The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil servants in her Department are in the redeployment pool.
Karen Bradley
There are 104 staff in the redeployment pool. This data is from the Home Office redeployment database.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the number of spare parts his Department has for equipment no longer in use; and what steps his Department has taken to ensure that spare parts for such equipment are not held in storage.
Mr Philip Dunne
Since the introduction of the Defence Equipment and Support Inventory Management Strategy (IMS) in 2012 the level of obsolete stock held has substantially reduced; currently, items identified as obsolete represent less than 0.2 per cent of the total value of inventory held by the Ministry of Defence. As at 1 April 2015 the IMS has achieved an overall stock reduction of £8.7 billion against a strategic target of £9.5 billion set for 31 March 2016. We are also working with industry to optimise inventory further and reduce the logistics footprint, while supporting operations and maintaining availability to the Front-line Commands.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on interpreters working on behalf of the UK armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan who wish to seek resettlement in the UK.
Penny Mordaunt
For information on Iraq, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my noble Friend, the Minister of State for Defence, the Rt Hon Earl Howe, to the noble Lady, Baroness Jolly, in the House of Lords to Question HL3606.
In Afghanistan, the Ex-Gratia Redundancy Scheme offers nearly 500 eligible local staff, including interpreters, the opportunity to apply for relocation to the UK. More than 200 have already been granted visas and have moved to the UK with their immediate families. Others are going through the application process or are still in our employment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment she has made of the performance of the Warm Homes Discount Scheme.
Andrea Leadsom
The Warm Home Discount Scheme helps over 2 million low income and vulnerable households each year and has provided a total of £1.1bn of direct assistance since the scheme began. A detailed review of the Warm Home Discount scheme is due to be completed later this year. The report of this review will be published the New Year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of offenders of each offence type who pleaded guilty in the latest year for which information is available had committed (a) no other offences, (b) one to five previous offences, (c) six to 15 previous offences, (d) 16 to 50 previous offences, (e) 51 to 100 previous offences and (f) over 100 previous offences.
Andrew Selous
Whilst crime is falling, offenders committing serious offences are more likely to go to prison and for longer. Sentencing is a matter for our independent courts, taking into account all the facts of each case. Where the offender has recent and relevant previous convictions this is a statutory aggravating factor which should increase the severity of the sentence.
We want to cut reoffending, cut crime and make our streets safer. That is why we need a new emphasis in prisons on rehabilitation and redemption. Prisons should be places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition so offenders get the skills to make a success of life on the outside.
The data available are found attached, in Table 1, referring to the 12 months ending June 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what diplomatic support British Embassies have provided to Rio Tinto in locations where Rio Tinto invests or plans to invest.
Anna Soubry
UK Trade and Investment’s (UKTI) mining sector team has regular and ongoing engagement with Rio Tinto both in market and in the UK as we seek to realise economic benefit for the UK through the involvement of the UK’s mining supply chain in Rio Tinto’s projects.
Rio Tinto closed its Lynemouth Aluminium facility in 2013. That same year UKTI was part of a Rapid Response taskforce (which included local Economic Development organisations and Rio Tinto), to explore redeployment and site re-marketing options.
UKTI support included:
– an audit of the unique characteristics and selling points of the site to determine the sectoral focus of Rio Tinto’s site marketing activity to potential investors.
– research to assess from where the strongest investor interest was likely to come from.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the process is for return of passenger baggage surrendered by passengers in Sharm el-Sheikh; how long he expects it to take for all such baggage to be returned; and under what conditions the transport of the baggage was agreed.
Mr Robert Goodwill
At the same time as passengers were brought home from Sharm el-Sheikh by UK airlines, their baggage was flown back to the UK by cargo aircraft, after having been subjected to security screening. The UK airlines then arranged for return of baggage to their passengers. Most bags were returned within a few days, and all within one week of the relevant flights.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the first patients to be treated in new facilities at Royal Sussex County Hospital as part of the 3Ts modernisation project.
George Freeman
It is anticipated that the first stage of the £480 million redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital site will be completed and start to be used for the treatment of patients in the spring of 2020.This includes 316 inpatient beds forneurology, neurosurgery, stroke, medicine, care of the elderly, critical care and assessment beds to support the hospital’s Emergency Department. This will greatly improve the accommodation for patients in Brighton & Hove, across Sussex and beyond.
Patients will start to see the benefits of the redevelopment in April 2016 when the temporary facilities currently being built on the hospital site start to come into operation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-01.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what redundancy packages will be offered to HM Revenue and Customs staff at Sidlaw House and Caledonian House in Dundee.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the planned locations of its future Regional Centres based on a number of key principles. In addition to cost, HMRC has taken account of the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, and the need to retain the staff and skills they need to continue their transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.
HMRC plans to open two new Regional Centres in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with a combined total of between 5,700 and 6,300 posts.In Dundee, Caledonian House is planned to close in 2018 and Sidlaw House will transfer to the administering of Universal Credit. HMRC will be holding individual meetings with every member of staff prior to any office closures or moves, to discuss what these plans mean for them and their choices.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Ellman on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his assessment is of the effect of his contractual proposals for junior doctors on the number of hours worked by such doctors in Liverpool.
Ben Gummer
Our proposals include stronger limits on the hours worked by junior doctors, including to reduce the number of excessive hours junior doctors work each week; and strong contractual safeguards, with external scrutiny, to ensure that employers must address any variations from planned work schedules, to ensure safe working.