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Tag: 2015

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employees of Border Force are seconded to Frontex; and in what locations such staff are deployed.

    James Brokenshire

    UK Border Force currently has twelve staff deployed to support Frontex joint operations in the Mediterranean, and one staff member seconded to Frontex Headquarters, Returns Sector, in Warsaw. Eight of the twelve staff support joint operation ‘Poseidon Sea’ in Greece: two in Kos, three in Lesbos, one in Leros, one in Samos and one in Chios; and four support Frontex joint operation ‘Triton’ in Italy: two in Trapani, one in Lampedusa and one in Syracuse.

    UK staff cannot exercise any powers on Frontex operations. Border Force staff debrief migrants to gather intelligence on their routing, modus operandi and any facilitators involved; Border Force staff also screen migrants to establish their identity, to aid the host member state with documentation and return of those migrants with no right of stay in Europe.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Lenox Project in south-east London.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Lenox Project is an independent private enterprise project.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to promote steps to tackle HIV/Aids; and if she will make a statement.

    Grant Shapps

    The UK remains firmly committed to the Sustainable Development Goals agreed in New York in September, including the target to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. We are already working towards this goal not only through our substantial support to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, but also through our work with UNITAID and the Clinton Health Access Initiative to make testing and treatment more accessible and affordable.

    We will continue to concentrate on the critical gaps in reducing new infections, particularly among women and girls and key affected populations while continuing to address the barriers that limit access to treatment. These include strengthening health systems and tackling the broader structural drivers of the HIV epidemic such as stigma and discrimination, and gender inequality.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote the availability of loans to part-time students.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has developed marketing materials and information aimed at part time students and these are made available online and through schools and further education colleges as part of the annual Student Finance Tour. Since the new non-means tested part time fee loans were introduced in 2012 the number of students taking out loans has risen from 34,000 in 2012/13 to 55,000 in 2013/14.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Prime Minister, when he last discussed the issue of state aid for the UK steel industry with (a) the President of the European Commission, (b) the Presidency of the European Council and (c) other EU member state governments.

    Mr David Cameron

    I have raised the issues facing the steel industry with my counterparts, including most recently with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, which currently holds the EU Presidency.

    The Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills is also engaged with the European Commission and our European partners. He has spoken with a number of European Commissioners in Brussels; Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom (Trade), Commissioner Elsbieta Bienkowska (Internal Market) and Vice President Jyrki Katainen (Jobs and Competitiveness), and stressed the importance of this issue. He has had positive talks with the Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on progressing the approval of the UK’s Energy Intensive Industries compensation scheme.

    In addition, the Secretary of State has raised the issue with his EU counterparts, including those in Luxembourg, France, Italy and Spain. He called for an urgent EU Council meeting on steel, and I am pleased that the Luxembourg Presidency has scheduled a Competitiveness Council on 9 November specifically to discuss the EU steel industry.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK aged 21 and over earning £6.70 per hour.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made in piloting reasonable adjustments to the work capability assessment for people with mental health problems.

    Priti Patel

    The Department has been working closely with its new provider, the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA) to develop and test new processes for obtaining further evidence as part of the Work Capability Assessment. An initial test of these new processes should start by the end of the year.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the funding required to complete the Coastal Path around England by the target date of 2020; and what support her Department is offering to Natural England to achieve that target.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government has announced Defra’s capital allocation for the next five years, and funding to complete the coastal path around England by 2020 will be protected. When complete, the path will be one of longest coastal walking routes in the world at around 2,700 miles in length.

    We will publish the detailed allocation of funding in the Department’s Main Estimate early next year.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effects of the Government’s proposal to freeze the repayment threshold for plan 2 student loans on the amount of money likely to be paid back over the 30 year repayment period.

    Joseph Johnson

    The assessment of additional loan repayments has been set out in the published consultation document which is published here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/freezing-the-student-loan-repayment-threshold

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  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is making an assessment of the financial sustainability of Four Seasons Health Care under section 55 of the Care Act 2014; and whether the CQC has had meetings with (a) ministers and officials of his Department and (b) finance officers and other senior managers of Four Seasons Health Care to discuss that provider’s financial position.

    Alistair Burt

    Four Seasons Healthcare is one of the names included in the Market Oversight scheme that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has run since 6 April 2015. Whilst the CQC is unable to comment on individual providers in the scheme due to commercial sensitivity, the CQC can nevertheless confirm that it is operating the regime in line with the published guidance ‘Market Oversight of difficult to replace providers of adult social care’ that can be found on the CQC’s website at:

    http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/market-oversight-adult-social-care

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