Tag: 2016

  • Mhairi Black – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mhairi Black – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mhairi Black on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much the Post Office has spent on refurbishing the Crown Post Office premises in Paisley since January 2010.

    George Freeman

    The hon Member recently tabled a Named Day question on this matter.

    In my answer of 13 June I advised that this was the operational responsibility of the Post Office and I would ask its Chief Executive, Paula Vennells, to write to the hon Member.

    I understand Paula Vennells wrote to the hon Member on 21 June. This letter has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

  • David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many companies have signed memoranda of understanding with the Regeneration Investment Organisation.

    Greg Hands

    A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a high-level arrangement, which is not legally binding, and enables the participants to work together toward a desired outcome. Between the period April 2014 to October 2015, the Regeneration Investment Organisation (RIO) negotiated MoUs with seven companies. Only one of those MoUs remains in place.

    Aventa is a regeneration investor and comprises a regulated asset management company and a vehicle for managing early stage development and construction risk. The Regeneration Investment Organisation and Aventa Capital MoU was developed in October 2014 to support Aventa’s work in seeking to develop a regeneration fund and thereby encourage institutional investment into UK regeneration projects. The Department felt the proposal covered by the MoU was viable given Aventa’s sector and management experience.

    There was no commitment on the part of RIO to provide any capital or resource in connection with the agreement. In addition, any recommendation from Aventa would have been reviewed and subjected to due diligence by the developer as a commercial partner. The MoU was concluded, by mutual agreement, following meetings with officials during December 2014.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many attacks by the RAF have been carried out specifically targeting the communications capacity of Daesh in Syria since Parliament authorised such action.

    Penny Mordaunt

    From 2 December 2015 until 20 January 2016 the Royal Air Force has conducted a total of 22 air strikes against Daesh targets in Syria.

    The RAF has targeted 11 oil infrastructure targets, one command and control headquarters, and conducted 10 strikes against Daesh fighters and their equipment.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 25906, if he will place in the Library a copy of the analysis carried out by the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs on benefit and tax credit claims by recently arrived EEA migrants.

    Damian Hinds

    On 10th November 2015, DWP published an ad-hoc statistical release that provides the background to DWP’s figures regarding recently arrived EEA nationals’ claims to benefits. This can be found here – https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-benefit-and-tax-credit-claims-by-recently-arrived-eea-migrants

    The background to the figures on tax credits claimed by recently arrived EEA nationals can be found here – https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-credit-statistics-on-eea-nationals

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the charge for probate has been increased since 2010.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The fees payable on application for a non-contentious grant of probate have been increased twice since 2010.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on ensuring that co-ordinated school place planning is retained in the event of all state schools becoming academies.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities (LAs) have a legal obligation to ensure that there are sufficient local schools to provide a primary and secondary place for all children needing one. Supporting LAs to do this continues to be one of the Government’s top priorities. That is why we have committed to spending £7 billion on school places up to 2021, which, alongside investment in the free schools programme, we expect to create 600,000 new places. This is on top of the £5 billion the Coalition Government spent between 2011 and 2015, which helped to create 600,000 additional places between 2010 and 2015.

    LAs have always relied on their strong relationships with local schools to deliver the places needed and this will remain the case in a fully academised system. For example, many local authorities are recognising the opportunity that the free schools programme provides and are encouraging new and existing high quality education providers to apply to set up a new school in their area. We encourage all local authorities to do likewise.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the current average response times are for ambulances responding to C1 and C2 incidents.

    Jane Ellison

    Category C1 and category C2 are terms used by London Ambulance Service to describe the first two categories of green calls.

    Green calls are lower acuity calls where there is still a need for an ambulance, but in slower time scales than life-threatening or more urgent calls. They are usually split into four categories and the response times for these are agreed and set locally.

    Data on green call performance is not centrally held.

  • Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to tackle late payment of suppliers by businesses.

    Anna Soubry

    We are implementing a package of measures to support a cultural change to tackle late payment, including the Small Business Commissioner, the duty for large businesses to report on payment practices and support for the voluntary Prompt Payment Code. The Regulations to give effect to the duty to report will be laid for debate early in 2017.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce overcrowding on passenger rail services.

    Paul Maynard

    This Government is making the biggest investment in our railways since the Victorian era, enabling more trains and longer trains to operate on many of our busiest routes. Since 2010, more than 563 new carriages have been brought into service in England and Wales, and a further 5032 are planned to enter service by the end of 2020.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to increase schoolchildren’s understanding of the Commonwealth by increasing the proportion of the national curriculum dedicated to teaching about the Commonwealth and its relationship with the UK.

    Nick Gibb

    The national curriculum’s programme of study for citizenship education sets the expectation that pupils are taught about the United Kingdom’s current relations with the Commonwealth. There are also opportunities in the history national curriculum for schools to teach about the Commonwealth.

    The national curriculum, introduced in September 2014, does not attempt to represent the sum total of everything that should be taught in schools. It prescribes the essential knowledge that pupils should be taught, leaving schools greater flexibility to teach over and above what the national curriculum requires, and to decide how to teach the essential content that is prescribed.