Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the use in Florida of the organophosphate insecticide Naled, which is banned in the EU, what advice they are giving to British citizens intending to visit Florida; and what steps they are taking to place that advice on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The method of mosquito control in other countries is not a matter routinely covered by FCO travel advice. Currently, specific UK health travel advice for Florida and the wider US is supplied by the National Travel Health Network and Centre, to which the FCO website country pages have links.

  • David Crausby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Crausby – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the projected transport budget per capita in Greater Manchester after the devolution agreement comes into effect.

    Andrew Jones

    Government committed to provide Greater Manchester with a devolved, multi-year transport funding settlement in their Devolution Deal which was agreed in November 2014. The transport funding to be devolved to Greater Manchester will be agreed as part of the Spending Review to be announced later this month.

  • Lord Oates – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Oates – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Zimbabwe regarding the disappearance of Itai Dzamara.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government has been following this case closely since Itai Dzamara’s abduction in March 2015. Together with EU Member States, we have repeatedly called on the Government of Zimbabwe to undertake a full investigation. The EU issued a local statement on 11 September expressing deep concern about Itai Dzamara’s welfare. We continue to urge the Zimbabwean authorities to do everything they can to enable him to recover his freedom, and to respect their legal obligation to report on the progress of the investigation. The EU Delegation is in contact with Mr Dzamara’s family.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-01-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost of implementing HM Revenue and Customs’ Location Strategy over the next 10 years.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Location Programme is the result of an extended period of consultation and deliberation. The Department has taken account of a number of criteria in reaching its decisions, including the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, the cost of buildings and asset value, and the need to retain the staff and skills it needs to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

    HMRC’s modelling estimates that the majority of staff in Scotland live within Reasonable Daily Travel of Glasgow or Edinburgh. Reasonable Daily Travel is calculated in line with established HR policies and procedures. Every worker at HMRC will have a one-to-one meeting with their manager to discuss their individual circumstances.

    HMRC conducted high level People Impact and Equality Assessments to inform its planning. The Department plans to update these once discussions have been held with its staff.

    Activities of trade union representatives are governed by long-standing agreements with departments.

  • Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department regulates the activities of debt collection agencies during the period that they are under contract with his Department.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department’s policy is to recover outstanding debt whenever possible. Where a person is not in receipt of benefit and all the Department’s attempts at recovery have been unsuccessful, the overpayment will be referred to a debt collection agency. The debtor is always given an opportunity to make an agreement to pay the Department before the debt is sent to a debt collection agency to recover.

    With the exception of one service provider currently being used by the Child Maintenance Group, the Department does not hold extant, direct contracts with any debt collection agencies although the nature of some of the expired contracts means that a number of collections are still being made. DWP now makes use of one main contract with Indesser. The Framework Contract is managed by Cabinet Office. Indesser manage relationships with a number of Debt Collection Agencies on behalf of all Government Customers.

    Under the terms of the Framework Agreement, Indesser and its sub-contractors must comply with relevant industry and public sector standards for service delivery including those of the Credit Services Association, the Code of Practice and the Financial Conduct Authority guidelines. The standards are listed in the DMI Framework Agreement. Indesser reviews subcontractor compliance with these standards through audit and assurance activity, including responsibility for ensuring that they comply with relevant industry standards, managing their performance, and monitoring any complaints. Customer departments (i.e. DWP) in turn receive Letters of Assurance which they review to ensure standards are being achieved and the audits are effective.

    The breakdown of figures you have requested is derived from operational processes and systems designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As it was not originally intended for publication, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

    The debt collection agency costs of the Child Maintenance Group and DWP are given separately. Please note that the figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000.

    The cost to the DWP of the debt collection agencies, and the related recovery made by them, is as follows:

    Financial Year

    Spend

    Recoveries

    2009/2010

    £1.59m

    £8.50m

    2010/2011

    £1.33m

    £9.77m

    2011/2012

    £2.11m

    £13.94m

    2012/2013

    £1.95m

    £14.15m

    2013/2014

    £2.12m

    £15.00m

    2014/2015

    £2.52m

    £17.30m

    2015/2016*

    £1.64m

    £11.05m

    *to date

    The cost to Child Maintenance Group of the debt collection agencies, and the related recovery made by them, is as follows:

    Financial Year

    Spend

    Recoveries

    2009/2010

    £1.25m

    £10.20m

    2010/2011

    £0.56m

    £4.68m

    2011/2012

    £0.35m

    £1.35m

    2012/2013

    £0.21m

    £1.71m

    2013/2014

    £0.05m

    £1.21m

    2014/2015

    £0.10m

    £0.86m

    2015/2016 to date

    £0.07m

    £0.53m

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 28207, how many and which local authorities have notified her Department about plans to dispose of grant-funded assets through the (a) sale, (b) transfer and (c) change of use of children’s centres.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The decision whether to dispose of grant funded assets is a local issue. We have a thorough process in place to consider whether the local authority should be subject to claw back as a result of the disposal of grant funded assets which was outlined in the response to Question 28207.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the ability of Palestinian students in East Jerusalem and the West Bank to sit their exams this year, without experiencing delays at checkpoints.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While no assessment has been made about this particular issue, we consistently urge Israel to ease movement and access restrictions across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, not least because of the impact the restrictions have on children and continuity of their education.

  • William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    William Cash – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Cash on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine plants have closed in the last two years; and what the (a) generation size and (b) location was of each of those plants.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The following Combined Cycle Gas Turbine plants have closed within the last two years:

    Name of Plant

    Capacity (MWe)

    Location

    Barking

    1,000

    London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, East London

    Roosecote (mothballed in 2012; demolition in 2015)

    229

    Barrow in Furness, Cumbria

    Killingholme (Centrica)

    665

    Killingholme, Humberside

    This excludes combined cycle gas turbine plants which remain available under National Grid’s Supplementary Balancing Reserve and/or plants which have converted to open cycle operation at reduced capacity or have otherwise reduced capacity.

  • Peter Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Peter Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Grant on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to staff working at border controls in UK airports on questions which can and cannot be asked to passengers arriving in the UK with EU passports.

    James Brokenshire

    Anyone seeking entry or admission to the UK must on arrival establish their nationality and identity, as well as comply with other checks under the Border Force Operating Mandate.

  • Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Oates – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they consider the government of Zimbabwe would need to fulfil, in terms of demonstrating sustained adherence to the constitution of Zimbabwe and a sustained commitment to protecting the human rights of Zimbabwe citizens, before they would provide financial support for a land reform programme.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Land reform in Zimbabwe is essential for improving agricultural productivity and broader economic development. The British Government has consistently said that it would be ready to join international partners in supporting a land reform programme in Zimbabwe that is transparent, fair, legal and within the context of a broad range of reforms. Separately, we continue to call, both bilaterally and in partnership with others, for an end to human rights abuses and the restoration of internationally accepted standards.