Tag: 2016

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will define what powers the Visit England Board will have over the strategic direction and decisions on the Discover England Fund.

    Tracey Crouch

    The VisitEngland Board will be an advisory body, responsible for advising the executive and board of the British Tourist Authority (BTA) on how best to deliver and monitor English activity, including the Discover England fund. The strategic direction for the Discover England fund will be set out in an England Action Plan. This will be signed off by the Minister for Tourism and will be drafted with advice from the VisitEngland Boardas the Secretary of State’s statutory advisory body on English Tourism, but ultimate accountability for delivery of the plan, and for decisions on the fund, will remain with the Chief Executive and Board of the BTA.

  • Victoria Borwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Victoria Borwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Victoria Borwick on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to help maintain access to local GPs for people in Central London.

    Alistair Burt

    This is a matter for NHS England.

    Where a single-handed general practitioner (GP) retires, it is the responsibility of NHS England to ensure the patients of that practice have continued access to National Health Service primary medical services.

    When a single-handed GP retires an assessment is made on a case by case basis taking into account a range of factors including the demographic profile of patients, alternative local GP capacity and quality, and, patient and stakeholder engagement. This assessment informs the decision as to whether to procure a new service provider or to facilitate patients to register with alternative local GPs.

    In terms of future planning NHS England and London Clinical Commissioning Groups are aware of the ages of GPs which may be an indication of future retirements, however, there is no set age for retirement. Capacity planning is constantly under review and considers both potential retirement as well as other factors such as population growth, premises and range of services to be provided which then informs commissioning strategy.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will provide additional financial support to providers in the care industry to support such providers affected by the introduction of the living wage; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    Local authorities are responsible for commissioning adult social care services. Fee levels are agreed by local authorities and social care providers, reflecting local conditions. In setting fee levels, local authorities are obliged to consider the sustainability of their local social care market.

    At the Spending Review, the Government made up to £3.5 billion extra available by 2019/20 to local authorities for adult social care through the social care precept and Better Care Fund. This will help give councils more flexibility to meet local priorities as they see fit.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-18.

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

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport’s current assessment is that none of its senior civil servants, including those in its agencies or other public bodies, will fall under the provisions of the fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to assist internally displaced persons in northern Iraq with humanitarian aid.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK has committed £79.5 million of humanitarian assistance to Iraq since summer 2014. This includes cash assistance, access to clean water, food, medicines and other life-saving assistance for the most vulnerable. Our partners distribute our aid on the basis of need across Iraq, including to internally displaced persons in northern Iraq.

    Given the importance of a coordinated response, we are providing funding to UNDP to support the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Joint Crisis Centre (JCC), as well as its equivalent for the Government of Iraq, the Joint Crisis and Monitoring Centre (JCMC). In close collaboration with the JCMC, UN, donors and NGOs, the JCC is leading humanitarian efforts for the KRG.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what reports he has received on local Jobcentre Plus offices developing their own claimant communications rather than using those produced by his Department.

    Priti Patel

    The Department doesn’t produce any reports on local jobcentres developing their own claimant communications. The Department has guidelines on the intranet for all Jobcentre Plus offices about the use of locally-developed claimant communications. These guidelines make it clear what can and cannot be produced locally.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make representations to gluten-free food producers on reducing the cost to consumers of gluten-free products; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    It is not the Government’s role to set retail food prices. We work to promote transparency and open global markets internationally, as well as a competitive domestic market to help producers and retailers offer the best prices to consumers. Year on year food prices have continued to fall with an annual rate of inflation of -2.6 per cent in the year to July 2016, according to official figures released on 18 August.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many representations he has received from business groups on the reform of business rates in the last six months; if he will publish such representations; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government’s recent consultation on Business Rates Retention received 21 representations from businesses or associated representative bodies. The Government will publish its response to the outcome of this consultation in due course. To ensure business views are fully taken into account government has also established a business interest group, to contribute to the policy and technical debate.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 2.10 of JSP441 Defence Records Management Policy and Procedures, whether his Department’s practice on data retention which means it can only provide information relating to (a) numbers of training courses, attendees costs, (b) maintenance, improvement and development costs, (c) accommodation, (d) travel costs and (e) building of storage facilities for only the preceding year meets the requirements of that paragraph; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Lancaster

    In areas of routine business, where there is unlikely to be need for permanent preservation of information and potential accession to The National Archives, decisions on whether to keep or destroy will be taken locally by the Senior Information Officer, Information Manager, or their staff. They will seek to balance the perceived future value of the information against the cost of retention, based on the departmental guidance in JSP 441 and elsewhere, and the training they have received

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with spouses or partners with UK citizenship have been granted a visa to enter the UK in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    The available information is shown in the table attached.

    Information on spouses or partners of UK citizens is not available as it is not held on centrally collated statistical databases and could only be produced at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case files.

    The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, July – September 2015’, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics