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Tag: 2016

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department’s financial contribution is to Transport for London related to its decision to raise the cost of regulated rail fares in London by the rate of the Retail Price Index.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The 2015 Spending Review settlement confirmed that the Government will be providing around £11 billion of support to Transport for London (TfL) over the period from 2015/16 to 2020/21. In determining the overall amount of support for TfL, my Department and HM Treasury took into account a wide range of factors, including TfL’s likely income from rail fares.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK (a) military and (b) civilian personnel have been deployed on UN peacekeeping operations in each of the last six years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The tables below show the numbers of military and civilian personnel the UK has deployed to UN mandated peacekeeping and special political missions in the last six years, as at 26 February 2016:

    Military Personnel

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    UNFICYP (Cyprus)

    271

    273

    270

    274

    274

    274

    MINUSMA (Mali)

    1

    2

    2

    2

    UNMISS (South Sudan)

    3

    2

    4

    3

    3

    MONUSCO (Democratic Republic of Congo)

    5

    4

    5

    5

    5

    5

    UNSOM (Somalia)

    2

    2

    UNSMIL (Libya/Tunisia)

    1

    1

    TOTAL

    276

    280

    278

    285

    287

    287

    Civilian Personnel

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    MONUSCO

    1

    1

    1

    1

    1

    UNMISS

    4

    4

    2

    UNSMIL

    1

    1

    MINUSTAH (Haiti)

    3

    3

    3

    UNMIL (Liberia)

    1

    1

    TOTAL

    1

    1

    1

    8

    10

    7

    The civilian figures represent deployments from the Stabilisation Unit; other Government Departments also deploy civilians on UN Peacekeeping missions.

    The figures do not include deployments to UN Agencies.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wayne David on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions his Department has had with the utility companies on contributions to the cost of Energy Performance Certificates.

    James Wharton

    This Department has not had any discussions with utility companies about contributing to the cost of Energy Performance Certificates.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by which body he plans that the Construction Commissioner for High Speed 2 will be paid; and to whom it is planned that that Commission will report.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Terms of reference for the Construction Commissioner will be agreed by an independent steering group following Royal Assent. The group will monitor performance and review funding arrangements. An interim commissioner will be appointed this summer and the role will initially be paid for by HS2 Ltd.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what level of funding was allocated to Department for Transport Incident Support Units serving the M56 between junctions 12 and 14 in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

    Andrew Jones

    There is no available data on the historical level of funding allocated specifically to the Incident Support Unit service in the geographical operational area for trunk roads motorways in the North West, where the M56 Motorway is located.

    This Incident Support Unit was provided to Highways England’s predecessor organisation, the Highways Agency, by a contractor until 2012. There was a lump sum payment for various duties and it is not possible to disaggregate the cost of the Incident Support Unit service from the overall payments.

    A new Asset Support Contract replaced the previous approach in November 2012, and this no longer requires the contractor to provide a dedicated Incident Support Unit team. Incident response is now handled by the trained operatives in the general workforce, who are already working on the road network. This has proved to be a more flexible and cost-effective way of managing incidents.

  • 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, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the decline in Short Term Benefit Advance applications in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK between February 2015 and March 2016.

    Damian Hinds

    Short Term Benefit Advances (STBAs) are payments on account of benefit. The majority of STBAs are awarded to people in the period before their benefit is first due to be paid, but STBAs can also be paid where a change of circumstances significantly increases the amount of benefit due. STBAs are predominately paid to people claiming Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance. They are not available to people claiming Universal Credit.

    Between April 2015 and March 2016, there were 218,592 STBA applications in Great Britain as a whole, with monthly variations ranging from 17,188 in September 2015 to 21,529 in February 2016, but with no downward trend at the year end. In Scotland, there were 26,322 applications over the same period, with monthly variations ranging from 1,462 in November 2015 to 3,022 in April 2015, with a clear downward trend at the year end.

    As the roll-out of Universal Credit to all new claimants progresses, we anticipate a corresponding decline in the number of STBA applications.

    The Department for Work and Pensions continues to advertise the availability of STBAs through the gov.uk website, with information posters and leaflets in Jobcentres nationwide.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will ensure that the sex and relationships education curriculum includes (a) LGBT issues and (b) supporting young people’s long-term physical health, mental health and general wellbeing.

    Edward Timpson

    We are clear that as part of schools’ duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, all young people should be provided with a curriculum that prepares them for success in adult life. We have made it clear in the introduction to the national curriculum that all schools should make provision for high-quality, age appropriate personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, which includes sex and relationships education (SRE).

    When teaching SRE, all schools, including academies through their funding agreement, must have regard to the Secretary of State’s Sex and Relationship Education guidance. The guidance sets out that young people, whatever their developing sexuality, need to feel that their school’s SRE is relevant to them and sensitive to their needs, and that teachers should be able to deal honestly and sensitively with sexual orientation, answer appropriate questions and offer support. Schools are also bound by the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty 2011, to ensure that teaching is accessible to all children and young people, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

    When delivering PSHE, schools and teachers have the freedom to design lessons that meet their pupils’ needs, taking account of pupil and parent views. PSHE lessons can provide knowledge to support young people’s long-term physical health, mental health and general wellbeing.

    Teachers are encouraged to develop their practice with the support of specialist organisations and expert professionals. Many of these specialist organisations have produced resources, including the issues you identify, which can be used and adapted by schools.

    As the Secretary of State said at the Education Select Committee hearing in September 2016, we need to look again at how schools deliver high quality PSHE including SRE. We are considering all the options and will come to a view soon.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 16005, on malnutrition, how the Government plans to measure progress on its commitment to nutrition for 50 million people by 2020.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The approach to measuring the commitment to improve the nutrition of 50 million people by 2020 is currently being finalised as part of the DFID aid review. Full details of the methodology for measuring these results will be published once this is completed.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has, when removing housing benefit entitlement from young people, to protect the entitlement of those who are (a) leaving care, (b) pregnant, or (c) have dependent children.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Removal of automatic housing support for 18 – 21 year olds, announced in the Summer Budget 2015, will be introduced in April 2017. The Department is liaising with a range of key stakeholders as we develop the detail of the policy, and once this work is complete we will bring forward detailed proposals.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 25590, whether his Department has received a request from the Kurdistan Regional Government for replacement ammunition rounds for British-gifted heavy machine guns; and if he will make a statement.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Kurdish Regional Government has made a number of recent requests to Her Majesty’s Government for further assistance, including for ammunition. These requests are currently under consideration and as set out in my Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 25590. Should a decision be taken that we can provide further assistance, this would be notified to Parliament in the normal way.