The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on the Pub Loan Fund; and when he expects that fund to be accessible to community groups.
Mr Marcus Jones
Good progress is being made on the development of the pubs loan fund. We hope to be in a position to make a more formal announcement shortly with communities being able to access the support later in the Spring.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, within what timeframe his Department is able to deploy Reaper drones to Libya.
Penny Mordaunt
I am withholding the information on the deployment timelines of Reaper Remotely Piloted Air Systems as its disclosure would or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-03-01.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made on implementation of the National Infrastructure Plan.
Greg Hands
In the past year a number of key projects have been completed, including the opening of Smart Motorway projects on the M6 and M1, significant rail station redevelopments at Birmingham New Street and Manchester Victoria, and major local transport schemes in Nottingham and South Devon.
The government will shortly publish a new National Infrastructure Delivery Plan, setting out how it will deliver key projects and programmes over the next 5 years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on priority categories in Disclosure and Barring Service checks.
Karen Bradley
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) processes applications in date order and is reliant on the police completing their checks in a timely manner. In very exceptional cases, where it is apparent that a delay is likely to cause undue hardship to an applicant, the DBS will do all it can to expedite the process by raising an escalation with the relevant police force.
The table below shows the average time spent by each police force in England to process disclosure applications between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016.
|
Force Name |
Average Days Taken By Force |
|
Avon And Somerset |
7.4 |
|
Bedfordshire |
3.5 |
|
Cambridgeshire |
10.9 |
|
Cheshire |
10.7 |
|
City of London |
9.0 |
|
Cleveland |
8.6 |
|
Cumbria |
13.8 |
|
Derbyshire |
14.8 |
|
Devon And Cornwall |
4.7 |
|
Dorset |
76.6 |
|
Durham |
15.3 |
|
Essex |
16.2 |
|
Gloucester |
11.1 |
|
Greater Manchester |
12.8 |
|
Hampshire |
11.4 |
|
Hertfordshire |
10.5 |
|
Humberside |
9.8 |
|
Kent |
18.5 |
|
Lancashire |
5.0 |
|
Leicestershire |
7.7 |
|
Lincolnshire |
9.2 |
|
Merseyside |
8.2 |
|
Metropolitan |
85.2 |
|
Norfolk |
1.6 |
|
North Yorkshire |
17.9 |
|
Northamptonshire |
17.1 |
|
Northumbria |
13.9 |
|
Nottinghamshire |
10.9 |
|
South Yorkshire |
21.7 |
|
Staffordshire |
10.7 |
|
Suffolk |
8.8 |
|
Surrey |
13.1 |
|
Sussex |
17.5 |
|
Thames Valley |
60.3 |
|
Warwickshire |
7.2 |
|
West Mercia |
9.3 |
|
West Midlands |
21.2 |
|
West Yorkshire |
12.3 |
|
Wiltshire |
4.8 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-05-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 21679, when her Department’s investigations into applications for family reunion from Kuwaiti Bidoon people were initiated; when she expects those investigations to be concluded; whether there is a maximum length of time for which a decision will not be taken on the outstanding applications in that cohort; and if she will make a statement.
James Brokenshire
In 2014, UK Visas & Immigration in Jordan became aware of potential abuse of the Family Reunion route by individuals claiming to be the dependants of someone granted refugee status in the UK as a Kuwaiti Bidoon. Investigations commenced at this time.
UK Visas & Immigration has concluded the majority of the applications referenced in the response to Question 21679 and continues to work through those applications that have not yet been concluded.
UK Visas & Immigration aims to resolve all applications for UK entry clearance within published customer service standards. Where there is a problem with an individual application or if it is complex, UK Visas & Immigration write to the affected applicant to explain why the application will not be decided within the normal standard. All outstanding applications for UK entry clearance from family members of individuals granted refugee status as a Kuwaiti Bidoon which have not been concluded within published customer service standards are currently being prioritised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to meet his US counterparts to discuss the effect of the recent EU referendum on UK-US relations.
Mr Hugo Swire
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), met Secretary of State John Kerry in London on 27 June. Both Governments agree that an unbreakable bond exists between the US and the UK; that Britain’s global role remains undiminished, and that the Special Relationship remains a strong and crucial relationship.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on recent discussions on the peace process in Syria between Russia and the US.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), discusses Syria regularly with US Secretary of State John Kerry. Both the Foreign Secretary and US Secretary of State Kerry attended International Syria Support Group meetings on 20 and 23 September in New York. The Foreign Secretary and Secretary Kerry met again, along with their French, German, Italian and EEAS counterparts, to discuss Syria in Boston on 24 September. The conflict in Syria was discussed at the UN Security Council on 17, 21 and 25 September.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who made a claim for support for mortgage interest in each year between 1995 and 2009 went into arrears on their (a) interest repayments and (b) capital repayments (i) during the first 13 weeks of the waiting period and (ii) between weeks 13 and 39 of the waiting period.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested regarding the number and proportion of people who made a claim for support for mortgage interest between 1995 and 2009 who went into arrears on the interest or capital repayment during the waiting period is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what financial support the Government has provided for academic research in Dundee in each year since 2010.
Joseph Johnson
Government provides financial support for academic research in Dundee through various routes, including funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) Science & Research budget for Research Council grants, research capital grants (allocated through Scottish Funding Council – SFC) and the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (RPIF). In addition the Scottish Government allocates funding via the SFC for recurrent research grant.
Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data includes information about research grant income earned by individual higher education institutions from higher education (HE) funding bodies, Research Councils and Government Departments. The SFC publish details of the BIS HE research capital funding. Details of the RPIF are published by HEFCE.
The research grant income earned by the University of Dundee and Abertay University from these sources in each academic year are listed in the table (figures in £000s). HESA data for 2014-15 are not yet available.
|
Academic year |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
|
SFC recurrent research funding |
23,841 |
23,606 |
24,133 |
24,409 |
– |
|
Research Councils |
20,734 |
22,203 |
15,260 |
22,387 |
– |
|
Other Government Funding |
5,738 |
4,651 |
5,535 |
9,371 |
– |
|
BIS HE Research Capital |
2,270 |
602 |
728 |
860 |
974 |
|
Grand Total |
52,583 |
51,062 |
45,656 |
57,027 |
– |
In addition, the University of Dundee secured £11.7m from UK RPIF for expenditure over 2012-15.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, by what date 100 per cent of residents of (a) Kettering constituency and (b) England will have access to superfast broadband.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Based on current delivery plans, it is estimated that 97% of premises in Kettering will have access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017. Additional funding sources, including the gainshare funding that BT have offered in response to the high levels of take-up being achieved, will allow coverage to be extended further in Kettering and the rest of the area covered by the Northamptonshire broadband project.
The government currently aims to achieve superfast broadband coverage for 95% of UK premises by December 2017, and to extend coverage beyond that as far as possible. As the Prime Minister announced last autumn, the government proposes that by the end of this parliament people should have a legal right to request access to a good level of broadband speed, no matter where they live.