The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to extend central government funding for Age UK Wirral beyond April 2016.
Mr Rob Wilson
As far as we have been able to ascertain Age UK Wirral has not received direct funding from central government during the financial year 2015/16.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Attorney General, if he will publish an estimate of the costs attributed to the Department for Education in cases relating to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by the former Treasury Solicitor’s Department in each year since 2010.
Robert Buckland
The Treasury Solicitor’s Department was renamed the Government Legal Department (GLD) on 1 April 2015. It is primarily funded through the fees it charges for its legal services. It provides Litigation, Employment, Commercial and Advisory legal services to the Department for Education (DfE). The fees charged to DfE for this work, including the cost of disbursements, are as follows:
|
Financial year |
Fees (excluding VAT) £ |
|
2010-11 |
4,208,845 |
|
2011-12 |
4,499,546 |
|
2012-13 |
4,805,840 |
|
2013-14 |
4,409,976 |
|
2014-15 |
4,098,629 |
Providing information on the costs attributed to cases relating to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 would incur disproportionate cost as it would involve a manual exercise to identify those historical cases that relate to FOI.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse of the Defence Assistance Fund was in 2014-15.
Michael Fallon
The cost of the Defence Assistance Fund in financial year 2014-15 was £15.529 million.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of co-mingled recycling collection in the light of the recycling target of 50 per cent of municipal waste by 2020.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Local authorities are best placed to determine local collection arrangements. From January 2015, under the Waste (England and Wales) (amendment) Regulations 2012, waste collection authorities were required to collect separately paper, plastic, glass and metals unless it is not necessary in order to provide high quality recyclates or its not technologically, environmentally or economically practicable to do so.
As part of a wider study by WRAP to assess the factors influencing the recycling performance of local authorities it was concluded that very little certainty could be applied in establishing a difference in recycling performance between dry scheme types where schemes were collecting the same set of dry recyclable materials. This analysis considered data reported by local authorities for the year 2012/13 and the report is available on WRAP’s website.
With input from WRAP, Defra has considered a number of options for achieving higher recycling rates and this work has assumed a range of collection approaches as reflected by current practice. The work being taken forward to identify opportunities for greater consistency in recycling collections provides a further opportunity to consider the effectiveness of collection options in terms of contribution to national recycling rate, quality of material collected and cost effectiveness. This work will be reported on later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received from academics and health experts on the health benefits and disadvantages of vaping.
Jane Ellison
The Department engages with a wide range of interested parties with views on e-cigarettes and vaping. The Department will continue to listen to all parties to inform our decisions as well as drawing on the reports such E-cigarettes – an evidence update published by Public Health England in 2015.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 May 2016 on BIS consultation, HCWS30, whether his Department considered alternative solutions to closure of his Department’s Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place to address the strain on organisational effectiveness caused by split-site working.
Joseph Johnson
During the consultation period the Executive Board listened to views from staff, unions, as well as local stakeholders about the Combined Policy Headquarters model. It considered various alternatives, including options which maintained split site working in different ways, before coming to its final conclusion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to review the Government’s commitments on the number of refugees to be granted access to the UK at the UN General Assembly Summit on Refugees and Migrants in September 2016.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government has no plans to introduce additional pathways for refugees to come to the UK. The UK is already a leading resettlement state, offering a number of safe and legal pathways for refugees. In the year ending June 2016, a total of 3,439 people were resettled in the UK.
In addition to the 20,000 Syrian refugees and up to 3,000 vulnerable persons from the Middle East and North Africa region that the Government has committed to resettle by 2020, the UK has also committed to relocate unaccompanied refugee children from France, Greece and Italy. Under the family reunion policy we have reunited around 22,000 refugees with their immediate family over the past five years and will continue to do so. The Government supports the principle that those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. This allows vulnerable persons to receive help quickly rather than risking their lives on hazardous journeys into and across Europe or falling victim to criminal gangs who are exploiting the situation. Providing humanitarian aid in the region is the best way to provide much needed support to the majority of those fleeing persecution while working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to resettle the most vulnerable who cannot reasonably remain.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts and officials in the Irish government and the Northern Ireland Executive on trade and export opportunities in (a) Northern Europe, (b) the US and (c) Asia Pacific countries.
Greg Hands
On 1st August 2016, my Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade held meetings in Belfast with Northern Ireland Executive First Minister Arlene Foster MLA and Minister for the Economy Simon Hamilton MLA. A range of topics were discussed including growing exports for Northern Ireland and establishing new UK trading relationships around the globe. During these constructive discussions he underlined the importance that he places on the Department for International Trade serving the whole of the United Kingdom.
The Department for International Trade continues to engage with Republic of Ireland officials, collaborating on trade and exports including most recently at the meeting of UK Permanent Secretaries with their Republic of Ireland Counterparts in London on 7 October.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-04.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make business expenditure on resource and energy efficiency measures tax deductible.
Damian Hinds
The government already provides support for businesses who want to invest to become more energy efficient. The annual investment allowance (AIA) lets businesses deduct up to a total of £200,000 of their investment in plant and machinery from annual profits before tax.
In addition, enhanced capital allowances (ECAs) let businesses that invest in certain energy-saving equipment write off the total cost of the equipment against their taxable profit as a 100% first-year capital allowance.
A review into the business energy efficiency tax landscape concluded in November. The government is considering all responses submitted to this consultation and is likely to publish its formal response at Budget 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-01-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of mechanisms by which a disabled student can challenge a failure to make reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010 by a higher education institution.
Joseph Johnson
Higher Education Institutions have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled students and to monitor their compliance with their Equality Act duties. The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 require institutions to publish information as to their compliance with the general public sector equality duty.
In those cases where a student is dissatisfied with the response from their higher education institution and have completed the institution’s formal complaints procedures, they can take their complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) for Higher Education. The OIA is independent of Government and publishes an annual report setting out its performance in handling unresolved student complaints. In providing remedies, the OIA aims to return students to the position they were in before their complaint. In appropriate circumstances this can include financial payments.