The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her ministerial colleagues on the Hunting Act 2004.
Rory Stewart
The Secretary of State regularly discusses all relevant polices with her ministerial colleagues as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many meetings have taken place between NHS Improvement and NHS trusts to agree plans to improve their financial position since 15 January; which providers have had such meetings with NHS Improvement; and when each such meeting took place.
Ben Gummer
Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority (NHS TDA) (becoming NHS Improvement from 1 April 2016) engage with National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts on a daily basis and staff regularly meet with these organisations to review and support their plans to improve their financial positions.
Since 15 January, senior representatives have met with seven trusts for face to face meetings and have also attended events, with a number of trusts represented, to discuss the 2015/16 financial year and financial planning for 2016/17. In addition, senior representatives have also met with NHS Providers to discuss these issues and fed into their communications to the provider sector on these topics.
All trusts will be submitting draft financial plans for 2016/17 to Monitor and the NHS TDA in due course. Monitor and the NHS TDA will continue to engage further with trusts as appropriate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications to the National Enterprise Allowance scheme were rejected in each of the last five years.
Priti Patel
The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) is a voluntary scheme. Eligible claimants will be referred to one of our contracted NEA providers who will assess their business idea for viability and sustainability. Claimants who are not accepted onto the scheme can be re-referred at a later date.
We do not hold the data on how many people are rejected by our providers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress his Department has made on allowing interns who successfully complete the Summer Diversity Internship Programme to pass straight to the Fast Stream assessment centre on the basis of having successfully completed that internship.
Matthew Hancock
We have been working closely with the Civil Service Commission to provide a mechanism for fast tracking those who have been on the internship to the Fast Stream assessment centre, based on positive appraisal of the intern’s placement performance and completion of the initial internship selection testing.
This initiative is therefore for interns who are successful during the internship programme and we are currently working through the implementation plan.
In the last 5 years 778 have undertaken the programme (2011 – 73; 2012 – 115; 2013 – 161; 2014 – 173; 2015 – 256), with a further 300 anticipated this year. The estimated conversion rate into Fast Stream is 10-15%. Accurate tracking of success into Fast Stream will be achievable for 2016, using an updated applicant tracking approach.
A number of criteria are used to measure socio-economic status, however the metric that is now used to designate lower socio-economic background is parental occupation (aligning with Office of National Statistics methodology). This approach is currently under review following a recent social mobility research study by the Bridge Group.
This internship allowance is taxable and the amount of tax paid will depend on which tax code the intern is put on before they start.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-04-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement will be subject to ratification by both Houses of Parliament and the US Congress.
Lord Price
We expect the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will be a “mixed” agreement, covering areas of both EU and Member State competence, to which the US, EU and all EU Member States will be parties.
In that case, it will be subject to agreement by each EU Member State, the EU Council and the European Parliament. As part of this process in the UK, before the Government can ratify the agreement, the complete draft text of the agreement will initially be laid before Parliament for scrutiny for at least 21 sitting days. During this time MPs and Lords may debate the treaty in either or both Houses and vote on the proposed ratification.
In the US, both Houses of Congress would have to ratify legislation to implement the agreement, but not the agreement itself.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is on target to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the current Parliament.
Richard Harrington
We are continuing to work productively with local authorities and International Partners to deliver the Government’s commitment to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees by the end of this Parliament. We are on track to do this.
The number resettled in a particular period will depend on a range of factors. This includes the number of referrals we have received from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the number of confirmed places we have received from local authorities that are suitable for the specific needs of those who have been accepted for resettlement. Progress on resettlement will be indicated in quarterly immigration statistics.
The last set of statistics, published on 26 May 2016 showed that 1,602 Syrians were relocated to the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme between October 2015 and March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what savings the Efficiency and Reform Group has identified in each year since 2010.
Ben Gummer
Since 2010, the government has announced the following efficiency savings and benefits calculated against a 2009/10 baseline:
For 2010/11 the Government reported savings of £3.75billion.
In 2011/12 the Government reported operational savings of £4.8 billion, and prevention of wasteful spend by major projects and construction of £758million, totalling £5.5billion.
In 2012/13 the Government reported operational savings totalling £8billion, and prevention of wasteful spend by major projects and construction of £2billion, totalling £10billion.
In 2013/14 reported savings of £14.3billion. This consisted of operational savings of £10.6billion, reduction in low value spend by major projects, reduced revenue requirements and construction savings of £3.5billion and receipts from asset sales and new commercial models of £0.1billion.
In 2014/15 reported savings of £18.6billion. This consists of operational savings of £12.4billion, reduction in low value spend by major projects, reduced revenue requirements and constructions savings of £5.1billion, receipts from asset sales and new commercial models of £0.4billion and benefits from tackling fraud, error and debt of £0.7billion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department took to protect (a) all civilians and (b) children in Mosul before the coalition forces’ attack on that city began.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The UK has made clear to the Government of Iraq in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government the importance the UK attaches to protecting civilians, including children, in the offensive to liberate Mosul from Daesh. I last highlighted this to Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Kurdistan Region Minister of Foreign Relations Falah Mustafa during a meeting in London on 12 October.
We have received assurances from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani that all allegations of human rights abuses and violations will be investigated and those responsible held to account.
In addition, the UK has announced an extra £40 million of humanitarian funding to Iraq on 21 September, taking our total commitment to £90 million this financial year and £169.5 million since June 2014. This new assistance will be targeted specifically to enable a scale up of humanitarian assistance during the Mosul operation, helping to support efforts to protect civilians, including children.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 11080, on Deportation: Appeals, how many of the 426 cases referred to have been heard in court.
James Brokenshire
Such data is not aggregated in national reporting systems, which would mean this question could only be answered through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, from what date his Department has been advertising the Right to Buy scheme for housing association tenants; and how much has been spent on (a) television, (b) radio, (c) print and (d) social media advertisements for the scheme.
Brandon Lewis
The Department has not undertaken any advertisement for the extension of the Right to Buy to housing association tenants not currently eligible and as such has incurred no costs. The Department recently set up a ‘register of interest’ so we could keep these tenants up to date with any developments. This is run on our existing Right to Buy website at no additional cost and we also signpost the register through other owned channels.