Tag: Nicholas Soames

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new schools were built in each local education authority area between 1997 and 2015.

Edward Timpson

The government provides local authorities and other bodies responsible for school buildings with capital funding for schools through condition funding and basic need funding for new school places. Local authorities can spend this money on new school buildings but the department does not collect the data centrally on the number of new school buildings. Information on the impact of this funding in each local authority and parliamentary constituency could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The government does directly deliver new schools, in new or refurbished buildings, through the Free Schools, University Technical Colleges and Studio Schools programmes. There are currently 383 schools that are open through these programmes.

A list of all open free schools can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-open-schools-and-successful-applications.

A list of all open University Technical Colleges and Studio Schools can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/utcs-and-studio-schools-open-schools-and-applications-received.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the level of security of supply of rare earth metals required by industry.

Anna Soubry

There has been no recent assessment for the UK. However, the EU critical raw material list is reviewed every 3 years and the most recent review of that list, which currently includes rare earth elements, took place in May 2014. The UK uses this list to help in its assessment of which materials are of particular significance to UK manufacturing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to commemorate the Battle of Jutland.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) will be commemorating the Battle of Jutland with a significant and extensive programme of events, not least as the principal delivery partner to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport for the national commemorations in the Orkney Islands and on Jutland Bank on 31 May 2016.

The Royal Navy will be holding and supporting events throughout the UK and, in addition, will be supporting events in Germany, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

The MOD welcomes the opportunity to make such a significant contribution to the commemoration of this historic Naval battle and the wider Great War at Sea.