Tag: 2016

Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in predominately Kurdish areas of Turkey.

Mr David Lidington

The ongoing violence in the predominantly Kurdish areas of south east Turkey is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces in violent terrorist attacks. The Turkish Government has responded by striking PKK targets in Turkey and Northern Iraq. They have also launched large-scale security operations involving curfews in some towns and cities in order to clear them of suspected terrorists.

We are aware of reports of civilian casualties in the region, and a worsening humanitarian situation in certain areas in south east Turkey. The Turkish Government have said that 48 civilians lost their lives in clashes between 23 July and 23 December 2015. They also said that 93,000 people have fled their homes. We also understand that there have been investigations launched against elected officials and politicians. Any such investigations should be undertaken transparently and fully respect the rule of law.

We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the violence. As in any conflict, civilian casualties should be avoided and human rights need to be fully protected. We have been clear, in public and private, that PKK violence must end and we support a return to the peace process, in the interests of Turkey and the region. We stand ready to help in any way we can.

We continue to monitor the situation closely. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge and our Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised to the Turkish government the need to respect human rights, avoid civilian casualties and return to the peace process. I raised these issues with my Turkish counterpart the last time we met in August 2015.

01/01/2023
Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the RAF has spent on the marketing of RAF Northolt for civilian flights in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

The RAF has spent £3,600 on marketing for this purpose over the last five years.

01/01/2023
Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on biodiversity conservation in the UK Overseas Territories in each of the last five financial years.

Rory Stewart

Defra has spent a total of £11.6 million on biodiversity conservation in the UK Overseas Territories over the last five financial years as follows:

2015/16 – £2.2 million

2014/15 – £1.6 million

2013/14 – £2.2 million

2012/13 – £2.9 million

2011/12 – £2.7 million

01/01/2023
Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish an independent analysis of the economic forecasting record of the Office for Budget Responsibility, including an assessment of the accuracy of forecasting against free consensus expectations.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) already publish an assessment of the accuracy of their forecasts in their annual Forecast Evaluation Report (FER). This compares the latest outturn data for the economy and public finances with the OBR’s earlier forecasts, and aims to explain the differences. This assessment is required by the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act (BRNAA); this provides self-discipline for the OBR, and maintains transparency and accountability around their forecasting.

01/01/2023
Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will direct the Rural Payments Agency not to make any bonus payments to its Chief Executive until payments to eligible farmers have been completed.

George Eustice

Senior Civil Servants (SCS) who are moderated as top performers at the end of the performance management year are eligible to receive a bonus payment.

The performance management year for the SCS runs from 1 April to 31 March. Performance markings for 2015/16 will be determined by the end of May 2016. Only then will the eligibility of SCS for bonus payments be known.

01/01/2023
Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Report of the HS2 Residents’ Commissioner, published in May 2016, what steps his Department and HS2 Ltd have taken to introduce a newsletter for affected residents.

Mr Robert Goodwill

In Euston, HS2 Ltd have committed to producing a quarterly newsletter, the first newsletter was circulated in May 2016 to over 21,000 homes in the Camden area. The newsletter includes information about HS2, project updates, highlights key milestones and publicises upcoming engagement activities.

More widely HS2 Ltd plan to publish community newsletters across the Phase One route. The first series of these newsletters is scheduled for autumn 2016.

Phase Two is at a much earlier stage of development and HS2 Ltd are working closely with existing community engagement forums to ensure people are kept update with the latest information. HS2 Ltd anticipate publishing a community newsletter following a route announcement.

01/01/2023
Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-09-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the four points for urgent action in the International Rescue Committee situational brief of 5 September.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The IRC report outlines four areas for action. The Government response to each is as follows.

On point one in the report, the Government has been clear that the UK will not be part of the European Union relocation scheme. We remain of the view that relocation schemes within Europe risk creating perverse incentives for people to put their lives into the hands of traffickers. The Government is supporting efforts at hotspots through the deployment of resources to Italy and Greece through the European Asylum Support Office. We are fully committed to the efficient and timely operation of the Dublin Regulation and we are working closely with the Greek authorities, to identify, assess and transfer those with family connections to the UK under the Dublin family reunion process.

On point two, through our £70 million contribution to the Mediterranean Migration Crisis response, we are funding the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organisation for Migration, and other agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations, and have strongly encouraged them to ensure close coordination with the authorities, to together achieve improved accommodation for refugees and migrants. Our funds are also helping to provide alternative shelter options for vulnerable migrants.

On point three, DFID is delivering a £10 million Refugee Children’s Fund for Europe which prioritises unaccompanied and separated children. The fund provides safe places for at risk children, data management to trace children to their families, and services such as counselling and legal advice. A new Women and Girls’ Fund for Europe will provide specialised protection services, responding to the risk of exploitation, violence and trafficking, including for children.

On point four, the Government believes that resettlement programmes are best operated at the national level. Under the Syrian Vulnerable Person’s Resettlement Scheme, we have committed to resettle 20,000 Syrians by the end of this Parliament. In addition to this through the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement scheme we will resettle 3,000 individuals from the Middle East and North Africa region over the same period, focusing on children at risk.

01/01/2023
Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral contribution of 5 January 2016, Official Report, column 18, what the evidential basis is for the statement that changes to nurses’ training will allow for training 10,000 more nurses over the course of the current Parliament.

Ben Gummer

As set out by the Chancellor in the Spending Review in November 2015, universities will be able to provide up to 10,000 additional training places by the end of this Parliament. This is for nursing, midwifery and allied health subjects.

In 2014, 57,000 applicants applied for 20,033 nursing places on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) system. Nursing, midwifery and the allied health subjects are popular to study with British students, with nursing the fifth most popular subject on UCAS in 2014. Universities want to train more students for these professions and have the capacity to expand moderately quickly if allowed. There are already examples of universities, such as The University of Bolton and Keele University where these institutions have expanded to deliver additional places for nursing and physiotherapy respectively; with other universities also looking to expand.

01/01/2023

David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of her Department were in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education pays annual salaries. These have been converted to hourly rates using the calculation ((Gross Basic Salary*FTE)/52)/Weekly hours:

	Mar-12	Mar-13	Mar-14	Mar-15	Jan-16
a) Male	£21.62	£22.25	£22.30	£22.37	£22.30
b) Female	£19.73	£19.85	£20.09	£20.36	£20.54
c) Full-time	£20.64	£21.02	£21.16	£21.24	£21.28
d) Part-time	£19.65	£19.70	£20.15	£21.01	£21.25

This illustrates a positive trend as over the five year period the pay gap between men and women has reduced from 8.7% to 7.9% and the pay gap between full-time and part-time employees has reduced from 4.8% to 0.1%.

01/01/2023

Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects to publish the consultation proposals to remove the NHS bursary.

Ben Gummer

The publication date for the public consultation has yet to be finalised but we expect the consultation to be published before the end of March.

01/01/2023