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Tag: 2016

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unsuccessful refugee family reunion applications during the last three years were rejected on the basis of the child being 18 years or older.

    James Brokenshire

    The family reunion policy allows those granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK to sponsor their pre-flight family members, i.e. spouse or partner and children under the age of 18, who formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country, to reunite with them in the UK.

    Information on the applicant’s relationship with their sponsor is not collated centrally. As such it is not possible to identify how many applicants have applied for family reunion as adult children aged 18 or over or what the outcome was.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2016 to Question 42548, what the cost to the public purse is of employing the 37 people referred to in that Answer.

    Ben Gummer

    Having re-reviewed the numbers and status of the FTA I can confirm that 28 people in IPA are employed through Fixed Term Appointments (we have now removed people who have since moved on either due to their appointment coming to an end or moving to other roles either within Cabinet Office or across wider government).

    These members of staff cost £1,937,818 annually out of an overall IPA budget of £14,463,994.

    To put this in context IPA oversees projects with whole life costs of well over £500bn.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on research funding across all disciplines in universities in the North East.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government is committed to maintain and enhance the strength of our research base. This is why we have protected the science resource budget in real terms from its 2015/16 level of £4.7 billion for the rest of the parliament, as well as committing to invest in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale – £6.9 billion over the period 2015-2021 – including £65 million in the North East in 2014/15.

    The Treasury decision to underwrite the grants of competitively bid for EU research funding will give British participants and their EU partners the assurance and certainty needed to plan ahead for projects that can run over many years. We will ensure that the UK, including science and research in the North East, continues to be a world leader in international research and innovation.

  • Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Julian Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether fact sheets have been prepared providing (a) supporting detail and (b) timetables for implementation of the proposals set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review; and if he will make a statement.

    Michael Fallon

    The Ministry of Defence has produced a series of fact sheets offering additional detail on the impact of the Strategic Defence and Security Review on Defence policy, plans, capabilities and organisation. They will be made available on the gov.uk website.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Fleet Air Arm pilots of F35B Sea Lightnings are currently fully trained; how many are undergoing training; and how many will be fully qualified when (1) HMS Queen Elizabeth, and (2) HMS Prince of Wales, commissions.

    Earl Howe

    There is currently one Fleet Air Arm pilot fully trained on the F-35B Lighting II aircraft, with two undergoing training, and this is exactly where we expected to be at this stage of the programme. Over the next 3-4 years, as jointly agreed by the Royal Navy and the RAF, the F-35B programme will train sufficient RAF and Fleet Air Arm Lightning II pilots to deliver a carrier strike initial operating capability in 2020.

    The noble Lord will wish to be aware that ‘F-35B Lightning II’ is the designation jointly agreed by the First Sea Lord and the Chief of the Air Staff.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 25610, on minimum wage, what the average call time was to the Pay and Work Rights and ACAS helplines; how many calls reached an ACAS operative; what definition of call was used in the data provided; and what translation facilities are available on the ACAS helpline.

    Nick Boles

    The average length of calls for the former Pay and Work Rights Helpline was 6 minutes 32 seconds. For the Acas Helpline which covers all call types, not just National Minimum Wage (NMW), the average length of calls is 7 minutes 54 seconds

    Between April 2015 and January 2016, the latest period for which data is available, Acas have handled 768,849 calls on workplace relations and employment law.

    The data collected by the Acas Helpline records the topics discussed by a caller. The figures show that there were 9,800 calls specifically related to NMW legislation and 3,700 where the caller was specifically concerned with non-payment or deductions related to the NMW. Some callers may have had queries about both subjects but due to the complexity of the data we cannot identify the number of callers that would fall into this category.

    The Acas Helpline uses LanguageLine to allow real time translation with customers over the phone. Callers can request a translator at any stage in the call. A translator will join the call via a conference call, usually within seconds.

  • – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the annual (1) gross, and (2) net, costs of the UK’s contributions to the EU for (a) 2014, (b) 2015, and (c) 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics Pink Book”

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The outturn figures for gross and net UK contributions to the EU can be obtained from the 2015 EU Finances White Paper, Table 3.B, which is available on gov.uk and from the Library of the House.

    The ONS Pink Book provides a measure of official transactions with the EU for the purposes of Balance of Payments statistics and cannot be used to establish the UK’s net contribution to the EU.

  • Nia Griffith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Nia Griffith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the devolution of Air Passenger Duty to Wales.

    Alun Cairns

    The Government is considering the case and options for devolving Air Passenger Duty to Wales, informed by a review of options to support English regional airports from potential impacts caused by its devolution.

    As part of this review, HM Treasury published a discussion paper at Summer Budget 2015 exploring a number of options. HM Treasury is carefully considering the evidence received from stakeholders on an ongoing basis.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals have been on the staff of the European Court of Auditors in each year since 2010.

    Mr David Lidington

    The European Court of Auditors (ECA) does not publish figures relating to its staff numbers and nationality. According to our own internal records, the following number of UK nationals have been on the staff of the ECA since 2010:
    2010: 51
    2011: 50
    2012: No records held
    2013: 50
    2014: 50
    2015: 49
    2016: 50

  • Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to monitor the use of procedures to recover abandoned premises introduced by the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

    Gavin Barwell

    These provisions are not yet in force. The first step is for the Department to issue guidance on how the procedures may be effectively and lawfully applied.