Tag: Nicholas Soames

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will undertake a review of the effectiveness of the operations and governance of NHS Property Services.

George Freeman

NHS Property Services Ltd is a limited company that is fully owned by the Secretary of State for Health. Review of the effectiveness of its operations is an ongoing process by the company’s Board, which includes a Departmental senior civil servant as a Director, and by officials in the Department’s Commercial Division. Minsters have no plans for any further review of the company’s operations at this time.

With regard to its governance, the company undertook a review of its corporate governance in 2014 to align itself more closely to UK Corporate Governance Code 2014, which applies to listed companies. This resulted in the introduction, during the year, of new Nomination and Facilities Management Committees.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has had discussions with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on the potential role of that organisation in advising the UN and other institutions on desertification.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK Government maintains a close dialogue with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew on tackling international environmental and conservation issues, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) leading HMG’s relationship with Kew. As a world leading organisation and a holder of the Red List for Plant species, Kew Gardens is already providing valuable information which supports action on desertification, including work by the UN in relation to the Global Goal indicators. Kew Gardens has received funding from the UK government’s Darwin Initiative to improve understanding of the link between conservation and poverty alleviation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Order of Battle is of the Royal Military Police.

Mark Lancaster

The Order of Battle for the Royal Military Police at unit and specialist unit levels is as follows:

1st Regiment Royal Military Police

3rd Regiment Royal Military Police

4th Regiment Royal Military Police

Special Investigation Branch Regiment

Military Provost Service

Special Operations Regiment (made up of the Close Protection Unit and Service Police Crime Bureau)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will provide details of what (a) ships and (b) aircraft by (i) type and (ii) number are allocated to the Very High Readiness Task Force in 2016-17.

Mr Julian Brazier

In 2016 the UK’s contribution to the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (Maritime) will include a Maritime Commander (Rear Admiral) with 150 staff embarked in a Landing Platform Helicopter (HMS Ocean), one Type 23 Frigate for six months from January to July, one Type 45 Destroyer for up to seven weeks in the autumn and one Mine Countermeasures Vessel. In 2017, the UK’s contribution will be a Commander (Commodore) and Type 45 Destroyer for six months, an ECHO Class Survey Ship (in a command role) plus one Mine Countermeasures Vessel.

Throughout 2016 and 2017, the UK’s contribution to the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (Air) will include six Tornados and six Typhoons, Airborne Early Warning and Air to Air refueling aircraft.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) reservists, (b) Cadet Forces adult volunteers and (c) cadets of the three services there are in West Sussex.

Mark Lancaster

As at 1 July 2016 there were an estimated 100 personnel in the Future Reserves 2020 stationed in West Sussex.

The MOD publishes annual information on Cadets and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers (CFVA) through the MOD Sponsored Cadets Statistics. The latest publication was as at 1 April 2016 and can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/526131/MOD_sponsored_cadet_forces__statistics_2016.pdf

This data is not broken down by region so information on the number of Cadets and CFAV in West Sussex is not held in the format requested.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department is making on the rationalisation of the NHS estate.

Mr Philip Dunne

The National Health Service estate represents both one of its largest assets, critical in supporting high quality services for patients, as well as one of its largest elements of its running costs.

As part of the Government’s wider public sector land programme, the Department is committed releasing surplus NHS land sufficient for delivering 26,000 houses by 2020 and raising £2 billion in receipts. The Department and the NHS have made good progress so far, having released land with capacity for over 3,000 homes by June 2016.

The Department is also committed to driving improvements in the operational efficiency of the NHS estate. Lord Carter of Coles’ report, Operational Productivity and Performance in English NHS Acute Hospitals: Unwarranted Variations, published in February 2016, sets out how acute trusts can improve productivity and achieve efficiency savings, including through reducing the proportion of the hospital estate that is made up of non-clinical services, and reducing under-utilisation. It highlighted that annual savings of up to £1 billion by 2020-21 were achievable by reducing current variations in estates and facilities management running costs.

The majority of the NHS estate is owned by individual NHS trusts and foundation trusts and it is for them to make decisions about their estate which best support their clinical priorities, in discussion with the commissioners of NHS services. This is part of the current process through which local NHS footprints are developing sustainability and transformation plans (STPs).

The Department and other national health organisations are providing a range of support measures to the NHS in delivering on the surplus land ambition, in implementing Lord Carter’s recommendations and in delivering high quality estates plans as part of the STP process.

In addition, the Department has commissioned Sir Robert Naylor to undertake an independent review of the NHS estate. He will produce a report in the autumn which will provide recommendations on how the NHS can achieve best value from NHS property, in alignment with the delivery of the vision set out in the NHS’s Five Year Forward View.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s (a) 2015 and (b) 2020 liability baseline is for service personnel for each top level budget.

Michael Fallon

The liability baseline for September 2015 and the predicted liability baseline for April 2020 are shown in the attached tables. This represents the implementation of decisions made in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 and the three Month Exercise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many nationals aged (a) between 15 and 64 and (b) over 65 from each EEA country were granted permanent residence in each year from 1997-98 to 2014-15.

James Brokenshire

Under the EU law, EEA nationals (and their family members) have an initial right to reside in the UK for three months without conditions. To have a right to reside in the country longer than this the EEA national must be exercising a Treaty Right, described in the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006 as being a qualified person. To be considered a quali-fied person, they must be a jobseeker, worker, self-employed person, self-sufficient or a student. After living in the UK for a continuous period of five years in accordance with the conditions set out in the EEA Regulations, an EEA national and any family member will acquire the right of permanent residence in the UK and apply for documentation confirming this right.

The total numbers of documents certifying permanent residence by country of nationality are published in table ee_02 ‘Immigration Statistics, April-June 2015’ table ee_02 for 2004 to 2014, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics . Corresponding data for 2015 will be published on 26 May 2016. A breakdown by age grouping is not published.

The issuing of permanent residence documents to EEA nationals commenced in April 2006 and therefore there are no statistics relating to EEA nationals available prior to that date.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent from the public purse on the payment of the state pension to non-UK citizens in each non-European Economic Area country in each year from 1997-98 to 2014-15.

Justin Tomlinson

Entitlement to UK State Pension is based on UK national insurance contributions and credits which enables pensioners, many of whom are UK nationals, to receive their state pensions abroad.

The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold data on the nationality of State Pension claimants however;

State Pension expenditure by country of residence is published on Gov.UK https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464096/state-pension-by-country-2014-15.xlsx.

Expenditure is not broken down by nationality.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) volume and (b) value of (i) raw milk, (ii) butter, (iii) cheese, (iv) cream and (v) condensed milk was consumed domestically in each year from 1995-96 to 2014-15.

George Eustice

The information requested is set out in the tables attached.