Tag: 2015

Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what evaluation she made of the potential effect on delivering sustainable development (a) on the Government Estate and (b) in the UK of the planned reduction in her Department’s expenditure.

George Eustice

While the Spending Review has been driven by the need to contribute to the Government’s overall aim of eliminating the deficit, our settlement also reflects the vital importance of work done in all parts of Defra.

We are confident that the settlement will allow us to deliver our ambitions over the course of this parliament to safeguard our natural assets, support our food and farming industry and sustain a thriving rural economy.

In relation to the government estate, we are currently considering the future Greening Government Commitment arrangements. The current Greening Government Commitments, which were aimed at reducing government’s environmental impacts, have also led to financial savings (for example, the estimated savings from reducing energy, water and waste costs across government were approximately £94 million in 2013/14 compared to 2009/10).

January 1, 2023

Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2015 to Question 700, when she plans to (a) publish the evaluation report on the Access to Elected Office Fund and (b) make a decision on whether that fund should continue.

Caroline Dinenage

The number of people who have applied to the Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund is in the table below:

Financial Year	Number of applicants (some applicants made more than one application)
2012/13	27
2013/14	34
2014/15	48

The total amount claimed by successful applicants was £271,260 (out of awards totalling £418,733)

An evaluation of the pilot fund is currently being undertaken and will be published in due course. An announcement regarding the future of the fund is anticipated early in 2016.

The information on regional breakdown of expenditure and the diversity of candidates can be found in the tables below:

Region (location of election seat)	Amount claimed and paid (£)
East Midlands	1,099
East of England	480
Greater London	89,399
North East England	4,382
North West England	20,567
South East England	69,474
South West England	21,260
West Midlands	20,281
Yorkshire and Humberside	17,882
Total (rounded)	271,260

Political Party	Amount claimed and paid (£)
Conservative	32,361
Democracy 2015	350
Green	5,791
Labour	120,846
Liberal Democrat	32,601
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition	276
UKIP	53,236
Independent	25,798
Total (rounded)	271,260

Gender	Amount claimed and paid (£)
Male	139,524
Female	131,736
Total	271,260

Ethnic Group	Amount claimed and paid (£)
White; all backgrounds	218,117
Mixed ethnic origin	1,348
Asian; all backgrounds	26,680
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British	22,977
Other ethnic group	350
Prefer not to say	1,788
Total	271,260

January 1, 2023

Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Indian government on re-opening border crossings to Nepal since discussions were held between the British and Indian ambassadors to Nepal on border blockages on 30 October.

Mr Hugo Swire

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 November 2015 to question 15614 which can be located at: www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers. In addition to this answer, I discussed the blockage at the border with the Indian Foreign Secretary during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to the United Kingdom.

January 1, 2023
Karin Smyth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who he was accompanied by at a cost to the public purse on each of his official overseas trips since his appointment.

Jane Ellison

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State is generally accompanied by an official from the Department and/or a member of staff from his private office when he is travelling on official business.

January 1, 2023
Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what care pathways are in place at each sexual assault referral centre; and what the average waiting time is for access to those pathways for (a) adults and (b) children under 18.

Jane Ellison

NHS England has set out care pathways for adult and child Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) services in its `Commissioning Framework for Adult and Paediatric Sexual Assault referral Centre (SARC) Services’, published in August 2015. Pathway services are wide-ranging, including safeguarding, social care, housing, other medical support and therapeutic counselling. The framework is now being rolled out across England and outlines the expected core service.

Data on waiting times into care pathways or therapeutic services in SARCs or referred to by SARCs, is not collected centrally.

January 1, 2023
John Mann – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department has allocated to meeting the UN targets on family planning; and in which countries such funding has been allocated.

Mr Nick Hurd

In 2014, the most recent year for which figures are available, UK spending on Family Planning was £203 million, exceeding our 2012 London Summit commitment to double our yearly spend in this area. We are currently developing our plans for the new spending review period, but in the past the majority of our country offices have had family planning programmes.

Multilateral, regional and civil society funding reaches many more countries. As well as a large commitment to the UNFPA Supplies programme (£356m until 2020), DFID also supports the FP2020 Secretariat, work on shaping reproductive health markets through the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition

January 1, 2023
David Davis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times action has been taken against a service provider for non-compliance with a warrant served under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 since 2001.

Mr John Hayes

The Government works closely with communication service providers to ensure they can give effect to warrants which help our security and intelligence and law enforcement agencies to disrupt, investigate and prosecute terrorists and criminals.

It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment on relationships with companies regarding interception warrants or whether specific companies had failed to give effect to an interception warrant.

January 1, 2023
Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department allocated to the Winter Weather Repair Fund in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and what funding it has allocated to that fund in (i) 2015-16 and (ii) 2016-17.

Andrew Jones

The Department for Transport is providing over £6.1 billion funding to local highway authorities in England between 2015 and 2021 for local highways maintenance. This includes repairing roads that might be damaged due to severe winter weather. This funding includes £50 million per annum from 2016 to 2021 for a dedicated Pothole Action Fund as announced in the recent Spending Review.

This is additional to the funding of over £4.7 billion the Government provided to local highway authorities between 2010 and 2015 for highways maintenance, including £168 million to tackle potholes across the country, as well as £183.5 million we provided in 2014 to help repair roads damaged by the winter floods of 2013/14. Between 2010 to 2015 the maintenance funding was 27% or £1billion higher than in the previous five years.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many decisions on further submissions related to asylum claims that are outstanding have been waiting for longer than (a) one year, (b) two years and (c) three years for a decision.

James Brokenshire

There is not a formal service standard for deciding further submissions from failed asylum seekers. The Home Office is balancing resource between those failed asylum seekers with no leave to remain who have made further submissions on the one hand and, on the other, those who were granted a limited period of leave following the refusal of their application who have outstanding applications for Further Leave.

With regard to further submissions lodged by failed asylum seekers, there is dedicated resource in place to decide cases in the existing stock of further submissions and to also decide new submissions quickly, wherever possible within 5 days of their being lodged. With regard to cases in the stock of further submissions, the Home Office is prioritising cases where applicants are in receipt of asylum support and cases where the applicant may be removed from the United Kingdom in the eventuality their submission is refused. The Home Office will also give priority to further submissions case that have been outstanding for the longest period of time.

The figures in the below table relate to failed asylum seekers who had outstanding further submissions as of 30 June 2015:

Timescale (Years) Total

1 – 2 2383

2 – 3 1426

3 or more 1267

Total 5076

January 1, 2023
Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to make a final decision about airport expansion in the South East.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

On 10 December, the Government accepted the Airports Commission’s case for expansion in the South East. We agree with the Commission’s shortlist of three options, all of which it concluded were viable. The Government will now conclude a package of further work by the summer, and will ensure that the timetable for delivering additional capacity set out by the Commission does not alter.

January 1, 2023