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Tag: 2016

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff in his Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    There are no staff in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport who receive a home to work travel allowance, a car allowance, and/or subsidised health insurance.

    The Department does not hold this information for its arm’s length bodies.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost to school budgets of (a) pupil mobility, (b) staff turnover, (c) pupils not speaking English at home and (d) pupils with special educational needs.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We recently published our consultations on national funding formulae for schools and high needs funding. A national funding formula will put an end to currently unfair arrangements where children with the same needs attract different amounts of money simply because of where they live. We believe that the national funding formula should target funding to pupils who are likely to face additional barriers in realising their potential and are proposing to include additional needs factors including for English as an additional language. For pupils with special educational needs (SEN), we propose that mainstream schools should continue to be responsible for the first £6,000 of costs in respect of each of their pupils with SEN, and receive top-up funding from the local authority for costs in excess of £6,000. Local authorities reported that they will allocate £750m to primary and secondary schools in 2015-16 in the form of top-up funding for pupils with SEN.

    Under current local funding formulae, the total amount allocated to school budgets in relation to pupil mobility is £24m for 2015-16 and for English as an additional language, it is £267m. It is for school leaders to determine how best to use their full budget so that all pupils, including mobile pupils, pupils with English as an additional language and those with special educational needs, can reach their full potential.

  • Baroness Howe of Idlicote – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Baroness Howe of Idlicote – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Howe of Idlicote on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of foreign online gambling websites not licensed in the UK that are being accessed from the UK.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Gambling Commission monitors this through the complaints received from customers and licensed operators, and other sources of intelligence. It is not possible to state precisely how many individual unlicensed websites there are, however, where websites are identified that are offering facilities for gambling to customers in Britain without the appropriate licence the Commission will take action to ensure they cease these activities. Since November 2014 the Commission has written to approximately 60 foreign online gambling websites, to remind them of the legal position and require them to immediately cease their activities in Great Britain.

  • Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the data security of smart meters.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department has worked with industry and security experts, including GCHQ, to design a smart metering system that has robust end-to-end security. The Department’s Data Access and Privacy Framework puts consumers in control of who has access to their data except where energy suppliers and networks have access for regulated purposes, such as to enable accurate monthly billing. All organisations involved in communicating with smart meters are required to comply with a detailed set of security obligations, with each aspect of the system subject to regular, independent security assurance.

    Smart meters will not store data such as a consumer’s name, address or bank details. A key design principle for the system is the maintenance of user privacy. Any transaction of data which could be deemed ‘personal’, including energy consumption data, is encrypted so only the intended recipient can see it.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will collect regularly statistics on the (a) number of and (b) reasons for exceptional family reunion cases relating to children where indefinite leave to remain is granted at her discretion outside of the rules.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office does not hold the specific information in the format requested. The questions cover a number of different casework operations and the information is not recorded centrally in a way which can be reported on directly.

    To obtain the information would involve examining individual case records and would incur disproportionate cost. We do not currently plan to change the data that is centrally recorded and published on this category of applications.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Burma about restoring the citizenship rights of the Rohingya people.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have long advocated for action to tackle the problems of Rakhine for the benefit of all communities, and to end the mistreatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority. We therefore welcome the establishment of the new Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Alok Sharma), issued a statement to this effect on 25 August. On 14 September he also held a telephone conversation with Mr Annan in which he conveyed in person the UK’s strong support for his appointment and mandate. We are clear that this is a Burmese conceived and led initiative, and that is as it should be. The UK is providing funding to support the work of the Kofi Annan Foundation. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) also discussed the Annan Commission on 12 September with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during her visit to the UK.

  • David Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Jones on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the transfer of protected persons from the West Bank to prisons inside Israel.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We regularly raise our concerns about the treatment of Palestinian prisoners with the Israeli authorities, including routine detention of Palestinians from the West Bank in prison inside Israel. We are particularly concerned about the detention of Palestinian children in Israeli prisons. We welcome recent improvements made by the Israeli authorities, including increasing the age of majority from 16 to 18 years old. However, we remain concerned at the number of Palestinian minors held in Israeli detention.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2015 to Question 17914, which change programmes are expected to contribute to the planned reduction in the size of his Department’s civilian workforce over the current Parliament; and what size of reductions he expects to result from each such change programme.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Defence Equipment and Support and the Trading Funds were included in the baseline workforce calculation.

    The Ministry of Defence is managing a range of change programmes designed to deliver Defence outputs more efficiently and effectively, including Army 2020 and outsourcing logistics to Leidos. A Business Improvement Review has been set up to identify opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of support activities across Defence. This Review will look at the total shape, size and structure of our civilian workforce, the functions and processes that they are engaged in, and how those can be made more efficient.

    The Department expects the civilian workforce to reduce to around 41,000 by 2020. However, the timing and reductions associated with individual programmes are still to be determined and final decisions will be subject to consultation with employee representatives, value for money considerations and, where appropriate, commercial negotiation.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect on future funding of research on (a) climate change and (b) climate change effects and adaptation of the introduction of an anti-lobbying clause in government grant agreements.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The vast majority of climate change research funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change is not awarded through grant agreements. As a result, we don’t foresee the introduction of an anti-lobbying clause in government grant agreements having any significant impact on research that we fund on these topics in the future.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to promote operational and headquarters experience in the UN for career development in the armed forces and police.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Multinational relationships are key to the security of the UK. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) recognises and values the experience that military personnel gain from deployments and postings to multinational operations and Headquarters, including the UN. This has been demonstrated by the increase in the number of UN Staff Officer posts filled by the UK in recent years and the UK’s Strategic Defence and Security Review commitment to double the number of troops deployed to UN Peace Operations.

    Career development in the Armed Forces is based on a range of factors including such multinational deployments and postings. Relevant experience and performance from deployment to UN operations and headquarters would form part of an individual’s career assessment. Requirements for such deployments and postings are initiated and developed centrally by the MoD then apportioned to the Single Services to fill.

    The UK also recognises the benefits of international deployments to the police service. Through the National Police Chiefs’ Council we are encouraging police forces to consider releasing officers to undertake international roles. The newly-established Joint International Policing Hub will consider ways of incorporating international deployments into careers in the police service.