Tag: 2016

  • Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Lexden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lexden on 2016-07-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government to what extent the new Lord Chancellor meets the criteria for appointment laid down in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    Appointments of Government Ministers and the Lord Chancellor are for the Prime Minister to recommend to Her Majesty. I would note that Section 2 of the 2005 Act explicitly states that the Prime Minister may take into account experience as a Minister of the Crown and as a member of either House of Parliament when deciding whether a person is qualified by experience to be Lord Chancellor.

    I would also refer the noble peer to the speech by the Lord Chief Justice at the swearing in of the Lord Chancellor, which provides background on the Lord Chancellor’s experience, but also the historical context of those who have had custody of the Great Seal of the Realm, including its first female keeper back in 1253.

    https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/lcj-speech-swearing-in-lord-chancellor-july2016.pdf

    “

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether personal independence payment (PIP) assessors employed by (a) his Department, (b) Capita and (c) Atos Healthcare have targets of how many PIP claims they (i) reject and (ii) accept.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The role of contracted Assessment Providers is to carry out health and disability assessments on behalf of the Department. They do not determine if a claim to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is successful. They provide a report to DWP decision makers who then determine entitlement to benefit. No targets are in place as to how many applications are successful.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department provides to UK-based renewable energy companies seeking to invest in developing country markets; how many companies in that sector have received such support; and what steps he is taking to increase such support (a) in general and (b) through export guarantees.

    Anna Soubry

    UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) supports UK companies who want to grow their business overseas. We provide tailored support packages for companies from first time exporters to medium sized businesses, whilst also providing digital and online support to all businesses. We continue to proactively support UK renewable companies and recognise the huge potential in developing country markets. Support from UK Export Finance (principally in the form of insurance to exporters, guarantees to banks and loans to overseas buyers) is also available for UK exporters in all sectors including the renewable energy sector.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department records the number of late licensing penalties issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for the non-return of V11 forms; and what revenue is raised from those penalties.

    Andrew Jones

    The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not issue late licensing penalties for the non-return of V11 forms. However, the DVLA does issue such penalties to those who do not pay the vehicle excise duty due on their vehicle. During 2014-2015, 474,861 late licensing penalties were issued with £16m collected in revenue. These are the audited figures as included in the DVLA’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2014/15.

  • David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Nuttall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Nuttall on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the (a) time taken to introduce and (b) cost of introduction of a system of in-work benefits for newly-arrived EU nationals as envisaged in Section D of the Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, on 18 and 19 February 2016.

    Priti Patel

    These are issues to be answered as part of the implementation process.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why their devolution agreement with Bath and North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, North Somerset Council, South Gloucestershire Council and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership is called the West of England devolution agreement, in the light of the fact that it does not include Cornwall Council or Devon County Council.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The West of England is the recognised name used to describe the area covered by the four local authorities: Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset. The West of England is used to describe organisations and functions that work across this geography, which include the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and the West of England Nature Partnership. Cornwall is already covered by a devolution deal – it is called the Cornwall Devolution Deal.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to allow NHS bodies to designate people other than midwives as the lead clinical practitioner for women in pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal period.

    Ben Gummer

    There are no such plans. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has recently written to its external partners to provide reassurances about the proposed changes to midwifery supervision regulation and confirmed that there will be:

    ― No change to the protected title of ‘midwife’. Also the protected function of ‘attendance on a woman in childbirth’ will remain. Other than in an emergency or as part of training, only a midwife or medical practitioner can deliver a baby.

    ― No change to the scope of midwifery practice, which is much wider than the narrow protected function and is reflected in the standards of competence for registered midwives and their Code.

    On 21 April, the Department launched a consultation on the proposed changes to the NMC’s governing legislation to remove midwifery supervision from statute. The proposals do not suggest that midwifery supervision and the education and training to support this role will cease to exist, but that the additional tier of regulation for midwives will be removed resulting in a clear separation of the role and purpose of the supervision and regulation of midwives. The consultation closes on 17 June 2016.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 May 2016, on BIS consultation, HCWS30, what the evidential basis is for the decision to reduce the number of policy roles from 2,000 to 1,500 in his Department; and how many of those 1,500 staff will be allocated to which policy areas.

    Anna Soubry

    The decision was taken as part of our commitment to creating a department which is simpler, smaller, and better by 2020, including changing our business model and reducing our operating costs and associated headcount by 30 – 40%.

    The policy landscape will evolve over time and so we are unable to determine now exactly how the 1,500 policy staff we will have in 2020 will be deployed. What we do know is that as we get smaller, we need to become more flexible, more agile and more easily re-deployable to emerging priorities. Specifically, we will need to be able to move policy staff more flexibly between different policy areas (reflecting business demands) and to create more flexible responses to short term pressures.

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, entitled Voices of the hungry, published in April 2016, whether tackling dietary inequality will be a focus of the forthcoming childhood obesity strategy.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Food insecurity is a global problem which the United Nations (UN) agreed to confront at the World Food Summit in 1996 and has framed subsequent sustainable development goals. Getting accurate and informative data was the motivation for the ‘Voices of the Hungry’ project. This project has established an annual universal metric to measure lack of access to food and the severity of this in over 150 countries, and help inform UN policy. The Department for International Development has provided financial support to enable the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to take this forward.

    The United Kingdom is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and to the data the FAO commissions and manages. There are therefore no plans for the Department of Health to independently monitor food insecurity going forward, or determine a precise estimate on which to base action to reduce food poverty.

    The Government is committed to tackling childhood obesity and launched Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action on 18 August. A copy of the plan is attached and is also available at:

    www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is on offer to apprentices who need help covering childcare costs and if she will take steps to extend such support to match that available to other workers.

    Robert Halfon

    Apprentices are employed from day one. They acquire skills much valued in the labour market without having to contribute to the costs of their learning. The benefits system treats an apprentice in the same way as any other employee.

    As an employee aged 18 or over, an apprentice may be entitled to the usual in-work benefits, such as Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credits.

    If an apprentice has children, or is aged 16 or over and does paid work of at least 16 hours a week, they could qualify for tax credits, unless they are already earning £25,000 or more per year. Further information can be found on the tax credit section of the HMRC website. Universal Credit will make it easier and less worrying for claimants to try out a job or work more hours because their benefits will not automatically stop if they do so.