Tag: 2016

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-03-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to consult with people in Cumbernauld on the proposed closure of HM Revenue and Customs Cumbernauld office.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) plans to create two new Regional Centres in Scotland, in Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2019-20, accommodating between 5,700 and 6,300 employees. HMRC’s new Regional Centres will give its staff all they need including a modern office environment, close to good travel and transport links. They will provide stable, high quality jobs and offer a wide range of opportunities for training and promotion and allow its staff to follow more varied career paths than have previously been possible.

    HMRC will help all its staff work through their options. It will give everyone the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances with their manager ahead of any office closures or moves, so they know about any issues that need to be taken into account when making decisions.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much production work by (a) value and (b) numbers of jobs has been undertaken by US employees in the US on UK Government defence contracts in each of the last five years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not currently collate information on how much production or support work is undertaken in the UK or US on UK defence contracts, either by value or number of jobs. A comprehensive breakdown of which MOD contracts placed over the last five years are with UK or US suppliers is also not held centrally.

    The MOD routinely publishes statistics on contracts it places on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/defence-trade-and-industry-index. This includes an overall estimate of MOD expenditure for work undertaken in the UK and lists all organisations with which we have spent £5 million or more in the financial year. These statistics include expenditure with US companies.

    The MOD does not collate information centrally on the value of production work undertaken in the UK on contracts placed by the US Department of Defense.

  • Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tommy Sheppard on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Israeli government on that country’s use of the courts to obtain information on the identities of soldiers who have served in Operation Protective Edge and testified about their experience with Breaking the Silence.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have not raised this issue with the Israeli authorities.

  • Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to increase the powers of local authorities to (a) remove travellers camped illegally on public land and (b) recover site clean-up costs from those illegally settled on public land.

    Gavin Barwell

    Local authorities and the police have a range of strong powers that enable them to take action against unauthorised encampments and developments. Ministers sent a summary of these powers to all council leaders, Police and Crime Commissioners and Police Chief Constables in March 2015:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418139/150326_Dealing_with_illegal_and_unauthorised_encampments_-_final.pdf

    The government is open to suggestions for how enforcement could be strengthened and continues to keep this issue under review.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been banned from attending Premiership and Championship matches in England over the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Home Office annually publishes statistics on football banning orders imposed in England and Wales. The table below contains published statistics for the last five football seasons, detailing the total number of extant football banning orders and the number of new football banning orders imposed. A football banning order imposed in England and Wales prevents the individual from attending all matches in the Premier League and Football League. The statistics for season 2015-16 will be published on 24 November. Please refer to the table attached for detailed statistics.

  • 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 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 21142, when (a) the provisional data referred to will be finalised and (b) the next set of data will be released.

    Alistair Burt

    My response to Parliamentary Question 21142 included data on attendances at accident and emergency departments covering January to September 2015 with data covering the period April to September 2015 labelled as provisional. However, my officials have advised me that data for the period January to March 2015 is also classed as provisional as the finalised data for this period is yet to be published. Provisional data is subject to change and allows for any revisions to be made throughout the year. The differences between provisional and finalised data are small, with variations of less than 1% on most figures extracted from Hospital Episode Statistics data.

    Finalised data for 2014-15 will be published on January 28 2016. Finalised data for 2015-16 is expected to be published in January 2017, however, there is no approved schedule for final publication of these data as yet.

    The next set of monthly provisional accident and emergency quality indicators data for October 2015 will be available on January 26 2016.

  • 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 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects A-level courses in (a) French, (b) German, (c) Spanish, (d) religious studies and (e) geography to be approved by awarding bodies for teaching from September 2016; and if she will make a statement.

    Nick Gibb

    This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey to write directly to the Honourable Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on the number of people employed by ambulance services who are from non-EU countries of the salary threshold increase for Tier 2 visa applications to £35,000.

    Ben Gummer

    Data from the Home Office shows that no visas were issued to people employed by ambulance services in the last five years for roles other than paramedics. Paramedics were placed on the United Kingdom’s shortage occupation list in April 2015 and are therefore exempt from the requirement to earn £35,000 whilst the role is on the shortage occupation list.

  • 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 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his policy for the House to be informed after his Department’s cyber strike capability has been used in cases where urgent action has been required such that it has not been possible to inform the House in advance.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We continue to develop the ability of our Armed Forces to deploy a broad range of offensive cyber capabilities as an integrated part of military operations. As with other sensitive defence capabilities, we do not reveal specific details in order to safeguard national security. As we have previously made clear in the context of the war powers convention, we do not propose to define the circumstances in which we would consult Parliament about the use of particular military capabilities.

  • Kirsten  Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kirsten Oswald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to his Department was of vehicle hire in each of the last five years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The MOD uses hire and lease vehicles to transport personnel and equipment around the country, often to areas not readily accessible by public transport. The vehicles are used for different tasks, ranging from moving defence personnel and stores to support military operations or training exercises, to enabaling taskings such as mountain rescue and emergency support to the civil authorities.

    The MOD’s vehicle lease and hire in the UK is covered by the Phoenix contract with Babcock Land Limited, which was placed in April 2012. The department does not hold readily available and comparative spend data before this date. The cost to the MOD of vehicle lease and hire through the Phoenix contract is as follows:

    FY15/16

    FY14/15

    FY13/14

    FY12/13

    £124.1m

    £132.4m

    £125.5m

    £101.9m

    The MOD recently negotiated a new contract with Babcock Land Limited for the continued provision of its lease and hire cars, targeting savings of around £100m over the next six years through more efficient use of the MOD’s vehicle fleet.