Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2015 to Question 13005, whether the decrease in the take-up of free school meals includes children now entitled to universal infant free school meals.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The figures provided in response to Question 13005 include all benefits-related claims for free school meals. The figures include infants for whom a claim for benefits-related free school meals has been made, but do not include other infants.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 24 November (HL3768), how local support for Police and Crime Commissioners to take responsibility for fire and rescue services in their areas will be assessed.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The recent consultation on enabling closer working between the emergency services detailed the proposed process for assessing local support where a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is seeking to take responsibility for fire and rescue services. This includes a requirement for the PCC to consult locally and, where the PCC and relevant local authorities are not in agreement, Ministers may seek an independent assessment on the merits of transferring fire and rescue to the PCC before making a decision.

    The Government is still considering the responses to the consultation before the proposals can be finalised. The Government’s response to the consultation will be published in due course.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what expenditure his Department was on (a) temporary agency staff, (b) consultants, (c) non-payroll staff, (d) administration and (e) marketing and advertising on making the Defence Infrastructure Organisation government-owned in (i) 2011-12, (ii) 2012-13, (iii) 2013-14 and (iv) 2014-15.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has been led by a Strategic Business Partner (SBP) since September 2014. The SBP contract allowed for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to instruct the incorporation of DIO as a Government-owned company (GovCo), subject to a value for money review.

    I announced the conclusions of the review in my written statement of 10 December 2015 (Official Report, columns 55-56WS). The GovCo model would have been led by the SBP but 100% owned by the Secretary of State for Defence. A GovCo is distinct from a Government-owned contractor-operated organisation (GOCO) which has a different legal construct. The MOD has never proposed for the DIO to become a GOCO.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, which local authorities in Scotland on what dates he (a) has visited and (b) plans to visit.

    David Mundell

    a) I have visited the following local authorities in Scotland:

    1. City of Edinburgh – 29 July 2015
    2. Western Isles – 30 July 2015
    3. Highland – 25 August 2015
    4. Angus – 2 September 2015
    5. Dundee City – 2 September 2015
    6. Perth and Kinross – 22 September 2015
    7. East Lothian – 23 September 2015
    8. Aberdeen City – 28 September 2015
    9. Aberdeenshire – 28 September 2015
    10. Ayrshire – 29 September 2015
    11. Shetland Islands – 30 September 2015
    12. Orkney Islands – 1 October 2015
    13. South Lanarkshire – 8 October 2015
    14. South Ayrshire – 8 October 2015
    15. Glasgow City with PUS – 19 October 2015
    16. Renfrewshire – 5 November 2015
    17. East Renfrewshire – 5 November 2015
    18. Inverclyde – 5 November 2015
    19. North Ayrshire – 6 November 2015
    20. Midlothian – 23 November 2015
    21. West Lothian – 23 November 2015
    22. Scottish Borders – 23 November 2015
    23. East Dunbartonshire – 3 December 2015
    24. Fife – 4 December 2015
    25. Falkirk – 7 December 2015
    26. Clackmannanshire – 7 December 2015
    27. North Lanarkshire – 10 December 2015
    28. Stirling – 14 December 2015

    b) I plan to visit the following local authorities in Scotland in early 2016 (dates to be confirmed):

    1. Argyll and Bute
    2. Moray
    3. Dumfries & Galloway
    4. West Dunbartonshire
  • Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of successful prosecutions for tax evasion.

    Mr David Gauke

    At Summer Budget 2015, the Government announced an investment of £800 million to tackle non‑compliance and tax evasion.

    This investment includes £266 million and 670 new HMRC staff to tackle tax fraud, which will lead to a tripling of the number of criminal investigations into the most serious and complex tax crimes.

    The Government is also consulting on new criminal powers to tackle offshore tax evasion and corporate facilitation of tax evasion.

    This all builds on the Government’s earlier investment into HMRC, which enabled the Department to achieve a seven-fold increase in the number of prosecutions over the course of the last parliament and contributed to the protection over £2 billion of vital public revenue last year.

  • Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to improve access to immunotherapy for the long-term management of allergic disease.

    Jane Ellison

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline, ‘Food allergy in children and young people’, published in 2011, sets out best practice on the care treatment and support for children and young people with food allergy. NICE clinical guidelines are designed to support health care professionals in their work, and commissioners should consider them when developing local services, but they do not replace the knowledge, skills and experience of clinicians in deciding how best to manage patients.

    Immunotherapy for the long-term management of allergic disease may be provided as part of the NHS England’s nationally commissioned specialised allergy service. NHS England has set out what these providers must have in place to offer high quality specialised allergy care, ensuring equity of access to patients wherever they live. Around 0.1% of people with allergies in the United Kingdom, some 20,000 people, are likely to require referral to a specialist centre. NHS England’s allergy service specification, which provides more information about specialised allergy services, can be viewed at the following link:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/b09-spec-allergy.pdf

    “

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure changes to supported housing will not adversely affect vulnerable people.

    Brandon Lewis

    We understand the importance of ensuring that those people living in supported accommodation, who are generally the most vulnerable members of our society, receive appropriate protections.

    The supported housing sector provides valuable support to some of our country’s most vulnerable people.

    We have commissioned an evidence review of the supported housing sector which we expect to report shortly. Building on this review, we will continue to work with and listen to providers as part of developing a long-term sustainable funding regime.

    In the meantime we have put in place a one-year exception for all supported accommodation from the social rent reduction measures and the Local Housing Allowance cap, so there will be no material change in this financial year.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences involving the fraudulent use of personal information have been reported to Staffordshire Police in each year since 2006; and how many such reports led to a (a) prosecution and (b) conviction.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office do not hold the information requested. The responsibility for recording fraud offences transferred to Action Fraud from individual police forces between April 2011 and March 2013. Therefore, no fraud offences should have been recorded by Staffordshire police since then.

    The Ministry of Justice do not hold the information requested on prosecutions and convictions.

  • 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 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many British citizens in each of the last five years travelled from the UK to China for organ transplant operations.

    Nicola Blackwood

    This information is not collected centrally. NHS Blood and Transplant co-ordinates the matching, allocation and retrieval of organs for transplantation carried out in the United Kingdom only.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is the Government’s policy to negotiate to continue participation in the European Patent Office after the UK leaves the EU.

    Joseph Johnson

    The UK’s participation in the European Patent Office will be unaffected by leaving the European Union. The European Patent Office and the European Patent Organisation are established by an international treaty, the European Patent Convention, to which the UK is a contracting party. The European Patent Convention is not restricted to EU countries and it currently comprises 38 Contracting Member States.