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Tag: 2016

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 30768, what the expected date was for finishing the transition to universal credit after completion of the reset in May 2013.

    Priti Patel

    The Department reset the Universal Credit Programme and set a new timetable. This was developed for the Strategic Outline Business Case and was then finalised as part of the Outline Business Case and Spending Review 15 process in late 2015. Parliament was kept regularly informed throughout the development of the timetable.

  • Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost of moving Bedford County Court from Shire Hall, St Paul’s Square, Bedford, to the Employment Tribunal building in Howard Street, Bedford.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The enabling works of moving Bedford County Court to the Employment Tribunal building will be subject to a tendering process. The disclosure of any estimate of costs is therefore commercially confidential.

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department exceeded its expenditure limit in 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    Confirmation of the spending outturn against all expenditure limits will be provided in the Department of Health’s Annual Report and Accounts 2015-16, due to be published in July 2016.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions the Law Officers referred a criminal sentence to the Court for Appeal for review on the grounds that it was unduly harsh in the last 12 months.

    Robert Buckland

    Whilst the Attorney General’s Office can ask the Court of Appeal to review a sentence which is considered to be unduly lenient, the Law Officers have no power to intervene when a sentence is too harsh. Therefore there have been no referrals to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that a sentence was unduly harsh.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will assess the balance of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme surplus-sharing arrangements.

    Jesse Norman

    The existing surplus-sharing arrangements have worked well to date. The presence of the Guarantee has given the Trustees, who are responsible for managing the Scheme and are independent of Government, the freedom to invest in a way that has generated surpluses and, as a consequence, bonuses to members.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) his Department, (b) Ofcom, (c) Royal Parks, (d) Arts Council England, (e) Sport England, (f) UK sport, (g) Visit Britain, (h) Visit England and (i) the Equality and Human Rights Commission; and how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those orqanisations in the most recent for which figures are available.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The DCMS communications team is responsible for all public facing, digital and internal communications; this includes both managing day-to-day media enquiries and implementing proactive communications campaigns. Across Government communications teams, we saved £330 million for taxpayers last year compared with 2009 to 2010, by making our campaigns more cost effective, and reduced our communications spending by a total of £1 billion since 2010.

    The total expenditure on press and public relations for the financial year 2014/15 was £10,917,270.42. This figure includes staff costs and the costs for high profile publicity campaigns on Broadband Voucher and GO Superfast (broadband).

    DCMS currently employs 18.8 full time equivalents in communications – one of the smallest teams in Whitehall covering a departmental policy brief that has expanded in this Parliament. Of these, 7 are paid over £50,000 – but none more than £100,000.

    Other Bodies

    The sponsorship for the Equalities and Human Rights Commission transferred to the Department for Education from 30 September 2015.

    Press and PR functions are a matter for the Chief Executives of each of the bodies in question. They will write to the Honourable Member with this information, and copies of their letters will be placed in the libraries of both Houses

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

    Lord Mawhinney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawhinney on 2016-01-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of which medical institutions in the UK are in the forefront of research into, and treatment of, Lyme disease.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    It is not practical to eradicate Lyme disease in the United Kingdom through treatment of human cases, therefore no cost estimate has been made. The disease is endemic in much of the small mammal and bird population in the UK, and is spread to humans by the bite of infected ticks which have fed on these animals. The number of human cases can be reduced by raising public awareness of how to avoid tick bites, and by environmental measures in public places to reduce the long grass and scrub which harbour ticks.

    The number of laboratory confirmed cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales varies annually, in 2013 there were 878 and in 2014 there were 730, but the majority of diagnoses are made clinically by general practitioners and those figures are not recorded. Patients with late or complicated Lyme disease may be diagnosed in a variety of specialist clinics, and the numbers are not recorded. Based on the clinical information supplied with the laboratory request, only a small proportion of the annual number of cases fall into this category.

    The Health Protection Research Unit of the University of Liverpool in partnership with Public Health England (PHE) has funding from the National Institute of Health Research for research into Lyme disease, covering diagnostics and biomarkers and public awareness. PHE is working on clinically linked studies for diagnostics with the Czech Republic, as no single centre in the UK has sufficient patients for a suitable study; funding for this work is not yet in place. PHE undertakes limited studies on ticks and Lyme disease in the UK. The Research Councils fund some additional work on ticks and the environment.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Attorney General, what steps the Government is taking to increase public understanding of the law.

    Robert Buckland

    Public Legal Education is a statutory feature of the justice system and part of the Rule of Law. I have been actively involved with the Citizenship Foundation who are the UK’s largest provider of public legal education for young people, I was also happy to support the recent establishment of the APPG to promote the importance of public legal education. It is my role as Solicitor General and as the Government’s pro bono champion, to help individuals become confident, effective members of society, helping them to develop an understanding of, how our society works as a democracy, our legal system, and their rights and responsibilities within it.

  • Lord Kilclooney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Kilclooney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the proposed freeze on duty for Scotch whisky and cider will also apply to Bushmills Whiskey and Armagh Cider in Northern Ireland.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    Alcohol duty rates are applied in the same way across the UK. Budget 2016 froze the duty rates on spirits and on still and lower strength sparkling cider.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers Rail North has in relation to the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises.

    Andrew Jones

    Whilst the franchise agreements are between the franchisees and the Secretary of State who also retains statutory powers under the Railways Act 1993 in relation to the franchises, the management of the Franchise Agreements is undertaken by a devolved team based in Leeds which reports to a Joint Rail North/DfT Strategic Board.

    In addition, Rail North Ltd has been ‎given certain specific powers, including the ability to vary the level of regulated fares for the Northern and TPE franchises, which would otherwise be determined by the Secretary of State as part of a national fares policy.