Tag: Maria Eagle

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by when he plans for his Department to achieve its target strength for the Army Reserve.

Mr Julian Brazier

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by my right hon. Friend the previous Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) on 19 December 2013, (Official Report, column 124WS) on Future Reserves 2020, and the accompanying document that was placed in the Library of the House which sets out the planned growth of the trained strength of the Reserve Forces, together with the enlistment targets for the next five years.

I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2015 to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mr Shannon) to Question 11812 which explained the improvements we have made to ensure we reach our target strength of 35,000 trained volunteer Reservists by 31 March 2019.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the projected in-service date for the first of the Successor class submarines has been delayed by two years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

Designing and building submarines is one of the largest programmes and one of the most complex activities that the Ministry of Defence and UK Industry has ever undertaken. It is the purpose of a design phase to improve our understanding of costs and timescales, which we have now done. The current estimates reflect what we have learned since the design phase began.

As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 (Cm9161), our latest estimate of the total cost to manufacture the four Successor submarines reflects greater maturity of the design and understanding of the supply chain, amounts to £31 billion; we will also set a contingency of £10 billion. This level of contingency represents about 35% of the costs to completion and is a prudent estimate based on past experience of large, complex projects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff were employed at the Joint Service Housing Advice Office in each year since 2010.

Mark Lancaster

The Joint Service Housing Advice Office has had eight posts since 2010.

The total expenditure of individual departments, including the Joint Service Housing Advice Office, is not collated at a single point. For example, infrastructure costs (including utilities) are managed through Regional Prime Contracts which do not split out individual units. Similarly, equipment costs cannot be split out. For this reason, the total expenditure of the Joint Service Housing Advice Office cannot be provided.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what expenditure his Department was on (a) temporary agency staff, (b) consultants, (c) non-payroll staff, (d) administration and (e) marketing and advertising on making the Defence Infrastructure Organisation government-owned in (i) 2011-12, (ii) 2012-13, (iii) 2013-14 and (iv) 2014-15.

Mark Lancaster

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has been led by a Strategic Business Partner (SBP) since September 2014. The SBP contract allowed for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to instruct the incorporation of DIO as a Government-owned company (GovCo), subject to a value for money review.

I announced the conclusions of the review in my written statement of 10 December 2015 (Official Report, columns 55-56WS). The GovCo model would have been led by the SBP but 100% owned by the Secretary of State for Defence. A GovCo is distinct from a Government-owned contractor-operated organisation (GOCO) which has a different legal construct. The MOD has never proposed for the DIO to become a GOCO.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of how many full time police officers will work in the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit is funded by the Intellectual Property Office, but is considered operationally independent, and is fully managed by the City of London Police. Future staffing levels will be a matter for the City of London Police to determine in the light of the unit’s workload and requirements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-02-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants in his Department have had with (i) James Murdoch and (ii) representatives from Sky UK Limited in each year since 2012.

Harriett Baldwin

Details of Ministers’ and Senior Civil Servants’ meetings with external organisations, including senior media figures, are published routinely and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications on Gov.uk.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the potential additional revenue that would be generated for the BBC by extending the licence fee to include viewing content on iPlayer.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government is currently working with the BBC to come to an agreed estimate of the likely revenue impact. These measures are being introduced to ensure that payment of the licence fee is fair for the public and that those who enjoy BBC content pay the licence fee accordingly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries have received funding from his Department to provide workplace training for their staff since 2010.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Public libraries are funded and run by local authorities. My Department has through Arts Council England’s Library Development Funding, which supports the development of public libraries in England including workforce training, provided £680,000 in 2012/13; £683,000 in 2013/14; £595,000 in 2014/15; and £744,000 in 2015/16. Workforce development is also one of the priorities of the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce, established in 2015 by my Department and the Local Government Association.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his policy is on the future availability of protected sporting events on free-to-air television; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Ofcom Code on Listed Events ensures that key sporting events are made available for free-to-air channels. Our sport strategy, Sporting Future: A new strategy for an active nation, published December 2015, made clear that the Government does not propose to review this list.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his Department’s planned expenditure on resources is for Ofcom in each year up to 2028.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government and Department set Ofcom’s overall spending cap as part of the 2015 Spending Review. Where significant changes are made to Ofcom’s remit or activities, Government will review the spending cap to ensure Ofcom is adequately resourced.