Tag: 2015

  • 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 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2015 to Question 10040, whether she plans that the Protocol to the 2014 Forced Labour Convention will be ratified before the end of 2015.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government intends to ratify the Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention. We are taking forward the formal ratification process and we expect this to be complete within three months.

  • Baroness Byford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Byford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cases of diversion or extinguishment of paths that pass through gardens, farmyards or business remain outstanding.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    We aim to make it easier to divert or extinguish paths that pass through gardens, farmyards or commercial businesses through the Stakeholder Working Group’s reform package. Local Authorities handle the actual diversion and extinguishment orders and therefore hold the relevant information on the number of outstanding applications. The Government does not collect this information.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) deaths from and (b) cases of HIV, TB and malaria that will be prevented as a result of her Department’s £1 billion commitment to the Global Fund from 2014 to 2016.

    Grant Shapps

    From a standing start in 2002, the UK’s unwavering support has enabled the Global Fund to keep 8.1 million people alive with HIV therapy, distribute 548 million mosquito nets, detect and treat 13.2 million cases of TB, and has contributed to a decline of one third in the number of people dying from the three diseases since 2002 in Global Fund countries.

    The UK remains a strong and active supporter of the Global Fund and has pledged a contribution of up to £1 billion between 2014 and 2016 for the Global Fund’s 4th replenishment, subject to a 10% donor share cap. The UK’s contribution is estimated to dramatically improve the lives of millions of people – saving approximately 580,000 lives by preventing 8.4m new malaria, HIV and tuberculosis infections.

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will make provision for large goods vehicles driving apprenticeships; and if he will make a statement.

    Nick Boles

    Through our reforms, more than 1300 employers are designing new apprenticeships standards that are more responsive to the needs of business. 194 standards have been published with over 150 new standards in development, including the new Large Goods Vehicle Driver standard.

    Subject to final approval, this new apprenticeship standard will provide the sector with an excellent opportunity to develop a new generation of drivers in a way that meets their specific requirements.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the refugee crisis in Lebanon.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    To date, the UK has pledged over £1.1 billion in response to the crisis in Syria and the region, with £304 million being allocated to meet the immediate needs of refugees and to support host communities in Lebanon. This makes us the second largest bilateral donor after the US.

    As part of the No Lost Generation initiative, DFID has pledged a total of £80 million of this allocation to support education in Lebanon, including support for the Lebanese Government’s ‘Reaching All Children with Education’ RACE scheme toexpand the public education systemto include an additional 200,000 Syrian refugees and improve the quality for Lebanese students.

    DFID also works in Lebanon to alleviate the impact of the humanitarian crisis through advocacy focused on civilian and refugee protection, humanitarian access for aid, and improving the effectiveness and funding of the international response.

    For more information and to stay up to date with what DFID is doing in response to the Syria crisis in Lebanon and across the region, please see https://www.gov.uk/government/news/syria-the-latest-updates-on-uk-aid.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that women’s refuge services (a) take steps to improve the level of reporting and (b) contribute to data gathering on cases of domestic violence and forced marriage.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Protecting women and girls from violence and supporting victims is a key priority of this Government. As announced at Summer budget we have carried out, along with Home Office, a review of domestic abuse services, working closely with the Women’s sector using much of their data and we recognise how important data reporting is. Since 2003, the Government has supported UKRefugesOnline to maintain a database of domestic abuse services. In the Summer Budget we allocated an additional £131,000 of funding to support additional caseworkers at the helpline. It is for local commissioners to draw up agreements on data collection with domestic abuse service providers to support their local area Domestic Abuse Strategies.

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government is taking steps to recover underpaid vehicle tax in respect of vehicles with higher emissions than certified by emission test data.

    Damian Hinds

    Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates are based on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The “defeat devices” recently found in some VW diesel cars affect nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions. There is therefore currently no evidence that this issue has resulted in an artificial reduction in VED revenues.

    UK taxpayers will not incur higher VED if their existing vehicles are found to be fitted with illegal software that manipulates emissions tests. Following VW’s admission of using ‘defeat devices’ in diesel cars there is an ongoing UK government investigation.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what strategic environmental impact assessment was conducted of the measures in the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

    Michael Fallon

    It will be the responsibility of each Government department to carry out strategic environmental impact assessments as the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) is implemented, as included in section 7.4 of the SDSR.

  • John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what methodology his Department uses to model the deadweight assumptions used in assessing the performance of the Work Programme.

    Priti Patel

    The Department’s methodology for calculating the non-intervention level (‘deadweight’) is set out in the National Audit Office’s 2012 report on the Introduction of the Work Programme, in the Detailed Methodology section.

    https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/10121701_methodology.pdf

  • Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to her Statement of 19 November 2015, Official Report, column 807, whether the Northern Ireland Executive can progress its own policies on onshore wind.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Energy is a devolved matter for Northern Ireland. Whilst that means that the Northern Ireland Executive can develop its own policies on onshore wind, it is this government’s position that any policy which results in additional support to onshore wind should not be funded by the GB consumers.