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Tag: Chris Evans

  • Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, published in November 2015, what steps his Department is taking to inform British industry of the opportunities available to participate in the maritime patrol aircraft programme.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle) on 3 December 2015 to question 17838.

  • Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals on guardianship to help the families of missing people.

    Dominic Raab

    I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for York Outer on 15 June 2015, which can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-08/1400/.

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  • Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2013-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the cost of travel within the UK was for his Department in each year since 2010; and how much of this was spent on (a) hire cars, (b) helicopter hire, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence.

    Brandon Lewis

    Role of the Department

    Reflecting our responsibilities for local government, housing, planning and communities across England, the work of the Department involves staff travelling to different parts of the country.

    Improved procurement has reduced our average domestic hotel rate in the UK by 8% between 2009-10 and 2012-13. Moreover, domestic flights for longer journeys can avoid the need for paying for staff to stay in a hotel overnight.

    Since 2011-12, the Department accepted responsibility for some new functions outside of London, including residual functions following the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions and then oversight of the European Regional Development Fund following the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies. As these business functions relate to work in areas outside of London and to the European Commission, this has therefore increased our travel spend compared to the base of 2010-11. However, this is far more than offset by the very significant savings to taxpayers of the abolition of these regional bodies.

    Based on current estimates (which reflect accounting consequences from machinery of government changes) the DCLG Group is reducing its annual running costs by around 40% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2014-15. This equates to net savings of at least £532 million over this spending review period and includes savings of around £420 million from the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions.

    In addition to this, I note that the Regional Development Agencies were spending in the region of £246 million a year on administration (as cited in 11 March 2009, Official Report, Column 592W).

    Spending data

    The tables below list spending on travel by financial year. Figures for 2009-10 are from July 2009, as this is when the department’s current approved travel agent contract commenced; those figures are therefore only for three-quarters of the financial year, and the full year is likely to be proportionately higher.

    Overseas Travel

    Overseas Accommodation

    Overseas Subsistence

    Total

    July 2009 – March 10

    £408,621

    £19,847

    £79,574

    £508,042 (part-year)

    2010-11

    £56,304

    £21,759

    £27,798

    £105,861

    2011-12

    £69,463

    £21,204

    £19,946

    £110,613

    2012-13

    £78,474

    £29,224

    £21,911

    £129,609

    UK Travel

    UK Accommodation

    UK Subsistence

    Total

    July 2009 – March 10

    £621,028

    £309,260

    £174,888

    £1,105,176 (part-year)

    2010-11

    £434,467

    £199,563

    £81,315

    £715,345

    2011-12

    £980,307

    £162,544

    £71,913

    £1,214,764

    2012-13

    £1,030,710

    £166,149

    £74,424

    £1,271,283

    Explanatory notes:

    – Overseas subsistence costs can include accommodation, meals and travel tickets purchased locally.

    – The costs of internal travel abroad are not routinely recorded in the form requested and this information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

    – Data on cost per trip is not centrally held in the form requested.

    – For car hire, the data from our finance systems do not separate out expenditure for domestic and international car hire and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    – For helicopter hire, our records show that the Department has incurred no expenditure on this since 2010-11.

    – Figures contained in this answer may differ from previous answers to Parliamentary Questions, as the data extracts have been re-run and reflect ongoing accruals and data. Delays in billing or crediting transactions can sometimes have an effect on the spend data between the financial years.

    Taken in the whole, we have reduced overall travel spending compared to the last Administration, and delivered substantive savings for taxpayers’ from the abolition of regional government in England.

  • Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2014-05-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the situation for religious minorities in northern Nigeria.

    Mark Simmonds

    Conflict in northern Nigeria has caused great suffering in communities of different faiths and ethnicities. Representatives of The Government maintain regular contact with religious and ethnic community leaders across Nigeria. We recognise there are tensions in many parts of the country, including in the north east, middle belt and the Niger Delta. Recent attacks by Boko Haram have been indiscriminate, but it is almost certain that these attacks have killed more Muslims than Christians.

    We recognise the underlying issues of poverty and inequality, which lead to inter-communal tensions and conflict in Nigeria and we urge political, traditional and religious leaders to work together in order to resolve these issues. The Department for International Development (DFID), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) continue to fund a range of conflict resolution projects across Nigeria designed to address these problems. We currently have an expert team in Abuja to help Nigeria deal with the abduction of the school girls from Chibok and to also look at addressing longer term challenges, including inter-communal tensions.

  • Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2014-05-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the situation for religious minorities in Burma.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    British officials regularly receive reports on a wide range of human rights issues, including the treatment of religious minorities in Burma. We share UN Special Rapporteur for Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana’s concerns, as noted in his final report to the UN Human Rights Council on 2 April 2014, that the Burmese government is “not fulfilling its international human rights obligation to tackle incitement to violence based on national, racial or religious hatred”. We are particularly concerned by the rise in anti-Muslim attacks and hate speech over the last two years, continued intercommunal tensions in Rakhine State and the plight of the Rohingya. I raised our wider concerns about the situation in Rakhine State with senior Burmese Ministers during their visit in January and Baroness Warsi discussed the situation with the Burmese Minister of National Planning and Economic Development, Dr Kan Zaw, during his visit to the UK in March. During my visit to Burma in January, I also met the Kachin Baptist Convention, the largest religious organisation in Kachin State. We continue to encourage religious tolerance and dialogue and call on the Burmese authorities and community leaders to help create a conducive environment for this to take place.

  • Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2014-05-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the situation of Christian communities in Syria.

    Hugh Robertson

    The ongoing crisis has clearly had a devastating impact on Christians, and on all of Syria’s communities. We remain deeply concerned by the situation for Christian communities in Syria, including in Raqqah and Kessab.

    This reinforces the need for us to support the moderate opposition who, as the UN Commission of Inquiry has acknowledged, have a pluralist and democratic vision for Syria and who are fighting extremist groups such as ISIL which pose a grave threat to Christians and others.

  • Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were employed as civil servants in (a) the most recent period for which figures are available, (b) 2004 and (c) 1994.

    Nick Hurd

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent research has been commissioned into truancy in schools; and if he will make a statement.

    Elizabeth Truss

    From the 2011/12 absence data, we know that pupils who have regular attendance at school are four times more likely to achieve five or more A*-C grades at GCSE, including English and maths, than those pupils who are persistently absent. Persistent absence has fallen by 15 per cent under this Government, from 392,305 pupils missing 15 per cent of school time in 2010/11 to 333,850 in 2011/12. The former Government Adviser on behaviour, Charlie Taylor, published his report on improving school attendance in April 2012. It can be found at http://tinyurl.com/crt8nok

    “

  • Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2014-03-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of school-age pupils who have been illegally excluded from school in each of the last five years.

    Elizabeth Truss

    The Department for Education’s statutory guidance makes clear that all exclusions from school must be lawful, reasonable and fair. The guidance sets out schools’ responsibilities in relation to exclusion and includes examples of unlawful use of exclusion. There is no excuse for a school not to adhere to the correct process, and Ofsted takes seriously any evidence that a school has acted unlawfully in its use of exclusion.

  • Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Chris Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate he has made of the level of trade undertaken by businesses in Wales with countries in the EU.

    Mr David Jones

    I refer the hon Gentleman to the answer I gave to the members for Delyn, Cardiff West and Ogmore earlier today.