The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she expects the Dormant Assets Commission to report.
Mr Rob Wilson
The Commission on Dormant Assets is expected to report its findings and recommendations to Government in December 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2016-01-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether members of the political cabinet” have access to (1) matters covered by the Official Secrets Act 1989
Lord Bridges of Headley
Paragraph 4.8 of the Cabinet Manual sets out that political Cabinets are convened by the Prime Minister, but they are not attended by officials. Sensitive papers, such as those covered by the Official Secrets Act 1989, are not distributed to political Cabinets.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25004, (a) for how many days (a) HMS Daring, (b) HMS Dauntless, (c) HMS Diamond, (d) HMS Dragon, (e) HMS Defender and (f) HMS Duncan were deployed on operations and (b) in which theatre they were so deployed in (i) 2011, (ii) 2012, (iii) 2013 and (iv) 2014.
Penny Mordaunt
The information requested is provided below. In answering this question, I have defined ‘deployed on operations’ as times away from UK waters for extended periods.
In 2011, the Type 42 Destroyers were deployed on operations. No Type 45 Destroyer was deployed away from the UK.
2012
|
Ship |
Deployment |
Number of Days |
|
HMS DARING |
Operation Kipion: Gulf Region |
210 |
|
HMS DAUNTLESS |
Atlantic Patrol Tasking (South) |
209 |
|
HMS DIAMOND |
Operation Kipion: Gulf Region |
191 |
2013
|
Ship |
Deployment |
Number of Days |
|
HMS DRAGON |
Operation Kipion: Gulf Region |
254 |
|
HMS DARING |
Global Deployment |
277 |
2014
|
Ship |
Deployment |
Number of Days |
|
HMS DIAMOND |
Operation Recsyr: protecting and escorting ships transporting chemicals from Syria |
163 |
|
HMS DEFENDER |
Operation Kipion: Gulf Region |
193 |
|
HMS DRAGON |
Atlantic Patrol Tasking (South) |
198 |
When not deployed on operations, all Type 45 ships would have undertaken activities such as sea trials, training, engagement, provisioning or been in a maintenance period.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that all supply agencies offer supply teachers’ pay and conditions at the same rate as national teachers’ pay.
Nick Gibb
Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers which includes deciding whether to use private agencies to recruit and manage them. If a supply teacher is employed by a private agency, this is a private commercial arrangement between the school and the agency, and the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) does not apply. The agency can also decide the rate of pay and conditions of employment.
If agencies do not appear to be complying with legislation they can be investigated by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EASI). The EASI is part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and has powers to investigate agencies for possible breaches of the law and to prosecute them where there is sufficient evidence. The EASI works with agencies, employers and workers to make sure that employment rights are complied with, particularly for vulnerable workers.
Conditions for agency workers have been improved through the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) and supply teachers are entitled to the same pay and employment conditions they would be entitled to receive if they were employed directly by a maintained school or academy. This is subject to a qualifying period of 12 continuous calendar weeks working in the same role with the same school or local authority. The Regulations can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employing-agency-supply-teachers
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether regulations are in place to ensure that (a) town councils, (b) parish councils and (c) local communities have access to itemised expenditure on any associated administrative, legal, design, preparatory or maintenance works associated with individual highways infrastructure works within their areas on which Section 106 contributions have been spent.
Brandon Lewis
Section 106 agreements are negotiated and agreed between a local planning authority and a developer and/or landowner along with other interested parties in the land, such as mortgage providers. National planning policy makes clear that Section 106 requirements, modifications and discharges should be transparent and available for inspection.
Local planning authorities are expected to use all of the funding they receive through planning obligations in accordance with the terms of the individual planning obligation agreement. This is to ensure that new developments are acceptable in planning terms; benefit local communities and support the provision of local infrastructure.
Planning decisions should be based on Local Plan policy unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Representations from interested third parties may constitute material considerations. Town councils, parish councils and local communities can influence infrastructure and other considerations in Local Plans through the consultation process.
The Community Infrastructure Levy was introduced to provide a faster, fairer and more transparent approach to collecting developer contributions toward infrastructure. The Government launched a review of the Levy in 2015. This review will consider a range of issues, including the relationship between the Levy and Section 106 planning obligations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library copies of his letter to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield of 4 May 2016 on local government and ethical procurement.
Matthew Hancock
I will place this correspondence in the Library as requested, following the end of the pre-referendum period.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-06-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which power stations are equipped with black start capability; and how many such stations are in each constituent part of the UK.
Andrea Leadsom
National Grid is responsible for maintaining a Black Start capability for the Great Britain national electricity transmission system and contracts with certain large power stations to provide this service within defined geographic zones.
For both security reasons and due to commercial sensitivities, information on which power stations have black start contracts is not publicly available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Tracey on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in relation to the sub-national population and household projections, if he will review with the Office of National Statistics, the methods of recording and counting of students as an element of the population in local authority areas having significant student populations.
Mr Marcus Jones
DCLG uses the Office of National Statistics (ONS) population projections to produce the household projections. Students are not counted as a separate population in the ONS mid-year population estimates or the ONS population projections. The ONS maintains responsibility for how these statistics are produced, and DCLG have no plans to review the methods used to produce these statistics.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-01-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there has been an increase in the rate of abortions among women over the age of 24 since 2010, and if so, what assessment they have made of the cause.
Lord Prior of Brampton
We have made no such assessment.
Rates of abortions for women aged 25 and over, England, 2010-2014
|
Year |
Rate per thousand women |
|
2014 |
13.72 |
|
2013 |
13.43 |
|
2012 |
12.97 |
|
2011 |
13.30 |
|
2010 |
12.82 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what evidence from independent bodies he has seen that Saudi Arabia is complying with international humanitarian law in the Yemen conflict.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Ministry of Defence monitors incidents of alleged International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations using available information which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. At this stage, looking at all the information available to us, we have not assessed that there has been a breach of IHL by the coalition, but continue to monitor the situation closely, seeking further information where appropriate. We regularly raise the importance of compliance with IHL to the Saudi Arabian government and other members of the military Coalition. Most recently I raised the issue of IHL compliance on 4 February with the Saudi Arabian Ambassador in London