Tag: Parliamentary Question

Lord Moonie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2016-04-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Ajax vehicles are to be procured for the British Army; and of those, how many will be assembled in Spain, and how many in Wales.

Earl Howe

The British Army will receive 589 Ajax vehicles which will come in six variants. A total of 100 vehicles will be fully manufactured and assembled in Spain. The hulls for the remaining 489 will be transported to the Merthyr Tydfil facility where they will be combined with constituent parts to make complete vehicles.

01/01/2023
Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to reduce the cost to the NHS of postage of appointment notifications to patients.

George Freeman

The National Information Board’s strategy document Personalised Health and Care 2020 (published November 2014) set out the aim to support greater uptake of the use of digital systems in health and care to create a National Health Service paper free at the point of care by 2020. This will remove the system’s reliance on paper and will help reduce postal service costs for the NHS.

In the case of appointment letters for patients the new NHS e-referral system, introduced last year, already allows healthcare providers to choose not to send out appointment letters, instead allowing patients to access the information directly from the NHS e-referral system. Patients have an option to print off the details of their appointment if they prefer to have a paper copy of the information. We expect increasing numbers of providers will use this functionality to help contain costs.

01/01/2023
Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will take steps to work with local authorities and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to improve air quality in West Yorkshire.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

We are aware that local authorities have a crucial role to play in improving air quality across the UK. The Government is already taking a number of steps to support them in this role.

The national air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide, published in December 2015, sets out a comprehensive approach for meeting air quality challenges by implementing a new programme of Clean Air Zones in five cities in England, one of which is Leeds. The Plan combines targeted local and national measures, forming part of a wider approach that exploits new and clean technologies, such as electric and ultra-low emission vehicles.

We have allocated funding to help Leeds City Council implement the Clean Air Zone and are working closely with City officials on its development. Delivery of the Clean Air Zone will also take account of the need to work closely with related authorities and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Local authorities additionally have a duty to evaluate local air quality against standards set by the Government. They designate air quality management areas (AQMAs) at locations where these standards are not met and take remedial actions to improve air quality at these locations. Six local authorities in West Yorkshire – Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield and York – have declared AQMAs and are implementing remedial action plans to improve air quality in their areas.

Defra introduced regulatory and guidance changes in 2015 to provide better and clearer guidance to local authorities on local air quality management to enable them to improve air quality in their areas and achieve better health and environmental outcomes.

Defra supports local authorities through the Air Quality Grant Scheme, a competitive fund they can bid into to support local action to improve air quality. Details and criteria for this year’s scheme will be available later in the year.

01/01/2023
Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Kenyan government on the attack of 6 October 2016 carried out by Al-Shabaab militants in Mandera County.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK government condemns the tragic loss of life during the Al Shabaab terrorist attack in Mandera, Kenya on 6 October. We have expressed our regret to the Kenyan authorities. The UK and Kenya have a shared interest in tackling terrorism, and we are committed to supporting the Government of Kenya and building capacity to counter this shared threat.

01/01/2023
Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many road traffic collisions English fire and rescue service attended in 2013-14.

Greg Clark

In 2013/14 fire and rescue services in England attended over 28,100 road traffic collisions. They also attended over 1,200 other transport incidents.

This information for all fire and rescue services, together with greater detail and more up-to-date data (for 2014/15), is available in the Department’s Fire Statistics Monitor publication (Table 7):

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-monitor-april-2014-to-march-2015

01/01/2023
Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2015 to Question 13496, when his Department expects to receive the findings of the London and South Coast Rail study.

Claire Perry

The Department anticipates receiving the findings of the London and South Coast Rail Corridor Study by the end of 2015.

01/01/2023
Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-12-16.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans that the three per cent additional stamp duty rate on the purchase of a second home will apply to people in the process of moving house who own two properties for a short period of time.

Mr David Gauke

In general, if, at the end of the day of a residential property transaction, a purchaser owns more than one property and has not replaced a main residence, the higher rates will apply. Where there is a temporary overlap between replacing and selling a main residence, the higher rates will apply but the purchaser will be entitled to a refund of the higher amounts on disposal of the previous main residence within 18 months.

The Government is consulting on the policy detail, including on the treatment of difficult cases.

01/01/2023

Angela Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times she rejected the recommendations of the Animals in Science Regulation Unit for project licences in each year since 2012.

Mr John Hayes

The Harm-Benefit Analysis (HBA) is undertaken, on behalf of the Secretary of State, by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors, all of whom are veterinary or medically qualified and trained in assessing research proposals. The HBA is the process of considering a research proposal to make a judgement whether the likely harms that the animals will experience are justified by the likely benefits. Under section 18 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, inspectors advise the Secretary of State who decides whether and on what terms a project licence should be granted.

The number of project licences which were recommended for grant by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors between 2012 and 2015 are shown in table 1, column (c).

The Secretary of State has not rejected any of the recommendations for granting project licences made by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors between 2012 and 2015.

The Home Office does not keep records of applications that have been rejected or withdrawn at the concept or drafting stage [24507]. The Home Office does not keep records of which applications were withdrawn as a result of advice from the Animals in Science Regulation Unit inspectors.

The Home Office refers project licence applications to both the Animals in Science Committee and external independent assessors for critical review. The number of project licences referred to both is given in Table 1 columns (a) and (b) respectively for the years 2012-15.

Year	(a) Project licence applications referred to the Animals in Science Committee[1]	(b) Project licence applications referred to independent assessors	(c) Project licences granted
2012	9	4	626
2013	3	0	604
2014	4	1	474
2015	3	0	577

[1] Prior to 2013 the independent advisory body was entitled the ‘Animals Procedures Committee’

01/01/2023

Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the £390 million funding referred to in paragraph 0.5 of his Department’s paper, Infected blood: reform of financial and other support, published in January 2016, was spent in each year to date; and what the average spend per recipient in each such year was.

Jane Ellison

The Department only holds finance data for payments under the Schemes back to 2007. This information is provided below.

2014-15 £22,278,096

2013-14 £27,043,569

2012-13 £22,052,458

2011-12 £27,192,232

2010-11 £39,805,667

2009-10 £22,461,057

2008-09 £19,240,337

2007-08 £20,532,461

The figures above include the annual payments to those with HIV and hepatitis C stage 2, and the lump sum payments made on joining the scheme and progressing to hepatitis C stage 2. The fluctuation in amounts between the years reflects the variance in number of people newly coming forward or progressing to hepatitis C stage 2 in each year.

The payments to individuals included both discretionary and non-discretionary payments, data on which is only held by the trusts and funds. Therefore, the Department is unable to estimate the levels of individual payments.

01/01/2023
Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what meetings she or officials of her Department have had on the future of (a) Halewood Academy and (b) sixth form provision in the Borough of Knowsley.

Nick Boles

Following discussions with Halewood Academy Centre for Learning Trust, the RSC, advised by her Head Teacher Board, agreed that Halewood Academy would transfer to Innovation Enterprise Trust. The transfer is due to happen in September 2016.

An Area Review covering Liverpool City Region is due to take place this academic year. This will include sixth form provision, as well as sixth form colleges and Further Education, in its analysis phase. The RSC for Lancashire and West Yorkshire is involved in the review.

01/01/2023