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Tag: 2016

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many people working for her Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    Rory Stewart

    Direct employees

    There are no staff directly employed by DFID who are paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

    Workers in agencies which report to DFID

    There are no workers in agencies which report to DFID who are paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

    Outsourced workers

    We encourage outsource partners to pay the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation. None of our contracted workers are paid less than the National Living Wage and London Living Wage.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which agreed EU directives have not yet been transposed directly into UK law; and if he will make a statement.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    Until the UK leaves the EU the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation. The Foreign and Commonwealth Ofiice currently has one directive yet to be transposed directly into law: Council Directive (EU) 2015/637 on the coordination and cooperation measures to facilitate consular protection for unrepresented citizens of the Union in third countries and repealing Decision 95/533/EC. Transposition date for this directive is 1 May 2018.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department takes to promote take-up of travel insurance by UK citizens travelling abroad.

    James Duddridge

    Encouraging British nationals intending to travel overseas to take out adequate insurance for their trip remains a crucial part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s ‘Know Before You Go’ communications campaign. We continue to run specific campaigns on this issue and to disseminate insurance messaging in our broader travel safety activity. We launched an insurance campaign as recently as 7 January, ahead of ‘Sunshine Saturday’ on 9 January, a travel industry initiative during which millions of people were expected to book a holiday abroad in 2016. Last year we issued proactive messaging on insurance in May, July and August, making use of social, print, online and other online media as well as our network of partners from, and with an interest in, the travel industry. Harnessing the influence of these partner organisations will continue to help us reach travellers with insurance messaging, which is why I urged our ‘Know Before You Go’ partners to continue working with us on this issue during an event I hosted at the FCO in December 2015.

  • Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what action he intends to take against employers who neglect their responsibilities for occupational road safety; and whether he plans to support an extension of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 to include work-related road casualties.

    Andrew Jones

    The main regulatory aspects of driving for work are enforced by the Police. They take the lead in the investigating road traffic incidents and can refer cases to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) if they believe there are clear employer management failings contributing to the incident.

    In our British Road Safety Statement, published in December, we highlighted helping employers to reduce road related collisions at work as a priority. We will start this process by evaluating existing safer driving for work schemes to understand what works, with a view to promoting existing good practice to employer networks and other occupational drivers.

    The government has no plans to extend the scope of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations [RIDDOR] to cover work related road incidents.

  • Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential of Westbury to become the north-south/east-west rail hub for the central south of England.

    Claire Perry

    The importance of Westbury as an interchange station for South West Trains and Great Western Rail services is not underestimated by the Department, and is already a mini hub and crew point for some of the inter-regional services (Bristol to Portsmouth and Weymouth). However, Bristol is the key hub for the region, and the Department has therefore made no such assessment regarding Westbury.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Department for Education was not directly in receipt of programme funding from the European Social Fund. The European Social Fund programme for England that operated from 2007 to 2013 (extended to 2015) did, however, include monies for young people aged 14-19 who were not in education, employment or training or who were at risk of being so. This funding was administered initially by the Learning and Skills Council. From 2010 to July 2015, the funds have been administered by the Skills Funding Agency on behalf of the Young People’s Learning Agency and then on behalf of the Education Funding Agency. Given the nature of this European Social Fund programme operated by arm’s length bodies across a number of departments, without in depth analysis it is not possible to attribute funding for the period requested to particular departments. Such information will, however, be available in the Skills Funding Agency’s evaluation of the programme which will be published later this year.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34466, for what reason a save function is only available as part of the universal credit full service.

    Priti Patel

    The ‘save and return’ functionality is available in the Universal Credit Full Service because the Full Service has all the security features necessary to safeguard the claimant’s data, by confirming the identity of the returning user.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-06-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken to ensure the proper provision of safe housing for unaccompanied minors brought to the UK from refugee camps in Europe.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 May and now reflected in the Immigration Act 2016, we will work to admit unaccompanied refugee children to the UK from elsewhere in the EU, where this is considered to be in the child’s best interests.

    The legislation is clear that consultation with local authorities is needed before any figure is set. We are working closely with local authorities and consulting NGOs, the UNHCR, UNICEF and relevant Member States to establish suitable processes to im-plement this initiative.

    We are committed to act as quickly as we can but we must take the necessary time to ensure we have the capacity to resettle and support those who are resettled.

    We must also ensure that we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK. We will be working closely with local authorities to find suitable placements within the UK. Statutory agencies at a local level are best placed to understand and meet the needs of all children and will continue to make decisions about the right accommodation and support services for those who are looked after. Unaccompanied children will be eligible for foster care if it is considered that that this placement type will provide appropriate support and best meet their individual needs.

    The UK has well-established and effective safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of children who come to the UK. All children brought to the UK will be given the care, support and education they require.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Prime Minister, in what circumstances she will restrict the dissemination of written legal advice of the Attorney General to (a) the Cabinet and (b) the Government.

    Mrs Theresa May

    The provision of advice from the Attorney General will continue to be handled in accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent the Zika virus from entering the UK.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The female mosquitoes responsible for Zika virus transmission are not native to the United Kingdom and it is considered highly unlikely they could survive the current UK climatic conditions long enough to become established. The risk to public health posed by Zika virus is, therefore, very low and no greater than the risks posed by other mosquito-borne infections, such as malaria, for example.

    Public Health England monitors various insect vectors (in particular, mosquitoes) in the UK through surveillance projects that it runs in collaboration with a range of organisations across the UK. In England, detection of an invasive species considered to pose a threat to the UK would trigger the use of appropriate control measures.

    In addition, the Government is ensuring UK residents travelling to countries with active Zika transmission are encouraged to take measures to minimise the risk of being bitten by mosquitoes, for example through the use of insect repellent.

    Up-to-date travel advice is in place, and clinical advice is available to UK medical professionals. More information can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/zika-virus-zikv-clinical-and-travel-guidance

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