Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Margaret Hodge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Margaret Hodge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will ensure that any agreement on a central registry of beneficial ownership in Montserrat includes access for the public with legitimate reason.

    James Duddridge

    I refer the Right Honourable Lady to the answer given by my Hon Friend the member for Hertfordshire South West (David Gauke), the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 16 October to questions 10437, 10438 and 10448, which sets out the criteria we expect the Overseas Territories to meet in relation to their central register of company beneficial ownership, or similarly effective system. We are in discussions with the Montserrat authorities on this and are offering technical assistance as they develop their proposals.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of UK aid spending in reducing levels of illiteracy in Pakistan.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The Pakistan programme is DFID’s largest bilateral investment in education worldwide. More than 6.3 million primary school children and 3.7 million secondary school children have benefited since 2011. Working in partnership with provincial governments and the private sector, we aim to get more children into school, staying longer, and learning more.

    DFID has funded the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for the last three years. The report includes a wide range of data on education, including pupil enrolment, provision of facilities, and learning outcomes. In their 2015 report, published on 17 December 2015, ASER reports on national progress on literacy in rural areas for example it shows that grade 5 literacy levels in English have improved by 7 per cent. DFID interventions in the education sector since 2011 are likely to have had a positive impact on literacy levels in Punjab and Khyber Phaktunkhwa, given the focus on improved facilities and teaching, and pupil and teacher attendance. It is not however possible to claim a direct correlation between the ASER data and DFID’s investment.

  • Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2016-01-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings Ministers of his Department have had with the Financial Conduct Authority since May 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Treasury Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Financial Conduct Authority to discuss relevant regulatory issues.

    As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury’s practice to provide details of all such discussions.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who were victims of domestic abuse were incarcerated for violent crimes committed in response to the abuse they had received in each of the last three years.

    Caroline Dinenage

    This information is not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they ensure that schools comply with their admission policies, and what action they take when a school is found to be admitting pupils in contravention of their admission policy.

    Lord Nash

    All state funded schools are required to comply with the statutory School Admissions Code when setting and applying their admission arrangements. Once admission arrangements have been determined, anyone who believes they are unfair or unlawful may make an objection to the Schools Adjudicator.

    When allocating places, admission authorities must ensure they do so strictly in accordance with their published admissions criteria.

    Any parent who is refused a place at a school for which they have applied has the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel. If the panel finds that the school’s admission arrangements were unlawful and had not been applied properly in the individual’s case, the appeal must be upheld and the admission authority must admit the child.

  • Lord Polak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Polak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Polak on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 10 March (HL6654), what projects are delivered by Burj Al Luqluq Youth Centre and Silwan Youth Centre that are funded through the Bilateral Programme Budget.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Bilateral Programme Budget funded two projects run by the Burj Al Luqluq and Silwan Youth Centres, both of which were completed in March 2016.

    The Burj Al Luqluq project built the capacity of Palestinian youth in East Jerusalem to become positive and active leaders in their communities. The project worked with 50 participants, male and female, who received training in communication, leadership and photography skills. They developed their employability and strengthened their national and cultural identities.

    The Silwan project provided Information technology and other equipment to create a safe environment for children and adults to conduct homework and research.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to Israeli authorities about reports of further demolitions of EU-funded structures in Jabal al Baba.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We condemn the demolition of Bedouin homes at Jabal Al-Baba, which is a particularly vulnerable community in East Jerusalem. We have not specifically raised the issue, but we are extremely concerned at the large increase in demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the start of 2016, compared to the monthly average in 2015. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv continues to raise our concern about demolitions regularly with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 15 May. We call on Israel to provide a legal route for Palestinians to obtain building permits.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will recommend that the Equality and Human Rights Commission should commission an equality impact assessment of any future job losses at the Commission.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent body. It makes its own decisions about the allocation of its resources and its procedures for planning changes to its staffing against its business needs as set out in its one-year Business Plan and three-year Strategic Plan.

  • Lord Kilclooney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Lord Kilclooney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total value of (1) imports, and (2) exports, between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in the last year for which figures are available.

    Lord Price

    The value of goods exported from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland was £2.1 billion in 2015.

    The value of goods imported into Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland was £1.6 billion in 2015.

    Data on the value of trade in services between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is not available.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department plans to give to local authorities to ensure that they are able to provide new affordable housing to people on low incomes.

    Brandon Lewis

    More council housing has been built since 2010 than in the previous 13 years. 2014 saw the highest number of council housing starts for 23 years.

    Almost £222 million of extra borrowing headroom has been allocated to 36 councils in England to support over 3,000 new affordable homes in 2015/16 and 2016/17.

    The 2011-15 Affordable Homes Programme exceeded expectations – delivering 186,000 new affordable homes -16,000 more than the target. In addition, this Government is committed to delivering a further 275,000 new affordable homes by 2020. Through the 2015-18 Affordable Homes programme, we have already allocated around £1.4 billion to support this delivery

    The Government is committed to helping hard working people across the country to own their own home. We believe that shared ownership has an important role to play in helping those who aspire to home ownership but may be otherwise unable to afford it.

    We launched a one-off £36 million funding package in August to pave the way for the first wave of Starter Homes on brownfield sites that would otherwise not be built on to help more young people into discounted home ownership. Of this, up to £10million will be made available to councils in England. 200,000 Starter Homes will be built by 2020/21.

    Right to buy additions are due within 3 years of sales: 3,694 new Right to Buy addition starts and acquisitions were delivered against 3,054 additional homes sold in the first year of the scheme. Receipts from the sale of Right to Buy homes will continue to help authorities to build new additional properties.