The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of how many households affected by Pay to Stay will receive funds from Right to Buy.
Gavin Barwell
The Government believes that, as a matter of fairness, tenants on higher incomes should contribute a fairer level of rent. This might lead to more tenants exercising their Right to Buy, but the two policies are not linked.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-01-08.
To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, which Anglican churches within the Diocese of Blackburn were damaged by flooding in December 2015; and what the extent of damage to each such church was.
Mrs Caroline Spelman
Within the Diocese of Blackburn seven churches and churchyards, the diocesan retreat house at Whalley Abbey and three Church of England primary schools were damaged by floodwater. Many have also found that the boilers and heating systems have been damaged beyond repair and extensive programmes of works will need to be undertaken to both dry the buildings out and restore or replace furniture, carpets and school materials.
Reports of damage are still being registered across the Dioceses of Blackburn, Carlisle, Manchester, West Yorkshire and the Dales and York. To date 129 church properties have registered substantial damage from the December storms with our insurers, though I expect that figure to rise. The Cathedral and Church Buildings Council of the Church of England will be working with the dioceses to develop robust disaster management and recovery plans and flood adaptation measures for churches and other buildings.
Within the Blackburn Diocese
|
Parish Name / building |
Grade or * listing / Status |
Type of damage |
|
St Michael’s on Wyre |
Grade 1 |
Water damage and damage to the boiler |
|
St Michael’s, Much Hoole |
Grade 2* |
Water damage and damage to the boiler |
|
St Mary the Virgin, Eccleston |
Grade 2* |
Water damage |
|
St Michael & All Angels, Croston |
Grade 2* |
Severe water damage |
|
St John the Evangelist, Lancaster (Incare of Churches Conservation Trust) |
Grade 2* |
Severe water damage |
|
St John the Baptist, Tunstall |
Grade 1 |
Damage to the boiler |
|
St Wilfrid’s, Ribchester |
Grade 1 |
Damage to the graveyard and loss of many burials and monuments |
|
Whalley Abbey |
Grade 1 and Scheduled Ancient Monument |
Major water damage to the Abbey building |
|
Kirkland & Catterall St. Helen’s CofE School |
Primary School |
Severe water damage |
|
St. Michael’s on Wyre C of E School |
Primary School |
Major water damage |
|
Whalley CofE School |
Primary School |
Basement flooded and water damage |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-01-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what independent research is being carried out on the availability and affordability of flood insurance for small businesses in flood affected areas.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We have recently published a report, carried out on our behalf by Ipsos MORI that considers the availability of flood insurance for small businesses in areas of high flood risk.
The study found that uptake of insurance in small and medium sized businesses is high, with 95% of businesses having commercial insurance cover and only 2.5% reporting any difficulties in accessing insurance.
The report is available on-line on the science and research section of Defra’s website, under the heading “Affordability and Availability of Flood Insurance – FD2688”.
We continue to keep this important issue under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to promote collaboration between farmers by setting up producer organisations in the dairy sector.
George Eustice
Collaboration is a powerful way for groups of farmers to share knowledge and expertise, market information and good farming practice, exercise joint purchasing power and strengthen their negotiating position within the supply chain.
We have put in place the legal framework that allows dairy producer organisations (DPOs) to form and provided some initial funding through the launch of the £5m Dairy Fund in 2013. The first domestic DPO, Dairy Crest Direct, was formally recognised by the Rural Payments Agency in May 2015, bringing together 1,050 dairy farmers across England and Wales.
In 2015, AHDB Llaeth/Dairy commissioned Promar International to carry out a study into ‘The Feasibility of a Dairy Producer Organisation in Wales’ on behalf of a group of Welsh dairy farmers. A report is available at: http://dairy.ahdb.org.uk/resources-library/market-information/adhoc-reports/the-feasibility-of-a-dairy-producer-organisation-in-wales-report/
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) DESMOND and (b) DAFNE programmes, in which areas, are provided by clinical commissioning groups in England.
Jane Ellison
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-04-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the decision by the First-Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) in Gabriel Webber v the Information Commissioner (EA/2015/0194) on 22 March, whether they will now release claims made, with supporting receipts, of public duty costs allowances paid to former Prime Ministers, and if so, when.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The Public Duties Cost Allowance (PDCA) was introduced to assist former Prime Ministers, still active in public life, with the costs of continuing to fulfil public duties. The PDCA is set in line with the annual Parliamentary Staffing Allowance allocated to Members of Parliament as determined by IPSA. In addition, former Prime Ministers are entitled to claim a pension allowance to contribute towards the pension costs of their staff. This is limited to a maximum of 10% of their staff salary costs.
The Government is currently considering the decision of the First-Tier Tribunal.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many projects related to freedom of religion of belief are being funded by the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Lidington
The Government places great importance on defending freedom of religion or belief globally. The Magna Carta Fund is one of the tools we use to pursue this goal. The allocations for 2016-2017 are still being finalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many times his Department has used the services of (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what (i) work was undertaken and (ii) the cost to the public purse was on each such occasion.
Joseph Johnson
The information requested for this PQ is publicly available. Since BEIS has recently been created through a machinery of government change the data is available through separate weblinks.
The ex-DECC link is: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/departmental-spend-over-500. This contains all monthly transactions in excess of £500.
The ex-BIS link is: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bis-spending-totals. This contains all monthly transactions in excess of £500.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what international visits (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have made since July 2016; and what the purpose of each such visit was.
Caroline Dinenage
Details of ministerial international travel, including the purpose of the travel, are published in the Quarterly Returns on GOV.UK. Information about international travel that has taken place since July 2016 will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people of each gender work in her Department.
George Eustice
Defra will publish the latest annual workforce monitoring report in January 2016. The report examines the diversity of Defra’s workforce and provides evidence of how we achieve our aim of offering real equality of opportunity to all our employees.
The data from this report has been used to create the table below to highlight gender breakdown by headcount. Table 1 shows staff in post as at 31 March 2015 in Defra and its Executive Agencies. Employees on maternity leave and secondment are included in this analysis if they are on the core or agency payroll.
Table 1
|
Headcount |
Workforce monitoring report |
Gender (male) |
Gender (female) |
|
Defra |
2,086 |
1,064 |
1,022 |
|
APHA |
2,359 |
991 |
1,368 |
|
Cefas |
545 |
311 |
234 |
|
RPA |
2,134 |
982 |
1,152 |
|
VMD |
158 |
65 |
93 |
|
Defra and its Agencies |
7,282 |
3,413 |
3,869 |
The report referred to can be found on the Gov.UK website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs/about/equality-and-diversity
“