Tag: 2016

  • Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Naz Shah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Naz Shah on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of children attending a breakfast club in secondary schools in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) Bradford in last 12 months for which figures are available.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The most recent results of the Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey suggest that in England in 2013, around 591,200 school-aged children under eight attended before school care in a typical term-time week. However, it is not possible to identify within this total the number of children who attended provision in primary and secondary schools separately. In addition, the survey sample sizes do not allow for an estimate for Yorkshire and the Humber, or LA level estimates, nor does it collect information about secondary age children.

    The findings of the Survey can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2013

    “

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) expressions of interest and (b) applications Natural England has received for a badger control licence; and what the timetable for decisions is on applications received.

    George Eustice

    Natural England has received (a) 21 expressions of interest; and (b) 8 applications for badger control licenses. Decisions will be announced before the start of each year’s badger control operations.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the report by the Baha’i International Community published in October 2015 on the economic oppression of Baha’is in Iran; whether they plan to continue to make representations to the government of Iran about that issue and in particular about the return of confiscated properties; and whether they will ensure that the full facts of economic and religious persecution are reflected in guidance to interviewers and others dealing with asylum applications in the UK.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials attended the UK launch of the October 2015 report by the Baha’i International Community on 19 July and delivered a speech highlighting the Government’s concerns over the Iranian government’s actions against the Baha’i community. We share the desire to see Iran fulfil its human rights obligations and cease harassment of all religious minorities. We have repeatedly raised our concerns about the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran with the Iranian government and will continue to do so. The Home Office has responsibility for carefully considering all asylum claims on their individual merits. Published guidance for Home Office staff on interviewing and consideration of asylum claims on religious grounds is regularly reviewed and takes into consideration the views of religious groups and other stakeholders.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with his Ministerial colleagues on encouraging young people in deprived communities to pursue a career in medicine.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    We are increasing the number of medical training places available to students each year. Beginning in September 2018, the Government will fund up to 1,500 additional student places through medical school each year. Students will be able to apply for the extra places from next year in order to take them up from the academic year 2018/19.

    This increase will provide more opportunities for people from all backgrounds to study medicine, and will ensure the National Health Service will continue to have the right workforce to provide safe and effective patient care.

  • Lord Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lucas on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the liability of online marketplaces for unpaid VAT where a business trading in that marketplace evades VAT.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Online marketplaces have no liability for unpaid VAT where the operator merely provides a marketplace for businesses to sell goods. However, HM Revenue and Customs is continuing to work with major online marketplaces to tackle this issue.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) teachers, and (2) Personal, Health and Social Education teachers, currently practising in schools in England, have qualified teacher status.

    Lord Nash

    The latest statistics show that 96 per cent of the headcount of teachers in service in state funded schools in England (as at November 2014) have qualified teacher status.

    Information on the number of teachers teaching Personal, Health and Social Education (PSHE) is only collected for secondary schools in England. Of the estimated 31,000 teachers recorded as teaching PSHE, 96 per cent were recorded as having qualified teacher status.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that applications for passports are processed without delays over the peak summer period.

    James Brokenshire

    Robust operational plans are in place and are reviewed regularly to ensure Her Majesty’s Passport Office is able to process passport applications within the published service standards. The organisation’s workforce and operational plans take account of demand cycles, and contingency measures are in place.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the 4th EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment she has made of which of her Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

    Mr John Hayes

    Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD), which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants. The Government will be setting out its view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

    The changes proposed under 4AMLD must not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Home Office and Treasury regularly raise these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate risk-based approach when applying these measures.

    To that end, following the Adjournment Debate on 20 January 2016 on this issue, along with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury I have recently met representatives of the banking sector to make clear concerns. The banks now clearly understand the importance of this issue and a way forward has been agreed. Should further problems arise we will re-emphasise what we expect.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US and Japanese counterparts about nuclear tests by North Korea.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I raised this issue with US colleagues in Washington last week. The UK condemns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) continued development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. We have regular contact with key partners on this issue, including the US and Japan. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) discussed the issue with his counterparts at the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Hiroshima on 11 April. The G7 issued a joint communiqué [http://www.mofa.go.jp/files/000147440.pdf] which strongly condemned the DPRK’s nuclear tests and called upon the international community to enforce the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions to respond to the clear and continuing threat to international peace and security that is posed by the DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not set a budget for food served in its UK food outlets. Catering services in the UK are provided to staff by an external contractor. Spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts from FCO staff.

    The FCO has worked with its supplier to align the existing contract with the requirements of the Government’s food procurement balanced scorecard.
    By value, approximately 84% of dairy produce, 100% of chicken, 77% of beef, 88% of pork and 91% of other meats is sourced from British producers.

    The amount of other food sourced from British producers for the FCO was 35% in the last period for which figures are available (January to March 2016); this figure relates to the catering contractor’s main supplier only and includes non-indigenous products (eg tea and coffee) and does not include specialist items (eg scampi).