Tag: 2016

  • Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Marlesford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-05-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the proposed locations and planned commencement dates of construction for the establishment of new universities referred to in the Queen’s Speech.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    Government is legislating to increase choice and competition in the higher education sector. These measures will enable the establishment of high-quality new universities where there is a need in terms of student and employer demand.

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-07-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 30 June (HL759), in which areas of reform in Turkey they believe there has been significant backsliding”.”

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government has stressed to the Government of Turkey the importance of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the independence of the judiciary. In meetings with the Turkish Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and others during a recent visit to Turkey the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan) emphasised the UK’s unequivocal condemnation of the coup attempt and our support for Turkey’s democratic institutions. The Minister of State also emphasised the need for Turkey to respect human rights and the rule of law and urged continued focus on the Daesh threat, emphasising the need to protect British tourists.

  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Southern Railway has paid in compensation to Network Rail since the start of that franchise.

    Paul Maynard

    Under their track access agreement, compensation for unplanned disruption passes between Govia Thameslink Railway and Network Rail based upon which party is responsible for each disruptive incident. The Department does not see the breakdown of the compensation paid by each party. The net figures covering the years 2011-12 to 2014-15, are published on Network Rail’s website (‘Payments for disruption on the railway made under schedule 8’) at the following address:

    http://www.networkrail.co.uk/transparency/datasets/

    “

  • Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 22575, whether failure to inspect equipment or buildings situated adjacent to Bexleyheath rail line contributed to the line being blocked during the week beginning 11 January 2016; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    Network Rail has advised that a signalling control cabinet was pushed over by the recent landslip at Barnehurst, and then had to be moved to a location away from the affected area to enable access to temporarily stabilise the landslide. This involved moving the staging on which the cabinet was sited, the cabinet itself, and the cables.

    Network Rail further advises that the earthwork was last examined on 5 February 2015, when its condition showed no signs of impending failure. Its condition prior to the earthworks failure was such that its next inspection would have been three years from that date.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what rules govern the movement of senior NHS staff to private sector organisations.

    Ben Gummer

    There are no central rules governing the movement of senior National Health Service staff into the private sector although local contracts may include restrictions aimed at preventing staff exploiting their knowledge of the NHS for commercial advantage.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children have been diagnosed with autism in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West in each of the last six years.

    Alistair Burt

    This data is not collected centrally.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of adequacy of the level of transparency in the recruitment process for Chief Fire Officers.

    Mike Penning

    Matters of recruitment are for individual fire and rescue authorities as employers. However, Ministers have been clear that payments for senior fire officers who return to employment immediately after retirement are an unacceptable use of taxpayers’ money, especially when fire authorities need to be making sensible savings.

    That is why this Government has issued explicit guidance on the re-employment of senior staff who have previously been in receipt of a redundancy or severance payment, or who are in receipt of a local government or fire service pension. Fire and rescue authorities have the ability to deal with this problem and should do so. The public have a right to know when, and on what basis, these decisions have been made, and we have made provision for this.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of hotel bookings his Department made for (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in each of the last five years.

    Matthew Hancock

    Details of Ministerial overseas travel, and senior officials’ business expenses are published on a quarterly basis. The remaining information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to improve public trust and confidence in charities.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The Government has taken a number of steps to improve public trust and confidence in charities in England and Wales

    The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 gives the Charity Commission new and enhanced powers to tackle serious abuses of charitable status. The Charity Commission is already taking a more robust approach to tackling abuse and mismanagement and has also simplified and updated guidance for trustees to remind them of their duties.

    Following scandals in 2015 that highlighted unacceptable charitable fundraising practices, a new Fundraising Regulator has been established. Chaired by Lord Grade of Yarmouth, this independent regulator is tasked to set high standards of fundraising practice and to deal with public complaints when these have been breached. It has a range of sanctions and can refer serious non­compliance or abuse to the relevant statutory regulator.The Fundraising Regulator will also develop a Fundraising Preference Service to enable people who feel inundated with targeted fundraising requests to put a stop to them if they wish.

    The Office for Civil Society and Innovation is further working with charities to explore the challenges facing the leadership of the voluntary and community sector. One of the four themes that has been identified as part of this work is ‘responding to decline in trust and confidence’. A dedicated working group has been convened to explore this issue and identify potential solutions.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess the potential merits of introducing more incentives to encourage motorists to use cleaner fuels and public transport.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Department for Transport assesses a number of different fuels in terms of a range of environmental impacts including air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. A number of initiatives are underway to encourage cleaner, lower carbon fuels.

    This Government is investing over £600 million in this Parliament in addition, to a more favorable tax regime towards less polluting vehicles to ensure that almost all cars and vans are zero emission vehicles by 2050.

    The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) has supported a market for low carbon fuels and delivered significant greenhouse gas emissions savings. In 2014/15 these savings were equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the road. We have been working with industry and others on proposals to increase the supply of low carbon fuels in line with our UK carbon budget targets. We plan to consult on proposed changes to the RTFO scheme later this year.

    The Government will continue to promote public transport choices, supporting the market for innovative forms of transport and encourage a move to cleaner and lower carbon vehicles.