Tag: 2016

  • Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moynihan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Cabinet Office Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Cabinet Committee last met; what is its membership; what is the budget of the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Unit; and what has been the tangible output of its work in delivering a sports legacy from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games since 2012.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Government and its Arm’s Length Bodies have helped deliver a strong sporting legacy from London 2012, including 1.65 million more people playing sport regularly than when London won the bid for the Games back in 2005; over £1 billion over 4 years invested in youth and community sport; £150 million a year for primary school sport in the 2013-14 academic year and the following two years; and a 13% increase in funding for elite sport for the four years leading to Rio 2016.

    The Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Cabinet Committee met during the last parliament and was not reconstituted in this parliament. Its membership covered a wide variety of government departments, reflecting the breadth of the government and Mayor of London’s legacy plans. The responsibilities and the budget of the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Unit now fall within the DCMS sport team.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to ensure that the next East Anglia franchise provides more frequent train services to Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze.

    Claire Perry

    We have already set out the minimum levels of service in the invitation to tender for East Anglia and where bidders see there is an opportunity to offer more than those, they can do so. That tends to be based on whether there is a commercial case for improving services further.

  • Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department takes to ensure that (a) her Department and (b) agencies and other bodies of her Department follow statutory policy, guidance and legislation relating to the safeguarding of young people from child sexual exploitation.

    Karen Bradley

    Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a horrendous crime and safeguarding young people from it must be a shared effort. The Home Office leads on the cross-Government response to this crime. This is a top priority for the Department.

    The Home Secretary’s guidance to officials carrying out immigration, asylum and nationality functions is that they must always make a referral to a statutory agency responsible for child protection or child welfare such as the police, the Health Service, or the Children’s Department of a Local Authority, in circumstances that dictate such action is required, such as when there is a potential indicator of harm or when a child is a potential victim of trafficking.

    Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 places a duty on UK Visas and Immigration and Border Force to take account of the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in discharging its functions.

    The Home Office expects all of its Arm’s Length Bodies and agencies to follow statutory, and non-statutory, requirements for safeguarding young people.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that regular updates of the list of Tier 4 visa sponsors are published when sponsors are found not to be compliant with government requirements.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The register of licensed Tier 4 sponsors is published daily and will continue to be. Sponsors that lose their licence as a result of non-compliance are removed from the published list of sponsors.

    No information is routinely published regarding sponsors found not to be compliant. In January 2015 data was published showing Tier 4 sponsors whose status appeared as revoked from 2010 to 2014. This information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tier-4-sponsors-whose-status-appeared-as-revoked-from-2010-to-2014

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2016 to Question 906599, for what reason that Answer does not refer to unemployment levels.

    Damian Hinds

    The Department has made no assessment of the effect of the National Living Wage on employment levels. However, in 2015 the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that the National Living Wage would have a +0.2 percentage point impact on the unemployment rate by April 2020 – equivalent to around 60,000 people.

    The Government is committed to reducing long-term unemployment and youth unemployment, and the overall unemployment rate is currently at the historically low level of 4.9%. The Government will also continue to consider advice on increases of the National Living Wage from the Low Pay Commission, whose remit it is to make sure that wages rise to reward workers while considering the impact on the economy.

  • Eric Pickles – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Eric Pickles – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eric Pickles on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of the Iranian government on the effect on regional relations of the international competition for cartoons and caricatures on the Holocaust organised by the House of Cartoons, under the auspices of the municipality of Tehran.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Our officials in Tehran have raised our opposition to the proposed Holocaust cartoon competition with their counterparts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications were received for the Trusted Partner Pilot Programme for the purposes of universal credit alternative payment arrangements.

    Priti Patel

    The intention is to deliver 26 Trusted Partner pilot sites. In total we received just over 200 valid applications; 16 landlords have already commenced the pilot and work is in train to confirm the final 10.

    We plan to let key stakeholders know once all landlords have been confirmed.

    Tenants in accommodation such as supported or sheltered housing are not subject to the Alternative Payment Arrangement process.

  • Conor McGinn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Conor McGinn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many women have died (a) in pregnancy and (b) during childbirth in (i) St Helens, (ii) St Helens North constituency, (iii) Merseyside and (iv) the North West in each year since 2010.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the levels of pollution in (1) drinking water, (2) river water, and (3) coastal waters, caused by chemicals used in medications which are resistant to present purification techniques

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) published research in 2012 to assess the levels of pollution caused by a range of pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs found in source waters, such as rivers, abstracted for drinking water and the comparative levels after water treatment. Over a year, substances were measured at four sites. Results agreed with similar studies and concentrations in English surface waters are generally low and below 1 microgramme per litre (1 μg/L). Levels of pharmaceuticals and drugs in drinking waters after treatment were generally significantly lower than those found in surface waters. This indicates that the drinking water treatment systems used in England and Wales are effective at removing these contaminants. The study concluded that the presence of low levels of pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs in drinking waters in England and Wales do not pose an appreciable risk to human health.

    There is evidence that widely used pharmaceuticals are detected at low concentrations in sewage effluent and receiving surface waters. Due to a lack of good quality toxicity data for many of these substances to assess reliably risks to aquatic wildlife that may be exposed to them, research is underway in the UK, at European level and by the pharmaceutical industry to characterise the risks better. This includes a Chemical Investigations Programme, undertaken by England’s water companies, where significant investment is being made to investigate around 20 substances from 2015-2017. Reported data will improve our understanding of the contamination of surface waters due to these chemicals and information will contribute to assessment of the risk posed to, or via the aquatic environment.

    In addition, the UK is participating in a European monitoring network of surface water sites on a ‘watch list’ of contaminants and pharmaceuticals, including the active ingredient of the contraceptive pill, EE2. The Devolved Administrations are doing something similar. Data will inform the Commission’s selection of future priority substances requiring control, and the chemical status of the EU’s surface waters with respect to these chemicals.

  • 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 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many UK-registered offshore supply vessels have been re-flagged under open registers in each month since January 2015.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Since January 2015, 11 offshore supply vessels have left the UK flag. Out of these 11 vessels, 10 have re-flagged under open registers. One left in January 2015; three in April 2015; two in May 2015; and one in each of June 2015, July 2015, November 2015 and March 2016.