Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he raised the alleged breaches of international humanitarian law outlined in the final report of the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen with the Saudi Arabian government during his recent visit to Rome.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    We regularly raise the importance of compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) with the Saudi government and other members of the military coalition. I raised the issue of IHL compliance on my recent trip to Rome where I had a bilateral meeting with my Saudi Arabian counterpart Adel Al-Jubeir. The Saudis have their own internal procedures for investigations and they announced more detail of how they investigate such incidents on 31 January.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what projects her Department sponsors in Kashmir; and how much her Department spent in Kashmir since May 2010.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Kashmir benefits from national programmes in Pakistan and India to promote economic growth and improve education and health services across each country.

    DFID does not routinely measure total expenditure directed to sub-national geographies outside our focal states or provinces. We focus our work on the states of India and provinces of Pakistan where we can have the largest impact and where the need is greatest. Currently, these areas do not include Kashmir.

  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of cadet forces to reducing the incidence of serious youth violence.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    The Ministry of Defence-Sponsored Cadet Forces comprise the Sea Cadet Corps, the Combined Cadet Force, the Army Cadet Force, and the Air Training Corps.

    The Department has not formally assessed the potential contribution of its Cadet Forces in reducing the incidence of serious youth violence. However, the 131,000 Cadets involved follow a wide variety of well-organised, enjoyable and challenging military-themed activities in a safely-managed environment.

    Experience shows that these activities allow Cadets to develop a sense of responsibility and service to the community, self-reliance, leadership, teamwork, communication skills and respect for authority and for others. In undertaking these activities, Cadets can gain nationally-recognised educational and vocational qualifications.

  • 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 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many apprentices were employed by (a) Network Rail, (b) Highways England or the Highways Agency and (c) HS2 Ltd on 15 March in each year from 2010 to 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The numbers of apprentices employed directly by Network Rail, Highways England or the Highways Agency, and HS2 Ltd. over the requested time period are set out below.

    Year

    Network Rail

    HS2 Ltd.*

    Highways England / Highways Agency

    2010

    655

    0

    2011

    650

    0

    2012

    607

    0

    2013

    610

    0

    24

    2014

    592

    4

    43

    2015

    606

    1

    71

    2016

    398**

    0

    52

    * For HS2 Ltd, the majority of employment and apprenticeship opportunities will be provided through the supply chain. Construction is due to begin in 2017, following Royal Assent.

    **plus a further 150 to start in September 2016 at level 3, and upwards of 100+ across other levels 2 to 7

    Looking forward over this Parliament to 2020, the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy (January 2016) sets out our ambition to create 30,000 apprenticeships in the roads and rail sectors by 2020, in support of this government’s unprecedented investment in transport infrastructure.

    This target includes the Department for Transport, its Agencies and infrastructure client bodies – Crossrail, Transport for London, Highways England Network Rail and HS2 Ltd, as well as each of their supply chains. Depending on the contract, suppliers will either create one apprenticeship for every £3 to £5m of taxpayers’ money spent, or increase the number of apprentices employed each year through the lifetime of the contract. In these cases the aim is that the number of apprenticeships created each year will equal 2.5% of the workforce.

  • Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Greg Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on his plans to limit motorway roadworks to no more than stretches of two miles.

    Andrew Jones

    We are undertaking the biggest investment in roads in a generation to deliver better journeys for motorists. Highways England’s top priority is maintaining the safety of all motorists and road workers whilst keeping disruption to a minimum.

    Highways England, as a general principle, aim to reduce the lengths of roadworks to a maximum of 10 miles, shorter if possible and if safety allows.

    They will also be carrying out trials to raise the speed limit through roadworks to 55mph where it is safe to do so in order to help minimise queues.

    These changes could come into effect on many new schemes from 2017 depending on the outcome of the trials.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what improvements to WiFi coverage on trains are being made by Great Western Railways.

    Paul Maynard

    First Great Western InterCity and Thames Valley trains have been fitted with on-train Wi-Fi. Following the Direct Award Great Western Railway is fitting free Wi-Fi to all Super Express Trains, Electrical Multiple Units and long term diesel trains remaining in the fleet.

    The fitted trains include the new AT300 trains providing London to South West services. Great Western Railway state in their ‘Annual Stakeholder Report 2015-16’ that this work will be completed by December 2018.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK civil servants, and of what grade, who work in units, directorates or sub-departments within DEFRA are charged with EU policy formulation, advising on EU policy or enforcing EU policy.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Defra is amongst those Government Departments whose work is most closely linked to and impacted by EU activity, legal frameworks and funding. The majority of policy roles within the Department will or are likely to support EU related work to some degree.

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK emergency travel documents were issued to overseas applicants in each month since January 2013.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The table below provides the total number of UK Emergency Travel Documents issued to overseas applicants from January 2013 to October 2015.

    MONTH

    2013

    2014

    2015

    JANUARY

    1,809

    2,036

    1,687

    FEBRUARY

    1,735

    2,030

    1,727

    MARCH

    2,078

    2,638

    2,138

    APRIL

    2,417

    3,961

    2,237

    MAY

    2,557

    3,947

    2,470

    JUNE

    2,885

    5,238

    3,208

    JULY

    3,654

    5,351

    3,647

    AUGUST

    3,493

    3,970

    3,542

    SEPTEMBER

    2,808

    3,346

    3,207

    OCTOBER

    2,262

    2,458

    2,520

    NOVEMBER

    1,842

    1,766

    DECEMBER

    2,451

    2,429

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many bus and coach drivers were fined for their failure to carry a Driver Qualification Card in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

    Andrew Jones

    Currently, as part of roadside encounters the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) require drivers of Passenger Service Vehicles (PSV) to produce a driver qualification card (DQC). If a driver fails to produce their DQC they will generally be issued with a fixed penalty of £50, this must be paid within 28 days (for drivers with a satisfactory UK address). The driver can, however, choose not to pay the penalty and take the matter to the Magistrate’s court. Also if a driver fails to pay the fixed penalty within the 28 days they will be summons to appear before the Magistrates.

    For the period of 1 April 2013 – 31 March 2014, 99 offences for Driver Continued Professional Competence (CPC) were recorded at the roadside. Of those, 68 resulted in a fixed penalty being issued, totalling £3,300 in fines. The fixed penalties were issued because the driver failed to produce evidence of training or exemption by not carrying their DQC.

    For the period of 1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015, 166 offences for Driver CPC were recorded at the roadside. Of those, 119 resulted in a fixed penalty being issued, totalling £5,950 in fines. Again, the fixed penalties were issued for failure to produce their DQC which provides evidence of their training or any exemptions.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received since September 2015 on (a) consumer debt and (b) personal loans.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government has fundamentally reformed the regulation of consumer credit, transferring regulatory responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA regime has been designed to strike the right balance between proportionality and consumer protection. The Government has ensured that the FCA has robust powers to protect consumers.

    Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with, and receive letters from, a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

    Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel