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Tag: 2016

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with Fred Olson cruise lines and his US counterparts on the welfare of passengers aboard MV Balmoral who have contracted norovirus; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    There have not been any discussions with Fred Olsen cruise lines or the US maritime authorities about welfare of passengers on the MV BALMORAL.

    This ship is registered with the Bahamas Maritime Authority and in the first instance it is for them as the flag-State and the countries where the ship calls, in this case the USA and Canada as the port-States, to liaise with Fred Olsen cruise lines and the local Port Health Authority.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to tackle nuisance calls and text messages.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government is taking forward a range of legislative measures to tackle nuisance calls and text messages, which will increase consumer protection and choice by strengthening the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) ability to take enforcement action against organisations that break the law. Specific actions include; strengthening the ICO’s direct marketing guidance by giving it statutory status; and exploring extending the ICO’s powers of compulsory audit to more of the organisations that generate nuisance calls. This is in addition to action the Government has already taken against nuisance calls, including lowering the legal threshold for ICO action against nuisance callers and lifting the cap on fines ICO issue to companies breaking the rules. Recently a record high £200,000 fine was issued, and between the 2010 – 2015, the average fine has been £85,000 – considerably higher than in 2010, when fines were capped at £5,000.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff of her Department work on Local Air Quality Management support matters.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    As of 13 September this year there were five staff working on local air quality management in Defra. The Environment Agency also has a team of two people in its Local Authority Unit who provide technical advice to local authority environmental regulators and an environmental permitting Helpdesk service for local authorities.

  • Mark Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Williams on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2015 to Question 1543, on Western Sahara: referendum, whether any referendum would put forward a choice between independence for Western Sahara and integration of that region with Morocco.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The terms and choices of a referendum on the status of Western Sahara are for Morocco and the Polisario Front to agree as the two parties to the dispute. The UK fully supports UN-led efforts to encourage both parties to agree a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many civil servants were loaned or seconded from the (a) Department for International Development to the Ministry of Defence, (b) Ministry of Defence to the Department for International Development, (c) Department for International Development to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (d) Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Department for International Development, (e) Department for International Development to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, (f) Department of Energy and Climate Change to the Department for International Development, (g) Cabinet Office to the Department for International Development and (h) Department for International Development to the Cabinet Office in each of the last six years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The data below shows the numbers of civil servants on loan or secondment during each of the periods indicated. Civil servants may have been on loan or secondment for part or all of the periods indicated. Some civil servants may have been on secondment/loan for more than one year. DFID HR system does not hold historical loan/secondment data, this information has therefore been manually collated.

    1. DFID to MoD

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 0

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 0

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 1

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 0

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 1

    2. MoD to DFID

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 0

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 1

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 1

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 2

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 2

    3. DFID to FCO

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 9

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 14

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 16

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 32

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 52

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 44

    4. FCO to DFID

    1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

    1/1/2012-31/12/2012 3

    1/1/2013-31/12/2013 11

    1/1/2014-31/12/2014 17

    1/1/2015-31/12/2015 19

    1/1/2016-31/12/2016 12

    1. DFID to DECC

    1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

    1/1/2012-31/12/2012 0

    1/1/2013-31/12/2013 0

    1/1/2014-31/12/2014 0

    1/1/2015-31/12/2015 0

    1/1/2016-31/12/2016 0

    1. DECC to DFID

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 2

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 3

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 5

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 8

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 3

    2. CABINET OFFICE TO DFID

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 1

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 1

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 2

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 3

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 3

    3. DFID TO CABINET OFFICE

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 1

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 2

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 3

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 3

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 3

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 2

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Government’s memorandum submitted to the Lords Secondary Legislation Committee on 28 January, how many of the 800,000 tax credit claimants with a reduced award to an income rise above the new level of disregard are in receipt of child tax credit.

    Damian Hinds

    From April 2016, the income rise disregard – the amount by which a tax credit claimant’s income can increase within a year before their tax credit award is adjusted – will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,500.

    The only people who will be affected by this will be those who see an increase in their in-year income by more than £2,500. There will be no net cash losers because their income will have increased.

    In the subsequent tax year, a claimant’s tax credits award will be calculated in the usual way, using their full annual income for the previous year to determine their tax credit entitlement. This means that after the change in the tax year, whether the claimant’s increase in income was above or below the disregard level, their tax credit award for the following year will be adjusted to what it would have been had no disregard existed.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to reduce litter on UK beaches.

    George Eustice

    The UK Marine Strategy Part Three, published in December last year, sets out the actions we are taking to improve the marine environment. It covers measures that contribute to reducing sources of marine litter, including sources of beach litter, and to remove what has already reached our beaches. Actions related specifically to UK beaches include Defra-funded beach cleaning schemes on priority beaches.

    In addition, Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government are working in partnership to develop a National Litter Strategy. This will promote concerted, coordinated and effective actions to reduce litter and littering on land, which in turn should lead to a reduction in the amount of litter reaching the marine environment, including our beaches.

  • Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-05-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times the cross-department ministerial group to tackle illicit trade in tobacco has met since it was announced in the budget of March 2015; and whether they will set out the membership of that group, the issues that were discussed at each meeting and the intended outcomes.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The cross-department ministerial group to tackle illicit tobacco will meet for the first time later this month. This follows a number of productive meetings between officials in HMRC and other departments to identify the challenges and opportunities in the UK and internationally and determine a clear agenda for ministerial action. Further details on the group will be issued in due course.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what representations officials, advisers and Ministers in her Department made to the Competition and Markets Authority on the date of publication of its final report on the energy market.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) are an independent body and the date of publication of their reports is their decision. Officials, Advisors and Ministers in the Department have not made any representations to the CMA, and the CMA have not consulted Ministers or advisors, on the date of the publication of this report. Officials in my Department have discussed with the CMA their intended date of publication for final report on the energy market to inform the Department’s own planning.

  • 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 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on reducing required variations in the care provided to people with diabetes.

    Nicola Blackwood

    This Government is working hard to improve outcomes and quality of life for those already living with diabetes and those who will develop it in the coming years. One of our key goals in the mandate to the National Health Service is a measurable reduction in variation in the management and care of people with the condition within the lifetime of this Parliament. Funding has been secured through the spending review to help achieve this and NHS England is developing a programme to ensure that those clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which need extra investment in this area, accompanied by sound plans for delivery, receive it.

    In addition, the Clinical Commissioning Group Improvement and Assessment Framework will play a key role in delivering this as it contains two recognised evidence based measures of whether patients with diabetes are being supported to successfully manage their condition (achievement of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence treatment targets and participation in structured education programmes).

    Using data from the NHS Atlas of Variation, NHS Right Care is also working with CCGs and other local partners to make improvements in diabetes care and reduce variation by providing hands on practical support.

    Since 2009/10, there has been an almost 70% increase in the proportion of people newly diagnosed with diabetes recorded as being referred to structured education courses, designed to help them manage their condition in the long term. However, whilst we know that the data on take up needs improving, there is still much further to go in enabling people with diabetes to access these programmes.

    The Department, NHS England and Diabetes UK are working on ways to improve the take up of structured education including exploring how more diversity of provision might be delivered through digital and web based approaches. The Department recently held a seminar with key stakeholders to identify actions that would facilitate improved access.

    CCGs are primarily responsible for commissioning diabetes services to meet the requirements of their population. In doing so, CCGs need to ensure that the services they provide are fit for purpose, reflect the needs of the local population, are based on the available evidence, taking into account national guidelines. This should include consideration of access to continuous glucose monitoring for people with Type 1 diabetes who might benefit from it.