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Tag: 2016

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Cashman on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of including representatives from the Department for International Development in discussions and representation at the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference that will take place in Uruguay from 13 to 15 July.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK will send a delegation to the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference taking place in Montevideo in July. We are committed to working with those countries that will be represented at the conference, and others, to combat discrimination and violence against LGB&T people. This forms an important part of our wider international human rights work. DFID is assessing the benefits of including representatives from the department at the Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference through discussion with key lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB&T) organisations and with other government departments. The Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference will provide an opportunity to share information, best practice and lessons learned with partners and to discuss how to better coordinate international efforts to support the promotion and protection of the rights of LGB&T people worldwide.

  • Chris White – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chris White – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris White on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the rollout of superfast broadband in (a) Warwick and (b) the Warwick and Leamington constituency.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Current estimates suggest that almost 90% of premises in the Warwick and Leamington constituency are subject to commercial rollout, and a further 5% of premises (2,369) now have coverage as a result of the Government’s Superfast Broadband programme.

    Based on DCMS modelled estimates and current delivery plans, 96% of premises in the Warwick and Leamington constituency will have access to superfast broadband by December 2017. Early gainshare funding that BT will return in response to the high levels of take-up being achieved, could help extend coverage further.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of moving television from broadcast spectrum to other delivery mechanisms.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The most recent assessment was made by the independent regulator, Ofcom, in their report: The Future of Free to View TV (May 2014). This is a fast moving market and as it evolves, the Government will keep these issues under review.

    Detailed spectrum planning is a matter for Ofcom.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many institutions in England (a) held and (b) were granted taught degree awarding powers in each year since 2006.

    Joseph Johnson

    Based on the information available to us, there were 103 institutions in England that held taught degree awarding powers in 2006. The number of such awards in each year since then is as follows:

    2007 – 7

    2008 – 2

    2009 – 6

    2010 – 0

    2011 – 0

    2012 – 3

    2013 – 1

    2014 – 2

    2015 – 3

    2016 – 3 (as of 5 September 2016)

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library a copy of all of his Department’s assessments of security contracts funded by his Department in Bahrain.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​These programmes are routinely monitored and evaluated on a quarterly basis to ensure that they are on track for delivery. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provides updates on its programme work in its annual Human Rights reports.

    All FCO programmes that support security reform are carefully considered in line with Her Majesty’s Government’s Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance in order to assess and mitigate human rights risks. Our assistance is specifically designed to assist the Government of Bahrain improve human rights standards and strengthen the rule of law.

  • Lord Polak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Polak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Polak on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent representations they have made to the Palestinian Authority over reports that it has provided millions in monthly salaries to convicted Palestinian terrorists serving sentences in Israeli jails.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK regularly raises the issue of prisoner payments with the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Minister of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest West (Mr Swayne) raised the matter with PA Finance Minister Bishara during his visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in August 2014. No UK money is used for payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, or their families. The UK’s direct financial assistance to the PA is used to pay the salaries of public sector workers only.

  • Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that provision of high-quality early years education is included in the Government’s Life Chances Strategy.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Education plays a significant role in ensuring that children have the best start in life, and this government is committed to supporting families to give children a strong foundation in the earliest years.

    The Prime Minister made clear in his recent speech that high quality early education will be a key part of the forthcoming Life Chances Strategy. We are working with other government departments to pursue this.

  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons no data is available for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in the 2015 NHS staff survey results.

    Ben Gummer

    We are informed that data for Guys and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust 2015 Staff Survey are available via the following weblink:

    http://www.nhsstaffsurveys.com/Page/1049/Latest-Results/Combined-Acute-and-Community-Trusts/

    We understand that the trust also published a news story about the results on the following website:

    http://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/news-and-events/2016-news/february/20160223-trust-comes-top-staff-engagement.aspx

    “

  • Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to respond to the recommendation in the Low Pay Commission’s Spring 2016 report on the National Minimum Wage (NMW) that HM Revenue and Customs investigation of third party reports of NMW breaches be subject to a public protocol.

    Nick Boles

    The Government is carefully considering the non-rate recommendations in the Low Pay Commission Spring 2016, and will respond in due course.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what modelling her Department has undertaken on the demand for school places in each year from 2016 to 2030.

    Edward Timpson

    Supporting local authorities in their responsibility to ensure sufficient school places remains one of this Government’s top priorities. Pupil forecasts based on ONS population projections, which include migration, have been published up to 2024.

    Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient school places to meet that need, and for determining precisely how many new places are needed in their area. We allocate funding for new school places to local authorities based on their own projections of local pupil numbers. These projections reflect all drivers of increased pupil numbers: rising birth rates, housing development and migration from within the UK and overseas. Any increase in need for places should be reflected in the local authority’s final basic need allocation – there is no shortfall between the number of places we fund and the number of places local authorities say they will need to create.

    We have already committed to invest £7 billion on school places, which along with our investment in 500 new free schools we expect to deliver 600,000 new places by 2021. We have also protected the schools budget so that as pupil numbers increase, so will the amount of money in our schools. Revenue allocations to local authorities are calculated by reference to pupil numbers and do not differentiate on the basis of immigration from other EEA member states or countries from outside the EEA.