Tag: Kirsten Oswald

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has classified the armed conflict with Daesh as international or non-international.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The United Kingdom is engaged in armed conflict against Daesh in Syria and Iraq which we have classified legally as non-international armed conflict, since Daesh is a non-State actor. We are however quite clear, as is the UN Security Council, that Daesh represent a threat to international peace and security.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to the Oral Answer by the Prime Minister of 6 July 2016, Official Report, Column 881, what assessment she has made of the level of military action or the deployment of military equipment that would fall within the parameters referred to in that statement.

Mrs Theresa May

I have nothing further to add.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-10-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrangements he has put in place to assess the effectiveness of the provisions in the 2012 Scheme for varying child support payments following changes in the income of the paying parent.

Caroline Nokes

The 2012 scheme includes an Annual Review of the Non-Resident Parent’s income. If their income is being determined on the basis of Current Income, they are legally required to report any increases of 25% of more in their income level. If they do not, a provision exists for the CMS to backdate a new calculation decision to the point in the year that the change occurred.

In addition, a Non-Resident Parent may choose to report a change of circumstance, including changes to their income, to the Child Maintenance Service, which will consider making a new decision about the amount of maintenance due reflecting those changes. Once a decision in relation to the reported change has been made, that decision is notified to both clients.

If either parent believes the decision is wrong, they may request the Child Maintenance Service revisit the decision (a Mandatory Reconsideration), after which they may appeal to an independent First-tier Tribunal.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what work his Department has commissioned to identify the distribution across the nations and regions of the UK of exchange-only lines on the telecom network that are incompatible with fibre to the cabinet broadband technology.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The vast majority of phone lines across the UK connect to the nearest telephone exchange via a street cabinet, which can be upgraded to deliver fibre broadband. Estimates are not available of the number of premises served by exchange only lines which connect directly to the local exchange rather than via one of BT’s street cabinets. There are a variety of reasons why exchange only lines are created. For example, for rural exchanges serving few premises where there was no need for cabinets, or for urban exchanges where it may have been a more cost-effective. Exchange only lines present a greater engineering challenge to deliver fibre broadband than those connected via street cabinets but technical solutions are available. One solution is to rearrange the existing network, lay new cables to reroute lines to new cabinets. This technique was developed as part of the BDUK Superfast Broadband Programme, and the number of exchange only lines is reducing all the time as roll out under the programme continues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on how many occasions the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Services Authority used powers under Section 382 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to compel a registered firm to compensative investors for losses incurred as a result of that firm’s breaches of its statutory obligations; and whether he is satisfied that the legislation is being implemented effectively.

Harriett Baldwin

This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.

This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honourable Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many automatic payments of partial winter fuel payment have been made in each of the last three years; and how many of those payments have been converted to full payments following an application by the recipient.

Justin Tomlinson

The information requested is not available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-02-29.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what issues were discussed at the meeting between Ministers of his Department and representatives of the Financial Conduct Authority on 14 September 2015; and who the attendees were at that meeting.

Harriett Baldwin

Treasury Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Financial Conduct Authority to discuss relevant regulatory issues. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury’s practice to provide details of all such discussions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the adequacy of support available to personnel leaving each of the services and (b) the effectiveness of that support by (i) service, (ii) length of service and (iii) reason for leaving the armed forces.

Mark Lancaster

The Government provides a comprehensive programme of support for ex-Service personnel. This includes an excellent resettlement package for Service personnel returning to civilian life, high quality pension and compensation schemes and measures to meet veterans’ health and welfare needs.

The Department continually measures the effectiveness of the support to Service leavers and personnel leaving the Armed Forces are entitled to resettlement provision consisting of time, funding and training, depending on length of service. Resettlement Provision is delivered through the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) as performance of the CTP is continually assessed by Head Office by management of the CTP contract and the Key Performance Indicators. As part of the performance management process, Service leavers are asked what their reason was for leaving the Services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Annual Report 2015 of the Service Complaints Ombudsmen for the Armed Forces, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that (a) some complaints first processed by the Service Complaints Commissioner in 2008 remain open and (b) other referrals by the Service Complaints Commissioner have been outstanding for over a year.

Mark Lancaster

The Service Complaints Ombudsman acknowledges in the Annual Report 2015 that the Services’ commitment during 2015 to resolve complaints that were raised before 2014, resulted in a reduction in their number of around 50%. The Ombudsman acknowledges that in some cases there is just cause for delay, but where her investigations under her new powers find that delay was unjustified and avoidable the Ministry of Defence will learn the lessons as part of its commitment to achieving a service complaints process that is fair, effective and efficient.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times have mines and improvised explosive devices in the vicinity of UK military bases caused (a) minor injuries and (b) serious or fatal injuries to service personnel in the last 10 years.

Penny Mordaunt

Specific statistics regarding mines and IEDs either detected or causing injuries or fatalities in the vicinity of UK military bases are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.