Tag: 2016

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what annual rent his Department paid at (a) 1 Victoria Street, London and (b) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Joseph Johnson

    We have committed to making changes to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) by 2020 that will result in a more flexible Department, reduced headcount and far fewer delivery bodies.

    Our business needs to be designed in a way that works for this smaller workforce and more streamlined structures.

    To support this direction of travel, we are moving towards seven or so centres by 2020, supported by a regional footprint for those whose work needs to be at a local level.

    We want each of these centres to focus on a key business activity so that we can bring the relevant expertise together.

    We are proposing that one of these centres will be a combined BIS headquarters and policy centre in London, close to our Ministers.

    The average cost of floor space at each of the Department’s offices is:

    a) £483.64 per sqm at St Paul’s Place

    b) £686.20 per sqm at 1 Victoria Street

    The annual rent paid by BIS over the last 5 years is:

    Year

    (a) 1 Victoria Street

    (b) St Paul’s Place

    2015-16

    £11,004,000

    £209,304

    2014-15

    £11,004,000

    £209,304

    2013-14

    £11,004,000

    £209,304

    2012-13

    £11,004,000

    £209,304

    2011-12

    £11,004,000

    £209,304

    By the end of this reform programme in 2020, we will have fewer employees in London and BIS as a whole, and aim to save £350million in operating expenditure overall. The vast majority of employees within the BIS Group will continue to be based outside London.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of businesses that have registered for (a) VAT and (b) PAYE in each region and nation of the UK between 2010 and 2014.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Office for National Statistics publishes a breakdown of the number of businesses registered for VAT and/or PAYE by region:

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusinessactivitysizeandlocation/2015-10-06#business-counts-by-uk-region

    Previous releases of this publication including data from 2010 onwards can be found here:

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusinessactivitysizeandlocation/previousReleases

    “

  • Kelly Tolhurst – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kelly Tolhurst – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelly Tolhurst on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the practical implications of schools having their own admissions criteria under a fully-academised system; and how local authorities will manage that situation.

    Nick Gibb

    The schools white paper, ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’, sets out the Government’s aim that every school should become an academy. In this context, it also sets out our intention to seek views on a number of changes to the admissions system to support parents in understanding how to get a place at their local schools.

    As part of this, we will seek views on requiring the Local Authority to take on greater responsibility for certain admissions functions – in particular, co-ordinating in-year admissions and handling the administration of the independent appeal panels for all schools (including academies) in their area. These changes will make the system clearer and simpler for parents to navigate.

    Any parent who has concerns regarding an individual school’s admission arrangements will continue to be able to refer an objection to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator. We intend to streamline the functions of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator so that objections to admission arrangements are resolved more quickly.

    The white paper is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/educational-excellence-everywhere.

    “

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of aircraft in the Voyager surge fleet has been used by the Royal Air Force in each month since the first aircraft of that fleet was delivered.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Voyager surge aircraft are owned by AirTanker Services Ltd and leased to civil airlines. No Voyager surge aircraft have been recalled to the military aircraft register for use by the Royal Air Force’s Voyager Squadrons. However, there have been seven occasions when Civilian registered Voyager surge aircraft have been chartered for individual tasks to transport troops.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mental health support is provided in schools to assist pupils with (a) self-harm and (b) body image related issues.

    Edward Timpson

    Good mental health and wellbeing is a priority for this Department. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to fulfil their potential both academically and in terms of their mental wellbeing.

    Schools should take prompt action to deal with cases of self- harm. The Department has taken a range of actions to help schools build a school-wide approach to good mental wellbeing. We have funded guidance and age-appropriate lesson plans on teaching mental health in personal, social, health and economic education, which covers teaching about self-harm and body image. In addition, training for teachers on self-harm is available through MindEd, a free online portal that has been developed to enable all adults working with children and young people to learn more about specific mental health problems and how to support them. We have also revised and updated our blueprint for effective school-based counselling.

    However, teachers are not mental health specialists. We have contributed to a £3 million joint pilot between schools and children and young people’s mental health services to help schools access specialist support for their pupils, where needed.

  • James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cleverly on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received since 2015 on the suitability of Baroness Scotland of Asthal for the role of Commonwealth Secretary-General.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Commonwealth leaders elected Baroness Scotland to be the Commonwealth Secretary-General from a field of candidates at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in November 2015. She has made a strong start as Secretary-General, bringing vision, dynamism and new energy for reform. We are pleased that on taking office she immediately instigated a review of the Secretariat. We strongly support her efforts to make the Secretariat lean, effective and aligned to deliver where the Commonwealth adds real value. My noble Friend, the Rt Hon. the Baroness Anelay of St Johns, Minister for the Commonwealth, has met a number of London-based Commonwealth High Commissioners, many of whom are supportive of the Secretary-General and her reform agenda. Leading institutional reform is challenging, but it is vital to ensure the Commonwealth delivers value for money, operates effectively and remains fit for purpose.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department plans to monitor progress against the targets in its Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s Framework for Sexual Health Promotion in England (2013) sets out our ambitions and objectives to improve sexual health for all people. It takes account of the commissioning arrangements from 2013 including the new role for local authorities (LAs) as commissioners of most sexual health services. Later this month Public Health England (PHE) will undertake a survey of local commissioning arrangements for sexual health. It has also produced sexual health and reproductive health profiles to help LAs and others monitor the sexual and reproductive health of their populations and the performance of local public health related systems.

    It is for LAs to decide on what research and evidence they need to inform their tenders for sexual health and reproductive health services in line with procurement requirements and good practice. In 2014 PHE published Making it Work, a guide to commissioning for sexual health across the whole system, to improve the sexual health of both individuals and the wider public.

    We have made no formal assessment of the effect on sexual health services of reductions in the Public Health Grant to LAs for 2015/16, although PHE continues to monitor relevant outcomes data for every LA in England. Decisions on local public health spending are a matter for LAs. They are mandated by legislation to commission open access sexual health services that meet the needs of their local population. Officials meet regularly with sexual health organisations who would raise any concerns if LAs were not meeting their mandatory requirements for sexual health services.

    The Framework for Sexual Health Improvement includes as a priority reducing unwanted pregnancies and highlights the need to increase access to long acting reversible contraception (LARC) methods and emergency contraception for women of all ages. We have no plans to evaluate the effect on general practitioner surgeries of LA commissioning of LARCs.

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the overall size of the under-10 metres fishing fleet in (a) England, (b) the South West of England and (c) Devon.

    George Eustice

    The Department publishes details on the structure of the UK fishing fleet, including vessels of 10 metres and under, annually in the UK Sea Fisheries Statistics. Data on the change in number of vessels and engine size from 2010 to 2014 is shown in the table below.

    England

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    No. of Vessels

    2569

    2573

    2562

    2602

    2573

    Engine power (kW)

    141524

    141164

    141855

    144863

    144045

    South West*

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    No. of Vessels

    982

    994

    982

    1004

    1002

    Engine power (kW)

    49914

    49925

    49262

    51073

    51256

    Devon**

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    No. of Vessels

    438

    447

    446

    473

    465

    Engine power (kW)

    27836

    27835

    27854

    29651

    29289

    *using the administration ports of Brixham, Newlyn and Plymouth

    **using the administration ports of Brixham and Plymouth

  • Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Mactaggart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training front line officers will receive to ensure they record all forms of religiously motivated hate crime.

    Karen Bradley

    The police have made great strides in responding to hate crime in recent years. New hate crime guidance, which includes information on dealing with and recording all forms of hate crime was issued to all police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the College of Policing in May 2014.

    The Government is working closely with the police on the development of the new requirement to record data on religiously motivated hate crime by faith. The National Policing Lead for hate crime will provide guidance and support to forces to ensure there is consistent data collection for religious hate crimes from 1 April this year.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will offer tax relief on home insurance payments for occupants of council housing.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government’s preferred policy is to take people out of tax through higher personal allowances, and to lower tax rates when it is affordable to do so.

    The Government has already pledged to raise the personal allowance to £12,500 by the end of this parliament.