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Tag: 2016

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities will be affected by the sale of higher value council homes under the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

    Brandon Lewis

    The requirement to make a payment in respect of higher value vacant housing and to consider selling such housing applies to local authorities with a Housing Revenue Account. The scheme will therefore affect any such authorities who hold housing which falls within the definition of "higher value". That definition will be set out in regulations which are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. In addition Government has the power to exclude types of housing from the policy through regulations.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to restore compensation for war widows who remarried between 1973 and 2005.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Government remains sympathetic to the circumstances of those affected. We are reviewing the position, but need to take account of the wider consequences for other public sector schemes of making retrospective changes.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what regulations are in place to prevent schools installing vending machines on their premises which allow children to buy sugary drinks.

    Lord Nash

    As a cornerstone of the government’s commitment to healthy eating in schools, new school food standards came into force from January 2015. These standards regulate the food and drink provided both at lunchtime and at other times of the school day, including food and drink provided in vending machines.

    The standards ensure that children are eating nutritious food at school by setting out clear, easy to follow guidance based on food groups and by giving school cooks the flexibility to create their own meals. The standards severely restrict foods high in fat, salt, and sugar, including high sugar drinks. The regulations permit only healthy drinks with an emphasis on water, milk and fruit juice (with 5% or less added sugars).

  • Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK pensioners living in another EU member state of a British withdrawal from the EU.

    Justin Tomlinson

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Prime Minister on 14 January 2016 to Question UIN 21952.

    “

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many patrols of UK waters have been conducted by Border Force Cutters in each year since 2010.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force does not record individual vessel patrols as a measure of productivity, as this does not represent the full activity of a Border Force vessel. The Border Force vessels operate 365 days per year and in accordance with the vessel capability in force at the time. Deployments include:

    – being at sea;

    – being at 30 minutes notice for sea;.

    – law enforcement work whilst in port, e.g. rummage of moored vessels; road deployments to remote wharfs and marinas

    It is not in the public interest for Border Force to disclose vessel working patterns further, as this is likely to compromise border security.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse of the assisted voluntary return scheme was in each year since 2004.

    James Brokenshire

    Up until January 1st 2016 the Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) scheme has been outsourced but is now part of the Home Office Voluntary Return Service (VRS).

    The cost of the outsourced scheme in the years 2006 to 2015 is set out below. Data for 2004 to 2006 is incomplete and has therefore been omitted.

    Years

    £m

    2006-7

    22.2

    2007-8

    21.7

    2008-09

    10.80

    2009-10

    20.40

    2010-11

    17.30

    2011-12

    7.50

    2012-13

    8.77

    2013-14

    8.84

    2014/15

    10.86
  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the (a) extra cost to police forces and (b) extra staff hours in police forces resulting from the change in the level of reported cases of contact child sex offences in the last two years.

    Mike Penning

    Resourcing is an operational matter for individual Chief Constables. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement to empower police forces to maximise specialist skills and expertise to prevent offending and resolve cases. This means that police forces must have in place the capabilities they need to protect children from sexual abuse.

    In 2015/16 the Government provided an additional £10 million to the National Crime Agency to create specialist teams to tackle online child sexual exploitation. We have also made available £1.7 million to fund Operation Hydrant, which coordinates the handling of multiple non-recent child sexual abuse investigations specifically concerning institutions or persons of public prominence, and up to £1.5 million to support regional coordinators and analysts to oversee the implementation of the National Policing Plan for tackling child sexual exploitation.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what evidence he has received on the possible use of cluster munitions in Yemen by Saudi Arabia.

    Michael Fallon

    Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have alerted us to their online reports on the use of cluster munitions in Yemen, which we are analysing.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average annual spend per pupil was in grammar schools in each region in 2015-16.

    Nick Gibb

    Schools self-select their own admissions category on Edubase. 163 schools are identified as ‘selective (grammar).’

    The Department does not yet hold the income and expenditure data from 2015-16. The data will be available for those which are maintained by the local authority in December 2016, and for those which are academies in the summer of 2017.

    The overall expenditure per pupil in grammar schools by each region for 2014-15 is listed in the following table:

    Region

    Number of grammar schools

    Expenditure per pupil (£)

    East Midlands

    15

    5,195

    East of England

    8

    5,644

    London

    19

    5,683

    North West

    18

    5,392

    South East

    55

    5,332

    South West

    20

    5,210

    West Midlands

    17

    5,553

    Yorkshire and the Humber

    6

    5,557

    England Total

    158*

    5,404

    *Note: There are 5 selective schools which converted to academies during 2014-15 and as such we do not have comparable financial data for them for this period. The expenditure per pupil takes into account expenditure from all income sources, including self-generated income.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to develop specific long-term targets to protect the public from the health impacts of aircraft noise.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Health impacts associated with aviation noise are already factored into policy appraisal where there is relevant robust evidence, including monetisation of these costs where this is possible.