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Tag: 2016

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how his Department decides on allocation of funding to research councils; and what assessment he has made of the grounds for significant changes being made to the relative size of allocations to each research council compared to allocations in previous years.

    Joseph Johnson

    The allocations will be published shortly. As in previous years, the allocations will be made by ministers following discussions with BIS delivery partners.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of asylum seekers placed in hotels while awaiting decisions on asylum applications.

    Mike Penning

    We have continued to make clear to our providers that the use of hotels is only acceptable as a short-term contingency arrangement and we are supporting all measures being pursued by providers to increase procurement to provide sufficient accommodation as a matter of urgency.

    With the support of local authorities we, and our housing providers, are engaging with areas that to date have not participated in asylum dispersal with a view to negotiating voluntary agreements to do so. We are also working through a range of other options for accommodating asylum seekers safely and securely.

  • Lord Rosser – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Rosser – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rosser on 2016-04-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are giving to local authorities to ensure that changes to funding for local bus services do not negatively affect (1) young people, (2) the elderly, (3) those suffering from mental ill health, and (4) those suffering from physical ill health.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The majority of public funding for local bus services in England is provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government. However, the Department for Transport also provides around £40m of Grant funding directly to English local authorities for this purpose.

    The Total Transport initiative has also provided around £8m funding for 37 pilot projects exploring how local authorities and other agencies can work together to commission transport services more effectively – including integrating NHS non-emergency patient transport.

    Authorities should remain mindful of their statutory equality duties, including the Equality Act 2010’s Public Sector Equality Duty, and the effect of proposals on all people with protected characteristics, including those who are disabled.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what were the 10 foreign languages most spoken by pupils for whom English is listed as an additional language in the annual school census in (a) 2000 and (b) 2015; and how many pupils were recorded as speaking each of those languages in each of those years.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department does not hold pupil level data on languages for the year 2000. In the January 2015 school census, the most common languages to which pupils of compulsory school age and above are exposed outside school and the number and proportion of pupils exposed to them are given in the table below.

    Language

    Number of Pupils (1)

    Percentage of all pupils

    English

    5,634,349

    82.1

    Urdu

    123,530

    1.8

    Panjabi

    91,406

    1.3

    Polish

    90,506

    1.3

    Other than English (not specified)

    84,139

    1.2

    Bengali

    74,635

    1.1

    Somali

    46,361

    0.7

    Arabic

    41,951

    0.6

    Gujarati

    40,735

    0.6

    Portuguese

    29,759

    0.4

    Tamil

    29,634

    0.4

    Believed to be other than English (not specified)

    29,221

    0.4

    French

    26,290

    0.4

    Source: School Census January 2015
    (1) Includes sole and dual main registered pupils of compulsory school age and above. Includes pupils in all state-funded schools excluding general hospital schools and local authority alternative provision.

    The languages recorded in the school census only indicate a pupil’s exposure to a non-English language outside of school. They are not a measure of English speaking proficiency, an indication of the language spoken in school, or a direct measure of immigration.

  • Peter Dowd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Peter Dowd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Dowd on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the recent proposals to allow Probate Registries to collect fees will reflect the actual cost of administration of the Probate Registries; and whether her Department plans that those fees will more accurately reflect the amount of time expended by staff in the Probate Registries.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    We are carefully considering the responses to our earlier consultation on this issue, and will set out further plans in due course.

  • Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which department will lead the Brexit negotiations on food and farming, including negotiations about the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Prime Minister will lead our negotiations for leaving the EU and will be supported on a day-to-day basis by the Department for Exiting the European Union, with Defra leading input on food and farming policy.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to produce further guidance on the definition of extremism used in her Department’s Counter-Extremism Strategy, Cm 9148, published in October 2015.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government definition of extremism is ‘vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.’ We have been consistent on this since 2011 and have reaffirmed this definition in the Counter-Extremism Strategy.

    Vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, in particular mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs within the Counter-Extremism Strategy definition of extremism is consistent with the incitement provisions within the Public Order Act 1986, in particular Part 3 aimed at those who stir up racial or religious hatred.

    We are clear that Government should not restrict anyone’s freedom of speech or right to practise a faith. These are core values. But we shouldn’t allow the extremist voice to go unchallenged, causing harm to our society and promoting hatred and division.

    Government has engaged widely on the Counter-Extremism Strategy, and continues to engage with partners – including faith groups and communities on the implementation of the Strategy’s measures.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what work her Department is doing to monitor air quality standards in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) England.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra has eight fixed air quality monitoring sites located in Greater Manchester – at Bury Whitefield Roadside, Glazebury, Manchester Law Courts, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester South, Salford Eccles, Shaw Crompton Way, Wigan Centre – and one hundred and seventy eight fixed monitoring sites in total across England.

    Many of these sites (seven in Manchester and 111 across England) provide near real-time data on one or more of the following pollutants: nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), ozone, and sulphur dioxide. Data is made available on our website.

    Full details of the sites, including locations, pollutants measured and concentrations observed at each, are available on Defra’s UK Air Website: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/.

    Data from these sites is reported alongside modelling data as part of the UK’s annual national compliance reporting.

    “

  • Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25652, what media outlets will be used to carry advertising as part of the national campaign for apprenticeships.

    Nick Boles

    The national campaign for apprenticeships will target a range of audiences including young people, employers and parents.

    Advertising will be through a number of different media channels including television, out of home advertising (e.g. posters), radio, digital and social media.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential for driverless cars to improve the efficiency of use of road space on motorways.

    Andrew Jones

    Connected and autonomous vehicles could potentially have significant impacts on traffic flow and road network efficiency. The government recognises that this is an important issue and needs to be better understood to properly inform long-term policy and investment decisions. For this reason, the Department for Transport is currently conducting research to explore the traffic flow impacts of connected and autonomous vehicles. This work is ongoing, and forms part of a much wider programme of research and development that the Government is supporting to examine the issues associated with these technologies.