Tag: 2016

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the utility for rail resilience purposes of the Yeovil to Exeter railway line when the Castle Cary/Taunton to Exeter St Davids railway line is blocked.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    As part of the resilience element of its Western Route Study, Network Rail assessed the route requirements which would support the diversion of an hourly Great Western Railway (GWR) service from Exeter to Castle Cary via Taunton to Exeter to Castle Cary via Yeovil in the event that the relevant section of the Great Western Main line is restricted by, for example, engineering works or severe weather.

    This assessment concluded that additional infrastructure would be required to accommodate a combination of an additional hourly service between Exeter St Davids and Axminster and an hourly diversionary GWR service.

    A copy of the Western Route Study has been placed in the Library.

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

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 24211, whether public health and health inequalities are taken into account in the consideration she gives to an application of dispose of former school playing fields.

    Edward Timpson

    The Education Funding Agency and the Independent School Playing Fields Panel who advise on playing field disposals will look at a range of factors before advising the Secretary of State on disposals, including any reduction in access to playing fields for the school, other local schools and the local community.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average salary is of officials at (a) Senior Civil Service and (b) all other grades at (i) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield and (ii) 1 Victoria Street, London.

    Joseph Johnson

    The information sought by the hon Member is attached.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of differences in mortality rates for (a) permanent and (b) temporary workers.

    Nick Boles

    My Department has not made an assessment of the differences in mortality rates for permanent and temporary workers.

  • Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of defence expenditure was spent through small and medium-sized enterprises in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2013-14.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes data on direct expenditure with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), excluding its trading funds, in the Finance & Economics Annual Bulletin: Trade, Industry & Contracts Statistics on the Gov.UK website. The final figures for financial years 2014-15 and 2013-14 are available at the link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/defence-trade-and-industry-index. The final figures for financial year 2015-16 are not yet available.

    The MOD does not hold data on expenditure with SMEs through the supply chain (indirect expenditure). The Cabinet Office has published indicative indirect expenditure with SMEs, collated from spend figures reported by suppliers, in their publication ‘Central Government direct and indirect expenditure with SMEs’. Figures for 2014-15 and 2013-14′ are available at the respective links:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-government-spend-with-smes-2014-to-2015

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/central-government-spend-with-smes-2013-to-2014.

    Figures released by the Cabinet Office in this publication indicate that MOD direct and indirect spend with SMEs was 19.4% in each year. The figures for 2015-16 are not yet available.

    The MOD has agreed a new target with the Cabinet Office of 25% procurement spend (both direct and indirect) with SMEs by 2020.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his (a) US counterpart and (b) other NATO counterparts on the role of the 77th Brigade.

    Penny Mordaunt

    None.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when funding bands for apprenticeships starting after April 2017 will be published.

    Robert Halfon

    Details of proposed funding bands for existing apprenticeship frameworks and standards were published on 12 August: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeships-proposals-for-funding-from-may-2017. The proposals were supported by a short employer survey which closed on 5 September.

    We aim to publish final funding bands for apprenticeship frameworks and standards in October for those that start on or after 1 May 2017.

    “

  • James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cleverly on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what contribution from the public purse has been made to the Commonwealth Secretariat in each of the last five years; and how much the UK is expected to so provide in each of the next five years.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK remains the largest financial contributor to the Commonwealth Secretariat, providing around 32% of the total budget. To establish a reasonable baseline, financial contributions to the Secretariat’s general budget are based on scales agreed at the UN. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) assessed contributions for the last five years were as follows:

    2011/2012 £5,168,586

    2012/2013 £5,262,654

    2013/2014 £5,326,331

    2014/2015 £5,455,484

    2015/2016 £5,469,640

    UN scales of assessment 2016 – 2018 were agreed in New York in December 2015. They will form the basis for future FCO contributions to the Secretariat’s general budget. Under existing Commonwealth guidelines, the budget is shared amongst the membership in accordance with three principles: Capacity to Pay, Equitable burden sharing and shared ownership and responsibility. This ensures that all members enjoy an equal voice within the organisation.

    In addition to FCO assessed contributions, the Department for International Development also makes voluntary contributions to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation and a number of Commonwealth programmes.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward proposals to require local authorities to conduct a needs assessment of local sexual health and contraceptive services before issuing tenders.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s Framework for Sexual Health Promotion in England (2013) sets out our ambitions and objectives to improve sexual health for all people. It takes account of the commissioning arrangements from 2013 including the new role for local authorities (LAs) as commissioners of most sexual health services. Later this month Public Health England (PHE) will undertake a survey of local commissioning arrangements for sexual health. It has also produced sexual health and reproductive health profiles to help LAs and others monitor the sexual and reproductive health of their populations and the performance of local public health related systems.

    It is for LAs to decide on what research and evidence they need to inform their tenders for sexual health and reproductive health services in line with procurement requirements and good practice. In 2014 PHE published Making it Work, a guide to commissioning for sexual health across the whole system, to improve the sexual health of both individuals and the wider public.

    We have made no formal assessment of the effect on sexual health services of reductions in the Public Health Grant to LAs for 2015/16, although PHE continues to monitor relevant outcomes data for every LA in England. Decisions on local public health spending are a matter for LAs. They are mandated by legislation to commission open access sexual health services that meet the needs of their local population. Officials meet regularly with sexual health organisations who would raise any concerns if LAs were not meeting their mandatory requirements for sexual health services.

    The Framework for Sexual Health Improvement includes as a priority reducing unwanted pregnancies and highlights the need to increase access to long acting reversible contraception (LARC) methods and emergency contraception for women of all ages. We have no plans to evaluate the effect on general practitioner surgeries of LA commissioning of LARCs.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support her Department offers to people affected by overpowering odour escapes from landfill sites.

    Rory Stewart

    The permits issued to landfill operators by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 regulations include conditions covering the management of odour. Operators of landfill sites are required to take appropriate measures to prevent odour pollution or minimise it when prevention is not practicable.

    In addition, as landfill sites are likely to give rise to odour problems operators are often required to submit an Odour Management Plan (OMP) for approval to the Environment Agency. The provisions in a site’s OMP, once it is approved, are treated as part of the permit and must be complied with.

    The Environment Agency undertakes routine monitoring to verify compliance with permit conditions and will respond to and investigate public complaints about odour. The Environment Agency will consider enforcement action to ensure compliance with permit conditions in accordance with its published guidance on enforcement and sanctions.

    Environmental permitting will usually provide sufficient protection against overpowering odour from landfill sites. If not, Local Authorities also have powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to take action against smell from industry, trade or business premises if found to be a statutory nuisance.