Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to investigate companies which sell improperly trained dogs as special guide dogs for disabled children.

    Nick Boles

    The Department has no plans to investigate companies which sell improperly trained dogs for disabled children. However, where consumers believe a company is giving misleading information or is in breach of legislation regarding sales to consumers, they should contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 08454 04 05 06 (www.adviceguide.org.uk). The helpline offers a free service advising consumers on their rights and passes on details of complaints to Trading Standards Services where appropriate for further enforcement action.

    “

  • 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 his departmental expenditure was on travel for (a) military staff, (b) civilian staff and (c) Ministers in each of the previous five years.

    Mark Lancaster

    This information is not available in the format requested. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) routinely distinguishes between military and civilian travel and subsistence costs only where these are reimbursed to the individual under our pay and claim arrangements.

    Overall departmental expenditure on travel and subsistence has, however, been as follows:

    Financial Year

    Expenditure

    2010-11

    £226 million

    2011-12

    £213 million

    2012-13

    £213 million

    2013-14

    £212 million

    2014-15

    £221 million

    Expenditure by the Defence Ministers on travel and subsistence has been as follows.

    Financial Year

    Expenditure

    2010-11

    £297,126

    2011-12

    £295,922

    2012-13

    £225,300

    2013-14

    £262,184

    2014-15

    £259,849

    Note: This expenditure includes road transport, rail travel, international and domestic flights and the notional costs of travel in RAF aircraft where they have been available.

    Travel by the Defence Ministers and all departmental staff makes a key contribution to achieving Defence objectives. The MOD has sites in many parts of the country, and internationally, and staff need to travel between them. For example, travel enables Ministers and senior leaders to visit troops on operations or to hold discussions with other governments aimed at reducing conflict.

    We have achieved savings of over £60 million a year in non-operational travel since 2009-10 and plan to make further savings of 10% over the rest of this Parliament. These savings will be delivered in a number of ways, including a reduction in travel where the business need can be met by alternative arrangements such as video or audio conferencing.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the official development assistance budget was given to the International Climate Fund in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014 and (d) 2015.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Details of the International Climate Fund (ICF) as a proportion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) are set out below for 2012-2014. Figures for 2015 have not yet been published.

    total net ODA

    total ICF

    percentage

    2012

    8,802

    488.15

    5.5%

    2013

    11,424

    769.01

    6.7%

    2014

    11,726

    880.11

    7.5%

    NOTES:

    • Total Net ODA figures are as reported in Statistics on International Development 2015
    • Total ICF spend figures are as reported by the UK to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the European Union’s Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Mechanism Regulation (EUMMR)
  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 23220, when he expects the project to which he referred to publish its recommendations.

    Jane Ellison

    We do not expect the recommendations to be available until early 2017.

    The mandatory recording of primary diagnosis within accident and emergency departments is expected to be considered within the scope of the work to develop an improved data set for urgent and emergency care. Given the scale and complexity of the project, the final report is not expected before 2017.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had on introducing new duties on local authorities to assess the level of need for wheelchair accessible homes and set appropriate targets in local development plans.

    Brandon Lewis

    Local authorities are best placed to understand the housing needs in their area. We expect them to work closely with key partners and their local communities in deciding what type of housing is needed.

    National policy sets out clearly the need for local authorities to plan for the housing needs of all members of the community and that planning should encourage accessibility. The introduction of optional requirements for accessibility in the Building Regulations provides local authorities with the tools needed to ensure that new homes are accessible and that in particular the needs of disabled people are met.

    Local authorities are held accountable for their housing delivery via their Local Plans which are tested by local independent planning inspectors and are scrutinised via yearly Authority Monitoring reports which set out progress on delivery against Local Plan targets. In addition local authorities must determine individual decisions in line with the development plan and other material considerations, such as the National Planning Policy Framework and having regard to viability considerations.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to secure the release of Andargachew Tsege in Ethiopia.

    James Duddridge

    The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has raised Mr Tsege’s case with his Ethiopian counterpart Dr Tedros 21 times, most recently on 13 February. I have also raised this case, most recently on 28 January. I have met with Mr Tsege’s partner, Yumi Hailemariam. We have asked that Mr Tsege has access to a lawyer and a legal route through which he can challenge his detention. The Foreign Secretary has asked the Ethiopians to set out a timeline in which this will happen.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many infraction proceedings the EU has initiated against her Department in each of the last 10 years; what the reasons were for each such proceeding being undertaken; and what the outcome was of each such proceeding.

    James Brokenshire

    The information requested is publicly available on the website of the European Commission where the infringement cases for each Member State can be found. This includes the infringement and the decision. These records go back to 2002 and can be found here:

    http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/?lang_code=en

  • 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 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 May 2016 on BIS consultation, HCWS30, what difficulties his Department experienced with split-site working in response to the steel crisis and Eurozone contingency planning.

    Joseph Johnson

    HCWS30 cites the steel crisis as an example of where the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has recently needed to redeploy large numbers of staff to address an urgent priority. As our policy function becomes more focused over the course of the Parliament, we expect to have to redeploy staff in this way more frequently than has so far been the case. Operating across split sites, in the context of a smaller workforce overall, would make it harder to quickly redeploy people to a different team or policy area, or for someone to be able to respond to an unpredictable or unusual demand for more intensive engagement with Ministers or Parliament.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Security Industry Authority’s processing of license applications.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Home Department receives regular performance updates from the SIA, including information around the processing of licence applications. In the last financial year the SIA met its performance target for processing licence applications. We are however aware of some delays in the issuing of SIA licences following the launch of its new IT system in July 2016. The SIA have introduced a series of measures to address the issues and we will continue to monitor its performance in this area.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, which agreed EU directives have not yet been transposed directly into UK law; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Jones

    Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation.

    There are no outstanding directives waiting to be transposed that fall under the jurisdiction of the Department for Exiting the European Union.