Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to monitor the use of extended Rent Repayment Orders.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Housing & Planning Act 2016 extended the grounds for seeking a Rent Repayment Order to include illegal eviction, breach of a banning order or failure to comply with a statutory notice. It is envisaged that each of these will also be banning order offences. Where a person or organisation has been convicted of a banning order offence, local authorities will be encouraged to record that information in the database of rogue landlords and property agents. This will enable government to monitor how frequently Rent Repayment Orders are used.

  • Sammy Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sammy Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of Heathrow Airport expansion on UK industry.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and is considering all of the evidence very carefully before reaching a view on its preferred scheme. The Government is not providing a running commentary on this work before an announcement on its preference.

  • Jo Stevens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jo Stevens – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on (a) IT systems and (b) cyber-security in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13, (iv) 2013-14, (v) 2014-15 and (vi) 2015-16 to date.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The available information is set out below:

    (a) IT costs which can be found in the published DWP Annual Report and Accounts, are summarised as follows:

    £ (to nearest 1,000)

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16 to September

    Total IT

    960,572,000

    926,912,000

    1,111,308,000

    802,134,000

    732,352,000

    327,006,000*

    *Please note that the figure for 2015/16 to September has not yet been audited for accounts.

    (b) DWP has tracked all core aspects of expenditure on cyber security, apart from in specific IT systems, since April 2015. The current estimate up to September 15/16 is £5.6m, with further significant investment planned for the second half of the year.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the effectiveness of Government’s response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

    James Duddridge

    The UK intervention in Sierra Leone was instrumental in containing the Ebola epidemic and preventing the dire predictions from global health bodies materialising. Now that Sierra Leone has been declared Ebola transmission-free, our focus is to help the Government to develop a new approach to the delivery of services that will improve resilience and enable the country to handle future crises independently, whether they be health-related or caused by other factors.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reported decline in the population of resident and regular migrant butterflies in the UK, and whether they are taking any action to prevent further decline.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Defra publishes an annual indicator on butterfly abundance, using data collected by volunteers. Large fluctuations are typical of butterfly populations but in England the indicator shows that butterfly numbers have generally fallen since 1990, although with numbers of some common species stabilising over the last five years.

    In England, we will take forward our manifesto commitment to produce a 25 year strategy for the environment, which will include biodiversity. Our approach will be designed to meet the habitat needs of many species including butterflies. In England’s National Pollinator Strategy we are aiming to expand flower rich habitats across different types of land to benefit pollinators including butterflies.

    The England network of protected areas provides benefits for many species even when those areas are not specifically designated for the conservation of those particular species. This network includes local and national sites protected under domestic legislation and international sites protected under European and International law. Some of these sites are specifically designated for species of particular importance, including the marsh fritillary butterfly, which is a notified feature of a number of Special Areas of Conservation, designated under the Habitats Directive.

    Agri-environment schemes play a major role in the conservation of butterflies in England. For instance, across grassland habitats in Dorset, between 1990 and 2010 the marsh fritillary increased in abundance by around 278% on land managed under these schemes.

    In the summer of 2014 the critically endangered high brown fritillary experienced its best season since 2004 with numbers increasing by more than 180% as compared to 2013 across Dartmoor, Exmoor, and Morecambe Bay in Lancashire and sites in the Lake District.

    The Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package in the new Countryside Stewardship scheme contain options to improve habitats and provide nectar sources for butterflies. It will play a key role in supporting the National Pollinator Strategy.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of substance addiction in people aged over 50.

    Jane Ellison

    Local authorities are responsible for commissioning effective drug and alcohol prevention and treatment services based on an assessment of local need. Public Health England (PHE) supports local authorities in this work, by providing bespoke data, value for money tools, topical briefings, and advice on good practice to help local authorities meet the needs of their local population, including older people.

    PHE is engaged in a series of work programmes which aim to reduce the incidence of substance addiction and help provide support to older people; an alcohol misuse screening question has been part of the national NHS Health Check since 2013. The Health Check programme is offered to three million 40-74 year olds per year.

    An independent expert group updating the United Kingdom drug misuse clinical guidelines, Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management[1] is considering specific advice for clinicians on managing and addressing substance addiction in older people.

    [1] http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/clinical_guidelines_2007.pdf

    “

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress Highways England has made on introducing Regional Road Safety Co-ordinators; and whether Highways England’s Regional Incident and Casualty Reduction Plans will include targets for casualty reductions.

    Andrew Jones

    Regional Safety Coordinators have now been appointed by Highways England. The first appointment was made in January 2016 and the final appointment was made this month.

    The killed and seriously injured reduction target, which is within the Roads Investment Strategy, is a 40% reduction by 2020 (against 2005 to 2009 average baseline). Highways England’s Regional Incident and Casualty Reduction Plans which will provide the disaggregated targets per region will be published in April 2016.

  • Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the current multi-purpose vaccine will continue to be used following the recent tender for supply of that vaccine to the UK HPV Vaccination programme.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the human papillomavirus vaccination programme for girls. As this is a competitive tender, it would not be appropriate to discuss the outcome of the procurement until a contract has been concluded with the successful bidder following the mandatory standstill period.

    The procurement will take account of the costs and benefits of all vaccines offered to establish which provides best value for money for the National Health Service. The award criteria are published on the government’s Contracts Finder website:

    https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/813bc859-8662-4c79-822b-f03cc84b8ceb

  • Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Richard Fuller – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 8 March 2016 to Questions 30341 and 30342 and with reference to the Answers of 5 December 2013 to Question 179450 and 21 January 2014 to Question 182897, when his Department (a) decided to stop collecting the required information and (b) began to collect information in such a way that it can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

    For questions 179450 and 182897 volumes of prosecutions and number of errors identified were provided, however these were not all fraud cases, including cases where the error was not deliberate. This did not explicitly answer the enquiry, however was given to provide helpful context. It is not possible to separate cases into those which are a mistake and those where fraud has been accepted without individual case by case analysis.

    Again, we cannot directly answer 30341 and 30342 but have provided the below extra information to assist;

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    Total Fraud Investigations (1)

    125,140

    116,480

    171,730

    of which total positive outcomes (2)

    20,800

    20,050

    24,600

    of which total fraud cases (3)

    15,350

    12,870

    13,600

    over which total prosecuted (4)

    11,390

    8,490

    7,150

    (1) Total cases investigated by Local Service or complex criminal Investigations.

    (2) Total cases where an error has been identified and corrected.

    (3) Prosecutions + admin Penalties + cautions: cases where fraud has been proven or accepted.

    (4) Cases accepted by CPS for prosecution.

    “

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the statement of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ráad al Hussein, of 10 May 2016, what his policy is on the government of Turkey giving independent investigators, including UN staff, unimpeded access to South East Turkey to investigate alleged violations of human rights.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    We are aware of several public reports regarding alleged events in Cizre. We agree with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ráad al Hussein that it is essential that authorities respect human rights at all times while undertaking security or counter-terrorism operations.

    We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, a terrorist organisation which has killed hundreds of innocent people in the past year. A PKK offshoot – the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK – has also claimed responsibility for a number of recent attacks, including an indiscriminate suicide car bombing in central Ankara on 13 March that killed over 30 people. Our thoughts are with the victims of PKK attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the recent conflict.

    Our Ambassador to Turkey and I have discussed with the Turkish government the importance of respecting human rights and avoiding civilian casualties in the fight against terrorism. We believe the first responsibility for investigating any alleged violations falls to Turkey. And that the PKK needs to cease violence in order to create the conditions for political resolution of the difficulties in the south east.