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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they will provide for 16 to 18 year olds who are not in higher education or apprenticeships to ensure they have an effective and successful transition from school into the workplace.

    Lord Nash

    Support is available for all 16 to 18-year olds whether they are making a transition into employment, ongoing education, or a combination. Local authorities are required to track and support young people, and in doing so they work closely with education and training providers, employers, the Voluntary and Community Sector, and other agencies.

    Schools and colleges have a duty to secure independent careers guidance to young people. The Careers & Enterprise Company has been established to help ensure young people get the inspiration and guidance they need to leave school or college ready to succeed in working life.

    Specialist support is provided to vulnerable young people such as Care Leavers and those who are under the supervision of a Youth Offending Team, and any 16 to 18-year olds who claim benefits are supported into employment or education by staff at Job Centre Plus offices. The government has also allocated £30m for the Youth Engagement Fund and Fair Chance Fund Social Impact Bond (SIB) schemes which provide support to vulnerable young people.

    We are looking to improve the quality of the destinations data by linking it to employment and benefits data. This data will enable us to improve the robustness and coverage of NEET destination data and monitor the impact of our policies.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much UK development aid to Bangladesh has been spent on education in each year since 2000; and what information her Department holds on the proportion the total Bangladesh education budget that UK development aid represents in each of those years.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The table below shows the amount of Official Development Assistance (ODA) spent on education in Bangladesh by the United Kingdom through the government, NGOs and civil society.

    UK Calendar year

    2000

    2001

    2002

    2003

    2004

    2005

    2006

    2007

    UK Spend (£millions)

    0

    0

    7.8

    7.7

    17.3

    28.9

    19.6

    8.9

    UK Calendar year

    2008

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    UK Spend (£millions)

    22.2

    34.6

    33.5

    50.2

    26.5

    34.6

    33.1

    2015 figures will be published later this year.

    Details of the total Government of Bangladesh education budget can be found here: http://www.mof.gov.bd/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=1/.

    “

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of the British steel industry to future transport infrastructure projects in the UK.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department has been working closely with BIS, Cabinet Office and industry to consider how Government can help the UK steel industry meet the challenges it has been facing.

    The bulk of infrastructure projects within the Department are being delivered by the Department’s Arm’s Length Bodies (ALB), in particular, Network Rail, Highways England and HS2. Cabinet Office guidance on the approach to steel procurement has been circulated to the Accounting Officers of each ALB and procurement and commercial teams within these organisations are aware of the need to:

    • Signal the future pipeline of requirements on steel sourcing and best practice in pre-procurement market engagement;
    • Ensure there is clear visibility of opportunities at sub-contractor level where the source of steel has not been defined by a Tier 1 contractor;
    • Assess the health and sustainability of potential suppliers in the supply chain at selection stage, including compliance with relevant health and safety and employment legislation;
    • Ensure that the price or cost calculations are based on an assessment of the whole-life cost and not lowest purchase price;
    • Take account of appropriate social and environmental impacts at the award stage where they are linked to the subject of the contract.

    As with the rest of the materials for construction, steel is procured by the supply chain for the majority of our infrastructure projects. The Department and its ALBs are complying with the Cabinet Office guidance and ensuring that, for instance, where appropriate, assessment of social and environmental impacts are considered as part of the evaluation criteria. The Department and its ALBs also positively encourage bids from British companies and are holding discussions with UK suppliers to make sure they are in the best possible position to win contracts.

    Activity currently underway is as follows:

    Network Rail

    • Network Rail buys approximately 120,000 tonnes of steel for rails per annum directly from British Steel in Scunthorpe, which is around 96% of Network Rail’s total aggregated demand by value.

    Highways England

    • Highways England does not procure steel materials directly, however over the last five years Highways England has used a category management framework as the main method of procuring steel gantries for the Strategic Road Network.
    • To date circa 95% of this steel has been drawn from British Steel in the UK, which equates to approximately 11,000 tonnes of steel. The approximate framework spend is £30 million, of which about 35% will be steel procurement i.e. raw materials, and will equate to around £10.5 million.

    Crossrail

    • The 57km of steel required for the rails of Crossrail’s brand new central tunnel section is being sourced entirely from British Steel in Scunthorpe. This equates to 7,000 tonnes of steel.
    • Crossrail Ltd does not directly procure steel as this is undertaken by their tier 1 contractors and their supply chains. However, Crossrail keeps an oversight of its critical contracts and estimates that 85% of its supply chain providing steel to the project is UK based.

    HS2

    • It is estimated that HS2 will need approximately 2 million tonnes of steel over the next 10 years. The procurement for the main civil engineering works between Euston and Birmingham is now underway with procurements for the stations and rail systems expected to commence later this year and for rolling stock in early 2017. Subject to Royal Assent, the project will start construction in 2017.
    • As with the rest of the materials for construction, steel is procured by the supply chain. HS2 positively encourages bids from British companies and is already holding discussions with UK suppliers to make sure they are in the best possible position to complete for contracts for the steel that will be needed for track, concrete reinforcements, overhead wires and other structures.
  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the UN Security Council on the persecution of Christians and other minorities living in Syria in the last three months.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK Government has consistently supported the need for accountability for atrocities that have been committed in Syria, in the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).

    On 19 September, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), alongside the Foreign Ministers of Iraq and Belgium, launched a global campaign to bring Daesh to justice for its crimes at the UN General Assembly – this initiative includes crimes committed against religious minorities.

    The UK plays a leading role in the tri-annual Syria resolutions at the UN HRC, the latest of which took place in September. The HRC resolutions draw attention to the ongoing violations and abuses of human rights in Syria, the vast majority of which are the responsibility of the Asad regime, and refer to the need to protect ethnic, religious and confessional communities. We will continue to use our leadership role in the HRC to shine a spotlight on the dire human rights situation, and make clear our strong condemnation of the Asad regime.

    We consistently use our interventions at the UN Security Council – most recently at an emergency session on Aleppo on 25 September – to highlight the suffering of the Syrian people, of all ethnic and religious backgrounds.

  • Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Helen Goodman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent to date on the new British naval base recently opened in Bahrain by the (a) Government and (b) Bahraini government; and what the value has been of services provided by the Bahraini government to that naval base.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    Currently the UK has a Maritime Component Command (MCC) HQ and collocated Fleet Support Unit (FSU), which is a warehouse,in Bahrain. These were constructed on our behalf by the United States, at a cost to the UK Government of $10million. The Government expects to pay the United States for the ongoing running costs of these facilities, the precise costs of which are yet to be determined. The Kingdom of Bahrain (KoB) has no involvement in these arrangements.

    The construction of the new UK Mina Salman Support Facility (MSSF) in Bahrain will consist of accommodation, life support facilities and further storage and will enhance the support to UK forces in the Gulf Region. Construction of the UK MSSF is being funded primarily by the KoB. To date in 2014 and 2015 the UK Government has expended £277,000 on engineering consultancy costs for the UK MSSF. We expect to contribute around £9 million towards the construction of the new UK MSSF. This will include costs of bespoke UK technical facilities and the additional cost of ensuring compliance with UK regulations.The balance of the costs, will fall to the KoB.

    There are no running costs forecast in the current year or 2016-17, from 2017-18 the running costs for the UK MSSF are forecast to be £12 million per annum.

  • Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2015-11-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the probability that the net present value of each of the three shortlisted schemes examined by the Airports Commission is zero or negative.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

    The Government will carefully consider all the evidence set out, including that on costs, when making a decision on additional runway capacity.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will press rail companies to use increases in revenue to invest and upgrade rail infrastructure.

    Claire Perry

    The railway is funded by both taxpayers and passengers. Network Rail own the infrastructure, not the train operators. The government is using the increased revenue, which is paid in franchise premiums to the Department for Transport, to help fund Network Rail’s investment programme. This will see them spend over £38 billion in the period 2014-19 on maintaining and improving rail infrastructure, in the biggest and most comprehensive programme of railway modernisation since the Victorians.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We continue to remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Yemen. The UK supported a UN Human Rights Council resolution in October 2015, which called on the UN to provide technical assistance to the Government of Yemen, assist the Yemeni National Independent Commission of Inquiry, and report back to the next session of the Human Rights Council. We continue to raise the importance of respect for human rights with all sides to the conflict.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Surrogacy in the UK: Myth Busting and Reform, published in November 2015, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to reform the law governing surrogacy to better balance the rights of those involved and the welfare of children born via surrogacy.

    Jane Ellison

    A search of the Department’s central correspondence system shows that the Department received 22 representations that made direct or indirect reference to the report `Surrogacy in the UK: Myth Busting and Reform’ since it was published in November 2015.

    The Government has no current plans to change the legislation in respect of surrogacy arrangements.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many schools are located under the current Heathrow Airport final approach flight paths; and what projection he has made of the number of schools that would be located under proposed flight paths in the event of the construction of a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government continues to consider the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report, including on flight paths, before taking any decisions on next steps. Ultimately, any proposals to alter the airport’s flightpaths would be subject to the Civil Aviation Authority’s Airspace Change Process which includes the need to consult those local communities affected.