Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 23665, how many (a) Arabic speakers with an Operational level (C1) examination pass and (b) Mandarin/Cantonese speakers there were employed in his Department in each year since 2006.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Records from the last five years show that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has 51 officers who have a current Operational Level (C1) Arabic pass and 44 officers with a C1 pass in Mandarin/ Cantonese. We only record current C1 passes, valid for five years after the date of the exam, and therefore do not have pre-2010 data.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) policy and (b) other responsibilities are of each special adviser in his Department.

    Justin Tomlinson

    I refer the hon.Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my Rt.Hon. Friend Matthew Hancock, Question UIN 27946.

    “

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the claims relating to national minimum wage have fallen under section 2 of the Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014 since their entry into force.

    Nick Boles

    No estimate has been made of the number of National Minimum Wage claims falling under section 2 of the Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014 since they came into force.

    The Regulations introduced a two year limit on claims for unlawful deductions made to an Employment Tribunal, including claims for the National Minimum Wage. Alternative options remain for workers who are concerned that they have been underpaid the National Minimum Wage over a longer time period. This includes making a complaint to HMRC, who can investigate and issue a Notice of Underpayment on the worker’s behalf, going back up to six years. Claims can also be brought to the county court for breach of contract, where arrears can be claimed going back six years (five years in Scotland).

  • Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hannah Bardell on 2016-04-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the change to the discount rate applied to student loans applies to all parts of the UK.

    Greg Hands

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) applies HM Treasury’s long term discount rate to calculate the carrying value of English student loans shown in the BIS financial statements.

    Loans issued by devolved administrations are shown in their respective financial statements. The accounting treatment and discount rates applied are a matter for them.

    HM Treasury is always open to discussion with the devolved administrations about such matters.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the People’s Republic of China on that government’s proposed new law on control of foreign non-governmental organisations.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We have longstanding concerns about the new law, which we made clear to the Chinese authorities through an EU letter on 4 June 2015. We have also fully supported the EU’s other actions in expressing concern about the law, including various written representations and its Item 4 statement at the Human Rights Council in March. I set out our views to the Chinese Ambassador in June last year and we raised the matter at Ministerial level during the UK-China People-to-People Dialogue in September 2015. We fully support the recent EU statement of 4 May.

  • Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Joan Ryan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2016-06-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to respond to the letter of (a) 3 June 2016 from the right hon. Member for Enfield North and (b) 10 June 2016 from the hon. Member for Edmonton on the emergency department at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust.

    Ben Gummer

    I responded to the Rt. hon. and hon. Members’ letters of 3 June and 10 June 2016 on 20 June 2016.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve GP training for the diagnosis of Lyme disease.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. The GMC has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice. This includes recognising and treating Lyme disease.

    The training curriculum for general practitioners (GPs) is written by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the GMC. Whilst the RCGP curriculum does not highlight specific conditions for GPs to be aware of, it instead emphasises the skills and approaches that a GP must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.

    GPs have responsibility for maintaining their continuing professional development, ensuring that they can provide high quality care to all patients.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to raise the issue of harassment and persecution of Tibetan Buddhists in Tibet with the Chinese government.

    Alok Sharma

    ​I refer my Hon. Friend to my answer of 18 October 2016 (PQ 48663).

  • Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of additional teachers needed in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19, (d) 2019-20 and (e) 2020-21.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education uses the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) to estimate the demand for the number of qualified teachers within state-funded schools in England each year using a range of assumptions, including projections for the numbers of pupils in schools, the number of teachers expected to leave the sector and the number of returnees.

    The estimate of teacher demand is published in part 1 of the TSM here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-supply-model

    The TSM’s primary purpose is to estimate the number of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) places required in the 2016/17 academic year to yield the required number of Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) entering the profession in 2017/18. The TSM is updated annually to reflect the latest available data.

    “

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what investment the Church of England has in cinemas and buildings housing cinemas.

    Mrs Caroline Spelman

    The Church Commissioners’ UK investments include just over £300,000 of directly held cinema group shares. In addition the Commissioners have indirect investment exposure to cinemas via property holdings in the Metrocentre, Bluewater and Cheshire Oaks retail shopping centres, all of which contain cinemas. Finally, the Commissioners have identified a very small indirect exposure to a cinema in our UK private equity portfolio.