The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many civil servants in his Department are paid through limited companies.
Mr Mark Francois
No civil servants in my Department are paid through limited companies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress the West Yorkshire police force has made on piloting and evaluating the use by police officers of body-worn cameras.
Brandon Lewis
We know that the majority of forces in England and Wales use Body Worn Video (BWV) to some extent. The deployment of BWV is an operational decision for chief officers. However, we are aware that West Yorkshire Police are operating a phased rollout of body worn video cameras to frontline officers following an initial pilot, with officers in the Bradford and Calderdale districts already equipped.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they ensure that funds spent by the British Embassy in Pyongyang or funds dispersed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for North Korea activities are not diverted by the government of North Korea for use in its nuclear programme or human rights abuses.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) projects in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are usually delivered through international Non-Governmental Organisations who operate in-country and are aimed at assisting some of the most vulnerable groups in North Korean society. Before selecting an implementing partner relevant due diligence checks are carried out which include, but are not limited to, obtaining assurances about: training provided to staff in relation to reporting bribery and corruption; how those concerns are shared with donors; and what policies, principles and procedures the organisation has in place to regulate its own conduct.
In line with standard FCO project requirements detailed budgets are required for all projects and these are carefully checked to ensure both in-country and other costs are reasonable. Project implementers are required to provide financial reports and originals or copies of all invoices and receipts, as well as a Project Completion Report containing a detailed breakdown of all expenditure during the project period. The final payment on any project is only released after submission of a satisfactory Project Completion Report.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the prevailing animal welfare standards of the bear cull in Canada that provides pelts for the making of bearskins and other associated headgear containing real fur by use by the British armed forces.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not buy bear pelts; it buys ceremonial caps direct from suppliers who source pelts from animals culled as part of a programme to manage the wild population licensed by the Canadian government. Animal welfare standards relating to the bear cull are a matter for the Canadian government.
The MOD also purchases coney skin (rabbit fur) for the Royal Engineers’ and Royal Signals’ busby and fox fur for the Royal Horse Artillery, Kings Troop Officers’ busby. The current contract requires a commitment to sustainable procurement.
Depending on usage and maintenance, bearskin busbys can last for up to 50 years. The coney skin and fox fur busbys have indefinite lifespans if properly maintained.
|
Calendar Year |
Cost of Bearskin Busby Headgear (£) |
Financial Year |
Cost of Coney Skin Busby Headgear (£) |
Cost of Fox Fur Busby Headgear(£) |
|
2005 |
Not held |
2005-06 |
1,532 |
0 |
|
2006 |
Not held |
2006-07 |
0 |
1,472 |
|
2007 |
Not held |
2007-08 |
0 |
0 |
|
2008 |
31,319 |
2008-09 |
9,173 |
406 |
|
2009 |
148,891 |
2009-10 |
0 |
0 |
|
2010 |
131,886 |
2010-11 |
0 |
0 |
|
2011 |
90,822 |
2011-12 |
0 |
861 |
|
2012 |
126,087 |
2012-13 |
1,779 |
861 |
|
2013 |
65,108 |
2013-14 |
0 |
0 |
|
2014 |
136,671 |
2014-15 |
10,257 |
1,899 |
|
2015 |
149,379 |
2015-16 |
2,558 |
0 |
All figures are rounded to the nearest pound.
|
Calendar Year |
Number of Bearskin Busby Headgear |
Financial Year |
Number of Coney Skin Busby Headgear |
Number of Busby Headgear made of Fox Fur |
|
2005 |
Not held |
2005-06 |
4 |
0 |
|
2006 |
Not held |
2006-07 |
0 |
2 |
|
2007 |
Not held |
2007-08 |
0 |
0 |
|
2008 |
35 |
2008-09 |
22 |
1 |
|
2009 |
195 |
2009-10 |
0 |
0 |
|
2010 |
158 |
2010-11 |
0 |
0 |
|
2011 |
99 |
2011-12 |
0 |
1 |
|
2012 |
126 |
2012-13 |
4 |
1 |
|
2013 |
63 |
2013-14 |
0 |
0 |
|
2014 |
127 |
2014-15 |
20 |
2 |
|
2015 |
122 |
2015-16 |
5 |
0 |
Historically the MOD has undertaken a number of trials on synthetic alternatives to bear skin but none of these matched the properties of the natural material. No trialling has taken place since 2007. Information about costs of these trials is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In 2012 the Ministry of Defence loaned a sample bearskin to the animal rights organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, to aid its research and development programme on a synthetic alternative.
There has been no research and development carried out to find a synthetic alternative to coney skin or fox fur.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-01-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with the European Commission since the publication of the EU Aviation Strategy in December 2015; what assessment he has made of the effect of taxes and levies applied by member states on connectivity and competitiveness; what his Department’s response to that strategy’s conclusion on the effects of such taxes and levies conclusion is; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Gauke
HM Treasury takes note of the European Commission’s 2015 Aviation Strategy.
The UK has the third largest aviation network in the world and a strongly performing aviation sector – passenger numbers grew 4% in 2014 compared to 2013 and are expected to show similar growth for 2015.
In the absence of any taxation of international aviation fuel and no VAT on international or domestic flights, the Government levies air passenger duty (APD) on the carriage of passengers from UK airports. APD ensures that the aviation sector contributes its fair share in taxation towards reducing the deficit.
However, like all taxes, APD is kept under review with any changes announced at fiscal events.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to maintain a strong commercial bus market in northern regions of the UK.
Andrew Jones
The forthcoming Buses Bill will provide local transport authorities, including those in the North, with a range of tools that will enable them to improve their bus services by introducing new franchising powers and stronger partnership arrangements, as well as a step change in the information available to passengers.
The Government is also supporting bus services outside London – including in the North – with some £250 million a year of funding through the Bus Service Operators Grant system.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if will he take steps to ensure that British Pregnancy Advisory Service abortion clinics do not act outside the licence for anaesthetics and do not share single doses between patients.
Jane Ellison
One representation has been received in relation to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) inspection of BPAS Richmond. The CQC is responsible for ensuring that requirements under the Health and Social Care (HSC) Act 2008 are met by the providers of termination of pregnancy services including meeting the fundamental standards of quality and safety as set out in Part 3 to the 2014 Regulations, and Regulation 20 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, which is specific to independent sector termination of pregnancy providers. The CQC is responsible for ensuring that the requirements under the HSC Act 2008 are maintained through a system of monitoring and, where appropriate, inspection visits. It is for the CQC and the provider to address required and recommended actions identified following an inspection.
Independent sector providers are also required to comply with the Department of Health’s Required Standard Operating Procedures.
Departmental officials meet regularly with representatives from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) but have not met since the CQC report on BPAS Richmond was published.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-04-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of EU Directive 2014/56/EU and Regulation 537/2014 on statutory auditing, what assessment they have made of the potential impact of joint audit on levels of competition across the UK auditing sector.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The Government does intend to implement provisions relating to increased tendering as part of the implementation of the EU Audit Regulation and Directive. This is in line with the recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The provision on joint audit in the EU Regulation would act as an exemption from having to retender with the frequency envisaged by the CMA. The government consulted on the implementation of the audit directive including this option, and concluded the option should not be taken up.
Joint audit is not a practice followed in the UK, though it is expressly permitted by the Companies and legislation on some other entities. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has consulted on whether to take up this derogation. In response to our discussion document in December 2014 on auditor regulation, only 4 of 25 respondents supported its implementation.
It is unclear that increased joint audit would encourage competition. The option in the EU Regulation could result in prolonged audit engagements (up to 24 years) and fewer changes in auditor. This would be contrary to the objective of the CMA and the Regulation, which is to increase retendering and rotation of auditors not less.
The CMA considered the impact of joint audits on competition and concluded that promoting joint audits would have little effect on barriers to entry, expansion and selection. The CMA’s conclusions were based on views provided by a range of stakeholders. The CMA was not able to quantify the potential cost of imposing joint audits, but did state that they believed that across the market the costs would be potentially significant. They state that a lot of weight was placed on the views of investors, who were almost universally opposed to joint audits on the grounds of additional costs and risks to audit quality.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has conducted of whether military personnel and contractors are able safely to load and unload equipment from Ministry of Defence vessels onto the pier head at Ascension Island.
Mr Philip Dunne
The loading and unloading of freight from Ministry of Defence chartered vessels is conducted by the Ascension Island Government. A Health and Safety and Environmental Risk Assessment of loading/unloading equipment at the Ascension Islands pier head was undertaken by the Joint Forces Command Health and Safety lead in September 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding from the public purse for each refugee camp has been given in each of the last five years; and on what that funding has been spent in each of those years.
Rory Stewart
DFID supports refugee camps in many different countries as part of our wider programming to assist those displaced by conflict, persecution and fear. It is not possible to say how much is spent on each individual camp.