Tag: 2016

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) introducing a Standardised Means Test for Residence Order Payments and (b) making the use of such a test a statutory requirement for local authorities.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities have the legal responsibility for deciding what financial support should be provided to families supporting children under a Child Arrangements Order (previously known as a residence order). We do not propose to introduce a national standardised means test for Child Arrangements Order allowances.

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much her Department spent on agency workers in financial year 2015-16; and how much was paid to each agency used in that year.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department is in the process of finalising its Annual Report and Accounts – the information on total spend on agency worker will be available in public domain in July 2016.

    Information on cash amounts paid to agencies over £500 is available through the Department’s transparency reporting at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-of-energy-climate-change&publication_type=transparency-data.

    “

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS mental health trusts have been rated by the Care Quality Commission as (a) inadequate and (b) requiring improvement since the new rating system was introduced in April 2015.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Care Quality Commission has rated 28 National Health Service mental health trusts as ‘Requires Improvement’ and one NHS mental health trust as ‘Inadequate’ under the new rating system.

  • Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Empey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have supplied any anti-aircraft weapons to rebel forces fighting in Syria.

    Earl Howe

    The UK participated in the original US-led ‘Train and Equip’ programme for vetted Syrian opposition forces fighting Daesh in 2015. The Ministry of Defence announced on 25 October 2016, that up to 20 UK personnel will be deploying to locations in the region, but outside Syria, to contribute to the refined and restarted programme. Their role will be to train selected members of vetted moderate Syrian opposition groups in the skills they need to continue to take the fight to Daesh. The UK is not participating in the "Equip" element of this programme.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support the mental welfare of officers in the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.

    Mike Penning

    The responsibility for ensuring the health and safety of firefighters rests with individual fire and rescue authorities. The Chief Fire Officers’ Association supports them in this work through its lead on fire and rescue service occupational health matters.

    The Government announced in October last year the allocation of nearly £10 million to help support 200,000 emergency services personnel and volunteers, funded through LIBOR fines. Of this funding up to £4 million was allocated to mental health charity MIND to develop a programme of targeted mental health support and information for all emergency services personnel across England. The programme includes an anti-stigma campaign, a confidential advice line for emergency service staff, training for leaders and line managers, peer learning events and resources to promote better mental health in the work place.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated reduction in the number of local authority right-to-buy applications annually as a result of the introduction of fixed-term tenancies.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Right to Buy will continue to apply to new fixed-term tenancies as it already does to flexible tenancies. Tenants will still be able to fulfil their aspirations of owning their own home.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made on the formation of the cross-ministerial working group on illicit trade.

    Damian Hinds

    I remain committed to sponsoring work across government to tackle illicit tobacco. This requires a full understanding of cross-government policy on tobacco, tobacco control and efforts to tackle illicit tobacco. This is a complex picture and I have asked officials in HMRC to work with other departments to ensure that we have this context to identify the challenges and opportunities in the UK and internationally and determine a clear agenda for ministerial action. This work is continuing.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of assessment reports conducted by contractors for Scottish claimants of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments were returned by his Department as not being of a sufficient standard to enable a decision to be made in each of the last four quarters for which information is available.

    Priti Patel

    In each of the last four quarters for which information is available, less than 0.1% of all Employment and Support Allowance and less than 0.1% of all Personal Independent Payment assessment reports completed in Scotland have been returned to the provider for rework, meaning that the report has been deemed not fit for purpose by the Department.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions she has had with her Japanese counterpart on the involvement of Japanese companies in new nuclear power projects in the UK.

    Andrea Leadsom

    I have just returned from Japan where I met Japanese counterparts during the G7 Energy Ministerial for positive discussions on energy matters including nuclear.

    Senior officials also have regular dialogue with Japanese counterparts including in relation to the proposed new nuclear power stations at Wylfa and Moorside, which are led by Japanese companies.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2016 to Question 39000, how many of the eight people convicted as a result of Operation Pallial investigations had previous convictions for sexual offences.

    Karen Bradley

    The National Crime Agency, leading Operation Pallial, has informed us that all interviews they have conducted have been under Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) guidelines and, where the need for appropriate adult or other support is identified, this has been provided. It is not possible to provide figures on the number of interviews conducted where a social worker has been present as this information is not held centrally.

    Three people convicted as a result of Operation Pallial have previous convictions for sexual offences.