Tag: Dan Jarvis

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that the Afghan Minerals Law includes the strongest possible measures to strengthen transparency and reduce the risk of corruption in the Afghan extractive sector.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK proposed changes to the Minerals Law as part of a review commissioned by the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum in 2015; and supported the incorporation of recommendations from donors and transparency organisations into amendments. The Mining Advisory Council is reviewing the amendments before submission to the Ministry of Justice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce annual early-intervention top-ups for local authorities after the revenue support grant has been phased out.

Mr Marcus Jones

My rt. hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (George Osborne) announced that by the end of this Parliament, local government will retain 100% of its business rates. As part of this, existing central government grants to local government, such as Revenue Support Grant, will be phased out and councils will be given new responsibilities and greater powers to shape their local areas.

We have lots of work to do over the coming months to work out the details on this new system, including how to manage the risk to local authorities of changes in their local tax income. We will, therefore, be consulting widely with colleagues and with local government on this as we move towards implementation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding his Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.

Jane Ellison

The Department has not directly received any funding from the European Social Fund during the period stated.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which defence procurement projects the Government has been involved in that (a) have included other EU member states and (b) have been EU-led.

Mr Philip Dunne

The defence procurement projects which have included other EU member states are given in the table below.

Project	EU Member States
A400M	Belgium/France/ Germany/Spain
ACCOLADE (Technology Demonstrator Programme for Ships)	France
FASGW-Future Air to Surface Guided Weapon	France
Harrier	Italy/Spain
Hercules TriStar	Denmark/Italy
Lightning II	Denmark/Italy/Netherlands
Meteor	France/Germany/Italy/Spain/ Sweden
MMCM – Maritime Mine Counter Measures	France
NLAW- New Light Anti-Tank Weapon	Sweden
PAAMS – Principal Anti-Air Missile System	France/Italy
SMERAS (NATO Submarine Rescue System)	France
Tornado	Germany/Italy
Typhoon	Germany/Italy/Spain

There are no defence procurement projects which are EU led.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage enlistment from people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Penny Mordaunt

The Ministry of Defence is committed to achieving a more diverse workforce and is developing plans to meet the Government’s commitment to increase the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) recruits into the Armed Forces to 10% by 2020 and have allocated resources for this purpose.

Planning is ongoing to ensure that new activity is evidence-based and resources are allocated in the best way to deliver the step change that is required.

Whilst this plan is being finalised, examples of steps already taken include increased engagement with ethnic minority communities, using communications to improve understanding on careers in the Armed Forces and offering support throughout the application process where it is needed.

The Armed Forces recently won two awards in October 2015 at the Race for Opportunity Awards. The Armed Forces Muslim Association won the Public Sector Employee Network Award and the Royal Air Force won the Future Workforce Award for their Employability Skills Programme. The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force have also been recognised as two of the Top 10 public sector organisations for race diversity and inclusion by Race for Opportunity.

Statistics on the diversity declaration and representation of minority groups of
Service Personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence are published biannually. The most recent data can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2015

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a public inquiry related to the miners’ strike and events at Orgreave in 1984.

Mrs Theresa May

I am currently considering a submission from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign containing their extensive and detailed arguments for establishing a public inquiry into the events at Orgreave and will set out the Government’s position in the near future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy that payments delivered through the Common Agricultural Policy will in future be delivered at the same level by the Government in the event of the UK leaving the EU.

George Eustice

Defra is currently working on a range of proposals to inform discussions about the shape of a future agricultural policy to replace the CAP and we will be involving stakeholders in those discussions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has for employees’ representation on company boards; and what conditions will be set for such representation.

Margot James

UK companies are able to appoint employees to their company boards presently, but very few do. Many UK companies deploy alternative approaches to engaging their employees. The issue of employees’ representation on company boards will be included in a discussion document that will be published by Government later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues about providing more comprehensive support for ex-servicemen and women and their families.

Mark Lancaster

The Career Transition Partership (CTP) contract for Service personnel was re-let on 1 October 2015; for the first time, CTP pulls all elements of transition support under one mechanism so that every Service leaver, regardless of time-served or reason for departure, has access to transition support. In addition, using the CTP contract mechanism, Joint Forces Command and the Royal Air Force are running an initial two year Spouse Employment Support trial offering a limited number of places for eligible Service spouses to access tailored employment support at selected locations.

Spousal support is mirrored in wider initiatives, such as the Wolverhampton University business startup course. Originally funded for a two year period by the Armed Forces Covenant (LIBOR) funding, HSBC have provided additional funding to extend the project. It is a 10 month business start-up and mentoring programme designed specifically for Armed Forces families. Current funding will provide 540 places between now and 2020.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD)has announced the development of a Families Strategy, in coordination with families and the 3rd Sector, during its annual Welfare Conference on 9 November 2015. At the same event, the Secretary of State welcomed Barclay’s Veterans Employment Transition Support (VETS) programme, which was launched on 19 November 2015 following an initial trial period; this is due to provide mentoring, training and advice to veterans. A partnership of leading companies and charities, it will support the MOD and CTP with additional avenues of support to help veterans and Service leavers.

As part of the Armed Forces Covenant, the Covenant Reference Group (CRG) chaired by the Cabinet Office includes representatives from all of the main Government Departments. The CRG meets regularly to guide and direct work on the Armed Forces Covenant, including support for the veteran community. Other members of the CRG include the three Service Families Federations, the Confederation of Service Charities and other Armed Forces charities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the construction of a road tunnel to replace the A628 which connects Barnsley to Manchester.

Andrew Jones

In November, the Secretary of State received the interim report of the Strategic Study into a potential Trans-Pennine Tunnel. This early work has shown that a tunnel is technically feasible, and that there is a clear strategic case for linking Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire.

However further work is needed into the costs and economic benefits of such a tunnel before any judgement can be reached about whether or not it will be value for money. The full report of the study, due in 2016, should address these issues.