Tag: 2016

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will prepare an impact assessment of any future server outage on the universal credit portal.

    Damian Hinds

    Whenever a service problem is identified the Department always prioritises claimants first ensuring their payments are not interrupted. In this instance the outage impacted only 24 of the 712 Jobcentres across Great Britain and none of the claimants impacted experienced a delay in their payments.

    The performance of all systems is continuously monitored on many resilient servers and in the event of an outage an immediate impact assessment is made and appropriate action taken to ensure normal service is resumed at the earliest possible opportunity and the impact on claimants is minimised.

    We continually assess the performance of our suppliers, and underlying engineering, to ensure systems are available to meet the needs of claimants and the Department. With the exception of this isolated supplier outage the performance of the UC portal has been higher than expected, however, further improvements to resilience were already under active consideration as part of preparing for UC Full Service national expansion.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many complaints the Crown Prosecution Service has received in each of the last three years.

    Robert Buckland

    The following table shows the number of complaints received by the CPS in the past three years:

    Year

    Total Complaints

    2013/14

    Not available*

    2014/15

    1950

    2015/16

    1878

    *Due to a technical issue which the CPS is currently resolving, the figure for the total complaints received in 2013/14 is not available at this time. The CPS will write to the Honourable Member to provide this figure once the issue has been corrected.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with her ministerial colleagues on securing long-term funding for domestic violence services.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government has already announced £40m of funding for domestic abuse services between 2016 and 2020, as well as a £2m grant to Women’s Aid and Safelives to support early intervention.

    We will shortly publish a refreshed cross-Government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy setting out how we will do more still to secure long-term funding for domestic violence services and support for all victims.

  • Lord Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lucas on 2016-01-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the announcement of the sale of Corbis, Corbis Motion and Veer, what assessment they have made of how the interests of the UK and of the National Gallery, whose picture bank was put into data files and a database by Corbis, have been protected.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The National Gallery operates at Arm’s length from DCMS, and as such has responsibility for its own mage licensing arrangements. The arrangements between the National Gallery and Corbis in relation to the licensing of National Gallery images came to an end on 31 August 2008. When the arrangements terminated all National Gallery images were returned to the Gallery. As a result, the sale of Corbis, Corbis Motion and Veer, has no implications for the National Gallery. Ownership of the National Gallery database of images rests with, and has always rested with, the Gallery itself.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will publish an updated set of Levy Control Framework projections.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Office for Budget Responsibility published updated Levy Control Framework (LCF) spend projections alongside the Spending Review on 25 November and we anticipate they will publish an update alongside the March budget. The Department will publish further details on the LCF projections in due course.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have not (a) attended a work capability assessment or (b) reported to a jobcentre when requested have been exempt from benefit sanctions because of extenuating circumstances relating to their mental health in each year since 2010.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to replace direct funding of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency by fees paid by industry.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) operates as a government trading fund and recovers 92% of its total regulatory costs from fees and charges. In addition it receives income from the Department in recognition for the Agency providing both a devices service and a biologicals service from the National Institute for Biological Standards Control.

    In 2016/17 the Department is purchasing a devices service of £8.1 million plus capital funding of £1 million which covers the remaining 8% of its regulatory costs.

    The MHRA and the Department are considering charging the devices service directly to industry by fees.

    The MHRA is also looking at the potential for increasing fees from international work over the coming years.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, whether he plans to ensure that private tenants affected by (a) cancer and (b) other long-term health conditions are able to access suitable accommodation, support and protection from eviction.

    Brandon Lewis

    The welfare system provides financial support to those with cancer and other long-term health conditions, including to help people meet the additional costs that come from these conditions.

    The statutory ‘reasonable preference’ requirements ensure that priority for social housing is given to those who need to move on medical or welfare grounds. Statutory guidance on allocations makes clear that this would include people who have chronic or progressive medical conditions or long term care needs.

  • James Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    James Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Davies on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of new transmission cables have been undergrounded in each of the last 10 years.

    Jesse Norman

    The Department does not hold this information. However, the Transmission Owners have informed me that:

    In England & Wales, the only major new electricity transmission lines built in the last 10 years by National Grid are all in the London Power Tunnels Project. This involved 32km of tunnels and 64 circuit kms installed from 2011 to February 2016. Otherwise, major projects have been asset replacement projects. These have generally been like-for-like, in that overhead line components have replaced older overhead line components, and underground cables have replaced underground cables.

    In the north of Scotland, of SHE Transmission’s total new circuits in the last 10 years (1,007km), 171km of these were underground cable (approx. 17%).

    In the south of Scotland, of Scottish Power Transmission’s total new circuits in the last 10 years (184km), 107.5km of these were underground cable (approx. 58%).

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what responses he plans to give to the request by the Iraqi Kurdish forces in Mosul for equipment to protect them from an ISIL/Daesh chemical attack; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry of Defence has provided a wide range of support, equipment and ammunition to the Kurdish Regional Government, working with the Global Counter Daesh Coalition and Coalition partners. While the UK has not itself provided chemical defence equipment, the Coalition has coordinated the provision of substantial stocks of appropriate personal protection equipment from other Coalition partners to the Kurdish Regional Government that meet the needs of the Peshmerga in this important area.