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Tag: 2016

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the budget (a) allocated from central Government to and (b) awarded by the Small Business Research Initiative for healthcare was in each financial year since its inception.

    George Freeman

    The Department has run a number of competitions under the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) and has had a budget as follows: fiscal year 2012-13 £2 million; fiscal 2013-14 £5 million; fiscal 2014-15 £2 million and fiscal 2015-16 £6 million. The Department has awarded contracts valued as follows:

    2012-13: £1.07 million, the Department also contributed £1 million to other health related SBRI competitions.

    2013-14: £5.59 million

    2014-15: £10.15 million

    It should be noted that SBRI is now firmly embedded within NHS England’s Small Business Research Initiative for Healthcare (SBRI Healthcare). Hence, the Department has not launched any new competitions since 2013.

    SBRI Healthcare was established in 2013 by NHS England. As such, NHS England is responsible for setting this programme’s budget, which it has done as follows: fiscal year 2013-14 £10 million; fiscal 2014-15 £20 million; fiscal 2015-16 £20 million. The budget, once allocated to SBRI Healthcare, is then delegated to the Academic Health Science Networks to manage the implementation of the programme.

    NHS England has awarded contracts valued as follows:

    2013-14: £13.49 million

    2014-15: £22.29 million

    2015-16: £15.94 million to-date.

    Further assessments are due to take place this month which could result in additional awards of around £1.6 million.

    The level of investment in SBRI Healthcare reflects NHS England’s ongoing commitment to promoting innovation in the National Health Service and United Kingdom economic growth.

  • Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of whether a five per cent VAT rate could continue to apply to solar PV and solar thermal within the terms of the EU’s VAT directive and the judgment of the European Court of Justice on that matter.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government has recently consulted on this matter, the results of which will be announced shortly.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of deploying ocean-going drones to help catch illegal trawlers in Marine Conservation Zones in place of staffed patrol vessels.

    George Eustice

    The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and the ten Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities are responsible for enforcing fisheries legislation in UK waters off England. The MMO is considering carefully the potential for new technology to aid enforcement operations, and will continue to keep such technology under review.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the President of Indonesia on the protection of religious minorities in that country.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We take freedom of religion or belief seriously. Our Ambassador in Jakarta has raised these issues with the Minister of Religious Affairs, Indonesian civil society, and religious leaders. He urged them to ensure the rights of all individuals to practise their religion or belief freely were fully respected and protected.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent on non-payroll staff in his Department in 2015-16.

    Jane Ellison

    Data for 2015-16 will not be available until this year’s Annual Report and Accounts has been published.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the UK to leave the EU since 23 June 2016; and what further such steps his Department plans to take in the remainder of 2016.

    Damian Hinds

    The Department for Exiting the European Union has responsibility for overseeing preparations for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and conducting these withdrawal negotiations in support of the Prime Minister. In doing this it is working very closely with other government departments, including the Department for Work and Pensions and a wide range of other interested parties.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the remit is of the Gulf Strategy Unit; when the Unit was established; how many staff the Unit is intended to employ; and what the proposed budget for the Unit is.

    Ben Gummer

    The Gulf Strategy Integrated Delivery Team was established in 2015.

    Its remit is to coordinate the Government’s strategic approach to UK engagement with the Gulf States as set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

    It employs three full-time and one part-time Government employees. One is military and three are civilian.

    Administration costs were £70,004 in the 2015-16 financial year and the budget for administration costs in the 2016-17 financial year is £423,000. The 2015-16 figure reflects the fact the unit was established later in the financial year.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications in which (a) towns, (b) cities and (c) regions for Tier 2 (General) restricted Certificate of Sponsorship have been rejected on the grounds that the job is in an establishment which provides a take-away service in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

    For the future, the Government intends that Tier 2 should be restricted to roles where there are genuine skills shortages or which require highly-specialised experts. We asked the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on how to achieve this, but with sufficient flexibility to include high value roles and key public service workers. The MAC has now submitted its advice and the Government is considering the report carefully.

  • Lucy Allan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lucy Allan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Allan on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of sexual offences committed against children in Telford.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a top priority for this Government and we are taking a wide range of actions to reduce sexual offences against children. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice.

    We have introduced new powers for the police to tackle offenders including new Sexual Risk Orders in the Serious Crime Act. The College of Policing and the National Policing Lead have set the requirement for all forces to train all new and existing police staff to respond to child sexual abuse. We have also made £1.5 million available to the National Policing Lead to fund National CSE Action Plan regional co-ordinators and analysts to drive improvements in the police response and better identify organised abuse.

    Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary published a report on its National Child Protection re-inspection of West Mercia Constabulary on 21 January this year. Although HMIC highlighted some areas that needed improvement, inspectors found that West Mercia Police had reviewed its public protection structures, systems and processes and had invested significant extra resources into child protection.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to increase the supply of wheelchair accessible homes in the social and affordable housing sector.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government provides direct funding for specialised housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund and the Affordable Homes Programme, making available up to £800 million for specialised housing for older, disabled, and vulnerable people over the next five years, which will deliver over 15,000 specialised homes.

    The Government is also putting more money into the Disabled Facilities Grant to enable older and disabled people to live independently and safely in their own homes for longer. On top of the £1 billion the Government has invested in the grant since 2010, the grant will increase year on year for the next five years rising to over £500 million by 2020. In 2016-17 the Disabled Facilities Grant will grow to £394 million, a 79% increase on the current year.