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Tag: Bob Ainsworth

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the future acquisition requirements for intelligence surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance systems.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Department assesses potential future acquisition requirements for intelligence surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) systems as part of the annual Capability Audit process, which considers current and future capability gaps, and the options to fill them. On recent operations the Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) mechanism has also been used to expedite the delivery of ISTAR equipment to fill such capability gaps in the short-term (such as the REAPER Remotely-Piloted Aerial System). As the MOD reorganises itself for broader contingent operations, the annual Capability Audit process will continue to assess which of these UOR equipments have broad utility and should continue to receive funding. In parallel, separate capability investigations are underway, predominantly in support of prospective consideration during the next Defence Review. This analysis includes the ongoing Air ISTAR Optimisation Review.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of school leavers in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England entered further education in each of the last four years.

    Matthew Hancock

    Destination Measures data, following key stage 4 and key stage 5, are published at local authority level for the years 2009/10 and 2010/11. Parliamentary constituency level data are published for 2010/11 only.

    The requested data, for the available years, are published in the Destination Measures statistical first release, here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations

    “

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s recruitment targets are for its Joint Cyber Reserve Unit.

    Mr Mark Francois

    I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 March 2014, (Official Report, column 56W) to the hon. Member for Makerfield (Yvonne Fovargue).

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Kashmir; and what recent discussions he has had with his (a) Indian, (b) Pakistani and (c) US counterparts on this matter.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has spoken to each of his Indian, Pakistani and US counterparts in recent months about South Asia regional issues and relations between India and Pakistan. We recognise the importance of finding a lasting solution to the situation in Kashmir, but remain of the view it is not for third parties to prescribe one. We continue to follow developments in the region closely, and officials from our High Commissions in both New Delhi and Islamabad regularly discuss the situation in Kashmir with both governments and travel to the region, security situation permitting.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with their NATO counterparts on the establishment of a NATO-wide cyber capability.

    Dr Andrew Murrison

    NATO-wide Cyber Defence is provided by NATO’s Computer Incident Response Capability (NCIRC) which delivers centralised protection for many NATO sites. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) has recently undertaken a major upgrade of NCIRC’s capability with enhancements delivered in monitoring of core networks on NATO sites on a 24/7 basis. NCIA will continue to manage the upgrade of NCIRC’s capability to best protect NATO owned systems from the evolving threat.

    Progress enhancing the NATO Cyber Defence was most recently discussed at Ministerial level, at the February NATO Defence Ministerial and will be discussed again at the June Defence Ministerial as the Alliance prepares for the WALES Summit in September. The UK continues to pay a central role in moving this issue forward across a whole range of activities such as incentivising national cyber defence capability development to develop Alliance-wide cyber defence capability, information sharing and exchanging best practice.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much funding his Department allocated to the Conflict Pool for South Asia in each of the last three years.

    Mark Simmonds

    The Conflict Pool is part of an HMT settlement which is distinct from departmental budgets. It is tri-departmentally managed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence, and the Department for International Development. In financial year 2013/14, the South Asia allocation was £20m. In the two preceding years, it was £15.5m per annum. The allocation for this financial year will be laid before Parliament shortly in a Written Ministerial Statement.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to support business start-ups in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry.

    Matthew Hancock

    We continue to work hard to provide the right support to make life easier for people looking to start a business and those looking to grow their business.

    www.gov.uk is the home for Government services and information online. One of the tools available is the ‘Finance and Support Finder;’ a searchable database of publicly-backed sources of finance and Business Support. The website www.greatbusiness.gov.uk also provides support and advice for entrepreneurs starting out as well as for anyone trying to grow a business

    In addition to on-line support, the Business Support Helpline is available to provide a quick response on queries about starting a business, or a personalised and in-depth advice service for more complex needs Start-Up Loans provide start up funding and intensive support to entrepreneurs to enable them to start a business. The Start-Up Loans Scheme has so far helped 26 companies in Coventry North East with a value of £108,400, and 75 companies in Coventry with a value of £359,617.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police community support officers there were in (a) Coventry, (b) Coventry North East constituency, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.

    Damian Green

    The following table contains the requested data for police community support
    officers in:
    (a) Coventry Basic Command Unit, from 31 March 2009 to 31 March 2011. Figures
    at basic command unit level ceased to be collected from then to reduce the
    administratvie burden on the police.
    (b) figures for Coventry North East constituency are not collected by the Home
    Office.
    (c) (d) the West Midlands police force, the West Midlands region and England,
    from 31 March 2009 to 30 September 2013.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what capabilities are currently being utilised to fulfil the role that would otherwise have been undertaken by Nimrod MRA4 aircraft; and what captabilities will fulfil that role in the long term.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Since the Nimrod MR2 was taken out of service in 2009, some 12 months early, for financial reasons, by the then Defence Secretary, a range of assets were put in place by the previous Government to cover the capability, namely Type 23 frigates, Merlin Anti-Submarine Warfare helicopters and C-130 Hercules aircraft. The MRA4 project was nearly £800 million over budget, 10 years overdue and the aircraft could not pass airworthiness tests.

    The Ministry of Defence is currently reviewing the UK’s air intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance requirements, including wide area maritime surveillance, and is identifying potential solutions. This work will provide analysis in support of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding under which categories of expenditure her Department has allocated to domestic and sexual violence support services in each of the last five years.

    Norman Baker

    Domestic and sexual violence are devastating crimes and are not acceptable
    within our society. The Coalition Government’s continued approach to tackling
    such violence and abuse is set out in our Violence against Women and Girls
    Action Plan, updated in March 2014.

    Supporting victims is at the heart of this approach, which includes giving
    victims more confidence to report, and it is encouraging that police recorded
    crime figures show more victims are having the confidence to come forward.

    The Government has ring-fenced nearly £40 million of stable funding from 2010
    up to 2015 for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support services,
    rape crisis centres, the national domestic violence helplines and stalking
    helpline.

    Over the spending review period the Home Office funding of £28 million provides
    for:
    144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers, 87 dedicated Independent
    Sexual Violence Advisers, 54 Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference
    Co-ordinators, and funding to Coordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse
    to provide support and advice to MARACs, as well as running a programme
    of quality assurance and £1.2 million for three years from 2012 to improve
    services for young people suffering sexual violence in major urban areas.
    £900,000 a year is used towards the running costs of national helplines for
    victims of domestic violence and stalking.

    In 2013, the Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
    Constabulary to undertake a comprehensive review on how the police deal with
    domestic violence and abuse. HMIC’s report exposed significant failings. In
    response to the Review, the Home Secretary has established a National
    Oversight Group, which she is chairing, and on which I sit, to ensure HMIC’s
    recommendations are acted upon. The Group met for the first time on 10 June.

    The Home Secretary has also written to chief constables making it clear that
    every police force must have an action plan in place by September 2014, to
    improve their response to domestic violence and abuse.