Tag: 2016

  • Earl Attlee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Earl Attlee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Earl Attlee on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the UK competition authorities have made an assessment of the UK market in printer cartridges; and if so, what conclusions were reached.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) carried out a market study in 2001 on consumer IT goods and services, including the printer cartridge market. It noted that consumers may find it difficult to identify which printer manufacturer had the cheapest price overall – this included the upfront price of the printer and the price of cartridges over the life of the machine. The OFT worked with the industry to introduce a labelling scheme which allowed consumers to identify how many pages they could expect to print with a cartridge. This allows consumers to consider both the purchase price and the running costs of the printer.

    The Competition and Markets Authority took over the competition functions of the OFT in 2014.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in his Department.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The cleaning service at HM Treasury is provided by through a service contract, let by the landlord for 1 Horse Guards Road (Exchequer Partnership). HM Treasury does not directly employ cleaners.

    However, the contracted cleaners that work within 1 Horse Guards Road are paid £9.15 per hour which will increase to £9.40 in April 2016.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether an impact assessment has been carried out on the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s Survey and Inspection Transformation Programme.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Guidance from Cabinet Office indicates that there is no requirement to complete a Business Engagement Assessment on this activity.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has had discussions with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on the potential role of that organisation in advising the UN and other institutions on desertification.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK Government maintains a close dialogue with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew on tackling international environmental and conservation issues, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) leading HMG’s relationship with Kew. As a world leading organisation and a holder of the Red List for Plant species, Kew Gardens is already providing valuable information which supports action on desertification, including work by the UN in relation to the Global Goal indicators. Kew Gardens has received funding from the UK government’s Darwin Initiative to improve understanding of the link between conservation and poverty alleviation.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department have applied for special leave to carry out work for non-governmental departments in the last 12 months.

    Matthew Hancock

    The information requested is not held.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to include students from other EU countries in the eligibility criteria for student loans in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 admissions years.

    Joseph Johnson

    The UK has a long-established higher education system that supports, and therefore attracts, the brightest minds, at all stages of their careers. Existing rules on EU and other EEA students remain in force. Future arrangements for EU students wishing to study in the UK will need to be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU.

  • Lord Mawhinney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Mawhinney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawhinney on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their intention to amalgamate local primary care centres into larger units; and if so, when.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    As part of the New Care Models Programme, NHS England is supporting local health and care commissioners and providers to come together to improve the health and care they provide. This includes the development of population-based care models known as integrated Primary and Acute Care Systems and Multispecialty Community Providers (MCPs). Where and how to develop new care models are decisions taken by local partnerships, in response to local conditions. The Programme is not directing or requiring the amalgamation of primary care centres.

    There are 14 MCP vanguards, with a single organisation accountable for joined-up General Practitioner (GP) and community services and some specialist care, mental health services, and social care for a defined population. The building blocks of a MCP are the ‘care hubs’ of integrated teams. Each typically serves a community of around 30,000-50,000 people. These hubs are the practical, operational level of any model of accountable care provision. The wider the scope of services included in the MCP, the more hubs you may need to connect together to create sufficient scale. All 14 MCP vanguards now serve a minimum population of around 100,000.

    The majority of GP practices are already working in practice groups or federations. This provides opportunities to expand services, stabilise practice income and work at scale, which has benefits for patients, practices and the wider system. These include economies of scale, quality improvement, workforce development, enhanced care and new services, resilience and system partnerships.

    A new voluntary MCP contract will be introduced from April 2017, to integrate general practice services with community services and wider healthcare services. Measures from the GP Access Fund and vanguard sites that are currently piloting this approach, will be learned from to support mainstreaming of proven service improvements across all practices, and funding will be provided for local collaborations to support practices to implement new ways of working.

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many HGV drivers were trained at the Defence School of Transport, Leconfield, in the last 12 months; and what the maximum student capacity of that school was in the last year.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The term ‘HGV’ (Heavy Goods Vehicle) is no longer used and has been replaced by ‘LGV’ (Large Goods Vehicle).

    The training year runs from 31 March until 1 April.

    As at 31 December 2015, a total of 1,057 military personnel had been trained as LGV drivers at the Defence School of Transport, Leconfield during this training year. The annual capacity for these courses is 1,303 personnel.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Dunlop on 19 January (HL4894) concerning the Belfast Agreement 1998, what is meant by mutual interest and concern”.”

    Lord Dunlop

    Mutual interest and concern refers to matters that are of shared relevance or importance to the participants in the discussions, in this case the UK and Irish Governments.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) publications, (b) consultation documents and (c) circulars his Department has issued since August 2012; and what the title was of each such publication, consultation document or circular.

    Brandon Lewis

    The answer can be found by using the publicly available filters on GOV.UK:

    The Department has published 2,111 publications. Details, with full titles of each publication, can be viewed at:

    a) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=all&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-for-communities-and-local-government&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=01%2F08%2F2012&to_date=

    The Department has published 189 consultations. Details can be viewed at:

    b) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=consultations&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-for-communities-and-local-government&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=01%2F08%2F2012&to_date=

    The Department has published 44 circulars. Details can be viewed at:

    c) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=circulars&publication_filter_option=all&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-for-communities-and-local-government&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=01%2F08%2F2012&to_date=

    “