Tag: 2016

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) initial estimate and (b) actual cost was for the HMS Queen Elizabeth.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As reported in successive Major Projects Reports, the original approved cost of the Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) Aircraft Carrier programme was £3.9 billion, including the capitalised costs of the Assessment and Demonstration Phases. The approvals and cost management have been based on the QEC Class for a two-ship programme, and it is therefore not practicable to apportion costs to the individual Aircraft Carriers.

    The current approved cost of the QEC Aircraft Carrier programme is £6.2 billion, as announced by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Defence the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) on 6 November 2013 (Official Report, column 251-254). Whilst there are cost pressures, and final costs cannot be agreed until the programme finishes around 2019. The MOD continues to work closely with the Aircraft Carrier Alliance to drive the programme to remain within the current approved cost.

  • 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 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider releasing papers relating to Lord Denning’s Report on the Profumo affair earlier than 2048.

    Baroness Mobarik

    I refer the Noble Lord to the answer Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen gave to Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield on 14 September 2016.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many responses his Department received to the consultation on the exit payments cap for public sector workers; and how long his Department took to analyse and respond to those responses.

    Greg Hands

    The Government consulted on implementing a public sector exit payment cap in July 2015. The Government response to this consultation was published on 16 September 2015. This response provides detail on the potential impacts of the cap and sets out which organisations the Government intends to capture within scope of the public sector exit payment cap. The final policy is in line with the Government’s manifesto commitment to end tax payer funded six figure payoffs for public sector workers.

    The consultation ran from 31 July to 27 August 2015. Over 4000 responses were received. These representations were considered during and after the consultation to inform the Government response that was published on 16 September 2015.

    The response document can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464367/Public_sector_exit_payments_response.pdf

    An impact analysis was published within the exit payment cap consultation document which respondents had an opportunity to comment on. Further, the Government worked with departments and took into account consultation responses received after the official deadline to inform the impact of a public sector exit payment cap set at £95,000 in different sectors and for different categories of workers. This assessment gave due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.

    The exit payment cap is intended to capture organisations classified as public sector by the Office for National Statistics with few exceptions as identified in the consultation response.

    The Government does not expect the cap to have a widespread impact on the take-up of voluntary redundancy.

    At the 2015 Spending Review the Government announced it will consult on further cross public sector action on exit payment terms. This consultation will provide a good opportunity to collect further information on the trends in the level of exit payments between the private and public sector.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many applications have been made to local authorities for £5,000 flood protection grants.

    James Wharton

    To date, local authorities have received 1,285 applications for Property Level Resilience grant funding and have so far approved 162.

    Property Level Resilience grants are dependent on works which require properties to dry out and are usually claimed retrospectively. The current rate of payments is similar to equivalent previous schemes where the profile of spend shows payments accelerate in the third and fourth quarters after damage.

  • Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne Main on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish any contingency plans his Department has made on trade agreements in the event of a UK exit from the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position, as set out by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the response increase of home and structure demolitions by Israeli authorities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in February 2016 .

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I have not raised this specific issue with my Israeli counterpart. However, we remain deeply concerned by Israel’s policy on demolitions and regularly raise the matter with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 13 April.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department had made of the capacity of rail services between Coventry and London; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    Rail services between Coventry and London are currently provided by the West Midlands and InterCity West Coast franchises. These franchises are due to be replaced when they expire in October 2017 and April 2018 respectively. The Department has completed a consultation in respect of the replacement West Midlands franchise, and commenced another in respect of InterCity West Coast earlier this month. The outcomes of those consultations, including the key challenges and opportunities that the Department has identified for those franchises, will be published in due course.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the threat of ash dieback disease to biodiversity across the UK; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    A series of research projects, jointly funded by Defra, has looked into the ecological impacts of ash dieback and investigated possible woodland management options which might ameliorate the problems caused by ash dieback. The results from this work have been published[1]. The research found that there are tree species that share ecological traits or support some of the species associated with ash trees. However, there is no single tree species that would be able to fill the niche provided by ash in terms of both its ecosystem characteristics and biodiversity contribution.

    The Forestry Commission provides advice to woodland managers about how best to manage and adapt to ash dieback, for example, by planting a variety of tree species as diversity brings resilience to pests and diseases.

    [1] http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5273931279761408

    “

  • Baroness Redfern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Redfern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between those NHS Trusts in the greatest level of deficit and those with the highest proportion of private finance initiative income.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    In 2012, the Department identified a small cohort of major acute trusts where the private finance initiative schemes were one of the factors affecting financial sustainability. These trusts have been given access to a £1.5 billion support fund over a period of 25 years which has been available since 2013/14.

    It is the role now of NHS Improvement to ensure that National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts assess the impact of different expenditure items at NHS trusts to ensure that NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts have arrangements in place to secure financial health. NHS Improvement’s focus is then on supporting that individual provider to fix its financial problems, for example through interim financial support or longer term solutions in that health economy.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who is on the board of the Dormant Assets Commission, announced on 19 December 2015.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    Nick O’Donohoe, outgoing Chief Executive of Big Society Capital, was announced as Chair of the new Commission on Dormant Assets on December 19 2015. The Commission is still being set up and I expect the appointments of commissioners who will work with the Chair to be finalised shortly.