Tag: 2016

Sammy Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of Heathrow Airport expansion on UK industry.

Mr John Hayes

The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and is considering all of the evidence very carefully before reaching a view on its preferred scheme. The Government is not providing a running commentary on this work before an announcement on its preference.

01/01/2023
David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects to be able to announce how carbon capture and storage research and deployment will be funded in future; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

Decisions on which technologies to support with research, development and demonstration funding will be made in due course, in the context of our agreed policy objectives, with a clear focus on targeting investment in areas of demonstrable market failure. A generating station connected to a complete CCS system is an eligible technology for Contracts for Difference under the Contract for Difference Regulations. Contracts for Difference for CCS are awarded on direction of my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State. Whether or not the Secretary of State would consider awarding a CfDs to a specific project would be subject to the circumstances at the time, including factors such as the value for money and affordability of a project and competing demands on available budgets.

01/01/2023
Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 22596, what assessment he has made of the net negative impact on business of the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in Bear Scotland and other court decisions relating to holiday pay.

Nick Boles

The Department has produced an Impact Assessment of the implications for business of holiday pay cases such as Bear Scotland. This was published alongside the Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014, which limit backdated holiday pay claims to two years from 1 July 2015. The Impact Assessment can be found on the legislation.gov.uk web site at this link

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3322/impacts

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01/01/2023
Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with social enterprises and other small and medium-sized enterprises about the potential effect of the closure of the Growth Accelerator Programme.

Anna Soubry

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills continues to have discussions with businesses and their representatives. They have told us that there is strong appetite in the private sector to fill the gap in the market and develop sustainable offers of support.

01/01/2023
Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel concerning the right of return of Syrian refugees who were originally displaced from their homes in Palestine when the state of Israel was formed.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have not had any discussions with the Israeli authorities on this issue. It is the British Government’s policy that a final status agreement between the two parties should include a just, fair and agreed settlement for refugees.

01/01/2023

Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 8 March 2016 to Questions 30341 and 30342 and with reference to the Answers of 5 December 2013 to Question 179450 and 21 January 2014 to Question 182897, when his Department (a) decided to stop collecting the required information and (b) began to collect information in such a way that it can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Justin Tomlinson

The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

For questions 179450 and 182897 volumes of prosecutions and number of errors identified were provided, however these were not all fraud cases, including cases where the error was not deliberate. This did not explicitly answer the enquiry, however was given to provide helpful context. It is not possible to separate cases into those which are a mistake and those where fraud has been accepted without individual case by case analysis.

Again, we cannot directly answer 30341 and 30342 but have provided the below extra information to assist;

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
Total Fraud Investigations (1)	125,140	116,480	171,730
of which total positive outcomes (2)	20,800	20,050	24,600
of which total fraud cases (3)	15,350	12,870	13,600
over which total prosecuted (4)	11,390	8,490	7,150

(1) Total cases investigated by Local Service or complex criminal Investigations.
(2) Total cases where an error has been identified and corrected.
(3) Prosecutions + admin Penalties + cautions: cases where fraud has been proven or accepted.
(4) Cases accepted by CPS for prosecution.

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01/01/2023

Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the statement of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ráad al Hussein, of 10 May 2016, what his policy is on the government of Turkey giving independent investigators, including UN staff, unimpeded access to South East Turkey to investigate alleged violations of human rights.

Mr Philip Hammond

We are aware of several public reports regarding alleged events in Cizre. We agree with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ráad al Hussein that it is essential that authorities respect human rights at all times while undertaking security or counter-terrorism operations.

We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, a terrorist organisation which has killed hundreds of innocent people in the past year. A PKK offshoot – the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK – has also claimed responsibility for a number of recent attacks, including an indiscriminate suicide car bombing in central Ankara on 13 March that killed over 30 people. Our thoughts are with the victims of PKK attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the recent conflict.

Our Ambassador to Turkey and I have discussed with the Turkish government the importance of respecting human rights and avoiding civilian casualties in the fight against terrorism. We believe the first responsibility for investigating any alleged violations falls to Turkey. And that the PKK needs to cease violence in order to create the conditions for political resolution of the difficulties in the south east.

01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Multi Academy Trusts have closed down in each year since 2010.

Edward Timpson

The Department has a role in monitoring the performance of Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) and the academies within them. This includes transferring an academy where there are significant concerns about performance from one MAT to another.

MATs are charitable trusts and companies limited by guarantee. It is for its board to decide whether or not to dissolve the trust; the Department has no role.

01/01/2023
Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment his Department has made of the costs and benefits to the UK of leaving the EU Customs Union; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker

We are confident that we will secure a successful outcome and deliver the best deal for Britain in the upcoming negotiations. The relationship we build with the EU will be bespoke to the UK. There are of course a number of different models for EU trade relations from which we can learn. We understand the advantages and disadvantages of those models, and are analysing closely the impact which adopting them would have on the UK economy and UK trade.

01/01/2023
Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on (a) travel, (b) first or business class flights for officials, (c) first or business class flights for Ministers, (c) first class train travel for officials and (d) first class train travel for Ministers in 2014-15.

Mr David Lidington

The FCO ensures value for money in all its expenditure to help reduce the overall costs of Government. Staff are expected to find alternatives to overseas travel where possible, including by making use of video conferencing facilities.

Where travel is necessary, FCO policy is that staff should ensure maximum efficiency, remembering that it is public money being spent. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, FCO officials may fly business class only if the flying time is ten hours or longer.

All FCO staff are directed to use standard class for rail travel unless there are exceptional circumstances e.g. illness, disability or where first class facilities are essential for working while travelling. In these exceptional circumstances, prior line management approval must be given.

In 2014-15 the FCO’s spend on air and train travel originating in the UK and booked through the Government’s nominated travel agency in the UK totalled £10,879,831 and £365,145 respectively.

For comparison, in 2009-10 the equivalent figures were £14,503,576 and £328,184 respectively. This represents a 25% reduction in expenditure on air travel and a 11.3% increase on train travel since 2009-10.

In 2014-15 the figures break down to £6,838 on first class flights (exceptions were made to ensure attendance at the funeral for a Head of State and for officials to attend crucial talks on Libya), £4,501,110 on business class flights, £6,371,883 on economy and premium economy flights, £3,057 on first class rail travel and £362,088 on standard rail travel.

For comparison, in 2009-10 the figures break down to £11,852 on first class flights, £11,307,923 on business class flights, £3,183,801 on economy and premium economy flights, £195,447 on first class rail travel and £132,737 on standard rail travel.

It is not possible to provide a detailed breakdown of expenditure on either air or rail travel by Ministers and by officials: disaggregating the class of travel from all the individual journeys taken by ministers and officials could only be carried out at disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023