Tag: 2016

  • 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 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) new contracts and (b) amendments to existing contracts placed by his Department in 2015 were not referred to the Single Source Regulations Office because the approval of the (i) Ministry of Defence and (ii) supplier was not granted.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Each year the Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes an analysis of all new contracts which sets out whether they were placed competitively or non-competitively. This analysis appears in the Department’s Statistical Bulletin Trade, Industry and Contracts and the most recent period for which data is available can be found through the link below. Table six in the excel tables and page 11 of the pdf refer to the relevant information.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-industry-trade-and-contracts-2015

    Figures for amendments to existing contracts are not held centrally and, due to the large number of such cases, an analysis could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    All single source procurement contracts which met the criteria set out in Part two of the Defence Reform Act 2014 (DRA) are subject to the new single source procurement framework, apart from a very small number which have been specifically exempted from the framework by the Secretary of State for Defence, using the powers granted to him under section 14(7) of the DRA. The Department does not release details of these exemptions in order to avoid influencing future decisions.

    Contracts which were signed prior to the new single source procurement framework coming into force can become subject to the regulations on amendment by agreement between the MOD and the contractor. To maximise the benefits from the regulations, the MOD intends to seek such agreement where appropriate, except where there are well founded commercial or practical reasons not to. However, the Department does not hold a central record of the number of contracts which have, on amendment, not been converted to Qualifying Defence Contracts, and the data could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    Contracts which fall under the Regulations are only referred to the Single Source Regulations Office (SSRO) when there is a disagreement between the supplier and the contracting authority which cannot be resolved through negotiation between these two parties. The subjects that can be referred to the SSRO are set out in the DRA, and include whether or not costs are allowable, attributable to the contract and reasonable. Should a referral be made by either the MOD or the supplier, the consent of the other party is not required. One such referral was made in 2015, by the MOD.

    The MOD is currently pursuing the recruitment of a Chair for the SSRO. The SSRO has an Interim Chairman in post and the Department plans to advertise this substantive position shortly.

  • Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were serving prison sentences for offences related to cannabis in each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    Prior to June 2015, information held centrally on prisoners serving sentences for drug related offences was not sufficiently detailed to identify offences relating to cannabis as opposed to other drugs. Providing data back to 2010 could therefore only be done at disproportionate cost.

    According to centrally held data, as at 30 June 2015 (latest available), there were 1,363 offenders in prison custody for cannabis related offences in England and Wales. This number includes all offenders who have had their offence categorised as a ‘drug offence’ and in which cannabis is explicitly stated in their offence description. This number does not include instances where cannabis may have been a contributing factor to the main offence committed.

    These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Prime Minister’s oral statement of 27 June 2016, Official Report, column 23, on the outcome of the EU referendum, which officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will be appointed to the new EU Unit.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    The new EU unit will bring together officials and policy expertise from across Whitehall. Structures and staffing are being determined.

  • Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Vinson on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the strategic importance of self-sufficiency in energy for the UK’s national security.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The security of the UK’s energy supply is an important factor in the national security of the country and featured prominently in the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review, published last year. The government also produces an annual assessment of the security of the UK’s energy supply which considers the availability of electricity and gas to meet consumer demand in Great Britain over the next four years. The strategically important contributions of both domestic energy production and diversity of supply are included in this analysis.

  • Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Freyberg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the cancer panel test used at the main NHS tertiary hospitals will provide the vast majority of clinically actionable information in a tumour genome, in the light of the NHS reimbursement environment for targeted therapies.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    A range of cancer panel tests are undertaken by National Health Service trusts. Whether or not these tests capture the majority of clinically actionable information in the tumour genome will not be known until the outcomes from the cancer element of the 100,000 Genomes Project is known.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 22 January (HL4917), whether they have plans to ask the Commonwealth authorities to publish compliance tables in respect of Commonwealth members’ adherence to freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of religion or belief in their countries.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We currently have no plans to request the Commonwealth authorities to publish compliance tables in respect of Commonwealth members’ adherence to freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of religion or belief in their countries. My noble Friend may wish to contact the Commonwealth Secretariat directly for more information about their monitoring processes. Their London address is: The Commonwealth Secretariat, Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5HX.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussion they have had with universities in order to encourage them to raise awareness of the NHS Low Income Scheme.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    There have been no discussions with universities or student representative bodies to encourage them to raise awareness of the NHS Low Income Scheme. However, information is made available to the public, including students, about the Help with Health Costs arrangements, which includes the NHS Low Income Scheme. This information is provided in various ways, including through the NHS Choices website and long-standing arrangements to make leaflets available to all the NHS service access points, for example general practitioner surgeries and NHS dental practices. The NHS Business Services Authority, which manages the Help with Health Costs system, also uses social media to raise awareness of the Help with Health Costs arrangements, such as through the Student Bursaries Facebook and Twitter accounts.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 3.35 of Educational excellence everywhere, Cm 9230, what powers she has to require local authority maintained schools to provide details of everyone involved in governance for a new database; and when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to bar unsuitable individuals from being governors of maintained schools.

    Edward Timpson

    The Education Act 2002 gives the Secretary of State the power to give guidance to maintained schools governing bodies about their constitution. She also has a number of other information gathering powers in legislation. We expect to use this combination to make provision for the database by 1 September 2016. We also intend to bring forward legislation on barring unsuitable individuals from being governors of maintained schools at the earliest opportunity.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of passengers travelling on the West Coast Main Line in each year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

    Claire Perry

    There are no published statistics on the annual number of passengers travelling on the West Coast Main Line.

    Statistics for the train operators serving the West Coast Main Line stations are available on the Office of Rail and Road data portal at the following link: http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/browsereports/12.

    “

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-07-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of a reduction of corporation tax to (a) 15 (b) 14 and (c) 10 per cent by (i) UK region and (ii sector.

    Mr David Gauke

    The corporation tax reductions since 2010 have been designed to increase the competitiveness of the UK business tax system and to support investment and jobs in the UK. Their positive effect has been evidenced by strong growth in GDP, employment, and business investment since 2010. The Chancellor has now set out his ambition to reduce the corporation tax rate further, to 15 percent or below, to reinforce this strategy and send a clear message that the UK is open for business.

    Further breakdowns of the corporation tax paying population can be found in HMRC’s annual analyses of receipts:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/524565/Corporation_Tax_Statistics_May_2016.pdf