.5m
The plug-in car grant is guaranteed to continue at £5,000 per vehicle until February 2016. The Chancellor announced at Spending Review 2015 that more than £600m will be spent on support for ultra low emission vehicles in the five years from 2015 to 2020. This funding means the grants can remain for several years after February, as long as there is a demonstrable market need. Future grant levels will be announced shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-11-04.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has to support the recommendation made in the review led by Jayne-Anne Gadhia on women in finance that pay packages for executives be linked to a financial services firm’s gender balance.
Harriett Baldwin
The government welcomes Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s work to date and will consider the final recommendations when the review reports next year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of tax credit claimants who will be migrated to universal credit in each year to 2020-21.
Priti Patel
The government is committed to moving the UK from a high tax, high welfare, low wage society to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. This remains the case, and Universal Credit (UC) is delivering this.
UC is fundamentally different from the current legacy benefit system and supports people into work and encourages them to earn more.
Therefore there is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with UC. The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on job numbers in councils and housing associations of the measures contained in the Housing and Planning Bill.
Brandon Lewis
The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Housing and planning Bill on 22 October. A link to the impact assessment is at: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/housingandplanning/documents.html.
This document will be updated as the Bill progresses through Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2015-12-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to publish the report of the Lead Ammunition Group, which was submitted on 3 June, and their response.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government is considering the independent Lead Ammunition Group’s report and will respond as soon as possible.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Green on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there has been a review of the transport provision on the A5225 in Bolton West constituency since the proposals for the Westhoughton bypass were cancelled.
Andrew Jones
The revised version of the A5225 Wigan to Westhoughton Bypass scheme was considered by the Labour government in 1997-98 which concluded that this proposed M6 to M61 link was not of strategic national importance to merit inclusion in the core national trunk road network. The relevant local highway authorities – Bolton MBC and Wigan MBC – were therefore invited to consider the best way forward.
Transport provision in the A5225 area is now a matter for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and its constituent local highway authorities. The Combined Authority has well established mechanisms for identifying and promoting local transport investment priorities to support its strategies. These resulted, initially, in the Greater Manchester Transport Fund programme and have subsequently informed City Deal, Growth Deal and Devolution Deal agreements since 2010. This scheme has not formed part of any priority programme put forward by Greater Manchester. The Combined Authority is currently undertaking a review of the local highway network as part of its proposals for establishing a Key Route Network and this will look at current performance to inform possible future investment priorities. This assessment will include primary routes between Wigan and Bolton.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-12-01.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in the review of countries designated under section 94(5) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 following the Supreme Court judgment in R (JB (Jamaica)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] UKSC 8.
Lord Bates
The process of reviewing all the designated countries is nearing completion. Any proposals for changes to the designation of countries must be made by order and so will be put to Parliament.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his contribution of 28 October 2015, Official Report, column 429, on junior doctors hours, if he will publish the evidential basis for the proposition that hospitals are not rostering enough junior doctors at weekends.
Ben Gummer
NHS Employers’ evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration – “Reform of national contracts for consultant doctors and doctors and dentists in training” [1]– published in December 2014, included a profile of how the hours worked by doctors in training were spread across the week.
We have evidence that hospital leaders consider the junior doctors’ contract to be a significant barrier to delivering more seven-day services. NHS Providers’ written evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) on contract reform for consultants and doctors and dentists in training[2] stated that the junior doctor contract is still a significant source of barriers to seven day working and reform of the junior doctor contract is also required to support trusts to deliver more seven-day services. In particular, the pay banding system for junior doctors needs to be reviewed. There were concerns from employers that the banding system is too complicated, can create “perverse incentives” for junior doctors, and means that providing more seven-day services is unaffordable, since more junior doctors would be working outside core hours and receive premiums under the current banding system. NHS Providers also believe that more hours in a day and more days of the week need to be defined as core hours, as the current arrangement does not support the delivery of more seven-day services or reflect the needs and expectations of today’s patients. Professor Sir Bruce Keogh has also said that premium pay rates are hindering efforts to put services on a seven-day footing.
[2] http://www.nhsproviders.org/resource-library/written-evidence-ddrb-special-remit/
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