Tag: Louise Haigh

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral evidence of Lieutenant General Gordon Messenger to the Defence Select Committee on 1 December 2015, Q31, HC657, how many opposition fighters on the spectrum of extremism are included in the 70,000 estimate.

Michael Fallon

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Julian Lewis) on 1 December 2015 to Question 18014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment has been made of the humanitarian situation in (a) Madaya and (b) other Syrian cities under attack by armed forces of the government of President Assad.

Mr Desmond Swayne

We are seriously concerned about the acute humanitarian situation in Madaya, Rural Damascus. Madaya has been surrounded by regime and allied forces since July 2015, leading to sharply deteriorating conditions for an estimated 40,000 people, most of whom are women and children. Around 20,000 residents currently face life-threatening deprivation of the basics for survival. Prior to 11 January 2016, humanitarian assistance was last delivered on 18 October, as part of a joint UN/ Syrian Arab Red Crescent/ICRC convoy, that provided assistance to Madaya, Zabadani, Foah and Kefraya under the terms of a ceasefire agreement.

The UK is deeply concerned that nearly 400,000 people live in besieged areas and roughly 4.5 million in hard-to-reach areas in Syria. Due to constrained humanitarian access, we are unable to provide a systematic and updated picture of humanitarian needs across besieged and hard-to-reach areas. The appalling numbers of people living in besieged areas is indicative of the continued flouting of International Humanitarian Law and disregard for civilian lives by the regime, Daesh and armed groups inside Syria.

The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have pledged over £1.1 billion, making us the second largest bilateral donor after the US. We have provided support to the UN and international NGOs (INGOs) since the start of the conflict to deliver aid in hard to reach and besieged areas of Syria, including Madaya. We are working to bring about an inclusive political solution to end the conflict in Syria through our engagement in the International Syria Support Group, with the UN Special Envoy for Syria, and with the Syrian Opposition.

In February 2016, the UK will invite world leaders to London for a Conference to support immediate needs and identify longer-term solutions to address the needs of those affected by the crisis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the extent and effectiveness of wifi and telephone signal coverage on the Midland Mainline route.

Claire Perry

On all Department for Transport-controlled rail franchises, in England and Wales, free Wi-Fi is being introduced. All train operators bidding for new franchises and direct award agreements will have to present a phased implementation plan for free Wi-Fi. Currently c30% of train carriages operating within the DfT controlled franchises and serving c50% of rail passenger journeys have Wi-Fi available. We have committed that 90% of passenger journeys will benefit from free Wi-Fi by the end of 2018.

East Midlands Trains is upgrading its Wi-Fi services, on approximately 70% of their trains, to deliver at least 15 minutes free wi-fi to passengers travelling in standard class by Autumn 2016.

Reliability and availability of mobile broadband and telephone services on trains can be an issue, partly due to physical barriers to radio signals reaching the railway track, include railway cuttings and tunnels and due to signal weakening, called attenuation, caused by train carriage walls and windows.

On-train Wi-Fi addresses some of the reliability issues as will the ongoing roll-out of the 4G networks by mobile network operators. However we recognise that there is more to do that will require enhancements to trackside infrastructure. That’s why we are working with the rail and telecommunications industries to reach a shared understanding of the technical and commercial challenges, and seek out potential solutions.

Our current assessment forecasts that between 68% and 85% of the UK rail network will have 4G mobile network coverage by the end of 2017. There is no separate assessment of the Midlands Mainline route.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of Senior Civil Servants in his Department are based in London.

Joseph Johnson

The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills HQ, as at 31 January 2016, had 93.5% of its Senior Civil Servants based in London. The majority of staff from within the BIS Group are based outside London.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of hours teaching assistants spent covering classes in the absence of a teacher in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb

The information requested is not collected by the Department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) guidance his Department issues and (b) regulations are in place on the provision of electoral roll data to credit reference agencies.

John Penrose

The Electoral Commission provides detailed guidance to Electoral Registration Officers on access and supply of the full electoral register, including by credit reference agencies.

The regulations on the supply of electoral roll data to credit reference agencies are set out in The Representation of the People (England and Wales)(Amendment) Regulations 2002. Under Regulation 114, credit reference agencies registered under Part III of the Consumer Credit Act and carrying on the business of providing credit reference services may only use the full electoral register for specified purposes; namely for checking a person’s identity if they apply for credit, and for the prevention of money laundering fraud. Electoral Registration Officers are entitled to charge credit reference agencies a small fee for copies of the full register, to cover administration costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate his Department has made of the average cost of each official of his Department based at (a) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield and (b) 1 Victoria Street, London.

Joseph Johnson

The average salary costs (incl. pension and National Insurance contributions) for an official in Sheffield is £46,698, whilst the average salary costs (incl. pension and National Insurance contributions) for an official in London is £58,910. This can largely be explained by the London-weighted salary differences and the differences in grade mix of staff in Sheffield and London. For example, almost 9% of London-based staff are SCS (costing around £18m in salaries), whilst only 2% of staff in Sheffield are SCS (costing around £0.5m in salaries).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on salaries for (a) senior Civil Servants and (b) all other grades at (i) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield and (ii) 1 Victoria Street, London in (A) 2014-15 and (B) 2015-16 to date.

Joseph Johnson

The following tables show the basic salaries and allowances paid to Senior Civil Servants in:

1. 2014-15

(i) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield	(ii) 1 Victoria Street, London
£587,842	£15,087,650

1. 2015-16 to date

(i) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield	(ii) 1 Victoria Street, London
£436,059	£15,548,049

The following tables show the basic salaries and allowances paid to all other grades in:

1. 2014-15

Grade	(i) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield	(ii) 1 Victoria Street, London
Grade 6	£861,385	£16,330,679
Grade 7	£3,448,242	£28,394,098
SEO	£2,134,433	£9,445,839
Faststream	The numbers in this grade and location would make it possible to identify personal information of individual employees. These costs have therefore not been included	£2,653,996
HEO	£1,823,162	£11,031,962
EO	£699,586	£6,365,262
AO	The numbers in this grade and location would make it possible to identify personal information of individual employees. These costs have therefore not been included	£2,045,520
AA	There are no AA grade staff based in St Paul’s Place	£197,447

1. 2015-16 to date

Grade	(i) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield	(ii) 1 Victoria Street, London
Grade 6	£1,161,328	£16,419,099
Grade 7	£3,448,283	£28,186,571
SEO	£2,372,398	£9,529,413
Faststream	The numbers in this grade and location would make it possible to identify personal information of individual employees. These costs have therefore not been included	£2,538,015
HEO	£1,747,746	£11,194,382
EO	£769,613	£6,237,211
AO	The numbers in this grade and location would make it possible to identify personal information of individual employees. These costs have therefore not been included	£1,973,589
AA	There are no AA grade staff based in St Paul’s Place	The numbers in this grade and location would make it possible to identify personal information of individual employees. These costs have therefore not been included

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the status is of the McKinsey report which informed the BIS 2020 departmental restructuring strategy.

Joseph Johnson

The McKinsey team validated the early work undertaken by the BIS senior team, providing a perspective on the scale of the opportunity for operating cost savings and advising on deliverability, risks and any additional benefits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 31068, how many meetings the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion had with (a) Ministers and officials of other government departments and (b) representatives from civil society and business between July 2015 and the end of February 2016.

Matthew Hancock

All Cabinet Office costs are published in its annual report and accounts available on the GOV.UK website.

The Anti-Corruption Champion has had a range of meetings with Ministers and officials from other government departments, as well as representatives from civil society and business, both in the United Kingdom (UK) and overseas.