The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to close the iPlayer loophole.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government will bring forward legislative proposals to close the iPlayer loophole by the Summer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-07-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will increase its contribution to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
James Wharton
The Global Fund has announced its 2017-2019 replenishment target – seeking to mobilise US$13billion to save 8 million lives and avert up to 300 million new infections. The UK is planning to support a successful Fifth Replenishment of a strong, value for money Global Fund and a decision on the size of our investment will be made later in the summer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of staff on the payroll of his Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.
Mr John Hayes
Many staff self-declare their nationality on the staff system. Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks and copies of this evidence are held on file for the duration of the person’s employment and for a further two years after they cease working for the department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to increase the number of early education places for children (a) under the age of three and (b) aged three and four; and if she will make a statement.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We have already made significant progress in ensuring that there are more childcare places available. There has been an increase of 230,000 places since 2009 and a significant increase in the take up of childcare provision in low- and middle-income areas.
This government has also supported providers by reducing bureaucracy and making it easier for providers such as childminders and schools to provide places. We continue to work with providers to increase the number of childcare places, for example by sharing good practice on working in partnership.
Subject to the will of Parliament, the Childcare Bill will introduce an entitlement to 30 hours of funded childcare for working parents of three- and four-year olds from 2017. New childcare places will be required for this age group, and the government wishes to encourage new providers to enter the childcare market and existing providers to expand. On top of the steps already being taken, such as the extension of the Childcare Business Grant Scheme, our planned Early Implementers will test provider capacity and market innovation and flexibility from 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage coppicing of woodland.
Rory Stewart
By increasing awareness and demand for coppice products, woodland owners will be encouraged to reintroduce coppice management in their woods. For this reason, we are working with ‘Grown in Britain’, along with the Forestry Commission and the National Coppice Federation, to introduce a ‘Grown in Britain Coppice’ licence category. This will allow coppice owners and workers to benefit from the ‘Grown in Britain’ brand as it raises the profile of the home grown woodland industry.
Where significant biodiversity improvement can be achieved, the practice of coppicing can also be supported through Countryside Stewardship. Under the Priority Habitat (broadleaved woodland) or Priority Species objectives of Woodland Improvement (WD2) schemes, the payment of £100 per hectare per year will be paid for activities which improve the biodiversity of woodland or make it more resilient to climate change. Where coppicing forms part of the sustainable long term management of a woodland, it can be supported though this scheme under a multi-annual agreement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what forecast he has made of the change in population in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) Yorkshire and the Humber up to 2030.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Triesman on 2016-02-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a list of occupational pension schemes registered in the UK as at 1 January 2011 and at 1 January 2016, indicating whether any of those schemes registered as at 1 January 2011 have been absorbed by or taken over by any of the schemes registered as at 1 January 2016.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Lists of registered occupational pension schemes are not readily available and can only be provided at a disproportionate cost. Information on which registered pension schemes have been absorbed or taken over by other registered pension schemes is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average sentence length was of offenders sentenced after having been returned to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant in each of the last five years.
Dominic Raab
This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The National Crime Agency publishes statistics on the operation of the European Arrest Warrant and these can be found here: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/european-arrest-warrant-statistics/wanted-by-the-uk-european-arrest-warrant-statistics/608-wanted-by-the-uk-european-arrest-warrant-statistics-2009-april-2015-1
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times on which dates in 2014 specialist contractors were used to facilitate the enforced return to Yemen of people from that country who had unsuccessfully claimed asylum in the UK.
James Brokenshire
All escorting services to facilitate enforced returns are provided by the Home Office’s main contractor, Tascor. In 2014, detainee custody officers from the Pilgrims Group, who are sub-contracted by Tascor were used on one occasion on 23rd July to facilitate the enforced return of an individual to Yemen.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with BT on the time taken to repair faulty telephone lines.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Ministers have raised the issue of the time taken for service requests and repairs with senior management at BT and Openreach.
Government supports the measures Ofcom announced in its Digital Communications Review to address the problem across all communication service providers, including: raising minimum standards for the time taken to install new lines and make repairs; and encouraging proactive behaviour in the maintenance of the network. Government expects Openreach’s performance to be consistently above the minimum standard.