The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2016 to Question 26147, whether the cost of the work undertaken during the Long Overhaul Period of HMS Vengeance exceeded the value of the contract for that work.
Mr Philip Dunne
No, the total cost of the work undertaken has not exceeded the value of the contract.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2016 to Question 25292, to which countries RAF Reaper or Watchkeeper drones have been deployed on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sorties since 5 February 2016.
Penny Mordaunt
From 5 February until 4 April 2016, UK Reapers have been deployed on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in Iraq and Syria.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions the chairs of the (a) Defence, (b) Foreign Affairs and (c) Intelligence and Security Committee were briefed on special forces operations in each of the last 10 years.
Penny Mordaunt
This Government has demonstrated its commitment to our Special Forces by announcing a £2 billion programme of investment over the course of this Parliament. All military operations, including the activities of the Special Forces, are discussed and scrutinised at the highest levels of Government, including at the National Security Council. However, as it is the longstanding policy of the Government not to comment on our Special Forces, or to release information relating to them, I cannot comment on specific questions about personnel, equipment, discussions or activities in relation to these units.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much funding was allocated to the counter-proliferation programme in each of the last six financial years; and how much funding has been allocated to that programme for the 2016-17 financial year.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The current allocation for the FCO Counter Proliferation Programme in 2016/17 is £3,490,591. Figures for the amount spent in previous years are provided below:
2015/16 – £2,495,771 (subject to end of financial year adjustments)
2014/15 – £1,616,576
2013/14 – £1,965,240
2012/13 – £3,133,999
2011/12 – £3,252,471
2010/11 – £2,416,828
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) other NATO member states and (b) Russia on bilateral reductions in stockpiles of non-strategic nuclear weapons; and whether such reductions were discussed at the meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in April 2016.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Reductions in US and Russian nuclear forces have been negotiated directly between those two countries. Officials regularly discuss the implementation of those agreements, including the Intermediate Nuclear Forces agreement, with the US and other NATO partners. Nuclear weapons were not discussed at the meeting of the NATO/Russia Council held on 20 April 2016, which mainly focussed on the situation in Ukraine.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) UK military personnel and (b) RAF Typhoons are currently deployed on NATO’s Baltic air policing mission.
Mr Julian Brazier
140 UK military personnel and four RAF Typhoon aircraft are currently deployed on NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in receipt of universal credit had their entitlement reduced as a result of taking up paid work in the most recent month for which figures are available.
Priti Patel
The information you have requested is not currently available. The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit (UC) in September 2013. As outlined in the strategy, officials are currently quality assuring data for UC therefore it is not yet possible to give a definitive list of what statistics will be provided in the future. These statistics however will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for official statistics.
The latest official experimental statistics on UC and the Departments release strategy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homelessness applications were made to local authorities as a result of an applicant losing their home to repossession in each of the last 10 years; and in what proportion of such applications the people were accepted as unintentionally homeless and in priority need.
Mr Marcus Jones
Statistics on the reasons for loss of last home are only held for those households who are accepted as unintentionally homeless and in priority need. The numbers of acceptances who lost their last home as a result of mortgage arrears in the last 10 years are shown in the attached table.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 7.4 of the Explanatory Memorandum for the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Local Housing Allowance Amendments) Order 2015 (S.I., 2015, No. 1753), when he plans for the first instalments of additional funding under the Targeted Affordability Fund to be made available to local authorities.
Justin Tomlinson
Since 2014/15 the Government has made available £140 million in Targeted Affordability Funding (TAF). Over the next five years TAF will be drawn from recycling a percentage of the savings from the freeze of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates. As a result of the level of savings produced by the freeze next year there will be no TAF available in 2016/17; however, there will be funding from 2017/18 to 2020/21.
From 2017/18 around 30 per cent of the potential savings per year from the freeze to LHA will be used to support areas where higher rent increases are causing a shortage of affordable accommodation.
The level of TAF in 2016/17 would have been the same if, as planned, LHA rates had been uprated by CPI inflation. This is because the CPI forecast in September was zero (0.01 per cent) and therefore LHA rates would not increase in 2016/17 but would remain at the 2015/16 levels.
The amounts of TAF which will be available each year from 2017/18 and the plans to distribute it will be announced in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what organisations are providers of Community Work Placements under the Help to Work scheme.
Priti Patel
DWP Community Work Placement Prime Providers:
Seetec Business Technology Centre Limited
G4S Regional Management (UK&I) Limited
Advanced Personnel Management Group (UK) Limited
Learndirect Limited
Rehab Jobfit LLP
Working Links (Employment) Limited
Interserve Working Futures Limited