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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much of his Department’s funding allocated in the Spending Review 2015 will be for research and development expenditure up to 2020.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Spending Review announced that we will protect the Science Budget in real terms throughout this Parliament, with resource funding of £4.7 billion per year, while delivering on our manifesto commitment to invest in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale: £6.9 billion up to 2021.

    The Comprehensive Spending Review set out the high level budgets for my department. The total planned expenditure on research and development through to 2020 will be confirmed in due course following an internal allocations process.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the implications are for the provisions of the Public Order Act 1986 of her Department’s Counter-Extremism Strategy, Cm 9148, published in October 2015 and its definition of extremism.

    Karen Bradley

    The Government definition of extremism is ‘vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.’ We have been consistent on this since 2011 and have reaffirmed this definition in the Counter-Extremism Strategy.

    Vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, in particular mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs within the Counter-Extremism Strategy definition of extremism is consistent with the incitement provisions within the Public Order Act 1986, in particular Part 3 aimed at those who stir up racial or religious hatred.

    We are clear that Government should not restrict anyone’s freedom of speech or right to practise a faith. These are core values. But we shouldn’t allow the extremist voice to go unchallenged, causing harm to our society and promoting hatred and division.

    Government has engaged widely on the Counter-Extremism Strategy, and continues to engage with partners – including faith groups and communities on the implementation of the Strategy’s measures.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what work her Department is doing to monitor air quality standards in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) England.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra has eight fixed air quality monitoring sites located in Greater Manchester – at Bury Whitefield Roadside, Glazebury, Manchester Law Courts, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester South, Salford Eccles, Shaw Crompton Way, Wigan Centre – and one hundred and seventy eight fixed monitoring sites in total across England.

    Many of these sites (seven in Manchester and 111 across England) provide near real-time data on one or more of the following pollutants: nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), ozone, and sulphur dioxide. Data is made available on our website.

    Full details of the sites, including locations, pollutants measured and concentrations observed at each, are available on Defra’s UK Air Website: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/.

    Data from these sites is reported alongside modelling data as part of the UK’s annual national compliance reporting.

    “

  • Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25652, what media outlets will be used to carry advertising as part of the national campaign for apprenticeships.

    Nick Boles

    The national campaign for apprenticeships will target a range of audiences including young people, employers and parents.

    Advertising will be through a number of different media channels including television, out of home advertising (e.g. posters), radio, digital and social media.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential for driverless cars to improve the efficiency of use of road space on motorways.

    Andrew Jones

    Connected and autonomous vehicles could potentially have significant impacts on traffic flow and road network efficiency. The government recognises that this is an important issue and needs to be better understood to properly inform long-term policy and investment decisions. For this reason, the Department for Transport is currently conducting research to explore the traffic flow impacts of connected and autonomous vehicles. This work is ongoing, and forms part of a much wider programme of research and development that the Government is supporting to examine the issues associated with these technologies.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the Government’s allocation of £1.4 billion mental health funding for children and young people will be spent in 2016-17; and if he will provide a detailed breakdown of that expenditure.

    Alistair Burt

    Of the £1.4 billion additional funding made available over the course of this parliament to improve children and young people’s mental health, £280 million has been allocated for 2016-17. The breakdown of this investment is as follows:

    – £119 million has been allocated to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to transform local services through delivery of their local transformation plans;

    – £30 million has been allocated to CCGs to develop community based eating disorder services for children and young people; and

    – £131 million has been allocated centrally on workforce and system development to support local transformation plans.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the number of people serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection after their prison tariff has expired.

    Andrew Selous

    IPP sentences were introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for offences committed after April 2005. They were abolished in 2012 by the Coalition Government. IPP prisoners will be released whe the Parole Board is satisfied that they can be safely managed in the community. It is a priority for us to help remaining IPP prisoners progress towards release, including by ensuring that their parole reviews take place on time, through greater efficiency in the parole process, and by giving them the opportunity to complete relevant interventions and work. In 2015 there were 512 IPP releases – the highest number of annual releases since the sentence became available.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will review processes for handling deaths of persons subject to deprivation of liberty safeguards, and their effect on (a) members of the family of the deceased, (b) police services and (c) the role of care providers.

    David Mowat

    We have asked the Law Commission to review the deprivation of liberty safeguards. As part of this review, the Law Commission is considering the role of coroners in investigating all deaths of people subject to deprivation of liberty safeguards. We expect its final report and recommendations to be published in December.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2016 to Question 45730, what estimate he has made of the current value of his Department’s share in local partnerships.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Treasury holds a 50% share in Local Partnerships LLP. It is difficult to put a precise value on shareholding given LP’s business model and remit, and the fact that it is not capable of being sold in the open market in its current form. Total net asset value, as per Local Partnerships’ most recent audited accounts, is £6.8 million, and on this basis the Department’s share is £3.4 million.

  • Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current shortage of Certificate of Professional Competence qualified drivers is for the logistics industry; and what the shortage forecast for such drivers is expected to be in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

    Andrew Jones

    Government data (the Office of National Statistics Labour Force Survey) estimates there are 299,000 large goods vehicle drivers, up 40,000 on 2013. Other people require Certificates of Professional Competence to drive large goods vehicles as part of other jobs or to drive public service vehicles. The Department for Transport has not estimated or forecast the shortage of large goods vehicle drivers, although it recognises there is a significant shortage and is aware of industry estimates of its size.

    Prior to the introduction of the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) the department has worked closely with stakeholders who provided estimates of how many Driver Qualification Cards (DQCs) it was necessary to issue to professional drivers in order to ensure continuity of service. Estimates provided ranged from 500,000 to 750,000. The department has now issued over 900,000 DQCs and continues to work with the logistics sector’s representative groups to support them in creating industry-led solutions to any potential shortage of professional drivers.