UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2015

  • Baroness Redfern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Redfern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures University Technical Colleges are taking to increase choices for students, especially with regard to strengthening academic study with practical learning.

    Lord Nash

    University Technical Colleges (UTCs) specialise in subjects that need modern, technical, industry-standard equipment, such as engineering and digital technologies. Pupils integrate academic study with practical learning, studying core GCSEs within a high-quality technical and professional curriculum. UTCs work with local and national employers and higher education institutions to design and deliver a curriculum that, through technical projects and work experience, will provide pupils with the skills employers demand for their industries. The importance of involving employers in education is a key part of the government’s recently announced plans for ground-breaking reforms to technical and professional education.

  • Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much of the welfare budget was spent on employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit and income support claimants or universal credit claims with sickness or disability elements in 2014-15.

    Priti Patel

    The benefit expenditure for 2014/15 is in the table below:

    Benefit 2014/15 expenditure £m
    Employment & Support Allowance 12,827
    Incapacity Benefit 245
    Income Support incapacity 389
    Severe Disablement Allowance 735
    Total 14,196

    Severe Disablement Allowance is a non-contributory version of Incapacity Benefit and is included here for completeness. Information on the sickness or disability element of Universal Credit is currently unavailable.

    Detailed information on benefit expenditure is available in our Benefit Expenditure tables which can be found at:
    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2015

    “

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the build time for HMS Agamemnon and HMS Ajax will be shorter than that planned for HMS Anson.

    Earl Howe

    The build time for the Astute class submarines has reduced with every boat built to date. HMS Agamemnon and the yet to be named Boat 7 are both at a very early stage of construction. However, as published in the National Audit Office Major Projects Report 2015, their expected operational handover dates are May 2022 and March 2024 respectively.

  • Baroness Janke – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Janke – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Janke on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what process they followed in making appointments to the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Secretary of State is responsible for appointing members to the local government pension scheme’s advisory board. No more than 12 members in total may be appointed, divided equally between members representing scheme members and scheme employers in England and Wales.

    The list of appointments made by the Secretary of State is shown below. The appointments were made on the basis of nominations submitted by the Local Government Association on behalf of local authority employers and the three major local government trade unions. The 12 appointments shown below replaced the members of a shadow scheme advisory board established in July 2013.

    Local authority employer representatives

    Councillor Roger Phillips (Herefordshire County Council representing non-local authority employers)

    Emelda Nicholroy (Universities and Colleges Employers Association representing education employers).

    Councillor Michael Adams (London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham representing London councils).

    Councillor Keiran Quinn (Greater Manchester Pension Fund representing Metropolitan authorities)

    Councillor Denise Le Gal (Surrey County Council representing English local authorities)

    Councillor Mary Barnett (Torfaen Pension Fund representing Welsh local authorities)

    Scheme member representatives

    Jon Richards – UNISON

    Chris Tansley – UNISON

    Brian Strutton – GMB

    Gary Warwick – GMB

    Fiona Farmer – UNITE

    Dick Banks – UNITE

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the discovery of a booby-trapped mass grave in northern Iraq is evidence of genocide against minorities such as Yazidis and Assyrian Christians.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware of reports that mass graves have been discovered in northern Iraq, at least one of which was allegedly booby trapped by Daesh. We condemn in the strongest terms the targeting and persecution of Yezidis, Christians and other communities by this brutal terrorist organisation.

    We continue to urge the Government of Iraq to do all it can to ensure the security and rights of all communities in Iraq. We are working in Iraq to build consensus around the importance of freedom of religion or belief; and supporting practical projects on community dialogue with civil society and faith groups.

    The British Government believes that recognition of genocides should be a matter for international courts. It should be a legal, rather than political determination, decided by international judges after consideration of all the evidence available in the context of a credible international judicial process.

  • Lord Empey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Empey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether, if the European institutions decided to increase the European Union budget due to the migration crisis, the United Kingdom would be legally required to pay a proportion of such an increase.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The Government does not believe that it is meaningful to speculate on hypothetical scenarios. The Government’s position is to argue for maximum reprioritisation of the EU budget from areas of lesser priority in order to accommodate migration spend within the limits of the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in the 2016 annual budget negotiations.

  • Lord Donoughue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Donoughue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Donoughue on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of DfID’s Programme Partnership Arrangements funding was spent by recipients on environmental and climate-related projects.

    Baroness Verma

    DFID does not hold details of the proportion of funding spent through the Programme Partnership Arrangements (PPAs) on environmental and climate-related projects.

  • 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 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina to cope with a potential influx of refugees and migrants, in the light of the political and security situation in that country.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) earlier this month gave a positive assessment of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)’s contingency planning, particularly in Bijeljina and Trebenje, which are two areas that could be at risk of overspill. The British Government remains concerned about BiH’s limited capacity to register an influx of arrivals, and to conduct security screening, including through the use of biometrics. We welcome the fact that BiH and the UNHCR have identified the establishment of reception centres close to likely border crossing points as a priority, and look forward to the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s provision of a comprehensive needs assessment to inform planning for external support.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will discuss with representatives of the insurance industry the effect on premiums of changing weather conditions.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government does not intend to intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers as this could damage competition in the market. The respective capabilities of insurers to assess risk is a key element on which they compete. This competition is important and should lead to better products and lower prices for consumers.

  • Baroness Redfern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Redfern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are providing to workers affected by the recent job losses in the United Kingdom steel industry.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    We have announced packages of support worth up to £80 million to support people who have lost their jobs in Redcar and up to £9 million, with Tata, for people who have lost their jobs in Scunthorpe. We have also established Task Forces at both locations which are making good progress under the strong leadership of Amanda Skelton and Baroness Redfern respectively. I am pleased that we have recently agreed a number of support packages worth over £40million with the Redcar taskforce which will provide financial assistance to affected workers, fund retraining, rehouse fifty apprentices and support the wider local economy and supply chain. We are working closely with the Scunthorpe taskforce on how best to target support there.