Tag: 2016

  • Nigel Huddleston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Nigel Huddleston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Huddleston on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with Ofcom on (a) allocating additional resources and (b) developing additional measures to monitor accidental interference to programme making and special events services from (i) licence-exempt and (ii) manually configure white space devices.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Government considers Ofcom’s existing powers of enforcement sufficient to address interference from unlicensed use at this time. Ofcom is working with the Federation of Communication Services to develop a Code of Practice for the installation of manually configured white space devices. Ofcom also plans to conduct early-phase compliance checks on licensees of manually configured devices.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents of laser pen attacks were recorded on trains in the last five years.

    Claire Perry

    The following number of incidents of involving laser pens and trains has been recorded over the last 5 years:-

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    81

    76

    46

    64

    59
  • John Howell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    John Howell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Howell on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what reports she has received on the use of aid disbursed to the Palestinian Authority for purposes related to terrorist activity.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    UK direct financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is used to pay the salaries of civil servant and pensioners. Our support is provided through a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank, which carries out close monitoring of PA expenditure. Only named civil servants from a pre-approved EU list are eligible, and the vetting process ensures that our funds do not benefit terrorist groups. The process is subject to independent auditing.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2016 to Question 35419, how many taxi journeys were made by (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials of his Department in each of the last five years.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Ministers, special advisers and civil servants in this department undertake a variety of visits to support the delivery of Government’s objectives and other departmental business. We do not hold figures for the number of taxi journeys undertaken, broken down in the format requested and this can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many times she has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    Details of meetings with external organisations are published in quarterly returns which are available on the UK Government website.

    The following ministerial visits to Scotland by DFID Ministers have taken place since last May:

    Date

    Minister

    13 May 2015

    MoS Swayne

    26 May 2015

    PUSS Verma

    9 June 2015

    MoS Shapps

    26 June 2015

    MoS Swayne

    1 July 2015

    SoS

    20 July 2015

    MoS Swayne

    29 July 2015

    PUSS Verma

    14 September 2015

    MoS Swayne

    6 November 2015

    MoS Swayne

    7 January 2016

    PUSS Hurd

    14 January 2016

    MoS Swayne

    11 February 2016

    MoS Swayne

    3 March 2016

    SoS

    21 March 2016

    PUSS Hurd

    24 March 2016

    MoS Swayne

    20 May 2016

    PUSS Verma
  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with which countries the UK has a visa waiver agreement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    All non-EEA nationals coming to the UK for periods of longer than six months unless exempt from immigration control are expected to obtain a UK visa in advance of travel.

    Appendix 2 of Appendix V of the Immigration Rules lists those countries whose nationals or citizens are subject to immigration control and who additionally require a visa obtained in advance of travel as a visitor or for any purpose for less than six months. Appendix 2 also provides details of specified travel documents whose holders do not need a visa before they travel to the UK as a visitor:

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules

    Nationals of countries not included on the visa national list who are visiting the UK for less than six months may travel without a visa obtained in advance but will still need to seek permission to enter on arrival. An exception to this for nationals of Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait intending a stay of less than six months allows them to apply for an Electronic Visa Waiver (EVW) in advance of travel.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether any civil servants that transferred over to his Department received (a) severance pay and (b) other payments.

    Mr David Jones

    All Civil Servants working in the Department for Exiting the European Union continue to be employed as Civil Servants and therefore have not received severance payments or additional payments for joining the department.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what costs have been incurred by the NHS Commissioning Board, Commissioning Support Units and Clinical Commissioning Groups in conducting the Lead Provider Framework procurement process to date, including those spent on external advisers and employed staff time.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The total costs incurred by the NHS Commissioning Board in conducting the Lead Provider Framework procurement process amount to £551,000, which includes staff costs, external legal costs and costs associated with the sizable evaluation panel.

    The NHS Commissioning Board provides expert procurement and legal support to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in order to run their procurement through the Lead Provider Framework. Any costs incurred providing this support are covered by a management fee that the NHS Commissioning Board collects from any successful provider.

    This helps minimise the costs incurred by CCGs when running competitions from the framework. As of December 2015, total Commissioning Support Units spend was £8.4 million with a further £1.4 million identified as future known commitments to year end.

  • Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial support the Risk Protection Arrangement has offered to Burnley Road Academy in Cumbria; and what assessment she has made of the extent to which that scheme has reimbursed the losses incurred by academy trusts as a result of flooding.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department’s Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) will cover all storm related costs incurred by Burnley Road academy in Calderdale, including the costs of temporary accommodation while the original building is reinstated.

    The RPA will similarly cover all costs incurred by academy trusts who are members of the RPA as a result of flooding, in accordance with the RPA membership rules. It is too early to assess the total cost to RPA of these losses, since claims are still being reported, evaluated and settled. As at January 27, a £3.7 million reserve total for RPA claims has so far been identified to cover losses as a result of recent storms.

  • Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many employees in the UK engineering sector are from other EU member states, and what is their total contribution to (1) UK Gross Domestic Product, and (2) UK Gross Value Added.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    It is not possible to answer the question as there is no agreed statistical definition of what is meant by the term “engineering sector”.