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Tag: 2016

  • Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service from people living in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency have taken more than 60 days to process in each of the last 12 months.

    Karen Bradley

    The following table shows the number of applications from people living in Dulwich and West Norwood that have taken more than 60 days in each of the last 12 months.

    Month

    Disclosures Dispatched Taking Over 60 Days

    May-15

    121

    Jun-15

    124

    Jul-15

    158

    Aug-15

    121

    Sep-15

    147

    Oct-15

    159

    Nov-15

    123

    Dec-15

    132

    Jan-16

    131

    Feb-16

    136

    Mar-16

    148

    Apr-16

    142

    1,642
  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many people working for the Law Officers’ Departments or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    Robert Buckland

    The Attorney General’s Office, the Government Legal Department, HMCPSI and the Crown Prosecution Service have no direct employees or agency workers that are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage foundation.

    The Serious Fraud Office directly employs six staff who earn less than this. The six are all either apprentices or sandwich students on placement, and are all under 20 years of age and paid at a rate equivalent to £9.04 an hour.

    None of the Law Officers’ Departments have any direct employees or agency workers who are on zero-hours contracts. No information is held in regards to pay rates or contracts with individuals employed by agencies or firms for subcontracted services.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to encourage children to take up physical activity, in particular activity additional to school sport.

    Lord Nash

    We want all pupils to be healthy and more physically active, with the Government’s recent Childhood Obesity Plan setting out an ambition that young people should be active for at least 60 minutes every day, as recommended by the Chief Medical Officer.

    Since 2013, the Government has provided over £450million of ring-fenced funding to primary schools to make additional and sustainable improvements to PE and Sport. We know this funding is making a difference, with 87% of primary schools reporting that the quality of PE teaching has increased since the introduction of the premium. The majority of schools have also introduced new sports in both curricular PE (74%) and extra-curricular sport (77%) since the premium was introduced. But we know there is more to do, which is why revenue from the soft drinks industry levy will be used to double the primary PE and sport premium to £320million a year from September 2017.

    Through the Sport Strategy, we have also extended the remit of Sport England, to cover children aged 5 and above, outside of school. Sport England’s new strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’ sets out a new £40million investment into projects that offer opportunities for families with children to get active and play sport together outside of school.

    In relation to fitness testing, it is up to schools to determine how best they deliver a diverse and challenging PE curriculum. We are considering how we can track levels of physical activity in schools to help support children to have healthy and active lives and will be providing schools with further guidance and best practice examples to help deliver this.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will discuss with the Financial Conduct Authority the effect of the savings products offered by providers with almost zero interest rates on people with savings.

    Harriett Baldwin

    In January 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its Cash Savings Market Study report, which found that competition in the cash savings market was not working well for many consumers. In response, the FCA has consulted on and will subsequently be introducing new rules from 1 December 2016 designed to improve competition by encouraging easier and quicker switching and improving the information savers receive.

    These new rules will require firms to provide key information in a product summary box at point of sale and to be clear on what interest rate consumers are getting. The FCA will also introduce a new rule which requires firms to provide a prompt and efficient service so that a customer can switch to a better account offered by the same firm.

  • Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Liz McInnes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what rail routes are planned to be designated driver controlled operation in the Northern Franchise.

    Andrew Jones

    This is an operational matter for the new franchisee to discuss with its staff and their trade union representatives after they have taken over the franchise on 1st April.

  • David Mowat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Mowat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mowat on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the extent of Israeli settlement-building in the occupied territories since the cessation of Operation Protective Edge.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has continued since the cessation of Operation Protective Edge. In August 2014, the Israeli Government expropriated over 1000 acres of Palestinian land near Bethlehem, the largest expropriation in 30 years. In September 2014, Israeli authorities approved 2610 units in Givat Hamatos. In 2015, according to Israeli Non-Government Office Peace Now, construction for 1800 previously-tendered housing units began in the settlements. New tenders for 1143 housing units were also published, 560 in the West Bank and 583 in East Jerusalem. 2016 has seen a number of concerning announcements, including: the extension of the Gush Etzion settlement to include the former church compound of Beit al Baraka; the declaration of 385 acres of land near Jericho as ‘state land’; and approval for a further 153 settlement units. We strongly urge the Israeli Government to reverse its policy over illegal settlements.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment he has made of which of his Department’s agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants, such as ambassadors and chargés d’affaires. The Government’s view is that the Directive permits a risk-based approach to the identification of whether an individual is a politically exposed person and, when identified, the Directive enables the application of different degrees of enhanced measures to reflect the risks posed. The Government will be setting out this view in a consultation which will be published shortly.

    The changes proposed under the Directive should not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Treasury regularly raises these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate, risk-based approach when applying these measures.

  • 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 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Care Quality Commission on the findings of its mock inspection of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust’s Slade House site in 2012.

    Ben Gummer

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not conduct mock-inspections. The CQC compliance report on Slade House, published in 2012, was conducted under its previous inspection methodology. The inspection found that the facility was meeting the essential standards of care it looked at. The Department did not discuss the report’s findings with the CQC.

    From 2014, the CQC started introducing a new inspection methodology to mental health services which makes use of a higher-skilled inspection team that includes specialist inspectors, clinical and other experts, and people with experience of care. The findings of these new inspections give patients and the public a more authoritative and comprehensive view of the quality of care provided by health and adult social care providers.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average fine is for people found guilty of breaking the law by not allowing the transport of blind people and their guide dogs in licensed taxis under the Equality Act 2010.

    Dominic Raab

    It is an offence under section 168 of the Equalities Act 2010 to refuse to take an assistance dog in a taxi or private hire vehicle. The maximum penalty is a level 3 fine (up to £1,000).

    The number of offenders sentenced at all courts (with fines and average fines specifically identified) for failure to comply with a section 168 duty in relation to an assistance dog for a disabled person, in England and Wales, from 2011 (earliest separately identifiable information available) to 2015 can be viewed in table 1.

    The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for failure to comply with a section 168 duty in relation to an assistance dog for a disabled person, listed by local authority prosecuting the case in England and Wales, from 2011 (earliest separately identifiable information available) to 2015 can be viewed in table 2.

    Centrally held data by the Ministry of Justice includes information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. Data on whether a guide dog for the blind or a different type of assistance dog was involved in such a case is not held centrally, or reliably recorded where there is no operational reason to do so.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is his policy that existing money laundering regulations made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 should remain in force in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

    Simon Kirby

    Tackling money laundering and terrorist financing is a priority for the Government. The UK is a leading member of the international standard setter for anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing, the Financial Action Task Force, and supports full compliance with the standards which we implement domestically. The UK will continue to cooperate closely with our international partners to improve the effectiveness of the standards, and to ensure the global anti-money regime is robust and responsive to emerging threats.