Tag: 2016

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to her Department was of providing information to the EU’s Education and Training Monitor in each of the last three years.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education provides information to the EU’s Education and Training Monitor through the provision of data submitted as part of the UK’s joint UNESCO, OECD, and EUROSTAT (UOE) annual data return. This work is managed by the Department’s International Statistics Team and is a small part of wider work on the collection and use of international statistics. We estimate the annual staff cost to the Department of providing the UOE data at 0.5 of one full time equivalent post. We do not disaggregate the EU-specific element of this work as the data provided is common to all three international organisations.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-05-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for International Development will support the Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis 2016–2021 at the forthcoming World Health Assembly.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK Government welcomes the development of this strategy for preventing, diagnosing and treating viral hepatitis. DFID works very closely with the Department of Health and we have a joint delegation to the World Health Assembly.

    DFID supports improving the access to clean and safe water and hygiene promotion to reduce the risk of transmission of hepatitis A and E. We are the largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which increases access to immunisation in low income countries. This includes protection against hepatitis B. The UK supports UNITAID, which is working to improve access to better diagnostics for Hepatits C and we are supporting the Clinton Health Access Initiative to reduce prices and increase access to new treatments. In addition DFID supports comprehensive harm reduction programmes and strategies through its support to the Global Fund, which help reduce transmission of both HIV and Hepatitis C.

  • Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Calum Kerr – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Calum Kerr on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will establish a 5G venture fund for 5G technology start-ups.

    Matt Hancock

    We are sponsoring the Future Communications Challenge Group (FCCG) of senior academics, industry experts and funders, chaired by the President of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, which is considering how we should drive forward our commitment to ensure that UK has a leading role in 5G development.

    In parallel the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) is conducting a study, launched in Budget 2016, into how UK can achieve early deployment of 5G networks.

    Both of these will report by the end of the year and the results will feed into a comprehensive 5G strategy for the UK, to be published in 2017.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to tackle illegitimate and fraudulent activity by claims handling companies.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    Tackling bad practices by claims management companies (CMCs) is a priority for the Government. Action already taken includes the removal of over a thousand CMC licenses since 2010 and the issuing of over £2 million in fines.

    Collaborative work between the Claims Management Regulation Unit and other regulators has resulted in the successful disruption and prosecution of criminal operations by CMCs engaged in fraudulent and illegitimate claims.

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage the take up of organ donor cards among South Asian and other minority ethnic communities.

    Jane Ellison

    UK Government provides NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) with around £60 million a year to support organ donation. In 2013, NHSBT launched a UK – wide organ donation and transplantation strategy Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020, setting the agenda for increasing organ donation and transplantation rates. The Department has also established the National Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Transplant Alliance with the aim of raising awareness about the need for stem cell and organ donation, and increasing the number of people from BAME communities who can benefit from either a stem cell or organ transplant.

    South Asian people are more likely to need a kidney transplant than a Caucasian person but families are less likely to consent to organ donation. The result is that patients from South Asian background wait much longer for organ transplants, particularly for a kidney transplant. Therefore, to support the wider 2020 strategy, the Department funded Kidney Research UK to undertake a Peer Educator Programme within the Pakistani Muslim community in Birmingham with the aim of raising awareness of the lack of donors and increasing the numbers on the bone marrow and organ donation registers. Lessons learnt will support the roll-out of the programme in other similar areas of work.

    NHSBT also has a wide range of leaflets promoting organ donation that are translated into a number of different South Asian languages including Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase cycling among (a) women and (b) older people.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government remains committed to its manifesto target to double the number of journeys made by bicycle. In order to achieve this, all potential cyclists’ needs must be considered, including women and older people.

    The Government recently reaffirmed its commitment to cycling and walking, with SR2015 announcing funding support of over £300m. In addition, Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

    By improving existing cycle provision and ensuring that cyclists are considered when designing and building new infrastructure then our roads will be more appealing to cyclists of all ages and ability.

    The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, to be published in summer 2016, will fully explain the Government’s investment strategy for cycling and walking.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many full-time equivalent staff his Department provided to assist with (a) Home Office immigration and asylum cases and (b) other Home Office legal cases in reach year since 2009-10; and how much was spent by his Department on such cases in each of those years.

    Robert Buckland

    The Government Legal Department (GLD) conducts litigation for most government departments. GLD charges its government department clients for the litigation services it provides on an hourly fee basis. The remaining Law Officers’ Departments do not have any notable involvement in Home Office litigation.

    It is not possible to identify how many full time equivalent GLD staff were working on Home Office cases each year because this will inevitably change during the year and staff will also work on cases for other client departments.

    Any spending incurred by GLD is recovered by charges received from the Home Office for litigation services provided.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support the licensed hospitality sector to mitigate the effects of (a) wage rate inflation and (b) reduced demand for drink and food-led outlets.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is committed to supporting pubs and other licensed hospitality firms. The sector will benefit from the changes announced at Budget 2016. These include cutting business rates for all properties in England with Barnett consequentials for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to introduce equivalent measures if they so wish.

    Reforms to stamp duty land tax on non-residential property transactions will cut the tax for many small businesses purchasing property. Budget 2016 also announced the corporation tax rate will be cut to 17% in 2020 and that the duty rates on beer, spirits and most ciders will be frozen this year.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which EU schemes her Department administers; if she will estimate the annual cost of administering each such scheme in each of the (a) last and (b) next five years; if she will estimate the total value of each scheme in each of the (i) last and (ii) next five years; and for which schemes her Department has been subject to infraction proceedings from the EU Commission.

    George Eustice

    There are two EU funds under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Defra administers the CAP in England. The Devolved Administrations administer these EU schemes separately. The estimated value of these funds from 2011 to 2020 are set out in the table below, figures are for England.

    The current Multiple Financial Framework runs until 2020 so that is the last year where there is an estimate of the total value for both of the schemes.

    Year

    European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) €m

    European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) €m

    2011

    2,086

    447

    2012

    2,115

    469

    2013

    1,909

    531

    2014

    2,046

    442

    2015

    2,046

    333

    2016

    2,048

    590

    2017

    2,052

    590

    2018

    2,056

    590

    2019

    2,062

    590

    2020

    2,068

    591

    Decisions relating to the implementation of the CAP in England are integrated into numerous policy areas within the Department and the delivery of the CAP is carried out primarily by the Rural Payments Agency, Natural England and Forestry Commission, alongside other business. This arrangement allows the various objectives of the CAP to be delivered effectively. However, this integrated approach to delivery also makes it difficult to calculate the total annual cost of the CAP in isolation. This is something that was identified by the NAO in its recent report ‘Early Development of the CAP Delivery Programme’, and the Department is currently considering how to respond to this recommendation.

    In relation to these two schemes the Department has not been subject to any infraction proceedings from the EU in the last five years.

  • Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Mendelsohn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of which sectors have (1) increased, and (2) reduced, their percentage of IT spend on cyber security between 2014 and 2015.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government’s recently published Cyber Security Breaches Survey contains figures for average investment in cyber security by sector grouping.

    The full set of figures can be found in the table below and further detail can be found on pages 18-19 of the survey main report. There are no comparable figures for previous years.

    Average investment in cyber security in last financial year by sector grouping:

    Sector

    Average Investment

    Overall

    £4,060

    Financial/Insurance

    £12,200

    Information/Communications/Utilities

    £10,000

    Administration/Real Estate

    £8,900

    Retail/Wholesale/Transport

    £4,110

    Construction/Manufacturing

    £3,090

    Education/Health/Social Care

    £1,280

    Entertainment/Services/Membership

    £1,220

    Food/Hospitality

    £511

    The ful Cyber Secuirty Breaches Survey is attached.