Tag: 2016

Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and (b) the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions about the planned cap on housing benefit for tenants in supported housing at the local rate of local housing allowance.

Alistair Burt

Ministers have not yet made any official representations to other Government departments about the proposed changes to housing benefit for tenants in supported housing. Neither has the Department made any formal estimates of the people likely to be affected by the proposed changes. However, discussions are ongoing at official level between Departments.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of Syrian refugees in each local authority in the UK.

Richard Harrington

The Home Office holds this information in relation to those Syrian refugees resettled in the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. However, we do not routinely identify which local authorities are participating in this scheme. Participation is voluntary and it is often the case that local authorities do not wish to have their participation published. It is a matter for each local authority to decide whether they want to publish the fact of their participation and the numbers of refugees they take.

01/01/2023
Barbara Keeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-03-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of introducing the national living wage into social care from April 2016.

Greg Hands

At the time of the Summer Budget 2015 the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated the costs of the National Living Wage to employers across the economy would be almost £4 billion in 2020, equivalent to just over 1 per cent of corporate profits.

It was in recognition of costs such as the NLW and growing demand for care services that the Spending Review announced we would be making additional funding available to local government for social care, worth up to £3.5 billion a year by 2019/20. This will support councils to continue to focus on core services and to increase the prices they pay for care, including to cover the costs of the National Living Wage.

01/01/2023
Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by when will 2015 payments to farmers from the Rural Payments Agency be completed; and when can farmers receiving a 50 per cent bridging payment expect to be paid in full.

George Eustice

As of 2 May, some 79,013 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claims have now been completed. This represents 78,102 payments and 911 that resulted in no payments being due. Bridging payments were made by the end of April to those farmers not in receipt of their BPS 2015 claim payment in recognition of the cash flow pressures they are facing.

The Rural Payments Agency will continue to make full payments throughout the remainder of the payment window and anticipates completing this work by the end of June 2016.

01/01/2023

Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the largest financial contracts between the NHS and pharmaceutical companies were in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

Details of the largest¹ financial contracts between the National Health Service and pharmaceutical companies in each of the last five calendar years are given in the table:

Year	Supplier Name	Department of Health Tender Reference	Framework Agreement Title
2011	Gilead Sciences Ltd	CM/PHR/08/5000	Pharmaceuticals Antiretroviral pan-London April 2010
2012	Gilead Sciences Ltd	CM/PHR/10/5203	Pan London Antiretroviral
2013	Gilead Sciences Ltd	CM/PHR/10/5203	Pan London Antiretroviral
2014	Gilead Sciences Ltd	CM/PHR/10/5203	Pan London Antiretroviral
2015	Pfizer Limited	CM/PHR/13/5415	Branded Pharmaceutical Products – National (05-2014)

Source: Department of Health Commercial Medicines Unit

¹Based on pre-agreement estimated values for framework agreements for the use of hospitals in England.

01/01/2023

Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will increase investment in decentralised renewable energy in areas where it will benefit the world’s poorest people.

James Wharton

The UK Government is playing a leading role in improving energy access in developing countries, including through our Energy Africa campaign which is working with solar firms to help them access the finance they need to expand their businesses, create jobs and help reach millions of people in Africa without electricity access.

01/01/2023
Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what checks his Department and its agencies undertake to ensure public funding for new innovation facilities does not result in a duplication of existing commercial assets.

Joseph Johnson

All potential major capital projects are assessed against the additional value they add, including an evaluation of whether the research or innovation activity is already being undertaken elsewhere. The majority of decisions about which research investments to undertake are taken directly by Research Councils, based on rigorous criteria including peer review.

In respect of the establishment of Innovate UK’s 11 Catapult Centres, all candidate areas have undergone a robust evaluation by Innovate UK’s Senior Innovation Leads who have relevant domain expertise. In addition, facilitated workshops, with leading figures in the relevant industries – including business, academic and representatives from the public sector, are held to ascertain whether Innovate UK’s analysis of the market opportunities in this area is correct. Each candidate area is evaluated according to an agreed process to assess the size of the global market opportunity and the demand for a Catapult to help business build on their capabilities to commercialise innovation and realise this potential in the UK.

In setting up new Catapult centres Innovate UK take into account the option of working within or alongside existing physical centres in the UK either to avoid duplication or to achieve quicker delivery.

At a local level, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are responsible for identifying, assessing and approving Local Growth Funded projects. They do this in accordance with their strategic economic objectives and Local Assurance Frameworks which have to comply with the LEP National Assurance Framework. The National Assurance Framework covers value for money and states that methodology should be proportionate to the funding allocated and in line with established Government guidance including the HM Treasury Green Book.

01/01/2023
Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 January 2016 to Question 15523, what assessment he has made of whether incidents of alleged violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen have been investigated fully by each party involved in that conflict.

Mr Philip Hammond

The UK’s support for military action is contingent on adherence to International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The Ministry of Defence monitors alleged IHL violations, using available information, which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. We consider a range of information from government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations. We are also offering advice and training to Saudi Arabia to demonstrate best practice and to help ensure continued compliance with IHL. We are aware of reports on alleged violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) in Yemen by the Coalition and take these very seriously. We are also concerned by reports of alleged IHL violations by Houthi-Saleh and pro-government forces and again take these very seriously. The UK government has regularly raised with the Saudi Government the need to comply with IHL in Yemen and we continue to engage with them on this. I raised the issue of compliance with IHL during my October visit to Saudi Arabia. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL. It is important that open and transparent investigations are conducted into all incidents where it is alleged that IHL has been breached. We welcome the public announcement by Saudi Arabia to establish a fact finding committee into the alleged airstrike on MSF mobile clinic in Taiz on 2 December.

01/01/2023
Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many under-18s died while in youth custody between 2010 and 2015; and what the causes of those deaths were.

Andrew Selous

The number and causes of deaths of prisoners aged under 18 and held in the custody of the National Offender Management Service is published on a quarterly basis in the Safety in Custody Statistics Bulletin annual deaths tables (see table 1.3 at the following link) https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/495427/safety-in-custody-deaths-dec-2015.xls. The most recent publication was published on 28 January 2016 and contains information on deaths up to 31 December 2015.

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01/01/2023
Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) consultants and (b) permanent staff are employed by Network Rail’s Infrastructure Projects division; and how much Network Rail has spent on consultants who work in its Infrastructure Projects division in (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16.

Claire Perry

I have requested this information from Network Rail and can confirm that the number of permanent staff in Infrastructure Projects in 2014-15 was 3641 and in 2015-2016 is 4309. During this period Network Rail insourced the High Output Team from Amey which increased permanent staff figures.

Network Rail Infrastructure Projects’ expenditure on companies that class themselves as providing consultancy in 2014-15 was £178,401k, and in 2015-2016 is £154,430k. The majority of expenditure on consultants occurs via Network Rail’s Principal Contractors and therefore is not included above.

We are not able to provide details of the number of consultants because the contract specification for each piece of work is based on the deliverable and not on the number of consultants working on it.

01/01/2023