The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings Ministers and officials of his Department have had with representatives of Uber in the last 12 months.
Matthew Hancock
Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations, including senior media figures, are published routinely and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications on Gov.uk.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of foreign language teachers are native speakers.
Nick Gibb
The information requested is not collected by the Department for Education.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Frazer on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to undertake the review of shared ownership announced in the report, Proposals to streamline the resale of shared ownership properties, Consultation: summary of responses, published in March 2015.
Brandon Lewis
The Government carried out an internal review of Shared Ownership policy last year. Following this, the Autumn Statement confirmed £4.1 billion for 135,000 new Help to Buy: Shared Ownership starts by 2021. It also raised the income cap on Shared Ownership in England from £60,000 to £80,000, removed restrictions on who can buy Shared Ownership homes, enabled existing shared owners to climb the Shared Ownership ladder and removed restrictions on how many bedrooms Shared Ownership buyers can purchase.
The prospectus for the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme 2016 to 2021 was launched on 13 April 2016 and invites applications for up to £4.7 billion of funding to increase the supply of new shared ownership and affordable homes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-04-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the socio-economic groups to which those deciding to have a termination of pregnancy after the 20 week scan of a neural tube defect-affected pregnancy belong.
Jane Ellison
Information on the socio-economic group for women having abortions is not collected centrally.
In 2014, 442 abortions were performed because of neural tube defects; 34% of these were performed at 20 weeks gestation or over.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many houses were built on green belt land in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Brandon Lewis
The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold information on the numbers of planning applications made in the Green Belt.
The department’s Land Use Change Statistics estimate that 3% of new residential addresses created in 2014-15 were in the Green Belt; unchanged from 2013-14. This equates to an estimated 3,900 homes – 2.9998% of the total homes built in the Green Belt in 2013-14, and 4,600 homes – 2.9997% of the total homes built in 2014-15.
The figures in the 13/14 publication are the first in the new series and so are not directly comparable to the previous Land Use Change Statistics which last published data covering the year 2011. Figures for 2011 and prior are available from the department’s website.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/land-use-change-statistics-in-england-2011
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what section 54 undertakings have been given for which rolling stock fleets; and what the (a) owning group and (b) terminating date is for each such undertaking.
Paul Maynard
The table below represents the expiry dates of the Section 54 undertakings in England and Wales which have been entered into between the Secretary of State and the owners of the rolling stock. Since September 2014 the Department has not entered into any Section 54 undertakings. Our current policy is that trains should be purchased in the market and the owner should take residual value risk.
The Scottish Government has powers which it can exercise in relation to Section 54.
|
Class |
Owner/Lessor |
No of vehicles |
Current lessee |
Expiry Date of Section 54 |
|
800 / 801 |
Agility Trains East |
497 |
Virgin Trains East Coast |
27.5 years after the Actual Acceptance Date of the first set in the fleet. |
|
800 / 801 |
Agility Trains West |
369 |
First Great Western |
27.5 years after the Actual Acceptance Date of the first set in the fleet. |
|
180 |
Angel Trains |
25 |
First Great Western |
31 December 2016 |
|
700 |
Cross London Trains |
1140 |
GTR |
21 March 2036 |
|
377 |
Porterbrook Leasing |
792 |
GTR |
07 March 2022 |
|
390 |
Angel Trains |
574 |
Virgin Trains West Coast |
31 March 2022 |
|
221 |
Voyager Leasing |
102 |
Virgin Trains West Coast |
31 March 2019 |
|
444 / 450 |
Angel Trains |
733 |
South West Trains |
23 April 2025 |
|
455 |
Porterbrook Leasing |
364 |
South West Trains |
01 February 2018 |
|
707 |
Angel Trains |
150 |
South West Trains |
31 March 2019 |
|
350/1 |
Angel Trains |
120 |
London Midland |
23 April 2025 |
|
350/3 |
Angel Trains |
40 |
London Midland |
19 September 2018 |
|
395 |
Eversholt Rail Group |
174 |
South Eastern |
17 years from Acceptance Date of last initial unit which was 2009. |
|
333 |
Angel Trains |
64 |
Northern |
24 July 2020 |
|
350/4 |
Angel Trains |
40 |
TPE |
19 September 2018 |
|
165 |
Angel Trains |
89 |
Chiltern |
31 December 2018 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-10-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the potential economic benefits of tidal power lagoons will be considered in the development of the Government’s new Industrial Strategy.
Mr Nick Hurd
The independent review on Tidal Lagoons in the UK, headed by Charles Hendry will report towards the end of the year and will consider, among other things, whether and in what circumstances tidal lagoons could play a cost effective role in the energy mix.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-01-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy regarding presidents and others who perpetuate their power and authority in the Commonwealth; and whether the Commonwealth as a whole has a policy on that matter.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The British Government expects all Commonwealth states to uphold the standards enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter; which makes clear that governments, political parties and civil society are responsible for upholding and promoting democratic culture and practices and are accountable to the public in this regard.
In supporting greater adherence to Commonwealth political values and principles, the Commonwealth Secretariat, under its Strategic Plan (2014/15), has engaged with the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) and the services of the Secretary General’s Good Offices. The Secretariat has also carried out election management and promoted the values of respect and understanding. This resulted in CMAG’s decision to restore Fiji to full Commonwealth membership and involved the deployment of election observation teams to 13 elections in 11 countries. All election missions reported credible results in accordance with Commonwealth norms.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-02-02.
To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, on how many occasions buildings or parts of buildings have been made available by the Diocese of Blackburn and churches within its boundaries to (a) Christians Against Poverty and (b) other organisations providing debt counselling and employment services or campaigning against poverty.
Mrs Caroline Spelman
The Diocese of Blackburn and the National Church Institutions of the Church of England do not hold these details and obtaining the information would incur disproportionate cost.
The Church of England works with a wide variety of debt advice charities at a national and local level. Many parishes will offer space in buildings or allow debt advice surgeries to be held in their churches. Parish clergy often are the first port of call for people in need and regularly signpost individuals to where the most appropriate help and support can be found.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to pages 49-50 of the Survey of the Provision in the UK of Access to Remedies for Victims of Human Rights Harms involving Business Enterprises, by the British Institute for International and Comparative Law, published on 17 July 2015, what assessment he has made of the merits of the report’s recommendations to (a) establish a permanent cross-government Business and Human Rights Unit and (b) extend some aspects of UK criminal law legislation to provide access to remedies to victims of human rights abuses by business enterprises overseas.
Dominic Raab
The Government has no plans to establish a permanent cross-government Business and Human Rights Unit; however, departments continue to cooperate as necessary. Victims of overseas human rights abuses by UK businesses can already seek redress through UK courts. We are one of the few jurisdictions in the world where this can happen.