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Tag: 2016

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-03-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to consult with local businesses in Cumbernauld on the proposed closure of HM Revenue and Customs Cumbernauld office.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) plans to create two new Regional Centres in Scotland, in Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2019-20, accommodating between 5,700 and 6,300 employees. HMRC’s new Regional Centres will give its staff all they need including a modern office environment, close to good travel and transport links. They will provide stable, high quality jobs and offer a wide range of opportunities for training and promotion and allow its staff to follow more varied career paths than have previously been possible.

    HMRC will help all its staff work through their options. It will give everyone the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances with their manager ahead of any office closures or moves, so they know about any issues that need to be taken into account when making decisions.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to include in the Government’s public health and obesity strategies the recent proposal from the Local Government Association, announced in its press release, Restaurants should offer tap water to help fight child obesity, of 23 April 2016, on the free and proactive provision of tap water by restaurants.

    Jane Ellison

    Our Childhood Obesity Strategy, which will be launched in the summer, will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will set out what more can be done by all.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2016 to Question 39272, what proportion of the cohort of Civil Service Fast Streamers who joined in April 2013 have already undertaken a regional placement.

    Matthew Hancock

    The 2013 cohort for the Fast Stream joined over the course of 6 months between May and October with a final single joiner in December. At April 2016 there were 185 fast streamers on the first cohort of the Corporate Fast Stream Programme, 120 (65% of total) have completed a posting outside of London ‎to date. The Corporate Fast Stream programme lasts 4 years so full data for this cohort will not be available until the end of 2017 when all participants have completed the programme.

    The Fast Stream aspiration is to have 100% of corporately managed Fast Streamers experience at least one posting outside of London during the 4 year scheme.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess the merits of establishing a working group on future planning of Crossrail 2 which includes representatives from Transport for London and affected local authorities.

    Paul Maynard

    The government is working jointly with Transport for London (TfL) on Crossrail 2 development. TfL meets regularly with a range of senior stakeholders including local authorities to feed their views into the development of the scheme, and has structures and processes in place to continue this good engagement.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess whether (a) Govia Thameslink Railway and (b) his Department have met their public sector equality duty in relation to the extension of Driver Only Operation.

    Paul Maynard

    The Government is determined for everyone to have the same access to public transport and all train companies must comply with their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and their Disabled People’s Protection Policy (which is a Passenger Operator Licence Condition) in respect of all aspects of their operation, including where Driver Only Operation is in effect. The Disabled People’s Protection Policy is approved and monitored by the ORR.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were paid their Christmas bonus on their benefits in the first week of December 2015.

    Priti Patel

    For Working Age a total of 430,160 customersreceived their Christmas Bonus with their benefit payment for the period covering week commencing 7th December.

    The Pension Service has deemed that to provide a response to this PQ for any of their products could only be provided at a disproportionate cost to the Department.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of personal debt and household borrowing.

    Harriett Baldwin

    In Q3 2015 household debt fell to 142 per cent of household income, down from its peak of 168 per cent in Q1 2008. The Government’s plan for a higher wage, lower welfare society makes it easier for families and working people to save, and includes the new National Living Wage which will mean a pay boost for 1.7 million workers this year.

    Nonetheless, the Government recognises that there are those who face problem levels of debt. The Money Advice Service (MAS) is responsible for the coordination of publically funded free to client debt advice and is financed by a levy on the financial services industry. MAS is currently consulting on its business plan; it has proposed levying for a constant debt advice budget for 2016/17 providing around £45 million.

    The Government is currently reviewing how the public provision of free-to-client, impartial financial guidance, including consumer debt advice services, should be structured. The Public Financial Guidance consultation closed in December 2015 and the Government will report back by budget.

    Additionally, we have created the independent Financial Policy Committee within the Bank of England, to ensure emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole, including in relation to household debt, are identified, monitored and effectively addressed.

  • Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans her Department has to consider the potential of other tidal energy technologies as part of its review of tidal lagoon technology.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The independent review, which Government announced on 10 February, will focus exclusively on tidal lagoons. It will not extend to other forms of tidal technology such as barrages or tidal stream arrays.

    In October 2010, the Department published the results of the Severn Tidal Power: Feasibility Study. The review concluded it did not see a strategic case for public investment in a tidal barrage in the Severn estuary, but the outcome of the feasibility study did not preclude a privately financed scheme. This conclusion still stands

    Tidal stream technologies operate on a fundamentally different basis to tidal lagoons. It would not, therefore be appropriate to include them within the scope of the review.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the last three exercises were carried out under the Five Powers Defence Arrangements; and how many armed forces (a) personnel and (b) assets were used in each of those exercises.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The last three exercises carried out under the Five Powers Defence Arrangements were:

    Exercise Suman Warrior 15 (27 July-6 August 2015). Eight UK Armed Forces personnel deployed on this exercise. No UK military ships or aircraft were deployed.

    Exercise Bersama Shield (8 May – 18 May 2015). 21 UK Armed Forces personnel and one JSATO DA20 (Joint Services Air Tasking Organisation) aircraft were deployed on this exercise.

    Exercise Bersama Lima (7-21 October 2014). 163 UK Armed Forces personnel and six Typhoon aircraft were deployed on this exercise.

  • John Glen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Glen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the emergency operations capability of Public Health England.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department and Public Health England (PHE) have specific responsibilities for planning and managing the response to emergencies and health protection incidents and outbreaks in an extended team that works across government. The Department commissions PHE to exercise specific functions on behalf of the Secretary of State under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, including a duty to ensure effective plans are in place, take part in national exercises, and co-ordinate responses. The Secretary of State has cross-government responsibility to provide assurance on the health system’s emergency preparedness. Thus PHE is required to complete an annual assurance exercise for the Department to ensure arrangements are in place for a sustainable and interoperable response in the event of an incident, emergency or business continuity event.

    The PHE National Emergency Operations Centre operates when the response requires national leadership and co-ordination. It coordinates PHE’s activities and as one of its functions produces briefings and situation reports for Ministers, the Cabinet Office briefing room system and officials.

    PHE was established in 2013. The National Emergency Operations function was previously carried out by the former Health Protection Agency. Therefore the Department has not been able to specifically identify the historical costs of creating the National Incident Coordination Centre in 2011.