Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to Israeli authorities about reports of further demolitions of EU-funded structures in Jabal al Baba.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We condemn the demolition of Bedouin homes at Jabal Al-Baba, which is a particularly vulnerable community in East Jerusalem. We have not specifically raised the issue, but we are extremely concerned at the large increase in demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the start of 2016, compared to the monthly average in 2015. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv continues to raise our concern about demolitions regularly with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 15 May. We call on Israel to provide a legal route for Palestinians to obtain building permits.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will recommend that the Equality and Human Rights Commission should commission an equality impact assessment of any future job losses at the Commission.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent body. It makes its own decisions about the allocation of its resources and its procedures for planning changes to its staffing against its business needs as set out in its one-year Business Plan and three-year Strategic Plan.

  • Lord Kilclooney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Lord Kilclooney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total value of (1) imports, and (2) exports, between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in the last year for which figures are available.

    Lord Price

    The value of goods exported from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland was £2.1 billion in 2015.

    The value of goods imported into Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland was £1.6 billion in 2015.

    Data on the value of trade in services between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is not available.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department plans to give to local authorities to ensure that they are able to provide new affordable housing to people on low incomes.

    Brandon Lewis

    More council housing has been built since 2010 than in the previous 13 years. 2014 saw the highest number of council housing starts for 23 years.

    Almost £222 million of extra borrowing headroom has been allocated to 36 councils in England to support over 3,000 new affordable homes in 2015/16 and 2016/17.

    The 2011-15 Affordable Homes Programme exceeded expectations – delivering 186,000 new affordable homes -16,000 more than the target. In addition, this Government is committed to delivering a further 275,000 new affordable homes by 2020. Through the 2015-18 Affordable Homes programme, we have already allocated around £1.4 billion to support this delivery

    The Government is committed to helping hard working people across the country to own their own home. We believe that shared ownership has an important role to play in helping those who aspire to home ownership but may be otherwise unable to afford it.

    We launched a one-off £36 million funding package in August to pave the way for the first wave of Starter Homes on brownfield sites that would otherwise not be built on to help more young people into discounted home ownership. Of this, up to £10million will be made available to councils in England. 200,000 Starter Homes will be built by 2020/21.

    Right to buy additions are due within 3 years of sales: 3,694 new Right to Buy addition starts and acquisitions were delivered against 3,054 additional homes sold in the first year of the scheme. Receipts from the sale of Right to Buy homes will continue to help authorities to build new additional properties.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he expects applicants for payments under CAP to be able to register their identity using GOV.UK Verify as planned under the new CAP regime.

    Matthew Hancock

    Applicants can already register and sign in online for Rural Payments with GOV.UK Verify.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many employees in his Department have (a) taken the CESG Certified Cyber-Security Training Course and (b) received other relevant cyber-security training.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    HM Government takes the cyber security training of its staff extremely seriously. There are a range of cyber security courses available depending on the role of specific staff; including the e-learning course, ‘Responsible for Information’ which is available to all civil servants on the Civil Service Learning Website.
    This course, the development of which was funded through the National Cyber Security Programme, addresses information security, including cyber security. There are different modules for general users, Information Asset Owners, Senior Information Risk Owners, and Board and Non—Executive Board members. To date over 487,000 civil servants have taken the course.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will make representations to Rt Hon Tony Blair to request that he accede to requests from the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee to give oral evidence on compensation for victims of IRA violence.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    As I set out in my speech on 11 February, this Government condemns terrorism. We take very seriously the needs of victims of terrorism who, it is important to remember, suffered the most as a result of the Northern Ireland troubles. My Department has assisted the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in its call for evidence on the issue of Libyan-sponsored IRA terrorism. The Government has every sympathy for the victims of these appalling atrocities. I would of course encourage anyone who can help the Committee with its work to do so.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 23 February (HL6060), whether, in the light of clause 10 of the Trade Union Bill and the laws regarding pre-entry trade union membership, they will take appropriate action to ensure that student unions are bound by the same rules as other unions.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Student unions are not trade unions, as specified by Section 1 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Therefore, none of the reforms being provided by the Trade Union Bill will impact students’ unions.

    The Education Act 1994 already requires publicly-funded universities to take reasonable steps to ensure that their students’ union observes the right for students to opt out of membership.

    The Green Paper “Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice” sought public views on the role of students’ unions and what further steps could be taken to increase transparency and accountability to individual members. The Government plans to publish a White Paper in response in the spring.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel following the large-scale home demolitions in the Bedouin refugee community of Um al Khayr in the South Hebron Hills on 6 April.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While we have not raised this specific issue, we remain deeply concerned by Israel’s approach to demolitions and regularly raise the matter with the Israeli authorities.

  • Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the demolition of Bedouin homes at Jabal Al-Baba in East Jerusalem.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We condemn the demolition of Bedouin homes at Jabal Al-Baba, which is a particularly vulnerable community in East Jerusalem. We are extremely concerned at the large increase in demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the start of 2016, compared to the monthly average in 2015. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has not specifically discussed this issue with his counterpart. However, our Embassy in Tel Aviv continues to raise our concern about demolitions regularly with the Israeli authorities, most recently on 15 May. We call on Israel to provide a legal route for Palestinians to obtain building permits.