Tag: 2016

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to develop a standardised methodology for measuring SME spending by government departments which can be used as a baseline over the next five years.

    Matthew Hancock

    We have developed our methodology over time, starting in 2010 when there was no reliable estimate for spend with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We now have much better data than before 2010 and we are continuing to improve our understanding of spend. The Government exceeded its target of 25% of central government procurement spend going to small and medium businesses by 2015, achieving over £12 billion (27.1%) of spend with SMEs by the end of the last Parliament.

    The Government standardised its methodology for collecting data on direct spend with SMEs in 2011-12; data on direct spend published since that point is comparable. Data on indirect spend for 2013-14 and 2014-15 is also comparable. This is an area of continuous improvement and we intend to standardise our methodology again during 2016-17.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many e-courts there are in Lancashire.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Excluding one closing court, in Lancashire all criminal courts (4 Crown courts and 6 magistrates’ courts) are equipped to work digitally through services such as in-court evidence presentation, video links, a shared file store, Wi-Fi and a new digital case management system in the Crown courts.

  • Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-05-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential value in career development of service by police on international deployments.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The National Police Chiefs’ Council has established the new Joint International Policing Hub to triage requests for international police assistance through a single point. The Hub joins up the police at a national level and with Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is intended to promote the UK model of policing by consent. Decisions on who to recommend to deploy, and where, lies with Chief Constables, in conjunction with their Police and Crime Commissioners.

    As the first professional body for all of policing in England and Wales, the College of Policing develops standards and guidance for policing. The College is considering flexibility and the structure of entry, exit and re-entry of officers. It is also considering routes for officers to gain external experience, such as secondments, as part of the Leadership Review.

    The Government has no plans to publish the details of police, law enforcement specialists and other relevant civilian experts in service in UN operations and at the UN Headquarters. Any personnel deployed as part of a national contingent are listed on the UN website: http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/contributors/2016/apr16_4.pdf

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce approval process timescales for woodland planting.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    Forestry is a devolved matter and the answer refers to England only.

    We have improved the process for Countryside Stewardship applications for woodland creation in the 2016-17 planting season. Any amendments that may be required for existing Environmental Stewardship Schemes can be made earlier in this year than in previous years. The Rural Payments Agency has new systems for digitisation of land registration and parcel amendments to support smoother application processing. Scoring has been simplified and we have introduced a self-calculating and self-populating application form to ease the application process.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on requiring areas which are bidding for devolved powers to introduce directly elected mayors.

    Andrew Percy

    The Government is clear that devolution deals are locally-led and bespoke – not one-size-fits-all. The Government has, however, been consistent in stating that the most ambitious deals in terms of the powers and funding devolved will be those that are the most ambitious in their governance proposals, for example those willing to offer a directly elected, single point of accountability by establishing mayoral combined authorities.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what risk assessment his Department has made of the Autonomous Logistics Information System during testing for the F35B Lightning II fighter.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Autonomous Logistics Information System is part of the ground based information system and is not fitted on board the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft. Both the Autonomous Logistics Information System and the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft have been subject to a comprehensive independent programme of penetration testing.

    Risk assessments of the Autonomous Logistics Information System and its interfaces with the F-35B Lightning II fighter are conducted continuously throughout the test programme. All classified data transmissions to and from the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft are fully encrypted.

  • Roger Mullin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Roger Mullin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Mullin on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of attacks on schools in Syria on children’s education in that country.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    We are deeply concerned about the impact of the conflict on Syrian children and young people. Children continue to be killed, injured and recruited by parties to the conflict. According to the UN, 35 schools were attacked in 2015 alone, with one quarter of all Syrian schools now closed, damaged or destroyed. Consequently 2.1 million children inside Syria are out of school. This will have profound implications for years to come if it is not urgently addressed.

    That is why the UK helped to launch and mobilise international support for the No Lost Generation Initiative (NLGI). As part of this support, we have allocated £115 million to provide protection, psychosocial support and education for children affected by the crisis in Syria and the region. As a result, more than 308,000 children have been reached with child protection initiatives inside Syria, mainly in the form of psychosocial consultations and child-friendly spaces. In addition, almost 228,000 children have received formal and informal education inside Syria, allowing them to catch up on lost learning time.

    The "Supporting Syria and the Region London 2016" Conference was held on 4 February last week, and more than US$11 billion was pledged to support people in Syria and the region affected by the conflict, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. Commitments made at the Conference include education for an additional 1 million children.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the custody nurse vacancy rate was in (a) total and (b) each London borough in the Metropolitan Police area on 1 January of each year since 2010.

    Mike Penning

    The provision and commissioning of police custody healthcare services including custody nurses is the responsibility of individual Police and Crime Commissioners, and healthcare staffing levels are an operational policing matter in conjunction with the custody healthcare service provider. Information on these issues is not held centrally by the Home Office.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps has he taken to monitor the conduct of charities when marketing commercial products.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    This is a matter for the Charity Commission which, as independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, issued a regulatory alert on this topic on 29 February 2016 reminding charity trustees of their legal duties. The alert was published and sent to the 1,700 charities that the Commission identified to have some form of commercial arrangement. It made clear that trustees should review existing commercial arrangements and that failure to meet the relevant requirements could result in regulatory action.

    Engaging in commercial activities can be a valuable way for charities to raise funds or generate awareness of its cause. It is the responsibility of the trustees to ensure that where a charity engages in commercial activity, either through a trading subsidiary or through a commercial partnership, they follow the legal framework, they have effective oversight and ensure this activity in the best interests of the charity. This includes protecting the charity’s name and reputation which are valuable assets.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the security of airports of security scanning all bags before they are allowed into an airport building.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We regularly assess all threats to aviation security along with appropriate response measures. Following the recent attacks at Brussels Airport, measures were put in place to enhance the protection of public areas at UK airports. We do not currently assess that requiring all bags to be scanned at the entrance to airport building would be an effective and proportionate response, but we will continue to work with airports and the police to keep this and other possible measures under review.