The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much private funding has been secured for the High Speed 2 project from major corporate beneficiaries to date.
Andrew Jones
No private funding contributions have been secured for HS2 to date.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what initial assessment she has made of the implications of the incident at Porter Ranch, California, for safety and engineering procedures and standards in the UK onshore unconventional gas extraction sector.
Andrea Leadsom
In the UK, we have an entirely different regulatory system to the US.
We have over 50 years of experience in safely conducting surface activities and constructing onshore gas wells, regulated by the Health & Safety Executive and Environment Agency.
Our tough regulations ensure on-site safety, prevent water contamination, mitigate seismic activity and air pollution. To reinforce our already robust regulations, the Infrastructure Act 2015 introduced a range of further requirements that must be met before an operator can carry out hydraulic fracturing in a responsible, sustainable and safe manner. These include the assessment of environmental impacts, groundwater monitoring, community benefits and prohibiting hydraulic fracturing in specified protected areas.
The UK has one of the best track records in the world when it comes to protecting our environment while also developing our industries – and we’ve brought that experience to bear on the shale gas protections.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 23665, how many (a) Arabic speakers with an Operational level (C1) examination pass and (b) Mandarin/Cantonese speakers there were employed in his Department in each year since 2006.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Records from the last five years show that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has 51 officers who have a current Operational Level (C1) Arabic pass and 44 officers with a C1 pass in Mandarin/ Cantonese. We only record current C1 passes, valid for five years after the date of the exam, and therefore do not have pre-2010 data.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) policy and (b) other responsibilities are of each special adviser in his Department.
Justin Tomlinson
I refer the hon.Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my Rt.Hon. Friend Matthew Hancock, Question UIN 27946.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the claims relating to national minimum wage have fallen under section 2 of the Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014 since their entry into force.
Nick Boles
No estimate has been made of the number of National Minimum Wage claims falling under section 2 of the Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014 since they came into force.
The Regulations introduced a two year limit on claims for unlawful deductions made to an Employment Tribunal, including claims for the National Minimum Wage. Alternative options remain for workers who are concerned that they have been underpaid the National Minimum Wage over a longer time period. This includes making a complaint to HMRC, who can investigate and issue a Notice of Underpayment on the worker’s behalf, going back up to six years. Claims can also be brought to the county court for breach of contract, where arrears can be claimed going back six years (five years in Scotland).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the observations from the Minister for Children and Families of 1 February 2016, Official Report, volume 605, column 8P, when the consultation on mandatory reporting of child abuse will commence.
Edward Timpson
The Government will launch its consultation on mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect in due course. The consultation will run for the full twelve weeks. The Government will carefully consider the need for any further statutory measures in the light of responses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what medical assistance the UK provides to the Peshmerga in the Kurdistan region.
Penny Mordaunt
The package of training that the Military training teams are providing to the Peshmerga includes medical instruction equivalent to the mandatory annual training for battlefield casualties that is delivered to UK troops.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people arrested on suspicion of illegally entering the UK between January 2013 and April 2016 have been (a) convicted of that offence and (b) subsequently removed from the UK.
Mr Robert Goodwill
It would be a disproportionate cost to disaggregate this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Greenwood on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will carry out a trial of the introduction of personal budgets for employment support for disabled people.
Penny Mordaunt
The Government recognises that people need support that is tailored to their needs. Personal Budgets are currently being trialled in Access to Work to offer customers greater flexibility to manage their Travel to Work or Support Worker costs. Initial findings from the trial are expected in early 2017.
A Personal Budgets model was previously tested in the Right to Control Trailblazers, which ran from 2010 to 2013. Disabled people taking part in the trailblazers were offered greater choice and control over the support they received, as well as the option to take a direct payment and arrange their own support. The final evaluation report did not find any evidence that the Right to Control Trailblazers had a significant positive impact on customers, both overall and by subgroup.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
(a) None. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not have any staff in Stoke-on-Trent, and has not abolished or relocated any jobs from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010.
(b) None. The FCO’s non-departmental public departments and executive agencies do not have any staff in Stoke-on-Trent, and have not abolished or relocated any jobs from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010.