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Tag: 2015

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2015-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether NHS England will hold a consultation on generic commissioning policies, including for Individual Funding Requests, and if so, when details of that consultation will be published.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS England has advised that it is planning to consult early in the new year on the generic commissioning policies, including on Individual Funding Requests. Publication details will be announced following completion of the consultation.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of reports that the German Chancellor has promised to facilitate the full entry of Turkey to the European Union, what assessment they have made of (1) the impact of Turkish membership of the European Union on the United Kingdom’s voting powers, and (2) whether all Turkish nationals would have rights of access to the United Kingdom under the existing free movement provisions.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government supports EU enlargement, subject to candidate countries meeting the requirements. Any impact on the UK’s voting powers would depend on the specific issue being discussed and be contingent on the provisions in place on voting weights following any new accession.

    Arrangements on free movement of people of any new Member state depends on transitional controls at the time of accession to the EU. The Government recognises the concern caused by the large-scale movement of people that has followed the accession of new countries to the EU. This issue would be subject to negotiation as part of the accession process. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has made clear that there needs to be reform of the transitional controls on free movement of workers before any further countries join the EU.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Blencathra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2015-10-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what range of sanctions is available to use against British Jihadists returning to the United Kingdom after fighting in Syria and Iraq; and whether they will encourage the police to use them.

    Lord Bates

    People seeking to travel to engage in terrorist activity in Syria or Iraq should be in no doubt we will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security. If they return to the UK they should expect to be subject to a police investigation. Whether a prosecution for an offence can be pursued in individual cases is a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service.

    The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, which received Royal Assent on 12 February 2015, has added to existing powers by disrupting the ability of people to travel abroad to engage in terrorism-related activity and controlling their return to the UK; enhancing our ability to monitor and control the actions of those in the UK who pose a threat; and combating the underlying ideology that feeds, supports and sanctions terrorism.

    In addition, the Government has powers under the Immigration Act 2014 to deprive persons of their British citizenship if such a deprivation is deemed ‘conducive to the public good’, for instance if a person has been involved in threats to national security, war crimes, serious and organised crime or unacceptable behaviours such as glorification of terrorism. Deprivation of British citizenship results in simultaneous loss of the right of abode in the United Kingdom. Once deprived, an individual becomes subject to immigration powers and can be deported or removed from the UK

  • Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of the £80 million package announced to help the local community after the closure of the SSI Plant in Redcar will be used to pay statutory redundancy pay; and how much of the remaining sum will be allocated from other funds for employment support already in operation.

    Anna Soubry

    There is some flexibility to meet statutory redundancy payments from the package, but the majority of the fund will go towards supporting training, small businesses and the local economy. Ministers were clear on the components of the package when they first briefed the local taskforce earlier this month. The task force has already submitted proposals for elements of this funding to support economic regeneration in the area which the Department is now considering.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the effect of the introduction of the National Living Wage on rates of pay above the statutory minimum; and if he will make a statement.

    Nick Boles

    The Government will publish an Impact Assessment for the introduction of the National Living Wage alongside the implementation regulations. The Office of Budget Responsibility estimates that 3.25 million people above the new statutory minimum will benefit from the National Living Wage.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Stewart Jackson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the Homes and Communities Agency in respect of its duties on (a) land disposals and (b) allocating and choosing partners for developing (i) brownfield and (ii) other land for residential use; and if he will make a statement.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department regularly reviews the Homes and Communities Agency’s performance to ensure that both the Agency and the Department’s Accounting Officer responsibilities are satisfied.

    Over the last Parliament the Homes and Communities Agency disposed of land with capacity for 20,930 homes, exceeding their plan. Whilst the Agency has a panel of preferred development partners, selected through a gateway approvals process, it is not tied to using this panel and will make a decision between engaging the development partner panel or securing a partner on the open market.

    An independent assessment of the efficacy of the Home and Communities Agency’s work will be commissioned following the Spending Review and will include consideration of how the Agency performs its functions in respect of land. I expect findings from that review to report in the spring.

  • Liz Saville Roberts – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Liz Saville Roberts – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps have been taken by Air Command in response to the UK Airprox Board’s recommendation that flying procedures be reviewed in the Machynlleth loop following a near-miss incident involving five aircraft on 27 August 2015.

    Penny Mordaunt

    I believe the hon. Member is referring to an incident that took place on 27 August 2014, in response to which the UK Airprox Board assessed no risk of collision existed.

    Following the UK Airprox Board’s recommendation, a review of entry and exit procedures has been completed. No changes have been made as the RAF considered that changing the procedures would adversely affect flight safety. However, the UK Military Low Flying Handbook was updated to highlight to military aircrews that they should exercise caution when entering and exiting the Machynlleth Loop.

  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children aged between four and seven in (a) Lewisham, Deptford constituency, (b) the London Borough of Lewisham and (c) London received free school meals in each of the last five academic years.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Prior to the 2014/15 academic year, the department did not collect data on the number of free school meals given out to pupils below school level. The department does not, therefore, hold information on receipt of free school meals by pupils of different ages for earlier years.

    Data from the January 2015 school census at regional and local authority level can be found in table 8e of ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics: January 2015 statistics’[1]. Constituency level data can be obtained by aggregating the underlying school level data from the same publication. This is available in the ‘SFR16_2015_Schools_Pupils_UD’ file within the underlying data, which contains information on each school within constituencies and the number of infant pupils who took a free school meal on census day.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015

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  • Liam Fox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Liam Fox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the Government’s aims are for the forthcoming Paris Climate Summit; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government is committed to securing an ambitious, legally binding, global deal on climate change at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 in Paris in December.

    The UK is working with other countries to secure ambitious mitigation commitments from all parties that together keep the global goal of limiting global warming to below 2°C within reach. We also want an agreement that includes a regular review of targets to increase ambition over time, a global long term goal and a robust, legally binding rules framework to ensure transparency and accountability of commitments to help the world track progress, improve competitiveness and provide business certainty.

    It will also be important that the Agreement supports the most vulnerable countries to build climate resilience. I am pleased that my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a significant uplift in funding through the International Climate Fund (ICF) providing at least £5.8 billion over the next five years. This complements commitments from other countries such as France and Germany and should help build momentum for climate action beyond Paris.

    However, there remains a lot of work to do and we are working closely with international counterparts to help secure an ambitious deal.

    Following the outcome in Paris, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State will lay a statement in the House.

  • 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 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will express concern about the effect the one-child policy has had on the prevalence of forced abortions, infanticide and involuntary sterilisation in China to President Xi Jinping during his visit to the UK.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We pay close attention to the human rights situation in China. The Government is committed to engaging with China on the issue and Ministers will continue to raise concerns with their counterparts. Discussions during the State Visit will be broad and cover issues where we agree and where we disagree.

    The Government’s policy on population and sexual and reproductive health and rights is about providing women and girls with a voice, choice and control. We do not condone coercion or support sex-selective abortion. We provide core funding to the United Nations Population Fund who do work in China; they work to promote and uphold the principles of free and informed choice and to challenge the gender norms that de-value girls.