Tag: 2015

  • Jess Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many written complaints her Department received about academy brokers in each year since 2010.

    Edward Timpson

    All of the contractors offering specialist educational advice are now defined as ‘Education Advisers’. Some of the Education Advisers work as academy brokers but may undertake other functions. All complaints made against Education Advisers have been recorded centrally since June 2011.

    Since then, the Department has received 13 written complaints in total. Investigations have been concluded and resolved to the Department’s satisfaction; the majority were found to be without basis.

    In each case the complainant was given feedback on the investigation and was informed of how they could pursue their complaint further if they were not satisfied with the outcome. In two cases, complaints were partially upheld; and another was upheld.

    Providing further information about the nature of the complaints, and the grounds on which they were partially or fully upheld, would risk identifying individual cases and therefore jeopardise the confidentiality afforded to the complainant and subject, and be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage economic development in rural areas within English metropolitan counties.

    Rory Stewart

    In August, the Secretary of State launched the Government’s Rural Productivity Plan. This sets out a series of measures to help rural communities and businesses reach their full potential and contribute to increasing national productivity.

    By investing in education and skills, increasing wages, improving infrastructure and connectivity, and simplifying planning laws for rural businesses and communities, this will help create thriving rural areas where generations of families can open and expand their businesses, buy a home and educate their children at first class schools.

  • Rob Marris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Rob Marris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the contribution of the energy sector to productivity between (a) 2005 and 2010, (b) 2010 and 2015 and (c) 2015 and 2020.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Information is available from the DECC UK energy sector indicators 20151 report on changes in the labour productivity of the energy sector; data from this report is presented in Table 1 below, covering the period 2005-2014. Projections to 2020 are not available.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-energy-sector-indicators-2015

    “

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Government’s nuclear non-proliferation strategy of the emergence of 3D printing technologies capable of constructing components for possible use in nuclear weapons.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Government keeps appraised of new technologies and their possible non-proliferation implications, both now and in the future. Although this technique could have some nuclear applications, currently there remain fundamental barriers to proliferation, such as the availability of fissile material.

  • Richard Fuller – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Richard Fuller – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will assess the potential merits of providing legal protection to the professional title of veterinary nurse.

    George Eustice

    Only those individuals who are properly trained, qualified and registered with the regulator, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), may legally undertake veterinary nursing. The Government is aware that concerns have been raised about the legal protection of the use of the term “Veterinary Nurse” and we are in dialogue with the RCVS and others to see how these concerns might be addressed.

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what expenditure his Department plans to make on mental health services for armed forces veterans in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17, (c) 2017-18, (d) 2018-19 and (e) 2019-20.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England has £1.8 million per annum baseline (recurrent to 2019/20) funding for veterans mental health services. This funding is used to provide 10 veterans mental health teams across England to meet locally identified needs of veterans and manage the network of providers of NHS commissioned veterans mental health services.

    The funding also provides access for veterans to on-line mental health counselling services provided by the Big White Wall.

    In addition, NHS England provides £3.2 million a year to commission the Armed Forces service charity Combat Stress to provide specialised inpatient services for the treatment of complex post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

    In 2014/15 further funding of £1.68 million was used to fund three pilots to develop and test enhanced models of care for veterans.

    The pilots will:

    – develop a joint substance misuse and mental health service model for veterans;

    – develop an outpatient service for veterans with moderate to severe PTSD; and

    – develop a modal of care to address the barriers that some veterans experience in accessing mental health services.

    Veterans are also able to access the full range of NHS mental health services in the same way as the wider public.

  • Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Henry Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the governments of the Gulf Co-operation Council on improving bilateral trade and security.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Our mutual security and prosperity are key parts of our bilateral relations with the Gulf states. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) discussed security and bilateral trade with the governments of Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on his visit to the Gulf at the end of October.

    In the last month, I have discussed these issues with Oman and Qatar, at our regular working group meetings; with the Bahraini Royal Court Minister for Follow Up Affairs, Sheikh Ahmed bin Attiyatallah al Khalifa; and with UAE Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs, Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, at the Coalition Counter ISIL Strategic Communications meeting.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the causes of recent trends in the number of police call outs to bookmakers.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not collect information centrally on the locations to which police officers are called out and has made no assessment of recent trends in the number of call outs to bookmakers.

    It is for Police and Crime Commissioners to decide police priorities at a local level, and for Chief Constables to determine the most appropriate response in their areas.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Indian government on steps to lift the fuel blockade on Nepal and facilitate the release of humanitarian supplies.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I refer my honourable friend to the answer I gave on 10 November 2015 to Question 14391, located at: www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers/.

    In addition to the above answer, our Ambassador to Nepal discussed the blockage at the Nepal-India border in his introductory meeting with the Indian Ambassador to Nepal on 9 November. I also raised the matter with General Vijay Kumar Singh, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, when we spoke in the margins of the Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers Meeting on 5 November 2015 in Luxembourg.

  • Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what proportion of unused and uneaten food produced or bought to be served on the parliamentary estate is (a) recycled, (b) sent to landfill and (c) donated to food aid providers.

    Tom Brake

    All catering food waste segregated at the kitchens and food preparation areas is recovered offsite by means of anaerobic digestion to produce methane fuel and fertiliser. No catering waste from Parliament is sent to landfill, and no uneaten food is donated to food aid providers.

    We are continuing to identify opportunities to reduce the amount of food waste and to increase the proportion we do generate that goes for recovery. A food waste audit to support this is due to take place later this month in the House of Commons.

    Food waste from prepared dishes in House of Commons catering outlets is 3% against sales. This is well below the national average for the catering industry of 5%; the Sustainable Restaurant Association has rated the House of Commons as a good practice organisation in respect of food waste.