Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Campbell of Pittenweem – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the objectives of the Ministry of Defence projects (1) Strike 155, and (2) Project Congreve.

    Earl Howe

    The Army is undertaking a scoping project known as ‘Medium Wheeled Gun System’ to examine 155mm calibre towed and wheeled self-propelled options to provide a medium weight fire support capability within the future Strike Brigades. At the concept stage it was previously known as Strike 155; no decisions regarding the choice of system have yet been taken.

    Project Congreve was a study conducted by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and initiated in 2014. Its objective was to determine options for all future surface-to-surface fire systems capability. The work on the Medium Wheeled Gun System has been informed by Project Congreve and the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2015 to Question 13044, what the (a) technical, (b) regulatory and (c) contractual reasons were for delays at (i) Olkiluoto 3 and (ii) Flamanville 3 reactors.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The causes of the delays at Olkiluoto 3 include complex contractual structures and a series of design changes suggested by the local regulator after the start of construction. Hinkley Point C will commence construction with a more mature design. Our different regulatory regime and improved contracting arrangements will ensure that issues will not arise in the UK.

    Flamanville 3 has experienced delays as a result of changes to the design after the start of construction, changes to regulatory requirements, including modifications to take account of lessons learned from the accident at Fukushima in 2011, and quality problems with key components. In the UK, responsibility for delivery and compliance with regulatory requirements lies with EDF and its co-investors. The shareholders in the project carry the full construction risk.

    EDF Energy, overseen by the UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation, will apply any relevant lessons learned and ensure the delivery of high standards of nuclear safety for its new nuclear power plants in the UK.

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements are in place to provide financial and other travel assistance to failed asylum seekers to enable them to return home; and what assessment they have made of whether those arrangements are being used in Northern Ireland, and to what degree.

    Lord Bates

    The Home Office offers assistance to failed asylum seekers who wish to return to their country of origin, including help with flights, travel documentation and financial assistance where necessary. Voluntary departures are designed to achieve a dignified return for those individuals with the most complex needs who wish to arrange their own return from the UK. This assistance is available throughout the UK including Northern Ireland and we do not target particular areas or groups.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are legal implications for a business that advertises on the internet to write a student’s essay or dissertation, which the student then pays for and submits as their own work for academic accreditation.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    The Government strongly condemns any form of cheating. All publicly funded providers of higher education courses are expected to comply with the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, published by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). One of the requirements of the Code is to ensure that students do not obtain awards through any form of unacceptable academic practice relating to assessment, including plagiarism.

    There is no centrally held set of data on the number of recorded plagiarism cases in UK Higher Education – responsibility for tackling plagiarism lies with the HE providers themselves, as autonomous organisations.

    Institutions have a variety of mechanisms to address cheating by both international and EEA/UK students, including strong policies and specialist software. Between 2012 and 2015, the QAA carried out approximately 650 reviews of institutions. Of these, it only had to make recommendations to 30 individual universities and colleges on the need to improve systems and information related to plagiarism.

    The QAA are discussing the legality of essay mills with the Consumer and Markets Authority.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department’s agreement with the Department of Health to secure the Harperbury Free School site included a provision that the Department of Health would meet the costs of relocating Harperbury Bowls Club elsewhere on the Harperbury site.

    Edward Timpson

    The negotiation for land for the site of Harperbury Free School was part of a wider land sale for new homes which was being negotiated by the Department of Health. Heads of Terms for the sale were agreed in September 2014 and subsequently revised in October 2015.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what overlap there is between the £1.4 billion funding for improving children and young people’s mental health services referenced in the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25482, the £600 million funding for mental health services referenced in paragraph 1.99 of the Autumn Statement and Spending Review 2015, the almost £1 billion funding to enhance mental health services made in the announcement by the Prime Minister, Prime Minister pledges a revolution in mental health treatment, published on 11 January 2016, and the commitment to spend an extra £1 billion by 2020-21 to improve access to mental health services made in response to the report of the Mental Health Taskforce, 23 February 2016, Official Report, column 153.

    Alistair Burt

    The £1.4 billion funding for improving children and young people’s mental health services was announced by the previous Coalition Government and consists of £30 million per year for five years announced in the 2014 Autumn Statement to develop community-based eating disorder services and £1.25 billion over five years announced by the then Deputy Prime Minister on 14 March 2015 and included in the Spring Budget for 2015.

    The subsequent announcements of funding represent additional money on top of that £1.4 billion.

    All of the Taskforce recommendations are funded from the overall envelope agreed in the Spending Review.

    The £600 million set out by the Chancellor set the foundation for the Taskforce by establishing the minimum amount of additional new money that would need to be spent to transform mental health services. This was underpinned by an understanding that improving mental health services will improve how the wider NHS functions and generate savings that can be reinvested into services.

    The Prime Minister announced investment for mental health on 11 January comprising:

    ― £290 million to provide specialist care to mothers before and after having their babies;

    ― £247 million for mental health services in hospital emergency departments; and

    ― over £400 million to enable 24/7 treatment in communities as a safe and effective alternative to hospital.

    The figures in the Prime Minister’s announcement represent the total amount that we anticipate will be invested in these three priority areas over the five-year period from 2016/17 to 2020/21.

    The £1 billion in 2020/21 announced on 23 February 2016 will fund all of the priority recommendations for the National Health Service set out in the Mental Health Taskforce report. It includes the anticipated costs in the year 2020/21 of the three priority areas that the Prime Minister announced.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many allegations of fraudulent benefit claims made by members of the public led to (a) benefits being stopped and (b) prosecutions in each of the last five years.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of times the Key Stage 1 spelling, punctuation and grammar test, which was due to be sat in May 2016 but was subsequently cancelled, was downloaded from the Standard and Testing Agency’s website.

    Nick Gibb

    The version of the key stage 1 spelling test administration guidance which contained the live test content was downloaded by 18,986 individual users between 24 December 2015 and 20 April 2016.

  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 8th June 2016 to Question 39232, how many agency workers were employed by her Department in each of the last five financial years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The response to Question 39232 provided the financial spend for contingent workers over the last five financial years. This includes temporary workers, contractors and interims.

    The number of temporary workers, contractors and interims engaged as at 31 March in each of the last five financial years is set out in the table . This is historical point in time data which was extracted from our legacy HR database at the first of April each year and cannot be retrospectively validated for accuracy.

    As at 1 May 2016 there were 39 temporary workers, contractors and interims in DECC.

    Number of temporary workers, contractors and interims.

    • 31 March 2011 – 86
    • 31 March 2012 – 137
    • 31 March 2013 – 157
    • 31 March 2014 – 145
    • 31 March 2015 – 104
    • 31 March 2016 – 58
    • 1 May 2016 – 39
  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding there has been for (a) practice nurses, (b) physician assistants, (c) practice managers and (d) receptionists in Mid Sussex constituency in each of the last five years.

    David Mowat

    This information is not available centrally.

    General Practitioner (GP) practices are independent contractors. NHS England advises that it therefore does not hold detailed information on the staffing arrangements within individual practices.

    Each GP practice is responsible for managing services in a way that best meets the needs of patients. Practices are free to recruit the mix of clinical, managerial and administrative staff they feel is appropriate to provide the care and service required.