Tag: 2016

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the findings of his Department’s right to buy pilots; what recent estimate he has made of the total cost of providing discounts to tenants eligible for that scheme nationwide and the number of council homes which will need to be sold in the course of that scheme; and what recent assessment he has made of the ability of housing associations to provide a like-for-like replacement for homes sold in the area local to those homes.

    Brandon Lewis

    As set out in the voluntary agreement with the National Housing Federation, tenants of housing associations will be eligible for the equivalent discounts that are available under the Right to Buy (up to £77,900 and £103,900 within London). The Government has been clear that the sale of high value vacant council housing will pay for the cost of compensating housing associations for the discount, so the Right to Buy will be cost neutral. Ahead of full implementation, we have launched the Right to Buy pilot with 5 housing associations.

    Overall there will be an ongoing evaluation of the Right to Buy pilot with the pilot informing the design of the full scheme.

    We are engaging with local authorities and are in the process of updating data that will be used to help inform the high value threshold. Every home sold under the voluntary Right to Buy will result in a new additional home being built nationally.

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were recruited to the (a) Army, (b) Royal Air Force, (c) Royal Navy and (d) reserve forces in Scotland in each of the last five years.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    Intake to the UK Regulars by location is unavailable. However, the Ministry of Defence publishes UK Regular strengths by stationed location in our Quarterly Location Statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/location-of-all-uk-regular-service-and-civilian-personnel-quarterly-statistics-index

    Information on intake into the Volunteer Reserve by stationed location is provided in the attached table.

  • Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much small businesses with a rateable value of less than £30,000 paid in business rates in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014 and (d) 2015.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Department does not hold this information.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the minimum standards required to practice as a care worker are; and what steps he is taking to ensure online training courses in care work are regularly assessed and adequate to meet those requirements.

    Ben Gummer

    All providers of health or adult social care activities that fall under the supervision of the Care Quality Commission have a legal duty to ensure that all staff working to provide those activities have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience necessary for the work to be performed.

    Health and social care support workers should meet the Care Certificate standards. The Certificate comprises 15 standards that cover the fundamental skills, knowledge and behaviours that are required to provide safe, effective and compassionate care.

    The Care Certificate contains practical components that must be completed. There are a number of online commercial Care Certificate training products that do not make this clear. Health Education England and Skills for Care are working on online training materials to provide a free-of-charge and authoritative alternative to the current commercial offerings.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what operational contingency plan his Department has made in the event of the UK leaving the EU.

    Michael Fallon

    None.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the foreign aid budget was given directly to the governments of recipient nations in each of the last three years.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    Direct financial aid to governments of recipient nations constituted 14%, 12% and 9% of DFID’s total programme expenditure for years 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 respectively. These are the three most recent years for which this data is currently available. General Budget Support reduced from 2.2% to 0.5% of DFID’s total programme expenditure over the same period.

  • Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Edward Argar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has to replicate the system of Historic Environment Records used in Wales in England.

    Tracey Crouch

    In England local planning authorities are required to have regard to the terms of the National Planning Policy Framework, which indicates that they should either maintain or have access to an Historical Environment Records (HER).

    The Heritage Information Access Strategy (HIAS) programme intends to secure an improved and more cost effective approach to handling digital historic environment data, especially that held by local authority Historic Environment Records. It is intended to improve the accessibility of that information and work with HERs to become more user focused. As part of HIAS Historic England will continue to champion the development, maintenance and implementation of standards for the creation, management and storage of digital historic environment data.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects to reply to the letters to him from the hon. Member for Tewkesbury dated 20 July 2015 and 21 October 2015 on the treatment of veterans and the terms of the Military Covenant.

    Michael Fallon

    The case that the hon. Member refers to is complicated and sensitive and is still being reviewed by officials. I will write to him as soon as this review concludes.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recommendation in the Chief Schools Adjudicator for England’s Annual Report, published in December 2015, that her Department should clarify what is expected in guidance produced by relevant religious authorities for schools which give priority on the grounds of religion in their admission arrangements.

    Nick Gibb

    Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious character, are required to comply with the School Admissions Code. This includes a requirement that ‘parents should be able to look at a set of arrangements and understand easily how places for that school will be allocated’.

    We support the right of schools with a religious designation to prioritise children of their faith. The code requires such schools, as a minimum, to prioritise looked after and previously looked after children of their faith ahead of other children. We have no plans to change this requirement.

    The code can only be applied to bodies within the education sector. It cannot place requirements upon religious bodies. It does, however, require that when schools with a religious designation adopt admission criteria which prioritise children based on their faith, the schools must take account of religious activities as laid out by their religious authority.

    Compliance with the code is enforced by the Schools Adjudicator. Where an objection is made and the adjudicator finds that the arrangements are unclear, unfair, or that they otherwise fail to comply with the code, the admission authority is required by law to change the policy.

    The Government will shortly consult on a package of changes to the code which will both respond to the findings within the Chief Adjudicator’s Annual Reports and concerns raised by parents. That package will include measures to improve fairness and transparency.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the British armed forces are currently stationed in each of the UK’s overseas territories.

    Penny Mordaunt

    There are 2,570 British Service personnel permanently based in British Overseas Territories. This figure includes those based in the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus, Gibraltar, the South Atlantic Islands and British Indian Ocean Territory (including Diego Garcia). It excludes those deployed on operations. The breakdown of these figures is shown below. The Ministry of Defence regularly publishes the location figures for both military and civilian personnel, which can be accessed on the GOV.UK website.

    UK Overseas Territory

    Number of Armed Forces Personnel Stationed

    Cyprus (SBA)

    2,290

    Gibraltar

    160

    South Atlantic Islands

    80

    British Indian Ocean Territory (including Diego Garcia)

    40

    TOTAL

    2,570

    (Location of UK regular service and civilian personnel quarterly statistics – 1 January 2016)