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Tag: 2015

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on Small Business Saturday and its benefits to promoting the value of small businesses to the economy.

    Anna Soubry

    Officials in the department meet with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive on a regular basis, to discuss a range of matters connected to small business, including Small Business Saturday.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of days of work lost because of bullying in the workplace in the last 12 months.

    Justin Tomlinson

    DWP does not tolerate bullying in any form.

    Guidance on our approach to dealing with and managing bullying is available to all employees and managers, and our policy is that all cases of bullying should be reported.

    DWP capture absence data in a format that is standard across the Civil Service, which is by absence ‘type’. Each absence may have a number of underlying causes, therefore it is not possible to estimate the number of days of work lost because of bullying. Nevertheless, DWP’s current Average Working Days Lost stands at 6.28 which is the lowest it has been in the last 12 months, and down substantially compared to 5 years ago when it stood at 8.2.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff by full-time equivalence there were in his Department in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2014-15; and how many staff by full-time equivalence he expects there will be in his Department in (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17 and (iii) 2017-18.

    Joseph Johnson

    The staff figures (full-time equivalent) for 2010/11, 2012/13 and 2014/15 are set out below:

    Year

    FTE (Core BIS only, not UKTI)

    Source/Notes

    2010/11

    2,781

    Published in the BIS Annual Report & Accounts 2011 (Core Dept (3,373) minus UKTI (592))

    2012/13

    2,692

    Published in the BIS Annual Report & Accounts 2014/15

    2014/15

    2,627

    Published in the BIS Annual Report & Accounts 2014/15

    In the further years of this Parliament, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is expecting to make further headcount reductions in the core Department, in line with our Spending Review settlement and our efficiency programme ambitions. The exact figures for full time equivalents in these years are not available at this stage.

  • Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure women’s participation in future peace negotiations in Syria by supporting women’s groups in Syria.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The second meeting of the International Syria Support Group in Vienna on 14 November agreed an outline timetable for Syrian peace negotiations, leading to transitional governance, a new constitution and elections within eighteen months. The International Syria Support Group will now meet on a regular basis, in parallel with Syrian-led discussions facilitated by UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan De Mistura, to take forward this process.

    Ministers and senior officials have made regular representations to the UN Special Envoy and other UN officials to impress upon them the importance of the inclusion of Syrian women’s groups in the peace process. We continue to encourage the moderate Syrian opposition to be gender-inclusive and were pleased that a senior female activist accompanied the Syrian National Coalition President, Khaled Khoja, on his official visit to the UK earlier this month. Our programmes of support to grass roots peace-building initiatives and civil society groups inside Syria support this objective, and are designed to ensure that Syrian women’s voices are heard and that they are represented in political negotiations.

  • Phil Boswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Phil Boswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the £70 billion due to be allocated under the Funding for Lending Scheme has been allocated so far.

    Harriett Baldwin

    UK banks and building societies that participate in in the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) are able to borrow funding from the Bank of England, with the amount they are able to borrow (their ‘borrowing allowance’) linked to their net lending performance. FLS usage and lending data is published on the Bank of England website at the following link: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/markets/Pages/FLS/extensiondata.aspx

  • Lord Blencathra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Blencathra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have received about the funding provided by the Department of Health to Action on Smoking and Health in the last five years.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    All grants awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in the last five years have been awarded under Section 64 powers. There are a range of different circumstances under which it would not be appropriate or represent best value for money to run a competed scheme. The grants awarded to ASH have been assessed as most appropriate for the non-competed route.

    The assessment of any grant application for funding from ASH is undertaken by members of the Tobacco Control policy team. Following this assessment, the Grants Hub makes a decision regarding whether or not to approve the application. These policy assessments contain policy advice to Ministers and so are not made public. Approvals are required from Ministers and from HM Treasury or are subject to a Departmental approval process that has been agreed with HM Treasury.

    To identify relevant representations the Department has received would result in disproportionate cost.

  • Mary Creagh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mary Creagh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on the Darwin Initiative in each year since 2010.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    I refer the Hon Lady to the answer given by my Hon Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs (Rory Stewart MP) on 5 January 2016 (UIN: 20429)

  • Baroness Hayman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Hayman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayman on 2015-11-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the World Health Organisation’s designation of Sierra Leone as free from Ebola, they plan to support the resumption of direct flights from the UK to that country.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Given the improved situation in Sierra Leone, the resumption of direct flights is currently being reviewed by the Government. Subject to the outcome of this review, we are prepared to process the appropriate permissions for flights to begin.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times and in which locations the British Irish council has met since 2010.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    Details of all Summits and Ministerial Meetings of the British-Irish Council since 2010 can be found at: http://www.britishirishcouncil.org/

    “

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

    Lord Truscott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following recent atrocities by ISIL against a number of countries, including Russia, they have reconsidered the statement by the Defence Secretary on 19 February that there is a real and present danger” Russia could try to destabilise the Baltic states.”

    Earl Howe

    The Government’s position has been stated in the recently published Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cm 9161). Russia’s behaviour is hard to predict and although highly unlikely, we cannot rule out the possibility that Russia may feel tempted to act aggressively against NATO Allies. We also want to keep open the possibility of co-operation and will continue to seek to engage with Russia on global security issues, including international efforts to tackle the ISIL threat.