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Tag: 2016

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22953, on which dates and for how long on each such date ACAS meetings took place between 23 December 2015 and 4 January 2016.

    Ben Gummer

    Following the agreement under the auspices of ACAS on 30 November, the Department and NHS Employers held negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA) including meetings on 23 December 2015 and 4 January 2016.

    On 23 December the meeting started at 10.30 am finishing at 4 pm. On 4 January the meeting started at 10.30 am but broke at 10.45 am when the BMA withdrew to consider the offer but then never returned. The meeting was intended to continue until 3pm.

    On the same day the BMA announced that, contrary to the understanding of the management side negotiators, they did not feel that enough progress had been made and announced further dates for industrial action in January and February.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings (a) she and (b) Ministers of her Department have had with (i) arms manufacturers, (ii) tobacco manufacturers and (iii) representatives of the Israeli embassy since the period covered in the Cabinet Office’s most recent ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings data release.

    George Eustice

    Departments publish details of Ministers meetings’ with external organisations routinely on Gov.uk. Details of meetings held during the period October – December 2015 will be published in due course.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much school deficit has remained with local authorities after schools have converted to academy status.

    Edward Timpson

    The Department does not hold this information on local authority budgets

    Deficits for schools which convert to become sponsored academies remain with the local authority. It is right that these deficits remain with their local authority as these schools were the responsibility of the authority when they were found to be failing or underperforming and it is the authority’s responsibility for ensuring the school managed its expenditure satisfactorily.

  • Kirsty Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kirsty Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsty Blackman on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance he has issued to HM Courts and Tribunals Service on minimum standards for keeping appellants updated of future court dates and waiting times for those dates.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Tribunal Procedure Rules require HMCTS to notify appellants of their hearing date, time and place upon listing. If there is any change to a hearing date, such as a postponement or adjournment, HMCTS issues a further notice in writing to confirm the change. If an appellant has any questions or concerns about their hearing date they can contact the Tribunal via the HMCTS Contact Centre.

  • Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Tugendhat on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost was for maintaining his Department’s properties classified as void in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

    Mark Lancaster

    Information on the cost of maintaining Service Family Accommodation (SFA) on Ministry of Defence (MOD) properties classed as void prior to 2014-15 is not held.

    For 2014-15 the cost was £5.590 million and for 2015-16 the cost was £5.714 million. This covers the standard cost of retaining SFA when it is vacant, regardless of whether any maintenance is required.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate his Department has made of how long it will take to negotiate the UK’s membership of the World Trade Organisation when the UK leaves the EU.

    Mark Garnier

    The UK is a Member of the WTO in its own right. However, in leaving the EU, we will need to update the terms of our WTO membership where, at present, our commitments are applied through the EU as a whole.

    We recognise the need to work with the EU and with other WTO Members in order to ensure a smooth transition which minimises the disruption to our trading relationships with other WTO Members, including developing country Members and our closest trading partners.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the report entitled Ethnic Penalties in Motor Insurance Premiums by Webber Phillips, published in July 2016, what assessment her Department has made of concerns raised in that report that some car owners may be being charged higher premiums due to their ethnicity.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society and sets out the different ways in which it is unlawful to treat someone. There are specific exceptions for providers of financial services such as insurance companies, which allow them to use a person’s age as a factor in assessing risk and charging for their products. However, insurers are not able to use a person’s race as a factor in assessing risk and charging for their products.

    The pricing of risk is a commercial decision for individual insurers, and differences in premiums reflect different insurers’ experience of claims and other industry-wide statistics. While insurers are not required by the Financial Conduct Authority to be transparent about pricing decisions, it expects firms to comply with relevant legislation, including the Equality Act 2010, and can undertake its own enquiries to better understand what the firm is doing and whether any of its regulatory requirements have been breached.

  • James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department takes into account cancellation of services when considering the Office of Road and Rail estimated usage of stations.

    Claire Perry

    The Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR’s) Estimates of Station Usage statistics provide an estimate of the number of people entering, exiting and interchanging at the station. Entries and exits are estimated using ticket sales data, using the origin and destination of the ticket.

    As Great Britain does not have a fully gated rail network, a complete recording of passenger flows is not possible and as a result, it is not possible to tell whether a passenger has used their purchased ticket or not. Therefore, in the case of cancelled trains, ORR assume that the passenger has still used their ticket, potentially on a later service or via a different route.

    More information about how these statistics are compiled is available in the Estimates of Station Usage 2014-15 Methodological Report on the Office of Rail and Road website at http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates.

    “

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 21501, how much of the Operational Plan budget relates to funding to assist with the effect of the refugee situation in Syria.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID’s entire £47 million Operational Plan budget for Jordan in the financial year 2015/16 has been allocated to respond to the effects of the Syria crisis. Around £37 million of this funding will provide humanitarian assistance and services to refugees in camps and living in host communities. The remaining £10 millionwill support the delivery of basic services in those municipalities with most refugees, and support basic education services to support the integration of Syrian refugee children into the education system.

    As a result of Daesh’s brutality, a separate humanitarian crisis has also emerged in Iraq. To date, the UK has committed £79.5 million to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. DFID’s operational budget for Iraq in 2015-16 is provided on the basis of need and does not differentiate between internally displaced people and refugees.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the installation by China of missile launchers on Woody Island in the South China Sea; what representations he has made to China on that matter; and if he will discuss with his Japanese counterpart what steps the UK and Japan can take to oppose the militarisation of the South China Sea.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We are very concerned about Chinese missile deployments on Woody Island in the Paracel Islands as reported in the media on 17 February. We oppose any actions which are likely to increase tensions in the South China Sea, including militarisation. We urge all parties to exercise restraint, to pursue the settlement of disputes peacefully in accordance with international law, and to uphold freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight.

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has held detailed discussions with his Japanese counterpart about the South China Sea, most recently, during his visit to Japan in January for the annual UK-Japan Foreign and Defence Ministerial talks. Following those meetings the UK and Japan released a joint statement setting out our shared concerns about the situation in the South China Sea, calling on all parties to refrain from activities that increase tension and to pursue urgently the settlement of the maritime disputes peacefully in accordance with international law.