Tag: Dan Jarvis

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many meetings she has had on increasing the number of women receiving public appointments since May 2015.

Caroline Dinenage

I am working closely with the Cabinet Office to modernise recruitment practices and attract a more diverse field of candidates from an ever-wider range of social and professional backgrounds.

This includes engaging with government departments, the private sector and a range of different diversity networks and groups. We have engaged with them through online advertising, social media and at events to promote and raise awareness of public appointments and better understand the barriers or concerns for those considering a public appointment.

The most recent figures published show that we are making real, consistent, progress in increasing the number of public appointments going to women. Last financial year 44% of new appointments were made to women.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of reductions in the public health grant for local authorities on local smoking cessation services in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the UK.

Jane Ellison

Local authorities, funded by the Government’s public health grant, have responsibility for providing a programme of tobacco control that meets the needs of their populations, including the provision of locally commissioned services. Over the next five years, local authorities will receive £16 billion through the public health grant.

The evidence shows that specialist stop smoking services are the most effective way to help smokers quit. Public Health England supports local authorities by developing and distributing information and advice for the commissioning of effective regional approaches to tobacco control which maximise value for money at a local level.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the extension to the Right to Buy scheme for housing association tenants on the supply of housing in the UK.

Brandon Lewis

Under the terms of the voluntary agreement with the National Housing Federation and the housing association sector, housing associations will deliver an additional home through new supply nationally for every home sold under the voluntary right to buy. This will provide a significant increase to the overall supply of new housing.

This agreement is a further step towards meeting our ambition to build a million more new homes.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, 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.

Mr Julian Brazier

None.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the contribution of the UK’s membership of the EU to the UK’s work in (a) preventing and (b) identifying and detaining terrorists.

James Brokenshire

Terrorism and serious organised crime are global threats that cross national borders. Our unique relationship with the EU gives UK law enforcement access to EU tools and instruments that help keep people safe and tackle serious and organised crime, but also mean we are not obliged to participate in new measures when we do not judge them to be in the national interest.

The tools and instruments that the UK participates in include Europol, an EU agency which supports cross-border police operations and intelligence sharing, and can assist in the identification of terrorist threats; the European Arrest Warrant, which allows swift extradition between EU countries of individuals accused or convicted of a criminal offence; and the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), which enables law enforcement agencies around the EU to share live alerts, for example, for missing people and stolen vehicles. The UK is also in the process of implementing Prum, which will give us access to fingerprint and DNA data from other member states.

Since 2004, using the European Arrest Warrant, over 1,000 individuals accused or convicted of a criminal offence have faced justice in UK courts and over 7,000 have been extradited from the UK.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what international humanitarian aid exercises her Department has been involved in that have (a) involved EU member states and (b) been EU-led.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK participated in the Triplex 2013 Exercise which was led by the International Humanitarian Partnership and co-funded by the European Union.

The Triplex Exercise brings together EU Civil Protection Teams and Modules with the United Nations, International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) and military, to strengthen preparedness and coordination of an effective response in the first phase of a large-scale humanitarian emergency.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to reduce consumer energy prices.

Andrea Leadsom

There are now 33 independent suppliers for households to choose from in additional to the six largest suppliers, giving more choice than ever before. By switching from a standard tariff to the best fixed, direct debit deal on the market, many people could save around £300 and some could save even more. We have already made it simpler and quicker to switch supplier and are working towards next day switching.

The Government supports the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation into the retail energy market and we will take forward appropriate implementation of its final recommendations which are due to be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Prime Minister, how many meetings he had to discuss tax evasion and avoidance between (a) 5 April 2016 and 5 May 2016 and (b) 6 May 2016 and 6 June 2016.

Mr David Cameron

I have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals on a range of subjects.

I also hosted the Anti-Corruption Summit, the first of its kind, which discussed among other issues tax evasion and avoidance. The Summit conclusions have been published on the gov.uk website.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone makes a fair contribution towards reducing the deficit. We have already announced, during this Parliament, that we will legislate for over 25 measures to tackle avoidance, evasion and aggressive tax planning, which are forecast to raise £16 billion by 2021.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to publish its Life Changes Strategy.

Damian Hinds

The Prime Minister is clear that tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, is a priority for this Government and we will be coming back to the House with a number of announcements over the coming months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what account his Department plans to take of the closure of steel plants in 2015 in the strategic defence and security review process.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Strategic Defence and Security Review will be a comprehensive review of our defence and security capabilities.

Separately, the Cabinet Office are leading a cross-Government Steel Procurement Working Group on which the Ministry of Defence is represented. The Government has published new guidelines for Departments to apply to major projects when sourcing and buying steel directly. Departments will be encouraged to take into account social impacts of competing suppliers when placing contracts directly.