Tag: 2015

  • Mary Creagh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mary Creagh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, through what channels his Department plans to disburse the £3.2 million payment from the Fire and Rescue Authorities to private landlords for smoke and carbon dioxide alarms after the introduction of the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015.

    Brandon Lewis

    To help landlords prepare for introduction of the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, my Department provided £3.2 million of non ring-fenced funding to local Fire and Rescue Authorities to purchase and distribute smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to landlords.

    These regulations aim to protect tenants from fire and carbon monoxide poisoning in the home, and to further that aim we would expect Fire and Rescue Authorities to continue distributing any remaining alarms following the introduction of the regulations to help landlords comply, therefore safeguarding more tenants.

    The Chief Fire Officers Association Home Safety Committee are planning to conduct further research and analysis on the distribution of the free alarms in the new year.

  • 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 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to respond to Question 18667, tabled on 3 December 2015.

    Nick Boles

    The proposals in the Bill are not about party funding. The Trade Union Bill is about employment and industrial relations. We are introducing a greater level of transparency into union activities by requiring union members to make an active decision to contribute to a union’s political fund.

    If union members want a political fund, this will not necessarily lead to a reduction in the funds available. Therefore no assessment has been made in relation to the impact on the finances of any political party.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November to Question 14860, whether all of the providers approved by her Department to provide baseline assessment for primary schools reached the qualifying 10 per cent threshold for providers by the 30 April 2015 deadline.

    Nick Gibb

    The contractual acceptance criteria for reception baseline suppliers had two levels related to the volume of schools recruited. If fewer than four suppliers met the 10% threshold, suppliers were still accepted if they had recruited more than 1,000 schools. All approved suppliers met the minimum volume criteria.

    The reception baseline contract is published online at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/1656259/

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  • Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Frank Field – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and which local authorities have returned childcare grant funding to the Exchequer in each of the last five financial years.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Funding to local authorities for the early years entitlement for two, three and four-year-olds is made via the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). In the last five years, the Department has not recovered money allocated through DSG from any local authority.

    Prior to April 2013, funding for the entitlement for two-year olds was paid to local authorities through the Early Intervention Grant and no money allocated by this means was recovered by the Department.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Care Quality during Oral Questions on 17 November 2015 on the establishment of a working party to examine issues regarding the availability of off-patent, repurposed drugs, when the working party was established; what the working party’s scope and terms of reference are; which organisations and individuals have been invited to join the working party; and when the next meeting of the working party will be convened.

    George Freeman

    The Government has not established a working party in relation to the Off-Patent Drugs Bill. We did hold a roundtable event in February 2015 with key stakeholders including charities and agreed several follow up actions. We have now agreed additional further actions:

    – arrange a further roundtable event specifically for those charities who would like to explore the Bill in more detail;

    – input in to the work of the Off-Patent Drugs Bill All Party Parliamentary Group; and

    – hold a Ministerial drop-in session on 30 November, for those who would like to discuss the Bill further. This will be hosted by myself.

  • Steve Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of (a) the level of funding required to cover local authority spending on social care in the period to 2020 and (b) how much the proposed two per cent increase in council tax intended for the social care levy will have raised in funding by 2020 if every authority implements that proposal to the full.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Ahead of the Spending Review, the Local Government Association estimated the gap in adult social care funding to be £2.9 billion – arising from a growing elderly population and introduction of the National Living Wage.

    At Spending Review the Government outlined a package of support worth up to £3.5 billion to ensure councils are able to support some of their older and most vulnerable residents. That included giving authorities with social care responsibilities the flexibility to raise council tax in their area by up to 2% above the referendum threshold for each year between 2016-17 and 2019-20, to fund adult social care services. It is also providing £1500 million additional funding for local authorities to spend on adult social care by 2019-20, to be included in an improved Better Care Fund. Taken together, these measures provide significant resources to address the demographic pressures facing the social care system.

    In terms of what the social care flexibility could raise, I refer the hon. Member to information accompanying the provisional local government finance settlement 2016-17, which my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark), announced to the House on 17 December 2015, Official Report, Column 1722. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-in-2016-to-2017 and https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486708/Core_spending_power_supporting_information.xlsx

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  • Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of people held in immigration detention are (a) foreign national offenders convicted of immigration related offences, (b) foreign national offenders convicted of other offences and (c) non-foreign nationals.

    James Brokenshire

    At the end of June 2015, the proportion of people held in immigration detention who were foreign national offenders was 25% (884).

    It is not possible to provide a break-down of foreign national offenders convicted of immigration offences and foreign national offenders convicted of non-immigration offences. Such data is not aggregated in national reporting systems, which would mean these questions could only be answered through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.

  • Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ian Blackford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons his Department has not conducted economic impact assessments on proposed by-law changes (a) in general and (b) regarding the Raasay ranges.

    Mark Lancaster

    Under the byelaws review process there is no specific requirement to carry out an economic impact assessment.

    Following input received as part of the recent byelaw consultation process and due to local concerns, an economic impact assessment is currently being undertaken regarding Raasay Ranges. Its scope will reflect the MOD policy for such reports.

  • Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support refugees from Iran; and what recent assessment she has made of the safety of Iranian refuges in Iraq.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Since 2011, the UK has provided £163 million of core funding to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to deliver protection and assistance to refugees globally. The UK works with the Government of Iraq, Kurdish Regional Government, the UN and the international community to support the rights of all minorities and to ensure our aid reaches those in greatest need.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what resources were committed by the UK at the COP21 climate conference in Paris to help developing countries pay for repairing damage from extreme weather events caused by climate change.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Paris Agreement recognises the importance of averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and slow onset events, and the role of sustainable development in reducing the risk of loss and damage. The UK is already taking action to support insurance mechanisms that provide financial support in the event of an extreme weather event. For example, we support the G7 initiative that aims to increase by up to 400 million the number of people in the most vulnerable developing countries who have access to direct or indirect insurance coverage against the negative impact of climate change related hazards by 2020.The UK contribution to these rapid actions includes support for (i) the Africa Risk Capacity initiative and (ii) the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI). Other UK-supported actions are contributing to the G7 Initiative’s overall aims.

    Her Majesty’s Government maintains the capacity to respond to humanitarian emergencies wherever they occur in the world.