Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answers of 7 April 2014 to Questions 194734 to 194737, what checks were made on the provenance of the funds used to purchase Brompton Road underground station.

    Mark Lancaster

    In accordance with normal practice the independent marketing agents analysed the leading bids and bidders. Mr Firtash was regarded as a high net worth individual capable of meeting the contractual obligations.

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) took a 10% deposit (over £5 million) on exchange of contracts and later a legal charge at completion to secure payment obligations. In addition, all funds were paid to the MOD through UK regulated solicitors, in accordance with normal practice, to ensure that appropriate financial checks were made on their client.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fully-trained staff are based at the National Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham.

    Mr John Hayes

    Her Majesty’s Coastguard currently have a total of 58 staff who are qualified Coastguards at the National Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham. There are an additional 12 staff who are communication/systems trained, but awaiting to complete their final training and assessments, who are able to undertake watchkeeping tasks commensurate with their training.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the level of financial protection available to investors in mini-bonds not covered under the financial services compensation scheme.

    Simon Kirby

    The government is committed to regulating only where there is a clear case for doing so, in order to avoid putting additional costs on lenders that would ultimately lead to higher costs for businesses and consumers.

    The marketing and promotion of mini-bonds is subject to financial promotion restrictions set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA). Firms that fail to meet any of these requirements may be subject to enforcement action by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

  • Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Clive Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to chart 4.2 of the Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics Report 2015, published by her Department on 28 May 2015, what proportion of the (a) local authority, (b) owner-occupied, (c) private rented and (d) housing association households are in fuel poverty.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The number and proportion of fuel poor households in England by tenure are shown below:

    Tenure

    Local Authority

    Owner occupied

    Private Rented

    Housing Association

    2003 – Number of fuel poor households (000s)

    496

    1,220

    483

    215

    2003 – Proportion of households (%)

    21

    8

    25

    14

    2013 – Number of fuel poor households (000s)

    193

    1,104

    816

    234

    2013 – Proportion of households (%)

    12

    8

    19

    10

  • Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Craig Whittaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the local economy of the potential closure of HM Revenue and Customs offices in West Yorkshire.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced its plans to create a new regional centre in West Yorkshire, investing in up to 4,400 full time posts in the region. HMRC will be offering career opportunities to those from across the county in a range of the Department’s professions and intends to partner with local colleges and universities to provide a pipeline of staff to work in its new centre. The Department’s proposed changes will also save money for the taxpayers of West Yorkshire as HMRC’s national estates costs will reduce by around £100 million a year by 2025.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what contingency arrangements her Department has made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    I refer the hon Gentleman to the answer given by my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister on 14 January 2016.

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners were in open prisons in each of the last five years.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    Progression to open prisons is never automatic, and prisoners must generally be within two years of release before they can be considered for allocation. Public protection is paramount, so the only prisoners transferred to open prison are those whose risk of escape/abscond and risk of causing harm to the public are assessed as capable of being effectively managed in an open prison.

    Indeterminate sentence prisoners are, with few exceptions, transferred to open conditions only following a positive recommendation by the Parole Board. The Board will make such a recommendation after a robust risk assessment, based on reports provided by offender managers, offender supervisors and, where appropriate, by psychologists, with the overriding priority being the safety of the public.

    The following table shows the number of male and female prisoners held in dedicated open prisons as at the last Friday in June in each of the last five years. The data below do not include the number of male and female prisoners held in category D units in otherwise closed prisons.

    Date

    Population

    June 2011

    4,808

    June 2012

    4,953

    June 2013

    4,981

    June 2014

    5,087

    June 2015

    5,020
  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the World Bank gender policy, and of whether the bank’s inspection panel has ever been guided by a gender safeguard.

    Baroness Verma

    The World Bank Gender Policy sets out how Bank staff should assess the gender dimensions of development in their work and is an important part of Bank’s commitment to drive progress on gender equality. The Inspection Panel assesses compliance with Bank policy including not only the Gender Policy but also with the Environmental and Social Safeguards, which includes requirements for a social assessment that may cover gender.

  • Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the efficiency of the National Consumer Council pension scheme in discharging its duty to ensure payment to new pensioners on attainment of scheme payment eligibility.

    Nick Boles

    The National Consumer Council participated in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), which is managed by the Cabinet Office. Administration of the PCSPS is contracted out to MyCSP Ltd. MyCSP’s performance in administering the PCSPS is monitored by the Supplier Management team within Civil Service Pensions in the Cabinet Office; the performance of MyCSP is also reported to the Civil Service Pensions Board on a regular basis, which is independent of the Cabinet Office team.

    Contact details for MyCSP are available from the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/contact-us/.

    “

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will estimate the cost of upgrading the mission software on F35B Lightning II aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force after the completion of Block 3F testing.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The UK is part of a collaborative partnership on F-35 and therefore pays a shared contribution to the development of capability beyond the Block 3F capability. The cost of this activity, although provisionally estimated, has yet to be finalised with industry and is the subject of on-going discussion with the eight Partner Nations. As these costs will be the subject of commercial negotiations over the coming year, they cannot be made public at this time.