Tag: 2016

The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-03-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take in the light of the recent report by the Office of the UNHCR detailing atrocities committed against civilians, particularly women, in the civil war in South Sudan; whether the Responsibility to Protect policy applies in that case; and if so, how it will be applied.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK is deeply concerned by the findings of the recent UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights report. The Responsibility to Protect was agreed by all UN member states; it imposes an obligation on all states to protect their populations, and for the international community to assist. Due to the severity of the situation in South Sudan we are taking action on multiple levels. We are raising our serious concerns directly with the government, encouraging the African Union to establish the Hybrid Court for South Sudan, and pressing the UN Security Council to agree an arms embargo. At the UN Human Rights Council we are pressing for a UN Special Rapporteur to be agreed.

January 1, 2023
Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on whether there is a correlation between staffing levels on trains and stations and the number of reported sexual offences on trains and in stations.

Claire Perry

The Government considers the safety of passengers on the railway to be of paramount importance and is committed to reducing crime, anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime wherever it occurs in the transport system. The Department for Transport does not hold any information on whether there is a correlation between staffing levels on trains and stations and the number of reported sexual offences.

January 1, 2023
Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) incidents have been reported to trading standards teams of and (b) prosecutions have taken place for recycling animal by-products back into the food chain in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison

Monitoring food businesses to ensure compliance with legislation on food labelling and composition is the responsibility of county councils, unitary authorities, the London Boroughs and some but not all metropolitan borough councils. These local authorities are also responsible for taking enforcement action, including prosecutions, where non-compliance is found.

Data are reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the number of food and drink analyses undertaken in relation to compositional issues and labelling and presentation issues:

23,599 analyses were undertaken in 2014/15, 16,899 for compositional issues and 6,700 for labelling and presentation issues.

29,324 analyses were undertaken in 2013/14, 19,386 for compositional issues and 9,938 for labelling and presentation issues.

26,940 analyses were undertaken in 2012/13, 16,982 for compositional issues and 9,958 for labelling and presentation issues.

Data are also reported to the FSA on the total number of prosecutions concluded for food standards issues. This includes action in relation to composition, labelling and presentation but also for other issues such as chemical contamination. In 2014/15, 2013/14 and 2012/13 respectively, 75, 57 and 78 United Kingdom food establishments were subject to prosecution.

The FSA has recently established a central register of successful food law prosecutions. Analysis of data collected for the first year of operation of the register is not yet complete, but in future it will provide more definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature.

January 1, 2023
Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to monitor the use of extended Rent Repayment Orders.

Gavin Barwell

The Housing & Planning Act 2016 extended the grounds for seeking a Rent Repayment Order to include illegal eviction, breach of a banning order or failure to comply with a statutory notice. It is envisaged that each of these will also be banning order offences. Where a person or organisation has been convicted of a banning order offence, local authorities will be encouraged to record that information in the database of rogue landlords and property agents. This will enable government to monitor how frequently Rent Repayment Orders are used.

January 1, 2023
Sammy Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of Heathrow Airport expansion on UK industry.

Mr John Hayes

The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and is considering all of the evidence very carefully before reaching a view on its preferred scheme. The Government is not providing a running commentary on this work before an announcement on its preference.

January 1, 2023
David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects to be able to announce how carbon capture and storage research and deployment will be funded in future; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

Decisions on which technologies to support with research, development and demonstration funding will be made in due course, in the context of our agreed policy objectives, with a clear focus on targeting investment in areas of demonstrable market failure. A generating station connected to a complete CCS system is an eligible technology for Contracts for Difference under the Contract for Difference Regulations. Contracts for Difference for CCS are awarded on direction of my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State. Whether or not the Secretary of State would consider awarding a CfDs to a specific project would be subject to the circumstances at the time, including factors such as the value for money and affordability of a project and competing demands on available budgets.

January 1, 2023
Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 22596, what assessment he has made of the net negative impact on business of the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in Bear Scotland and other court decisions relating to holiday pay.

Nick Boles

The Department has produced an Impact Assessment of the implications for business of holiday pay cases such as Bear Scotland. This was published alongside the Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014, which limit backdated holiday pay claims to two years from 1 July 2015. The Impact Assessment can be found on the legislation.gov.uk web site at this link

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3322/impacts

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January 1, 2023
Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with social enterprises and other small and medium-sized enterprises about the potential effect of the closure of the Growth Accelerator Programme.

Anna Soubry

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills continues to have discussions with businesses and their representatives. They have told us that there is strong appetite in the private sector to fill the gap in the market and develop sustainable offers of support.

January 1, 2023
Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel concerning the right of return of Syrian refugees who were originally displaced from their homes in Palestine when the state of Israel was formed.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have not had any discussions with the Israeli authorities on this issue. It is the British Government’s policy that a final status agreement between the two parties should include a just, fair and agreed settlement for refugees.

January 1, 2023

Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 8 March 2016 to Questions 30341 and 30342 and with reference to the Answers of 5 December 2013 to Question 179450 and 21 January 2014 to Question 182897, when his Department (a) decided to stop collecting the required information and (b) began to collect information in such a way that it can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Justin Tomlinson

The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

For questions 179450 and 182897 volumes of prosecutions and number of errors identified were provided, however these were not all fraud cases, including cases where the error was not deliberate. This did not explicitly answer the enquiry, however was given to provide helpful context. It is not possible to separate cases into those which are a mistake and those where fraud has been accepted without individual case by case analysis.

Again, we cannot directly answer 30341 and 30342 but have provided the below extra information to assist;

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
Total Fraud Investigations (1)	125,140	116,480	171,730
of which total positive outcomes (2)	20,800	20,050	24,600
of which total fraud cases (3)	15,350	12,870	13,600
over which total prosecuted (4)	11,390	8,490	7,150

(1) Total cases investigated by Local Service or complex criminal Investigations.
(2) Total cases where an error has been identified and corrected.
(3) Prosecutions + admin Penalties + cautions: cases where fraud has been proven or accepted.
(4) Cases accepted by CPS for prosecution.

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January 1, 2023