Tag: 2016

Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2016 to Question 38918, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on asylum seeker dispersal policy in Scotland since December 2015.

David Mundell

I am due to meet the Minister for Immigration soon to discuss a range of issues. Officials from the Scotland Office are in regular contact with officials from the Home Office on a range of issues concerning asylum seekers in Scotland, including asylum seeker dispersal policy.

The Home Office is currently in direct discussions with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and a number of local authorities on how asylum dispersal will continue to work in practice. The Home Office maintains an active partnership with local government across the UK, including those in Scotland, and funds Strategic Migration Partnerships to plan for the most appropriate dispersal of asylum seekers. The partnerships consider the impact on communities and local services so that adjustments to dispersal patterns can be made where appropriate.

01/01/2023
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the Basildon and Brentwood Clinical Commissioning Group has diverted finance intended for mental health services to reduce financial shortfalls in the acute sector.

Lord Prior of Brampton

No such assessment has been made. NHS England allocates funding to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to commission health services, including mental health services, to meet the needs of local communities. CCGs are responsible for decisions about how their allocation is used, taking account of local priorities, and are committed to increasing spending on mental health each year in line with the increases in overall National Health Service funding allocations. NHS England advises that, in line with Basildon and Brentwood CCG’s move towards parity of esteem, the CCG has increased investment into mental health services in 2016/17.

01/01/2023
Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the security of convoys transporting nuclear warheads by road.

Harriett Baldwin

All vehicles involved in the transportation of nuclear warheads are subject to a rigorous maintenance and inspection regime, carried out by highly skilled and experienced technicians. Inspections are made prior to each use, as well as six monthly safety and annual mandatory inspections.

The costs of the transportation of nuclear warheads between RNAD Coulport and AWE Burghfield are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The security of the nuclear warhead convoy was assessed by Ministry of Defence Security Advisors in September 2016 as overall ‘satisfactory’, demonstrating that ‘performance meets the required policy standard’.

01/01/2023
Barbara Keeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of GP surgeries offer extended opening hours.

Alistair Burt

We are committed to transforming general practice, and ensuring general practitioner (GP) services are available seven days a week by 2020. Of the total 7,875 GP surgeries in England, over 2,500 practices are involved in the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund and are currently offering improved access, including extended hours, to around 17 million patients according to the latest figures.

Additionally, the Extended Hours Directed Enhanced Service (DES), in place since 2008/09, is a way that GP practices are incentivised to offer extended access through the contract. 5,875 practices received a payment for 2014/15, totalling £83.984 million. Practices providing this DES could also be taking part in the GP Access Fund. Key requirements include the provision of additional clinical sessions (routine appointments including emergency appointments), provided outside of core contracted hours, in keeping with patient preference.

01/01/2023
Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department plans to take to engage with (a) industry bodies and (b) trades unions on the sourcing of steel for equipment procured by his Department from UK suppliers.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Government is committed to implementing measures to address any barriers that prevent UK steel suppliers from competing effectively for public sector contracts. To that end, new guidelines for departments on sourcing and buying steel for major projects were published in October 2015. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has written to its largest defence contractors to highlight these guidelines, which emphasise the importance of pre-market engagement, including through industry days and signalling future pipelines for steel.

The MOD would not routinely meet with trades unions on this type of issue and has not received any representations. It has met with the UK steel industry through its membership of the Cabinet Office Steel Procurement Working Group. This group is looking to ensure that UK steel suppliers can compete on a level playing field with international suppliers on major projects.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to ensure that people who lost money to Ecohouse Development Ltd will receive compensation.

Anna Soubry

The activities of the company are subject to an ongoing investigation by the Insolvency Service. The outcome of that investigation may influence the likelihood of a civil recovery using existing provisions in insolvency legislation.

Where, on the application of the liquidator, the court is satisfied that the business of a company has been carried on fraudulently or recklessly, the court can declare that persons such as directors of the company are liable to contribute to the company’s assets.

In addition, for future cases a new measure in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 enables the Secretary of State to seek a compensation order from a disqualified director (this measure does not apply in this case as the legislation only came into force after the company went into liquidation).

01/01/2023
Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what value and proportion of central government procurement was made by each department in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock

Total central government procurement spend is published as part of the annual reporting of spend with small and medium-sized businesses at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-government-spend-with-smes-2014-to-2015

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01/01/2023
Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-05-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 4 May (HL7877), why they have not specified as part of their sustainability policy for HS2 the use of sustainable aggregates in the design of structures.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The HS2 Sustainability Policy states that we will ‘source and make efficient use of sustainable materials.’ This includes the use of sustainable aggregates but is a purposely high-level statement intended to cover all types of sustainable materials. The detailed specifications for the sourcing and use of all materials, including aggregates, will be developed through the design process in line with the Sustainability Policy.

01/01/2023
Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average lateness in minutes was in reporting period two of (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17 of services on the (i) Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, (ii) the Gatwick Express, (iii) Southern Mainline and Coast, (iv) Southern Metro and (v) Thameslink.

Claire Perry

Govia Thameslink Railway do not report average lateness to the Department.

However, on 28 June, the Office of Rail and Road published statistics on ‘Network Rail Outputs and Indicators’ for 2015/16 Quarter 4 which include data on average lateness by region and train operator. The information can be found on their website: http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/statistical-releases

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01/01/2023

Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Attorney General, what plans he has to extend the scope of the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

Jeremy Wright

The Government has committed to extending the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme and is carefully considering its approach.

The number of offenders who have had their sentence increased under the unduly lenient sentence scheme in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Offenders who have had their sentence increased by the Court of Appeal	95	62	61	106	102

Some cases attract multiple referrals from various sources and we do not record how many referrals each case has received. The total number of cases where requests were received by the Attorney General’s Office for sentences to be reviewed in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Total number of referrals received by the Attorney General’s Office for sentences to be reviewed under the scheme	377	435	498	674	713

The number of sentences referred to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme that were (a) increased and (b) kept the same in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Total number of sentences referred to the Court of Appeal	117	82	70	122	136
Total number of sentences that were increased	95	62	61	106	102
Total number of sentences that remained unchanged	22	20	9	16	34

The number of referrals under the unduly lenient sentence scheme that have been rejected due to falling outside the remit of the scheme in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Number of referrals that have been rejected due to the offence falling outside the remit of the scheme	62	75	131	194	228
Number of referrals received out of time	3	12	9	10	16

01/01/2023