Tag: 2016

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of which specific rail service improvements the new East Anglia rail franchises would deliver for (1) Stansted Airport, and (2) Cambridge.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Under the new franchise agreement passengers travelling to and from Stansted Airport will benefit from new trains with free Wi-Fi from February 2019, and a minimum 12.5% reduction in anytime return fares and anytime single fares on the Stansted Express by early 2017. Almost all hourly services between Norwich and Cambridge are to be extended to provide a direct service to and from Stansted Airport.

    Cambridge Station will similarly benefit from new trains with free Wi-Fi from February 2019. Additional train services are an earlier first service from Cambridge to Norwich and an additional evening service from Norwich to Cambridge.

    Cambridge Station will be provided with a significant refurbishment. This will include construction of a pavilion to include a customer waiting area, train information displays and ticketing offices and ticket vending machines at the entrance to the station. Cambridge will also be provided with 1000 additional secure cycle spaces.

  • 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 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Egyptian government on Libya.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers regularly discuss Libya with their Egyptian counterparts, as part of the united international effort to assist the formation of a government in Libya that can deliver stability, security, and prosperity for the Libyan people. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) continues ongoing discussions of Libya with his Egyptian counterpart, Minister for Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukhry. They previously discussed the subject in meetings in September and November.

  • 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 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on recruitment agency fees in each of the last six years.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has made payments to recruitment agencies in the last six years as follows:

    Calendar Year

    Total Payments

    2010

    £120,905

    2011

    £143,785

    2012

    £283,725

    2013

    £372,937

    2014

    £583,086

    2015

    £121,879

    This expenditure relates to recruitment to the permanent Senior Civil Service across the MOD, including the Trading Funds. It represents the costs of searches, advertisements, response handling, assessment and support to selection panels. The figures do not include expenditure on Contingent Labour, the process used to engage temporary staff through recruitment agency contracts.

    Generally, recruitment to the MOD for all grades below the Senior Civil Service is carried out by Defence Business Services who do not make use of external recruitment agencies when appointing MOD Crown Servants. This is not the case in Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), which is now a bespoke trading entity. Since 2013, DE&S has made use of agency support in recruiting staff in order to ensure it has access to suitably qualified and experienced personnel to fill specialist vacancies. DE&S expenditure is as follows:

    Calendar Year

    Total Payments (£ million)

    2013

    1.75

    2014

    2.0

    2015

    0.5

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to provide funding for demand-side-response projects in the next Contracts for Difference allocation round.

    Andrea Leadsom

    No. Demand-side-response projects are not eligible for the CfD. They are supported through the Capacity Market. Details are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/electricity-market-reform-capacity-market

  • Baroness Kramer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Kramer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kramer on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people paid capital gains tax on personal possessions in each of the last five years, and what was the total amount of tax paid.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Information is not available on the number of people paying Capital Gains Tax on specific types of possession, or the total amount of tax paid on gains of specific type of possession. Capital Gains Tax payments are not separated into personal possessions. However, the Government publishes information about total amount of Capital Gains Tax paid each year and the total numbers of individuals accruing liabilities.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Answer of 11 May 2016 to Question 36451, if she will make it her policy to publish dates of meetings held between the Inter-Ministerial Group on Oil and Gas and representatives from that industry since May 2015.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The members of the Inter-Ministerial Group are fully engaged with this industry and use this to inform the group’s work.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what date his Department expects the replacement of Pacer trains on the Tees Valley Line to be completed.

    Andrew Jones

    The replacement of Pacer trains across the Northern network will be completed by December 2019, although the timing of when this will occur on individual lines will be a matter for Northern Rail.

  • Lord Porter of Spalding – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Porter of Spalding – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Porter of Spalding on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of their proposal to allow local government to retain 100 per cent of the business rates raised locally, they have plans to allow local government to determine the business rates multiplier.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The Government has previously announced that combined authority mayors will in future be allowed to levy a 2p in the pound supplement on business rates bills to fund infrastructure projects; and that all authorities will be able to reduce the business rates tax rate, thereby allowing them to tailor their local tax regime to local economic circumstances. We are currently consulting on the detail of both proposals.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 21586, if he will make it his policy to collect figures on the number of psychiatric nurses in each region.

    Ben Gummer

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) already make available workforce statistics for all Hospital and Community Health Services staff nationally and by Health Education England region in the annual National Health Service workforce census. This includes the number of nurses working in the area of community psychiatry and other psychiatry and these figures are available by region each month on request to the HSCIC.

  • Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department’s estimates of the cost of the Successor Trident programme elemental contingency were included in addition to the programme contingency as was the case with the 2012 Olympics programme.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    All Ministry of Defence programme cost estimates include essential risk provision.