Tag: 2016

  • Lord Touhig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Touhig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Touhig on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of reservists who are able to serve at short notice in the event of a major conflict.

    Earl Howe

    Volunteer Reservists (VR) on the trained strength (26,560 as at 1 December 2015) are required to respond to a mobilisation call-out at 28 days’ notice and may then carry out additional training for an operation. The length of time required for this training will depend on the complexity of the operation, which may require familiarisation training on equipment which they will be required to operate, and procedural training to prepare for the environment they will encounter. Further preparations may be required, such as vaccinations, which depend on the environment of the operation and which will affect the length of time between mobilisation and deployment.

    For a medium scale intervention operation we would expect the period between mobilisation and deployment for VR to be around 180 days. However, the use of intelligent mobilisation means that willing and available VR are routinely mobilised in around 90 days for specific tasks and this can be significantly shortened in some circumstances.

    No estimate has been made of the number of Reservists who would be able to serve at short notice in the event of a major conflict.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many times the former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the former hon. Member for Twickenham, held individual meetings with trade envoys in each year between September 2012 and May 2015.

    Anna Soubry

    It is an established convention that Minsters of one Administration cannot see the documents of a previous Administration. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested by the hon Member.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has allocated to Kent County Council for local road maintenance for (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

    Andrew Jones

    This Government is providing both tools and funding to local highway authorities in England, outside London, to tackle the condition of our local road network. In the Spending Review 2015, the Government announced that we are allocating a total of £6.1 billion funding for local highways maintenance between now and 2021. This funding includes an additional £250 million between 2016 and 2021 for a potholes action fund to improve local roads, to promote innovation within the sector and to ensure that taxpayers get greater value for money.

    For Kent we are providing the following funding for local highways maintenance for the financial years 2015/16 and 2016/17:

    Funding Stream

    2015/16 £m

    2016/17 £m

    Highways Maintenance Block Needs Element

    27.277

    25.006

    Highways Maintenance Block Incentive Element

    1.377

    Pothole Action Fund

    1.473

    Total

    27.277

    27.856

    Further details of the funding we are providing to all local highway authorities in England outside London can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/6-billion-funding-to-tackle-potholes-and-improve-local-roads

    Local authorities are able to use revenue funding for maintaining their local highways and this is allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant.

    “

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether sixth form colleges will be affected by VAT regulations if they convert to a 16 to 19 academy.

    Mr David Gauke

    Sixth form colleges that become academies will be subject to the same VAT rules as other academies.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will make an assessment of the effect of the withdrawal of funding from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills on the Government’s analysis of skills shortages in the North East.

    Nick Boles

    In the context of needing to make savings in non-participation budgets to allow the core adult skills participation budgets to be protected in cash terms, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has consulted the Devolved Administrations and other users of labour market information on future research priorities.

    Following these discussions, we have identified the significance of the Employer Skills Survey, the Employer Perspectives Survey and the LMI (Labour Market Information) for All Portal and decided that these products will be maintained. We are currently working with the Commission to transfer the management of these to BIS, and we will work users on how information from these surveys will be disseminated in the future including the provision of regional and local information.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of his Department’s staff have resigned in the last six months.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    Thirty eight UK-based staff have resigned from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in the last six months. Details are not held centrally for local staff.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether UK projects earmarked for EU funding in 2019-20 under the EU’s 2014-2020 budget cycle will continue to receive such funds should the UK formally leave the EU in 2019.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Treasury has provided a guarantee for multi-year funds that may carry over after exit where they meet UK priorities and value for money criteria.

    The Treasury has also guaranteed all direct, competitively bid projects between UK organisations and the European Commission signed before we leave the EU, and the current level of direct payments to farmers until 2020.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which countries were invited to the Syria Donors Conference; and which of those countries she expects to attend.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The Prime Minister is co-hosting the conference on “Supporting Syria and the Region (London 2016)” along with the Amir of Kuwait, the Federal German Chancellor, the Prime Minister of Norway and the United Nations Secretary-General.

    Over 70 countries have been invited to the conference to raise significant new humanitarian and development funding, and address the longer-term needs of those affected by the Syria crisis. This includes current and potential donors as well as countries hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees, Representatives from Non-Government Organisations and the private sector. We are still receiving responses but expect strong attendance at the highest levels.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the government of Slovenia about the case of Bostjan Bozic and the issues it raises under the European Convention on Human Rights.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware of the case of Slovenian photo journalist Jani Bozic who was given a five month suspended prison sentence by a Slovenian court in March 2015 for invasion of privacy of then Slovenian Prime Minister Bratusek. In all cases, we would expect the Slovenian government to meet its international obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with Ofsted on assessing the quality of teaching English and mathematics in adult basic skills courses undertaken by (a) further education providers and (b) other providers.

    Nick Boles

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is in regular contact with Ofsted both at Ministerial and official level to discuss the performance of further education (FE) colleges and providers. This includes the extent to which teaching, learning and assessment support adult learners to develop their skills in English and maths.

    Together with Department for Education, we have invested over £30m over the past 3 years to fund a range of measures to improve the further education workforce, with a focus on improving the teaching of English and maths. This has resulted in over 1,000 bursaries to attract graduates to teach in further education and over 3,800 existing FE teachers have benefited from training to improve their capability to teach high quality English and maths courses.