Tag: 2016

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government why chairing the Environment Agency is a part-time post.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Agency has a full time Executive and CEO who are responsible for all operational decisions.

    The role of the Chairman is to hold the Executive to account through regular meetings and committees and provide leadership and strategic vision for the Board.The Chairman does not operationally manage day to day business and is therefore part-time. This is the usual case for Chair appointments to Public Bodies across Government.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what contingency plans the Government has in place to ensure security of energy supply in the event of the proposed Hinkley nuclear power station not being completed.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We remain confident that Hinkley Point C will go ahead on schedule. Security of supply is ensured through the Capacity Market, in which National Grid recommends a volume of capacity to secure ahead of each four year- and one year-ahead auction. The process in determining the amount of capacity to secure, uses a thorough plant level assessment of what capacity the UK is likely to be able to rely on from other plants.

  • The Lord Bishop of Leeds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The Lord Bishop of Leeds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Leeds on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the financial costs to other EU member states of the social security benefits received by UK nationals resident in those member states.

    Lord Freud

    We do not hold this information.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March to Questions 30367, on vocational guidance, whether he plans that Jobcentre Plus or the Careers and Enterprise company will contact those schools.

    Priti Patel

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 March 2016 to question UIN 32032.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made on improving the processes used by the police in relaying the overseas convictions of offenders to prosecutors in court.

    James Brokenshire

    No figures are held centrally to show the proportion of cases in which previous overseas conviction records of arrested foreign nationals were checked by the police. However, the UK is rolling out nationally a semi-automated process so that when an arrest record is created in a custody suite, an overseas criminal conviction request is prompted. The aim is to ensure that in all cases overseas criminal convictions will be obtained when a foreign national is arrested in the UK.

    In the last three years (2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16) 39,028, 60,226, and 95,156 requests respectively, were made by the police to EU Member States for previous convictions of foreign nationals under the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS), an increase of over 140% in that time. In those same years, 19,018, 34,549 and 38,890 requests respectively were made by the police to countries outside the EU for previous convictions of foreign nationals, an increase of over 100% in that time.

    No figures are held on the numbers of overseas criminal records which are subsequently passed on to the courts. However, to increase the amount of overseas criminal conviction information available to the courts, the Digital First programme, led by the National Police Chiefs Council, is working to improve the information on Digital Case Files to prompt police to ensure that overseas criminal convictions are obtained and passed on to the courts to inform criminal proceedings and sentencing.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what change there was in the amount the EU Commission proposed to make available in structural funds to Wales for the period 2014 to 2020 from the period 2007 to 2013; what steps his Department took to limit such a change; and if he will estimate the amount of such funding made available to Wales after 2020.

    Alun Cairns

    I refer my hon Friend to the letter signed by the then Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable MP, on ‘European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund: UK allocations 2014-2020’.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/307492/bis-14-772-uk-allocations-eu-structural-funds-2014-2020-letter.pdf

    The post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework has not been proposed.

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  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many former Ministers have claimed expenses from the public purse after leaving office.

    Ben Gummer

    The Public Duties Cost Allowance is to assist former Prime Ministers with the costs of continuing to fulfil duties associated with their previous position in public life. A copy of the policy and guidance on the allowance is in the Library of the House. The costs are a reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary office costs and secretarial costs arising from their special position in public life. The allowance is not paid to support private or parliamentary duties. Civil servants are not entitled to claim this allowance.

    Current recipients of the allowance are published in the Cabinet Office Annual Reports and Accounts. Previous recipients have included Lady Thatcher; the current recipients who are former Prime Ministers are Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. I also refer the Hon. Member to my answers to him of 9 September 2016 to (UIN 44045, 44048, 44049, 44053, 44054, 44055, 44056).

    The Public Duties Cost Allowance rate is currently set at a limit of £115,000 per annum. When originally introduced, the Government stated that it would be the equivalent in amount to the Parliamentary Office Costs Allowance. I would note that that allowance is now known as the Parliamentary Staffing Allowance, determined by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and that is currently set at the rate of £148,500 per annum.”

  • Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to continue with the Troubled Families Programme in the light of the National Institute of Economics and Social Research’s recent analysis.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    At the Spending Review 2015, £720 million was allocated to fund the remaining four years of the new Troubled Families Programme (2015 – 2020). We are absolutely committed to continuing to help this group of people, to help these vulnerable families that have some of the most complex needs of people in the country. We are looking at the evidence from the evaluation of the first Troubled Families Programme (2012-2015) to see how things could be done differently, to learn from it and see if there is even more we can do to improve the lives of troubled families.

    We have already learnt lessons from the first Troubled Families Programme and reflected them in the design of the new programme. We have published an overview of the first programme (attached) which highlights the improvements that have been made: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-first-troubled-families-programme-2012-to-2015-an-overview

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  • Lord Donoughue – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Donoughue – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Donoughue on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the £240,000,074 cost of the Department for International Development’s 2014–16 Programme Partnership Arrangement extension is to be allocated on the basis of tangible results achieved by charities during the 2011–14 round.

    Earl of Courtown

    Funding was allocated where organisations achieved significant results in the 2011-14 round of Programme Partnership Arrangement funding and also demonstrated clear alignment with key DFID objectives.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the grants available for children’s hospices will continue to be paid to them through NHS England.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS England is responsible for the annual grant to children’s hospices and for determining how it will be allocated each year. The palliative care currency is designed to provide a basis for local commissioning discussions, by clearly identifying the costs of care. The currency is being tested by NHS England locally, to ensure it makes sense to commissioners and providers, and the results will be published later in the year. The intention is that there will be an appropriate transition to local commissioning of children’s hospices, but they have pledged to continue the grant until a sustainable alternative means of local funding is in effect.