Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Christina Rees – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons have libraries; and which organisations (a) run and (b) fund each such library.

    Andrew Selous

    All prisons in England and Wales have a library. NOMS has been responsible for funding prison library services in England from April 2011.

    The total NOMS allocated budget for prison libraries in 2015/16 in England was £7,592,414

    The attached table shows both the provider and allocated library budget for each prison in England since 2010. NOMS is not responsible for funding library services in prisons in Wales as this is a devolved function of the Welsh Government so data is not included. Privately managed prison contracts put in place since 2011 have identified levels of funding for libraries and so are included in the table. The table does not include library provision at privately managed prisons whose contracts were awarded before 2011 as this was part of the overall included contract price and so it is not possible to extract a specific cost element to this part of the contract. This equates to 10 prisons.

    On 8 September 2015 the Secretary of State announced a review of the quality of education in prisons, chaired by Dame Sally Coates, which will report later in the year.

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will work with insurers to ensure an accurate risk assessment is carried out on the threat to public health posed by toxins in flood water.

    Rory Stewart

    The ABI were closely involved in developing a code of practice for flood damaged buildings. This covers the repair of flood damaged buildings and sets standards for ensuring this kind of work is carried out safely and effectively including avoiding any increased risk to public health.

  • Lord Tyler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Tyler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2016-02-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Home Office will publish records of external meetings held by special advisers to its ministers.

    Lord Bates

    The Government publishes an unprecedented amount of data; departments publish details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries’ meetings with external organisations, and Special Advisers’ meetings with senior media figures.

    The information requested is not held centrally and there are no plans to extend current arrangements.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-03-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2016 to Question 26467, what his policy is on the process by which local authorities should calculate the maximum local housing allowance for properties in their area.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Local Housing Allowance rates for each Broad Rental Market Area are calculated by the Rent Officer Services for England, Scotland and Wales.

    Rent Officers collect evidence of achieved rents in each area and use this to calculate the 30th percentile from a ‘list of rents’ for each property size.

    This is then used for setting the rates annually in accordance with current Government policy for uprating Local Housing Allowance.

    From April 2016, Local Housing Allowance rates will be frozen for 4 years. This means that rates will either remain at the April 2015 level or be set at the 30th percentile from the ‘list of rents’, whichever is the lower.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS organisations complied with the 30 day target for the payment of subcontractors set by the Government in the last period for which figures are available.

    George Freeman

    Figures on the number of National Health Service bodies recording instances of expenditure incurred under the ‘Late payment of commercial debt (Interest) Act 1998’, where it was incurred with non-NHS bodies, in the last three years, are provided in the following table.

    Sector

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    NHS Trust

    19

    21

    18

    NHS Foundation Trust

    9

    14

    15

    Clinical Commissioning Groups1

    0

    N/A

    N/A

    Primary Care Trusts2

    5

    0

    0

    Strategic Health Authorities2

    0

    0

    0

    Total

    33

    35

    33
    1. Did not exist in 2012/13
    2. Did not exist after 2012/13

    Figures on the number of NHS bodies meeting the 30 day payment target for subcontractors, where the information is available from the central accounts returns made to the Department are shown in the following table.

    Sector

    NHS Trusts

    Entities meeting Target

    25

    Total Entities in sector

    99
  • Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women have been diagnosed with endometriosis in (a) Sunderland, (b) the North East and (c) England.

    Jane Ellison

    The number of people who have been diagnosed with endometriosis is not collected centrally.

    The table below shows finished hospital admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of endometriosis, for the year 2014-15. The data only include diagnoses of endometriosis where there was a hospital admission. There may be further cases of the condition that were diagnosed and treated in another healthcare setting, including hospital outpatient services.

    These data are not counts of people, as the same person may have been admitted to hospital on more than one occasion. These data are based on the patient’s normal home address.

    Count of FAEs for female patients with a primary diagnosis of endometriosis, for Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), North East England Government Office Region (GOR), and England in 2014-15:

    Region of residence

    FAEs

    Sunderland CCG

    109

    North East GOR

    718

    England

    18,011
  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will bring forward proposals to limit the duration of public inquiries.

    Matthew Hancock

    The running of a public inquiry is normally a matter for the independent Chair. However, good practice is that when establishing a public inquiry, Departments should seek to include in the terms of reference an estimate of the likely duration of the Inquiry.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the future sales projections for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter in the last two years.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Initial Operating Capability for the UK’s F-35B Lightning aircraft is scheduled for December 2018.

    The most recent US Selected Acquisition Report (SAR 2015) estimates that the production, sustainment and support revenue generated by the global F-35 fleet through the life of the programme will be over one trillion US dollars. The UK manufactures approximately 15% of each F-35 aircraft, however as the F-35 programme is still determining its Global Support Solution footprint, we are not yet in a position to determine the potential revenue for UK industry.

    The programme is expecting to procure over 3,000 aircraft across the F-35 Partner Nations. This will be further supplemented by Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. FMS engagement and future sales projections are managed by, and are a matter for, the US Government.

  • Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the report by the National Audit Office, The economic regulation of the water sector, HC487; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that customers benefit from water companies’ unexpected financial gains.

    Rory Stewart

    We accept the recommendation that we should develop further our assessments of the affordability and cost-effectiveness of environmental improvements. The Environment Agency has recently published the most comprehensive cost-benefit appraisal ever conducted for improving the water environment in England.

    The remaining recommendations of the report are for Ofwat, the independent economic regulator of the water sector. Its independence is crucial to ensure stable economic regulation to keep investment costs down and customer bills low. The Government does not intervene in any regulatory decisions made by the regulator.

  • Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Martyn Day – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has to hold a consultation with the Scottish Government on the future of the NATS centre at Prestwick.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently exploring the sale of its 49 per cent shareholding in NATS, and will ensure that the Scottish Government is consulted about any implications for Prestwick.