Tag: 2016

  • Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Harrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure there are sufficient linguistic skills in languages such as Russian and Mandarin across the armed forces.

    Earl Howe

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) regularly reviews its requirements for linguists to ensure that all operational demands for linguists are met in full, and trains its personnel accordingly. For languages with little or no immediate operational requirement, the MOD ensures that there is a baseline of linguists that can be called on for contingency tasks and Defence Engagement.

    Long and short-term language priorities are agreed at a strategic level and provide the basis for the statement of training requirement against which defence language training is delivered.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 33821, how many unauthorised entries were recorded in relation to each of the bases listed in that Answer; what form of unauthorised entries were recorded in each case; which cases were investigated by (a) the Ministry of Defence Police, (b) a military police force and (c) a local civilian police force; and which such investigations led to a prosecution.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) treats all unauthorised entries to military bases very seriously. They are investigated to a level commensurate with their complexity and impact by Military Police, MOD Police or local constabulary.

    A breakdown of unauthorised entries to military bases recorded within the MOD for 2014 is set out in the attached table. None of these incidents resulted in any significant ramifications for Defence security.

    In drafting the answer to this question, it has become apparent that the answers to Questions 24141 and 33821 were incorrect, understating the number of unauthorised entries to military bases in 2014 by one, the correct number is 25, and in the list of the locations of such security incidents, RAF Leeming was omitted. The information has been corrected in this answer.

  • Steve Brine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve Brine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Brine on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidelines her Department issues on inset days at schools in England.

    Nick Gibb

    This is a matter for schools to decide. We have empowered schools to lead the delivery of high-quality professional development for their teachers through the creation of the national network of teaching schools, and we are supporting this through the development of a new Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development. Decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rightly rest with schools, head teachers, and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge their own requirements.

    The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document specifies that teachers must be available for work for 195 days each year and that they may only be required to perform duties other than teaching pupils on five of those days. It is for schools to decide for themselves how best to make use of those five days, including whether they should be used for in-service training.

  • Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost is to the NHS of each patient visit to a (a) GP, (b) GP surgery-based practice nurse and (c) practitioner led service at The Source, Greenwich; and if he will make a statement.

    David Mowat

    The information requested is not centrally held.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate has been made of changes in property prices in and around (a) all major High Speed 2 terminals and (b) Birmingham High Speed 2 terminal.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport has not produced estimates of the expected impact on property prices in the areas surrounding HS2 terminals.

  • Callum McCaig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Callum McCaig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with the oil and gas industry on the relationship between maintaining safety standards and reducing the cost of production.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The regulation of the safety of offshore oil and gas installations in external waters is a matter for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), working as part of the Offshore Safety Directive Regulator partnership. DECC and the Oil and Gas Authority are in regular contact with the industry and HSE regarding a range of offshore infrastructure issues, including the relationship between maintaining safety standards and reducing the cost of production. Together, we aim to ensure that industry resources are directed to maximising safe, sustainable production.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 23665, in which 33 different languages his Department has Operational Level (C1) examination pass speakers employed in the last five years up to the end of 2015.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Records show that up until the end of 2015, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had officers with a C1 pass in the following languages:
    Albanian, Arabic, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Czech, Dari, Dutch, Farsi, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Mandarin, Pashtu, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.

    The FCO Language Centre was re-opened in September 2013 to renew the focus and investment in languages as a core diplomatic skill to ensure that we get the right people with the right skills in the right jobs to deliver our foreign policy objectives. The Language Centre gives us a strong platform to grow our language skills as an organisation and develop a pipeline of talent to fill language slots on a continuous basis.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he intends to answer the letter to him dated 12 January 2016 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms S Lyons.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Our records show that this correspondence, regarding the overpayment of Tax Credits, was transferred to Ministerial colleagues at HM Treasury on 26 January 2016.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much central government infrastructure investment was in each region of the UK since 2010.

    Greg Hands

    Historic data for regional infrastructure investment by government is not currently available. However historical capital expenditure figures including government’s infrastructure investment can be obtained from the following link :

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2015

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/509735/NIDP_2016-2021_final_web.pdf

    “

  • Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lisa Cameron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2015, to Question 31427, whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to enable 25 per cent of secondary schools to extend their school day in the event that less than £285 million is available from the soft drinks industry levy.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Chancellor announced in his Budget statement that up to £285 million a year would be made available to give 25% of secondary schools increased opportunity to extend their school day to offer a wider range of activities for pupils. The soft drinks industry levy is expected to raise £520 million in the first year and the revenue will contribute to this funding.

    It is also confirmed that the Barnett formula will be applied to spending on this initiative in the normal way.