The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-03-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what analysis they have carried out of the average annual earnings for (1) men, (2) women, and (3) all individuals, aged between 22 and 24 inclusive who are in possession of a first degree and who are not in full-time education.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the West Coast Mainline through Eddisbury has been realigned due to subsidence or other geographical movement in the last five years; and what the cost of such realignment has been.
Claire Perry
No realignment work has been carried out as a result of subsidence or geographical movement on the West Coast Main line through Eddisbury in the last 5 years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-05-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to protect the identity of RAF unmanned aerial vehicle operators.
Earl Howe
Reaper Force personnel are briefed in line with their specific situation and, as with all RAF personnel, they receive periodic training on personal security. This includes, for example, briefing on social media profiles. Mechanisms exist to ensure that specific threats, and the necessary responses to them, are communicated in a timely fashion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Solloway on 2016-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to improve under-performing schools in the East Midlands.
Edward Timpson
Eighty two percent of all schools in the East Midlands region are rated as Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, but there remain pockets of underperformance, and we are taking a range of actions to tackle them. The Education and Adoption Act gives us powers to intervene more quickly in failing schools and to tackle for the first time schools that have been coasting. Where a maintained school is judged inadequate by Ofsted it will immediately receive an academy order, leading to a sponsor taking responsibility for improving standards. The Act also provides consistent powers to take action in inadequate academies and the Regional Schools Commissioner for the East Midlands and Humber will not hesitate to intervene when academies under-perform.
We are also creating Achieving Excellence Areas in areas such as the East Midlands to create rapid and sustainable improvement. Further details are set out in: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/educational-excellence-everywhere
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-09-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many times he has met with Guy Verhofstadt to discuss the UK’s exit from the EU.
Mr David Jones
The Prime Minister has been clear we will not give a running commentary on Brexit negotiations. We will ensure that we engage closely with all relevant interlocutors.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when (a) her Department and (b) the contractor G4S became aware of concerns that asylum seekers were being housed in properties with doors that are all uniform or nearly uniform in colour.
James Brokenshire
Home Office officials are working closely with our housing providers to ensure that asylum seeker accommodation is not easily identifiable. I am not aware of a uniform door colour being the practice in any other region. My officials have also spoken to our housing providers to tell them that such a practice is not acceptable.
I was first made aware of this issue when The Times contacted the Home Office in mid-January. G4S has investigated correspondence and discussions on the issue of external door colour in the North East and has confirmed that it was raised in 2012 by a Middlesbrough local councillor and was considered by the G4S audit and assurance team, no complaints from asylum seekers relating to this matter were found and a response was issued.
As I said to the House on 20 January, I instructed officials to look into this issue as a matter of urgency and I expect that the audit will be concluded on the Home Office side very shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether NHS Improvement, in commissioning management consultancies to work with turnaround trusts, will exclude those consultancies which were engaged in any failed initiatives from the previous round of consultancy-driven financial recovery initiatives.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The guidance for use of management consultancies is set out as part of the spending approvals process. Monitor has published the following guidance for foundation trusts “Consultancy spending approval process: Initial guidance to NHS foundation trusts” with the Trust Development Authority (TDA) publishing similar for NHS trusts “Consultancy spending controls: Initial Guidance to NHS Trusts”. Copies of the guidance are attached.
The guidance is clear that expenditure on management consultancy must demonstrate that the skills and expertise of advisors cannot be delivered through use of existing resources. It is also a requirement that value for money must be demonstrated. This approach is the same for NHS providers, NHS Improvement or any NHS organisation. Therefore we are content NHS Improvement’s approach to managing turnaround programmes is consistent with this requirement.
NHS Improvement ensures that lessons learned from all financial turnaround programmes are taken into account when considering how to handle any financially challenged providers requiring turnaround actions in the future. This includes the use of the best available, most appropriate consultancies with the right blend of skills and experience required to deliver the turnaround programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Goudie on 2016-03-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 1 March (HL6250), whether they retain details of the names and battalions, or other units, of Burmese Army soldiers who receive training from the UK.
Earl Howe
We retain details of the names and current units of Burmese Army soldiers who receive training from the UK. However, we do not hold any information on which units these individuals may have served in previously.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been spent advertising the Fit for Work programme since that programme went live.
Justin Tomlinson
The cumulative cost of marketing and advertising to Health Management Ltd (HML), which delivers Fit for Work in England and Wales, has been £1,865,414 since the programme went live. The Scottish Government is responsible for delivering Fit for Work in Scotland, and has spent £27,708 on marketing activities and a further £187,679 on its website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Victoria Prentis on 2016-05-05.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Electoral Commission’s 2013 recommendation that political parties that receive and spend less than £500 annually should be exempt from submitting a full statement of accounts.
John Penrose
The Electoral Commission published a report “a regulatory review of the UK’s party and electoral finance laws” in June 2013 that made 50 recommendations. The report’s first recommendation proposed changes to the reporting requirements for parties that receive and spend less than £500 annually. Such a change would require primary legislation. The Government recognises that there is a balance to be struck between reducing the burden on smaller parties and maintaining transparency of the funding of all parties which contest elections in the UK.