Tag: 2016

Rebecca Pow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Pow on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) horticultural skills and (b) the development of the workforce in horticulture.

Nick Boles

Apprenticeships are our priority for equipping people with the skills this country needs. Apprenticeship starts on the horticulture framework increased by almost 50% between 2009/10 and 2014/15 and there are 2 new trailblazer standards approved and 2 in development.

We are also reforming post-16 provision to ensure that it meets the needs of local labour markets and learners. We have asked Landex, the organisation which represents 36 FE colleges and universities offering land-based programmes and supports agri-food, land and animal science education and training, to undertake a review of post-16 land based provision in England.

This will draw on data and analysis of all land based provision through specialist and general further education colleges, and other providers, and will feed into local steering group discussions and deliberations and into the wider review process.

Their review will highlight national as well as local provision which serves particular sectors across the land based industries. It will take account of for example, the Agri-food industry and Agri-Tech strategy to identify skills needs, and potential gaps in provision, including for higher level skills.

01/01/2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of military equipment procurement was from UK suppliers in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Philip Dunne

Information on Ministry of Defence (MOD) expenditure with industry, including the amount spent with UK suppliers, is published on gov.uk at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-industry-trade-and-contracts-2015.

The details in table eight show that, since 2010-11, the MOD has spent around £19.5 billion each year with UK industry. The table shows the expenditure broken down by broad industrial group, but information specifically on the proportion of military equipment procured from UK suppliers is not centrally held. Total MOD equipment expenditure (not just with UK industry) can, however, be found in table four at the following link, but this is not broken down by country:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/defence-departmental-resources-2015.

Details of MOD expenditure with industry for the years prior to 2010-11 are available in table 1.10 at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-defence-statistics-compendium-2011.

It should be noted that these earlier statistics were prepared using a different methodology, which means that the figures are not directly comparable to those from 2010-11 onwards.

01/01/2023
Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-07-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what tariffs would apply to imports to the UK from the 27 member states remaining in the EU if trade between the EU and the UK was conducted in accordance with WTO regulations, listed by category.

Lord Price

If the UK were to leave the EU without having negotiated a preferential trade deal, then under WTO rules neither the UK nor the EU could offer each other better market access than that offered to all other WTO members.

The bound levels of access for goods and services into the EU under WTO rules are set out in the EU’s schedules of commitments and are publicly available on the WTO website.

The bound levels of access for goods and services from the EU into the UK under WTO rules would be an issue for the government to consider in due course.

01/01/2023

Jonathan Lord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Lord on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the per capita funding for the (a) North West Surrey, (b) Guilford and Waverley, (c) Surrey Downs, (d) Richmond, (e) Hounslow, (f) Hillingdon, (g) Slough, (h) Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead, (i) Bracknell and Ascot and (j) Surrey Heath clinical commissioning groups was in (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16.

Mr Philip Dunne

The following table sets out the per capita funding to all of the clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) requested above, in both 2014-15 and 2015-16.

CCG	2014-15 Per capita allocation (£)	2015-16 Per capita allocation (£)
NHS North West Surrey	1,085	1,090
NHS Guildford and Waverley	1,028	1,033
NHS Surrey Downs	1,089	1,098
NHS Richmond	997	1,018
NHS Hounslow	951	1,009
NHS Hillingdon	974	1,045
NHS Slough	1,029	1,084
NHS Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead	951	1,000
NHS Bracknell and Ascot	969	1,018
NHS Surrey Heath	1,159	1,168

01/01/2023

Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many seafarer (a) cadets and (b) ratings were trained by shipping companies operating in the UK in each year since 2000-01.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) does not collate figures for seafarer cadets and ratings who have been trained by shipping companies operating in the UK.

However, the MCA does collate the number of new cadets, the number of cadets in training and the number of trainee watch ratings who start training each year and these can be found in the tables below.

The figures in Table 1 show the number of cadets supported by the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme who started training in each year since 2000-01.

Year	Officer cadets currently in training	Number of which are SMarT1 new entrants
2000/01	1020	470
2001/02	1010	450
2002/03	1000	560
2003/04	1030	660
2004/05	1050	560
2005/06	1110	570
2006/07	1430	690
2007/08	1700	850
2008/09	1800	930
2009/10	1830	750
2010/11	1840	850
2011/12	1900	900
2012/13	1990	780
2013/14	1940	790
2014/15	1920	820

Table 1: UK officer cadets under SMarT1 scheme (1999-2015)

These figures are derived from SMarT returns for SMarT1 training and may include a small number of EU trainees resident in the UK. Numbers are rounded to nearest 10.

The figures in Table 2 below show the number of watch rating trainees who have been supported by SMarT each year since 2011-12. The data held by the MCA for ratings training prior to 2011-12 includes concessionaire training and does not provide an accurate reflection of watch rating training.

Year	Watch Rating Trainees
2011/12	32
2012/13	13
2013/14	12
2014/15	4

01/01/2023

Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking in cooperation with his international counterparts to pursue criminal responsibility of the leadership of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Mr Hugo Swire

We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The British Government supports the principle that there must be no impunity for those accused of human rights violations and that crimes against humanity are appropriately investigated.

We will continue to work with members of the international community through multilateral fora, including the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council, to ensure the regime is held to account for its appalling human rights record.

01/01/2023
Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations her Department has received from businesses on the inclusion of design technology within the EBacc qualification.

Nick Gibb

The consultation on implementing the EBacc closed on 29 January. We have received responses from a wide range of stakeholders, including businesses. The Government response, including a list of responding organisations, will be published in due course.

01/01/2023
Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-04-15.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from business groups (a) opposing and (b) supporting his plans to require small businesses to submit quarterly digital tax returns; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke

The Government has committed to ensuring free software is available for those with the simplest affairs in order that businesses can meet the requirements of Making Tax Digital. In addition, many businesses are already using digital record-keeping tools to deal with their tax affairs.

The Government has received a number of representations from individuals, businesses, professional bodies and the software industry about Making Tax Digital. Both I and officials from HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs have discussed the reforms with a wide range of professional bodies and advisory groups representing small businesses and the self-employed. Extensive consultation will take place throughout 2016.

01/01/2023

Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the NHS will distinguish between sexuality and gender identity in the collection of data for people accessing Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services.

Alistair Burt

The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies dataset does not currently make the distinction between sexuality and gender identity. The dataset has two fields that may be of relevance to this question:

Sexual orientation, which is the current sexual orientation of a person and has the following valid codes:

1	Heterosexual
2	Homosexual Gay/Lesbian
3	Bi-sexual
4	Person asked and does not know or is not sure
9	Unknown
Z	Not stated (Person asked but declined to provide a response)

Gender, which is the current gender of a person. Note that the classification is phenotypical rather than genotypical; i.e. it does not provide codes for medical or scientific purposes. It has the following valid codes:

0	Not known
1	Male
2	Female
9	Not specified

01/01/2023

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts on 2016-07-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce a smoothed discount rate for the purpose of pension fund valuation.

Baroness Altmann

Government consulted in 2013 on whether legislation should be introduced to allow the ‘smoothing’ of asset values and liabilities in funding valuations.

Responses to the call for evidence indicated that there was no strong case for legislating to permit smoothing, with the overwhelming majority of respondents against this option. Respondents instead favoured greater use of the flexibilities within the existing legislation governing scheme funding.

In its response to the call for evidence the Government advised that, given the views received, it did not intend to pursue the option of legislating to permit asset and liability smoothing, and that remains the Government’s position.

01/01/2023