The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff (a) of her Department and (b) working in each of its public bodies were employed in NUTS 1 region in the last fiscal year.
Matt Hancock
a) DCMS employed 527 payroll staff (and 57 non-payroll) staff at the 31st Mar 16 (end of the last fiscal year).
b) this information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the 2013 Lough Erne G8 Leaders’ Communiqué, published on 18 June 2013, what progress has been made on implementing the commitments in paragraph 9 of that document; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation, agreed at the Bali Ministerial in December 2013, is expected to significantly reduce the costs of cross-border trade, including between developing countries.The Agreement was opened for acceptance by WTO Members in November 2014 and, to date, 51 WTO Members, including all EU Member States, have ratified.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15325, how any of those asylum claims resulted in a positive asylum decision.
James Brokenshire
Of those claims which have received a decision, 486 received a positive outcome.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the minutes of the infected blood reference group meeting held on 5 October 2015; and for what reasons those minutes have not yet been published.
Jane Ellison
A report was produced by the independent facilitator who chaired the event and a final version was agreed with representatives from the campaign groups who attended, namely the Haemophilia Society, Contaminated Blood Campaign, and Tainted Blood. The report has now been published on the Haemophilia Society website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many press or public relations officers are employed by (a) Ofgem, (b) the Oil and Gas Authority, (c) the Civil Nuclear Police Authority, (d) the Coal Authority, (e) the Committee on Climate Change and (f) the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority; how many of those staff earn more that (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total cost is of running the press office in each of those organisations in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Andrea Leadsom
The most recent information for each of the bodies is:
a) Ofgem
Ofgem employs a small team of six press officers. The total cost of running the press office including pay, pensions and all other costswas £642,000 in the financial year April 2014 to Mar 2015.
b) Oil and Gas Authority
The Oil and Gas Authority has a small communications and external affairs team, currently consisting of four staff. There is no dedicated press officer.
For 2015/16 costs for this team (including IT, staff costs & necessary subscriptions) are projected to be c£203,000.
c) Civil Nuclear Police Authority
The Civil Nuclear Constabularly/Civil Nuclear Police Authority employs a total of two members of staff: a Head of Engagement and Communications and one Communications Manager. It has no press or public relations officers. The only costs of running this small communications team are salary costs.
d) Coal Authority
There are two members of staff (one of which is part-time) working on press and public relations in the Coal Authority. The only costs of running this team is salary cost plus £7,300 establishment costs for the year.
e) Committee on Climate Change
There are two members of staff in the Committee on Climate Change Communications Team. The running costs of the team are salary costs plus other running costs (e.g. IT, website) of £18,934.
f) Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority does not have a press office. Two members of staff have responsibility for media relations as a substantive part of their role: the Head of Stakeholder Communications and Corporate Communications Manager.
Given the small size of these teams, providing the information requested on salaries would enable individual members of staff to be identified. This information has not, therefore, been provided.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many press and public relations staff are employed by his Department; how many of those employees paid more than (a) £50,000 and (b) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by his Department in the most recent year for which figures are available.
David Mundell
The Scotland Office currently employs five press and public relations staff. Three members of staff are paid more than £50,000 and no staff were paid more than £100,000.
The total cost of permanent Press and Public Relations staff in 2014/15 was £348,895.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-02-08.
To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2015 to Question 2241, what the reasons are for there being no assessment undertaken of the safety implications of excluding cyclists from the Northern Entrance to the parliamentary estate; and if he will review that policy to take account of the forthcoming opening of the segregated cycle superhighway along the Embankment.
Tom Brake
A generic risk assessment for the movement of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles around the Parliamentary Estate was undertaken in August 2015; the assessment considered the risk of collisions between vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. A dedicated cycle entry gate has been installed at Derby Gate as this entrance has the width to allow safe vehicle, cycle and pedestrian access, whereas the Northern Entrance does not. This is under constant review by the relevant House Authorities.
An assessment of the implications for both vehicle and bicycle entry at the Northern Entrance is planned to be conducted to reflect the construction of the East-West Bicycle Superhighway. The results will be reported to the hon. Lady by the Serjeant at Arms, once the work is complete.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the case of Giulio Regeni was raised with the Egyptian government by the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to Egypt during his visit to Egypt in February 2016.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Egypt, Jeffrey Donaldson MP, visited Egypt between 7 and 11 February 2016. The trade envoy discussed a range of issues but given his role focused on business conversations and promoting trade links. We regularly raise the case of Guilio Regeni with the Egyptian authorities including at Ministerial and senior official level.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average wait is for a driving test appointment (a) in England and (b) at the Hull test centre.
Andrew Jones
The main cause of current waiting times across the country is a significant and sustained surge in demand for driving tests, the last time we saw demand at such high levels was in 2005/6.
The average waits for a driving test appointment in (a) England and (b) at Hull test centre are as follows:
England
Car – 12 weeks
Taxi – eight weeks
Module one motorcycle test – six weeks
Module two motorcycle test – six weeks
Hull driving test centre
Car – 15 weeks
Taxi – nine weeks
Module one motorcycle test – 11 weeks
Module two motorcycle test – one week
Our 2015/16 recruitment campaigns resulted in 193 new examiners starting work at test centres across Britain. A further 48 examiners have started testing since April 2016, and we have made employment offers to an additional 110 people, who are currently either attending the new entrant training course, or waiting to attend one.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with governments of other EU countries on the rights of residence of British citizens resident in EU countries.
Mr David Jones
The rights retained by EU nationals here and British citizens in other EU states once the UK has left the European Union will be agreed during the course of negotiations. The Government fully expects that the legal status of EU nationals in the UK will be properly protected when we leave the EU. We also expect the same for British nationals in other EU Member States.