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Tag: 2016

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is permissible for the ballot papers sent to postal voters to be a different colour to the ballot papers issued in a corresponding polling station.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Ballot papers for any given poll have a consistent appearance in order to reduce the risk of completed votes being identifiable as having been submitted by a particular voter or voters when they are verified and counted. That could happen if, for example, coloured ballot papers were used for postal voting (but not voting in person) and there was low use of them. Different coloured ballot papers are already used to help voters distinguish between different polls where polls are combined, and further use of different colours could lead to confusion.

  • Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the meaning of the term supply in the Video Recordings Act 1984 to include adults providing children with access to recordings categorised as containing age-inappropriate content.

    Matt Hancock

    Following public consultations involving representations from classification bodies, child welfare groups, local authorities, content producers and many others, since 2010 we have legislated twice to strengthen the protections provided by the Act. This has ensured that retailers now cannot sell or rent any age-inappropriate DVDs or video games discs or cartridges to children. It also ensures these products are all labelled with relevant British Board of Film Classification (DVDs) and PEGI (video games) age ratings and content advice. This means adults have better information to help them make responsible decisions about the material children can access.

    We will continue to work with industry and the age ratings bodies to encourage further promotion of the BBFC and PEGI age ratings to consumers including through initiatives such as BBFCInsight and AskAboutGames.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how combined authorities are assisting his Department in delivering new housing schemes.

    Gavin Barwell

    Combined authorities enable local authorities to work jointly to take strategic decisions and improve the delivery of statutory functions such as transport, economic development and regeneration in the local area. Combined authority areas with devolution deals can support the delivery of new housing schemes in a number of ways, including, for example, through preparing strategic plans for their area, forming partnerships with the Homes and Communities Agency and committing to increasing house building.

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the contract between HM Revenue and Customs and Concentrix on compliance checks for tax credits includes (a) the number of checks to be carried out, (b) the number of staff and (c) types of enforcement action.

    Mr David Gauke

    Reducing tax credits fraud and error is a top priority for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The contract with Concentrix offers additional capacity to help build on HMRC’s own work, which has reduced tax credits fraud and error to the lowest ever level. Using a private company provides a cost-effective way to reach additional claims that need checking.

    The checks are to ensure that people are paid the correct amount of money to prevent them from getting into debt which they may find difficult to repay and protect losses to taxpayers.

    Concentrix operate under the same powers and processes as HMRC. Concentrix select cases to be checked using information provided by HMRC. Concentrix decide how best to achieve the expected benefits, including the number and type of cases and number of staff employed. HMRC closely monitors their performance.

    The contract uses a payment by results model, which means Concentrix is only paid based on the money it saves the Exchequer as a result of correcting claims that are incorrect. They will not be paid if the decisions they make about claimants’ awards are incorrect.

    The contract was signed on 6 May 2014. The contract was awarded to Synnex-Concentrix UK Ltd in April 2014, following a procurement exercise advertised under the open procedure. Information about the contract value and contract award is already in the public domain.

    https://www.deltaesourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=97910033

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  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what programmes her Department has in place to facilitate access to wells and water in developing countries.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    In 2012 the UK Government set a target of reaching 60 million people in the developing world with one or more water, sanitation or hygiene (WASH) interventions by the end of 2015. The Department for International Development (DFID) delivered a range of WASH programmes in 19 countries through its network of country offices. In addition DFID ran 2 regional programmes and 4 centrally managed programmes from DFID HQ.

    The target was achieved 9 months early in April 2015.

    More detailed information on individual WASH programmes that contributed to meeting this target is available through the development tracker function https://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/sector/3 on the DFID website.

    We are currently formulating our new portfolio to deliver on the UK government’s commitment to help a further 60 million people get access to clean water and sanitation by 2020.

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  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, for what reason her Department cancelled Round Six of the UK Aid Match Fund; for what reason that cancellation was not announced earlier; for what reason that cancellation was not announced earlier; and what assessment she has made of the effect of that cancellation on charities who were developing proposals.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UKAid Match scheme has been a clear success in matching pound for pound public donations to charity appeals for projects changing lives in some of the poorest countries in the world. A sign of success is that some projects have substantially exceeded their fundraising targets. This has led to the programme’s full allocation of £120M being reached earlier than planned. DFID announced that there would not be a further funding round under the current programme as soon as it became clear that the budget had been fully allocated.

    The Government is committed to doubling UK Aid Match. This will provide further opportunities for charities who were developing proposals, including those intended for Round 6, to secure match funding for their appeals. Details of future funding opportunities will be set out in due course, including on the UK Government website.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph 1.242 of Budget 2016, how much of the additional £700 million for flood defence and resilience will be spent in Lancashire.

    Rory Stewart

    Of the additional £700 million announced in the Budget to be spent on flood defences and resilience, £150m has been allocated to new schemes in Yorkshire and Cumbria. The £40m per year increase in floods maintenance will be spent nationwide according to need. The remaining funding will be allocated following the outcome of the National Flood Resilience Review in the summer.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to deploy British police officers to popular holiday resorts abroad as a result of the outcome of the pilot scheme in summer 2015.

    Mike Penning

    The deployment of police resources is an operational matter for Chief Constables. However, any deployments overseas to provide advice or assistance to a foreign government must be approved by the Home Secretary under the provisions of Section 26 of the Police Act (1996). No decision has been made regarding any future deployments following last year’s pilot.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last discussed with the government of Tunisia the security improvements required before the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s current advice against all but essential travel to Tunisia can be lifted.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We discuss progress on improving security with the Tunisian government on a very regular basis, both bilaterally and through the G7, most recently on 25 May. We still consider the threat level to be specific enough to advise against all but essential travel. Our Travel Advice is under constant review and we will change it as soon as the security situation and the threat level permit.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect on uptake at secondary schools of (a) art, (b) drama, (c) music and (d) other arts subjects at GCSE of the introduction of the Ebacc target for GCSE attainment.

    Nick Gibb

    The numbers and percentages of pupils in English state-funded schools entering GCSEs in art, drama, music and other arts subjects each academic year are published as part of the GCSE and equivalent results statistical first release.[1]

    Whilst JCQ exam entry data[2] shows a fall in GCSE entries to arts subjects this year, entries to arts subjects increased between 2013 and 2015.[3] The proportion of pupils in state-funded schools entering at least one GCSE in an arts subject has increased since the EBacc was first introduced, rising from 45.8% in 2011 to 49.6% in 2015.[4]

    On average, pupils in state-funded schools enter nine GCSEs and equivalent qualifications, rising to ten for more able pupils.[5] As the EBacc covers seven GCSEs, or eight for those pupils taking triple science, there continues to be room to study other subjects.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4

    [2] http://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/gcses

    [3] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4

    [4] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473178/EBacc_and_non-EBacc_subject_entries_and_achievement.pdf

    [5] https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase&geographic=all&region=0&phase=secondary&for=Key%20stage%204%20performance&basedon=Exam%20entries&show=All%20pupils&&schoolTypeFilter=allSchools

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