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Tag: 2016

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on reform of the command structure of NATO.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Declaration of the NATO Summit in Wales in 2014 says, "We will ensure that the current NATO Command Structure remains robust, agile and able to undertake all elements of effective command and control". This remains our position and we fully support the reform work that NATO has done, and continues to do, to improve the ways in which it delivers military effects.

    We support the work of the NATO Strategic Commanders to optimise procedures and processes within the Command Structure to make it flexible, efficient, and responsive to the security environment.

  • Ian Paisley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Paisley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Paisley on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding he plans to allocate to (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) relevant regulatory bodies to ensure importers of soft drinks from outside the UK pay the soft drinks industry levy.

    Damian Hinds

    We will consult on the appropriate compliance arrangements for the levy and will plan resource allocation in due course.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the current budget is for treating dementia in prisons.

    Ben Gummer

    Prisoners with dementia should be offered the treatment and care they require, equivalent to that provided to people with similar needs in the community.

    Health services in prisons are commissioned by NHS England to meet the health needs of prisoners. Every person entering a prison will have an initial health screen at reception where health needs are assessed and where appropriate referrals are made to other services. Prisoners with dementia who also have care and support needs will have these assessed and any eligible care needs will be met by the local authority in which the prison is situated.

    The budget for treating dementia in prisons cannot be reported separately, as the prison healthcare budget is not disaggregated into specific treatment provision or diagnoses.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of Government-standard qualifying apprenticeship schemes available when the Apprenticeship Levy comes into force in spring 2017.

    Robert Halfon

    Employer-led reforms to apprenticeships are replacing existing complex frameworks with short, simple, accessible apprenticeship standards designed by employers according to their skills needs. The existing apprenticeship frameworks will close as the new standards are developed and become widely used, and in March 2016 we began the phased withdrawal of SASE frameworks.

    We envisage a migration from apprenticeship frameworks to standards over the course of the Parliament, with as much of this as possible to take place by 2017/18.

    So far, 246 new apprenticeships standards have been published. A further 176 new standards are in development, and we expect more to come forward before the Apprenticeship Levy is implemented in spring 2017.

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 8 January (HL4766), what is their assessment of the adequacy of railway links between London and South-West England.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The National Infrastructure Commission is not currently undertaking work on railway links between London and South West England.

    Network Rail assessed the adequacy of the rail links between London and the South West as part of the rail industry’s Long Term Planning Process. The Western & Wessex Route Studies form part of this process and develop options for future services and for investment in the rail network up to 2043.

    The options set out in the Route Studies are based on a regional and route based interpretation of the outputs and demand forecasts from previous market studies.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons the Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion and Belief was not re-established after the 2015 General Election; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Lidington

    Since the General Election, we have adopted a new strategic approach to human rights, refocusing our work around three themes: democratic values and the rule of law; strengthening the rules-based international system; and human rights for a stable world. Our work on freedom of religion or belief is an integral part of each of these themes.

    The Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief, as with our other former thematic human rights advisory groups, provided important contributions to our policy and activities. Under our new approach, our thematic advisory groups remain part of the expert constituency to which we turn when designing and delivering human rights initiatives. For example, we involved members of the former Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief in a workshop on Christians in the Middle East that we held in November 2015. We put forward another expert to form part of the Independent Review Panel of the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund. We continue to convene regular meetings of the Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Group on Human Rights to discuss a range of topics of interest to its members.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2016 to Question 26819, what the job titles are of those people in receipt of paid car allowances.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England advises us that there are seven post holders in receipt of a car user allowance:

    – Regional Director

    – Director of Commissioning Operations

    – Director of National Stakeholders – Primary Care Support

    – Managing Partner

    – Locality Director

    – Head of Health and Justice

    – Head of Primary Care Policy and Contracts

    The Care Quality Commission advises that the Occupational Car User Allowance is paid to eligible staff in the following roles who use their personal vehicle to visit services and commissioners in order to undertake regulatory decision making.

    ― Children’s Services Inspector

    ― Children’s Services Team Leader

    ― Clinical Specialist

    ― Controlled Drugs Officer

    ― Corporate Provider Compliance Inspector

    ― Corporate Provider Compliance Manager

    ― Enforcement Advisor

    ― Health and Justice Inspector

    ― Health and Justice Manager

    ― Inspector

    ― Inspection Manager

    ― Integrated Care Manager

    ― Medicines Inspector

    ― Mental Health Act Reviewer

    ― National Safeguarding Advisor

    ― National Pharmacy Manager

    ― Pharmacist Inspector

    ― Pharmacist Specialist

    ― Registration Inspector

    ― Registration Manager

    One Deputy Chief Inspector also currently receives a car allowance.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence advises that the five employees receiving a car allowance all have the job title of Implementation consultant.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what consideration her Department has given to the exclusion of irreducible process emissions in applying the reduction under the EU Emissions Trading System.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government supports the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) as a market-based approach to achieve least-cost decarbonisation and maintain a level playing field across the EU. The total cap on greenhouse gas emissions in the EU ETS does not discriminate between different sources of emissions. However, the Government recognises the large proportion of process emissions within some industrial sectors, such as cement. We have engaged with the cement and other sector bodies to understand the enablers and barriers to deep decarbonisation, including through the joint industry-Government decarbonisation roadmaps. The Government supports the proposal that the EU ETS, in future will provide funding for innovation and demonstration projects to overcome technological barriers to long-term emission reduction by industry.

  • Craig Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Craig Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Williams on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 6.9 of the Childcare and early years survey of parents 2014-15, what progress HM Revenue and Customs is making in raising awareness of the tax-free childcare scheme.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government will publicise the scheme in good time ahead of its introduction through a range of digital and non-digital channels.

    HM Revenue and Customs will also work with the childcare industry and representative groups who interact regularly with parents to raise awareness of the scheme.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department’s policy is on over-booking flights chartered for people being forcibly removed from the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    Charter flights are routinely overbooked to ensure the flight is fully utilised and delivers value for money. We reassess attrition rates for each flight on a monthly basis to ensure the number of individuals booked onto the flight who ultimately do not travel is kept to a minimum.