Tag: 2016

  • Lord Ahmed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Ahmed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ahmed on 2016-03-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that chemical weapons are being used against the Turkmen community in the Kirkuk region of Iraq by ISIS.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    There are credible reports that Daesh have used chemical weapons in Iraq. We cannot confirm these reports with certainty, but we would condemn any such attack unreservedly. We are continuing to monitor these allegations very closely. Such behaviour would be consistent with Daesh’s record of complete disregard for human rights and international humanitarian law. The Government of Iraq is investigating allegations of chemical weapon use in Iraq by non-state actors with support from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

  • Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Paul Flynn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost to the public purse is of restarting the tendering process for the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme; and what recent steps he has taken to improve the subcontracting process of charities selected as preferred tenders.

    Andrew Selous

    No Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) has withdrawn from the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme. As part of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, CRCs are required to deliver the services set out in their contract. CRCs can decide to contract with other organisations to deliver some of those services. If these sub-contractors decide to no longer provide services, the CRC will decide whether to re-tender or provide the service themselves. This should not affect the number of offenders able to access the services.

    We are not restarting the tendering process for probation providers. CRCs are in the process of finalising their supply chains. Contract Management Teams closely monitor arrangements to ensure consistency of service provision and that prime and sub-contractors comply with the terms of an Industry Standard Partnering Agreement set out in the original tender documents.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) children under 18 years of age and (b) young people aged 18 to 24 applied for legal aid under the Exceptional Case Funding Scheme in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The purpose of the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme is to provide funding where it is legally needed. It does not provide a general power to fund cases which fall outside the scope of legal aid. Legal aid is a vital part of our justice system, but we cannot escape the continuing need to reduce the deficit. We still have a very generous system – last year we spent £1.6bn on legal aid, around a quarter of the department’s expenditure. Every ECF application is carefully considered by the Legal Aid Agency on an individual basis.

    Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

    FY application received

    Under 18

    18-24

    Unknown

    Apr 2013 – Mar 2014

    55

    86

    6982

    Apr 2014 – Mar 2015

    27

    116

    67

    Apr 2015 – Dec 20151

    31

    82

    78


    1     Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

    2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

    Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme, which were granted3, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

    FY application received

    Under 18

    18-24

    Unknown

    Apr 2013 – Mar 2014

    1

    4

    132

    Apr 2014 – Mar 2015

    8

    20

    3

    Apr 2015 – Dec 20151

    12

    40

    23

    1 Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

    2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

    3 Granted by 29 February 2016

    Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration cases, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

    FY application received

    Under 18

    18-24

    Unknown

    Apr 2013 – Mar 2014

    –

    12

    1332

    Apr 2014 – Mar 2015

    14

    39

    16

    Apr 2015 – Dec 20151

    11

    33

    25

    1 Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

    2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

    Applications to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for immigration cases, which were granted3, by age of applicant, April 2013 to December 2015

    FY application received

    Under 18

    18-24

    Unknown

    Apr 2013 – Mar 2014

    –

    –

    12

    Apr 2014 – Mar 2015

    4

    8

    1

    Apr 2015 – Dec 20151

    10

    22

    12

    1 Statistics for Jan-Mar 2016 are exempt for future publication on 30 June 2016

    2 Please note: Age data for Exceptional Case Funding were collected from October 2013 onwards, hence the greater proportion of unknowns in 2013-14 compared to the other years.

    3 Granted by 29 February 2016

  • Fabian Hamilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fabian Hamilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Angola on the yellow fever epidemic and shortages of medical supplies.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    FCO officials have been in direct contact with the Angolan Government and Angolan Embassy in London on yellow fever. Although we are unable to provide direct assistance given the UK regulations around yellow fever supplies, the Department for International Development are directly funding Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and as its largest donor is providing £1.44 billion for 2016-2020. Gavi is supporting Angola’s response through the International Coordination Group’s (ICG) Revolving Fund. Angola has already received 7 million doses from the ICG to respond to the outbreak. We also provide central funding to the WHO, who have been running a vaccination campaign in Luanda province.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government’s priorities will be in its negotiation of a new fishing agreement with the EU.

    George Eustice

    The Government’s priority is to negotiate a fair allocation of fishing opportunities and also to deliver its manifesto commitments to sustainable fisheries and to the ending of discards.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what representations her Department has received from the Welsh Government on energy costs for the steel industry in the last five years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We have regular contact with all the Devolved Administrations across the Department’s responsibilities, including in relation to the current challenges facing the steel industry.

    The Welsh Government has participated in the three Ministerial Working Groups which the Government established as part of our comprehensive response to the current market conditions faced by the UK steel industry.

    The Government has taken clear action to help the steel industry, including on electricity costs. Since 2013, the UK steel industry has received over £59m in compensation for the cost of the EU Emissions Trading System and the Carbon Price Floor passed to them by their electricity suppliers onto their bills. UK steel companies can now also apply for compensation for the costs of renewables policies that are passed on through bills.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24142, how many former CSA clients whose liability ended as part of the Department’s CSA case closure process arrears have been sent a notice setting out the validated child maintenance arrears balance on their former CSA case in each month since 1 April 2015.

    Priti Patel

    The table below shows the number of Arrears letters sent to the Parents with Care (PWC) as part of the case closure process.

    Month

    Apr-2015

    May-2015

    Jun-2015

    Jul-2015

    Aug-2015

    Sep-2015

    Oct-2015

    Nov-2015

    Dec-2015

    Number of Arrears Letters sent to PWC

    6,580

    15,930

    7,530

    7,330

    16,220

    17,370

    19,330

    19,380

    13,010

    Notes

    1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10
  • Baroness Grey-Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Grey-Thompson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Grey-Thompson on 2016-03-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what involvement the Department for Work and Pensions has had with disabled people and their families to inform their thinking on the forthcoming white paper on improving support for disabled people and people with health conditions.

    Baroness Altmann

    The department regularly engages with disability charities and organisations, as well as disabled people and their families and carers, at both Ministerial and official level. We proactively seek stakeholder views on current health, care and employment services to understand what works and where improvements can be made through roundtables, focus groups and face-to-face meetings. These discussions inform and provide the opportunity to test our thinking as we being to develop proposals for the forthcoming White Paper, and we will continue to engage at all levels over the coming months.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how funding is allocated for the Local Growth Fund; and if he will publish formal guidance on the bidding process for local enterprise partnerships.

    James Wharton

    The Local Growth Fund is competitively awarded to Local Enterprise Partnerships based on the strength of their plans for driving economic growth in their areas. The Secretary of State has written to all LEPs setting out the basis on which further awards will be made later this year. The government is encouraging bold and ambitious bids for this further funding, which will be assessed competitively based on the quality of the proposals submitted.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he made of the (a) time and (b) financial cost to motorists and road hauliers of the 40mph limit on the A14 for recent road improvement works.

    Andrew Jones

    The work on the A14 involved replacing central reserve safety barriers, necessitating a 40mph speed limit restriction for safety reasons whilst the barrier remained incomplete.

    As this was essential safety work Highways England did not carry out an assessment of the delay costs.