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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of high inflation in Malawi.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Malawi has one of the highest rates of inflation in Africa: double digit inflation is commonplace. High inflation, alongside high fiscal deficits, debt and interest rates, are lowering business confidence and crowding out private investment. Social services are being delivered from a constrained budget with high levels of government borrowing. Poor harvests in 2015 and poor rainfall due to the ongoing El Nino are affecting the national economy and Malawi is now facing its worst food insecurity crisis in a decade. The UK and international partners are responding.

    DFID Malawi works closely with other development partners, in particular the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to monitor the macroeconomic situation in Malawi. The IMF’s Article IV Consultation in December 2015 concluded that “an appropriately tight fiscal policy is needed to support monetary policy actions aimed at placing inflation on a downward trajectory.” DFID is working with the World Bank to inform the Government of Malawi’s next Development Strategy.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many appeals against Local Planning Authority decisions by developers he has received under Section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in each year since 2009-10; in how many of those cases in each year did he exercise his powers under Section 79 of that Act to (a) allow under Section 79(1)(a), (b) dismiss under Section 79(1)(b), (c) decline to determine under Section 79(6), (d) dismiss under Section 79(6A) the appeal and (e) amend the planning authority’s original decision in any way; and in how many such cases the Local Planning Authority subsequently paid compensation to the developer as a result of his decision.

    Brandon Lewis

    The attached table only covers Section 79 (1)(a) and Section 79(1)(b).

    We do not hold the data on section 79(6) as the legislation is very rarely used with only a handful of cases in the last 7 years. In addition, the Section 79 (6) ‘compensation’ element only allows for a party to apply for costs. This can only occur where a party has behaved unreasonably, and this has directly caused another party to incur unnecessary or wasted expense. The costs order states the broad extent of the expense the party can recover from the party against whom the award is made. It does not determine the actual amount. PPG ‘Appeals’ section 4 relates.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of qualified doctors required in the NHS who are (a) GPs and (b) working in hospitals.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department has set up Health Education England to plan the future healthcare workforce for England. It is responsible for ensuring a secure workforce supply that reflects the needs of local service users, providers and commissioners of healthcare.

    The number of doctors required is a matter for service commissioners and their provider partners to establish in providing a high quality service to patients and in taking into account the mechanisms through which those services will be provided. Delivery plans to meet the NHS Five Year Forward View are currently being established in collaboration via the Sustainability and Transformation Plan process. These plans will include early views on the shape of the future workforce.

  • Oliver Heald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Oliver Heald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Heald on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the annual amount of corporation tax paid by minicab businesses, in each of the last three years.

    Mr David Gauke

    The information requested is set out at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/456459/Corporation_Tax_Statistics_August_2015.pdf

    “

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times she has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

    Nick Gibb

    My Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, visited Scotland in December 2015 for a number of engagements.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff were employed by the (a) Defence Growth Partnership and (b) UK Defence Solutions Centre on 1 April 2016.

    Jesse Norman

    The Defence Growth Partnership (DGP) is an industry led group, established jointly by industry and government to deliver export-led growth within the Defence sector. It does not receive any public funding. Since 2014, it has enabled joint industry and government resource equivalent to £50 million over three years to achieve its agenda: £30 million for strengthening the UK Defence & Security Organisation and establishing the UK Defence Solutions Centre (UKDSC). The remaining £20 million is currently delivered through a number of initiatives supporting the DGP’s growth agenda: establishment of the Centre of Maritime Intelligent Systems (CMIS); Dual Use Technology Exploitation (DUTE) cluster and the MOD Innovation Challenge fund.

    Government and industry have committed through a mix of cash and resource equivalent to £3.8m in 2015-16 to the UKDSC and a similar figure is predicted for 2016-17. As of 1 April 2016, there were 4 staff directly employed by the UKDSC and 28 secondees from across the 16 DGP Partner Companies.

  • Lucy Powell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the amount and proportion of funding for the free childcare entitlement which is currently retained by local authorities to support wider early years work.

    Caroline Dinenage

    Data from local authority planned spend for 2016-17 shows that nationally local authorities plan to centrally retain 7% (£149 million) of their delegated budget for three and four year olds and 7% (£36m) for the two year old entitlement. The total local authority delegated budget for three and four year olds is £2.3 billion and £523 million for two year olds. This excludes the planned budget for the early years pupil premium.

    This data is as reported by the local authorities.

    Our recent consultation on changes to funding for three- and four-year-olds proposed that all local authorities must pass 93% in 2017-18 then 95% in 2018-19 of early years funding to providers. This would maximise funding to the frontline.

  • Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Brake – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to transfer responsibility for military graves maintained by his Department to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

    Mark Lancaster

    Discussions between Ministry Of Defence (MOD) and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) are continuing regarding the transfer of maintenance responsibility for the graves of military personnel buried in the UK since 1948.

    Annual costs for the maintenance of each grave for which MOD is responsible are estimated to be between £65 and £205 depending on the location and condition of the grave. The MOD’s annual grant to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in respect of the graves they maintain is in excess of £47 million.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the operational capabilities are of the Type 26 frigates announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Type 26 Global Combat Ship, designed to provide an anti-submarine warfare capability, will be a multi-mission warship designed for joint and multinational operations across the full spectrum of warfare, including complex combat operations, counter piracy, humanitarian and disaster relief work.

    It will be capable of operating independently for significant periods, or as part of a task group. Its design is inherently flexible, allowing greater choice in operational tasking through the incorporation of modular systems, to allow incremental upgrades to its systems through the life-time of the class. These include the flexible strike silo (able to host anti-submarine, anti-ship and, if required, land attack strike missiles) and the modular mission bay (able to host unmanned air, surface or sub-surface systems, boats for an embarked force, further command facilities or humanitarian relief stores).

    I am withholding further detail as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to improve access to Welsh subtitling for learners and people with accessibility needs.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    According to the Television Access Services report of October 2015, S4C provides subtitles on over 75% of required programmes, against the Ofcom quota of 53%.