Tag: 2016

  • Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 8 February (HL5631), what measures they are taking to address the shortfall of personnel in (1) the regular, and (2) the reserve, battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

    Earl Howe

    The Army continues to offer exciting opportunities to young people. Over 7,800 new recruits joined the regular Army in financial year 2014-15 with intake increasing during financial year 2015-16, up to 29 February 2016 7,260 have joined the army of which, 175 Regulars and 140 Reserves have joined the Battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

    There are two national recruitment campaigns currently running. The Army’s ‘A Better You’ for soldiers continues throughout 2016. After a principal focus on Regulars between June and March there will be a special emphasis on reserve-specific recruiting in April to June, September to October and January to February 2017. ‘A Better You’ will continue through the year with the reserve message forming an important aspect of the overarching campaign.

    The Army’s current officer recruiting campaign, ‘With Heart. With Mind’, is aimed at attracting potential officer candidates into regular and reserve service. ‘With Heart. With Mind’ will have a specific emphasis on reserve officers during the period of March to July 2016, and again in November.

    The national campaigns continue to be supported by regional level efforts. During financial year 2015-16 there were over 2,000 community engagement events in Scotland and nearly 300 targeted recruitment events.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will join the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The UK has joined the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition as a government partner.

    The UK supports carbon pricing and carbon markets as a means of driving cost effective decarbonisation to help reach the long-term goal agreed in Paris: to keep global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees and make efforts to deliver 1.5 degrees.

  • Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that there is a formal mechanism for Colombian civil society involvement in the decision-making process for allocation of the EU Trust Fund for the implementation of the peace agreement in Colombia.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The EU Trust Fund will become established following formal signature of a peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). Civil society can play a key role in successful implementation of a Colombian peace deal. In discussions with the EU institutions, the UK has repeatedly encouraged inclusion of civil society organisations in the EU Trust Fund draft strategy, and continues to promote civil society involvement in delivering the Trust Fund priorities once the fund is operational. Through meetings in Bogota, the EU has set in place a consultation mechanism for civil society organisations. The first formal consultation with NGOs took place on 28 June.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department has spent on overnight hotel accommodation since it was created.

    Mr Robin Walker

    The Government publishes the relevant information on the costs of Ministerial and senior official hotel accommodation, as well as other expenses incurred on overseas trips, on a quarterly basis. Wherever possible Ministers and officials use overnight accommodation in UK Permanent Representations and Embassies to reduce the costs of travel abroad.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons have been deployed to (a) Libya, (b) Kenya and (c) Somalia in the last three years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    UK Reapers are currently operational in Iraq and Syria. No UK Reapers have been deployed to Libya, and no personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons have been deployed to Libya, Kenya or Somalia in the last three years.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The information requested is already in the public domain. The Office for National Statistics publishes average salary information for each Civil Service Department by gender, and by working pattern. These figures are published as an annual salary.

    The Civil Service statistics can be found at:

    http://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any temporal or other limitations have been placed on his authorisation of the use by the US of RAF Lakenheath as a base for carrying out airstrikes in Libya.

    Michael Fallon

    My authorisation for the US to use UK bases to launch the airstrike against a Daesh training camp in Libya on 19 February 2016 was granted for that specific operation and for a limited period of time.

  • Lord Dobbs – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    Lord Dobbs – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dobbs on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Leader of the House, further to her Written Answer on 16 November 2015 (HL3174), what percentage of House of Lords divisions resulted in Government defeats in (1) the 1997–2001 Parliament, and (2) the current Parliament.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    The rate of defeats in the present Parliament is more than twice that of the 1997-2001 Parliament: the Government were defeated in 22% of divisions in that Parliament, compared to 49% in the present one (up to Thursday 21 April). These figures are based on statistics compiled by the Journal Office.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total length is of tunnels for each specific diameter being constructed by the London Power Tunnels Project; and what length of each such type of tunnel has been constructed to date.

    Andrea Leadsom

    National Grid has said that:

    The total length of the tunnels is 32km and tunnelling was completed in March 2015.

    19.6km of the network was constructed using a 3m internal diameter tunnel boring

    machine

    • Willesden to St John’s Wood 3m diameter tunnel – 7.4km

    • Wimbledon to Kensal Green 3m diameter tunnel – 12.2km.

      12.4km of the network was built using a 4m internal diameter tunnel boring machine

      – St John’s Wood to Hackney 4m diameter tunnel.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will take steps to investigate reports that asylum seekers have been mistreated and housed in substandard accommodation in Glasgow.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office contract compliance teams regularly check supplier performance, including investigating complaints and incident reporting.

    We have worked closely with our COMPASS Providers, including Serco, to improve property standards and over the lifetime of the contract, quality standards have increased.

    Where a contractor is found to be falling short of these standards, we work with them to ensure issues are quickly addressed. When they are not we can and do impose sanctions.

    Where there are allegations of asylum seekers being mistreated or their accommodation being substandard, I would encourage anyone to notify the Home Office so we can investigate and resolve any issues.