Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has commenced a programme of testing shipborne rolling vertical landing of the F35B Lightning II.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Shipborne rolling vertical landing (SRVL) testing will begin during the UK’s F-35B first of class flying trials, which are scheduled to take place aboard HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH from 2018. SRVL testing is scheduled for completion in 2020. A programme of SRVL simulation testing will continue until first of class flying trials begin.

  • Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Champion – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of convictions for carrying out female genital mutilation.

    Karen Bradley

    Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse.

    The Serious Crime Act 2015 introduced a number of measures to break down potential barriers to prosecution, including:

    • a new mandatory reporting duty which requires specified professionals to report known cases of FGM in under 18s to the police; • extending extra-territorial jurisdiction over offences of FGM committed abroad; • providing lifelong anonymity for victims of FGM; • introducing FGM Protection Orders which can be used to protect girls at risk; and • creating a new offence of failing to protect a girl from the risk of FGM.

    To help ensure the police have the guidance they need to tackle FGM effectively, in March 2015 the College of Policing published Authorised Professional Practice on FGM and this was updated in September 2015. In addition, lead FGM prosecutors have been appointed for each Crown Prosecution Service area and have agreed joint FGM investigation and prosecution protocols with their local police forces.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the parents of children with mental health problems are aware that their child may be eligible to claim disability living allowance.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The DWP recognises the position of parents who have children with mental health problems and supports them through the award of Disability Living Allowance where the relevant entitlement conditions are met. As a Department we have multiple channels to ensure our customers are provided with the best possible information about their entitlement to benefits. These include:

    Public Information

    The Department provides information on benefits, including Disability Living Allowance (DLA), in a range of formats on www.gov.uk. This includes information relating to DLA for children and includes links to benefit eligibility calculators that will signpost the user to further information about DLA for children.

    Customer Facing Staff

    Learning and development for our customer facing/telephony staff raises awareness around the different needs of vulnerable customers. We also have a portal that all staff can access to appropriately signpost support available.

    Staff would actively consider this in their dealings with parents of disabled children, offering information on claiming Disability Living Allowance if appropriate.

    Partnership Working

    The Department also works with a range of organisations that provide information and advice on claiming DLA for children, such as Disability Rights UK, Contact a Family, Young Minds, NetMums and Carers UK. Our policy teams ensure that national partner organisations are kept informed about policy changes.

    Visiting

    Where a family is identified as needing a visit, our visiting officers typically complete holistic benefit checks which would include DLA considerations for any child.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the last three exercises were carried out under the Five Powers Defence Arrangements; and how many armed forces (a) personnel and (b) assets were used in each of those exercises.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The last three exercises carried out under the Five Powers Defence Arrangements were:

    Exercise Suman Warrior 15 (27 July-6 August 2015). Eight UK Armed Forces personnel deployed on this exercise. No UK military ships or aircraft were deployed.

    Exercise Bersama Shield (8 May – 18 May 2015). 21 UK Armed Forces personnel and one JSATO DA20 (Joint Services Air Tasking Organisation) aircraft were deployed on this exercise.

    Exercise Bersama Lima (7-21 October 2014). 163 UK Armed Forces personnel and six Typhoon aircraft were deployed on this exercise.

  • John Glen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Glen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the emergency operations capability of Public Health England.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department and Public Health England (PHE) have specific responsibilities for planning and managing the response to emergencies and health protection incidents and outbreaks in an extended team that works across government. The Department commissions PHE to exercise specific functions on behalf of the Secretary of State under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, including a duty to ensure effective plans are in place, take part in national exercises, and co-ordinate responses. The Secretary of State has cross-government responsibility to provide assurance on the health system’s emergency preparedness. Thus PHE is required to complete an annual assurance exercise for the Department to ensure arrangements are in place for a sustainable and interoperable response in the event of an incident, emergency or business continuity event.

    The PHE National Emergency Operations Centre operates when the response requires national leadership and co-ordination. It coordinates PHE’s activities and as one of its functions produces briefings and situation reports for Ministers, the Cabinet Office briefing room system and officials.

    PHE was established in 2013. The National Emergency Operations function was previously carried out by the former Health Protection Agency. Therefore the Department has not been able to specifically identify the historical costs of creating the National Incident Coordination Centre in 2011.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 6 June 2016, Official Report, column 825, what the source is for the comments attributed to the Leader of Hull City Council.

    Greg Clark

    The source was the Hull Daily Mail on the 4th February 2016. The full article can be found through the following link:

    http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-people-happy-UK-average-official-statistics/story-28672567-detail/story.html

    “

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish the reviews carried out by his Department on the deaths of social security claimants since 2014.

    Damian Hinds

    All our currently published reviews can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-foi-releases-for-may-2016

    “

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with EU Science Commissioner Carlos Moedas on potential discrimination against UK academics who bid for EU funding.

    Joseph Johnson

    I am in close contact with Commissioner Moedas, who has responsibility for EU science, research and innovation and we have both publicly emphasised the importance of continuing to work together to produce high quality research. In addition, the European Commission has made it clear that while the UK remains a member of the EU, proposals from, or including, UK applicants must be treated in the same way as applications from other Member States. The Department remains vigilant and open to evidence of problems in this area. Specific instances of these problems can be fed back to the email address research@beis.gov.uk.

    “

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the retesting of Volkswagen vehicles being carried out by the Vehicle Certification Agency includes testing for carbon dioxide emissions.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government takes the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen (VW) Group extremely seriously. As we investigate what went wrong and what we can do to stop it happening again, the priority of course remains to protect the public. We expect VW to take every step necessary to protect its UK customers, but it is right that the Government carry out their own thorough and independent investigation.

    A written statement was made today (10 November) informing the House of the latest developments on the Department for Transport’s vehicle emissions testing programme, following the revelations that VW had fitted defeat devices to some of its vehicles.

    The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) is working to confirm that this issue is not industry wide. They have tested two VW group vehicles known to contain a defeat device and will rerun laboratory tests on popular cars sold in the UK to compare real world driving emissions against laboratory performance. This will include measuring CO2 .

    The Secretary of State spoke to Dr Herbert Deiss of VW on 4 November to discuss CO2 emissions, seeking information on those vehicles affected in the UK and the extent of the discrepancy. VW have stated that they are working hard to clarify the situation and are liaising with relevant approval authorities.

    The Secretary of State has written jointly with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to VW seeking clarification on several issues. Separately, officials from the Department for Transport, and its Agencies have held a number of discussions with VW regarding the recall of affected vehicles.

    The Department for Transport has not made a specific assessment of on road emissions in relation to type approval requirements, but officials are aware of the findings in published reports suggesting significant differences.

  • Lord Rowe-Beddoe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Rowe-Beddoe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rowe-Beddoe on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 30 November (HL Deb, col 931–3) about the non-devolution of the long-haul element of air passenger duty to Wales, how they differentiate between Edinburgh and Newcastle, and Cardiff and Bristol with respect to state aid.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    As set out in the St David’s Day Agreement, the government is considering the case and options for devolving powers to the Welsh Assembly over air passenger duty (APD). Any next steps pursued by the government will comply with EU State aid rules on tax devolution.

    Discussion of State aid is relevant to options we are considering to mitigate the effects of APD devolution with respect to English airports. In July, the government published a discussion paper on several options to do this. We will respond to the consultation and announce next steps in due course.