Tag: 2016

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent representations they have made to the government of Uganda about its treatment of Uganda’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are in regular dialogue with the Ugandan Government and Parliament on this issue and will continue to raise our concerns about any legislation which could lead to further persecution and discrimination against LGBT people and which is incompatible with Uganda’s international treaty obligations. After the events of Uganda Pride in August, we raised our concerns with the Ugandan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and worked with leading figures in the local LGBT Community and Ugandan Police Force. We remain committed to working with the government of Uganda and with civil society to promote diversity and tolerance, and to prevent violence and discrimination on any grounds.

  • 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 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what schemes are available to commercial drivers under the plug-in van grant scheme to purchase a home charge and charge point at work.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government offers grant funding to offset some of the upfront cost of the purchase and installation of dedicated domestic chargepoints to drivers of plug-in vehicles under the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS). This is available for any van or car eligible for the Plug-in Van and Car Grants. The scheme is available to motorists who are the registered keeper, lessee or have primary use of an eligible electric vehicle and provides up to 75% off the total capital costs of the chargepoint and associated installation costs. The grant is currently capped at £700 including VAT and this is reducing to £500 from 1 March 2016.

    The Government does not presently have any similar schemes to assist with the cost of chargepoints in the workplace. This is because our focus so far has been on supporting the installation of chargepoints at motorists’ homes and in public places. However, at the last Spending Review in November last year, we announced that we will spend more than £600 million between 2015 and 2020 to support the uptake and manufacturing of ultra low emission vehicles in the UK. Further details of how this funding will be used – including for provision of charging infrastructure – will be announced in due course.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding from the (a) European Regional Development Fund and (b) European Social Fund he forecasts will be spent in (i) London and (ii) each London borough in each year from 2016 and 2020.

    Anna Soubry

    The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) are administered in London by the Greater London Authority and will respond to priorities set out in the European Structural and Investment Strategy prepared by the London Enterprise Panel and other local partners. The Strategy updated in February 2016 sets out the amounts to be spent in London from ERDF and ESF and can be found on the London Enterprise Panel website.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which banks are permitted by his Department to hold government funds.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The vast majority of funds is held within the exchequer at the Government Banking Service. It is not held in commercial bank accounts. Public sector organisations require permission from HM Treasury and the Crown Commercial Representative for banking, currently the Head of the Government Banking Service, to open a commercial bank account. Public sector organisations should follow guidelines set out in the banking annex of “Managing Public Money”. The key points within these guidelines are that the balances held in commercial accounts should be minimised and the commercial bank providing the banking service needs to be a member of relevant UK clearing bodies.

  • Baroness Jowell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Jowell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jowell on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of people who are street homeless in London for each year since 2010.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    One person without a home is one too many and we are committed to doing all we can to prevent homelessness. That is why we have increased central investment to tackle homelessness over the next four years to £139 million.

    This will include a new national £10 million programme to support innovative ways to tackle rough sleeping, and will build on the success of our No Second Night Out initiative, which saw two-thirds of rough sleepers in London come off the streets after a single night.

    DCLG publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping. These are available (the latest figures are attached) at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2015

    The GLA collects more detailed statistics on rough sleeping in London. These are available at: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/chain-reports

    “

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to review the length of maximum sentence for animal cruelty offences.

    Dominic Raab

    We keep maximum penalties under review. This includes sentencing trends, and whether the courts may be finding their sentencing powers inadequate.

    Data on the average sentence length for animal cruelty can be found in the Outcomes by offence table at the attached link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2016 to Question 40542, what estimate he has made of the number of his Department’s civil servants that will be based in Coventry in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport currently consists of a central department and four executive agencies as follows:

    • The Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency
    • The Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency
    • The Vehicle Certification Agency
    • The Maritime and Coastguard Agency

    The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has not made an estimate of the number of civil servants it plans to base in Coventry over the next five years. All other areas of the Department do not currently have any plans to base any staff in Coventry.

  • Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will consider reinstating clothing grants for care homes for elderly residents who have just arrived from hospital.

    David Mowat

    Despite a welcome shift towards more care provision in community settings, our ageing population means a growing number of people require care in care and nursing homes, with an increasing level of acuity and complexity of need.

    The Enhanced Health in Care Homes vanguards, implemented by NHS England, are beginning to show how addressing this inequity in access to services can reduce unnecessary, unplanned and avoidable admissions to hospital, shorten the length of hospital stays and improve peoples’ quality of life, wellbeing and clinical outcomes.

    NHS England is also leading the multi-agency Community Services and Hospital Discharge programme, which will deliver a series of interventions to transform community services and improve discharge of older people from hospital. These include initiatives such as “discharge to assess”, which will increase the number of patients who are discharged quickly and safely to their usual place of residence.

    The Department is not aware of a clothing grant for people who enter care homes and is therefore unable to consider reinstatement. Where a local authority arranges care and support to meet an adult’s eligible needs, it may charge them. Where care is arranged in a care home, a local authority must not, through charges, reduce the adult’s income below the Personal Expenses Allowance of £24.90 per week.

    The allowance means that local authority supported care home residents have money to spend as they wish on personal items, including clothing. It must not be spent on meeting their eligible care needs.

    Local authorities have discretion to be more generous where they think this would be appropriate.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrangements are in place to enable UK citizens to submit reimbursement claims under the European Health Insurance Card regulations; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of those arrangements.

    Justin Tomlinson

    In the UK, the NHS Choices website provides comprehensive information on the arrangements that are in place to enable UK citizens to submit reimbursement claims under the EU regulations. Such claims are dealt with by a dedicated team in the Department for Work and Pensions – the DWP Overseas Healthcare Team. Contact details for the DWP Overseas Healthcare Team are provided on the NHS Choices website and may also be found on the EHIC itself.

    The reimbursement processes to which all member states adhere have been in place for many years and work in much the same way across Europe. The European Commission and the member states are jointly responsible for assessing the effectiveness of the regulations on an on-going basis and where necessary the Commission will recommend any proposed changes for consideration and agreement with the member states.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the savings to the public purse of the proposed emergency brake on in-work benefits for EU citizens in employment in the UK.

    Damian Hinds

    Details of the proposals for restricting in-work benefits for EU nationals will be subject to further negotiation and we cannot speculate on these.