Tag: Parliamentary Question

Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the change in the bee population over the summer of 2015.

George Eustice

Records from volunteer societies provide a rich source of data and can be analysed to show how bee populations are changing. In 2014 Defra published a pilot indicator of changes in the wild bee population in the UK. This showed that between 1980 and 2010 some bee species had become more widespread, but that a greater number had become less so.

Defra is working with the research community to improve and update this indicator on pollinators. However, there is currently insufficient data to provide an assessment of changes over the summer of 2015. We hope to update the indicator in future years.

The Government continues to work to strengthen monitoring. In 2014 Defra commissioned a two-year project to develop a robust and affordable framework for monitoring pollinators, which can be applied by volunteers and professionals across the UK. This will report in early 2016.

01/01/2023
Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefits claimants in Dumfries and Galloway were sanctioned between the months of October and December for each year from 2010 until the most recent date for which figures are available.

Priti Patel

The information requested, up to 30 June 2015, is published and available at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/:

Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started—SuperWEB2.html

“

01/01/2023
Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 21728, how many applications for a Tier 2 (General) restricted Certificate of Sponsorship have been rejected on the grounds that the job is in an establishment which provides a take-away service in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire

The information is not readily available and could not be obtained within the proportionate cost limit.

01/01/2023
Lord Knight of Weymouth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Knight of Weymouth on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 1 February (HL5090 and HL5091), whether they will now provide the direct link to that information, and why they did not provide that link in those answers.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The relevant information is available at “Box A5.6D : money transmission services ranked in order of choice” in the Treasury guidance on “Managing Public Money”.

01/01/2023
Lord Lisvane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lisvane on 2016-03-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their policy is towards the commencement of the Easter Act 1928.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Easter Act 1928 would set the date for Easter to fall on the Sunday that follows the second Saturday in April (i.e. between 9 and 15 April). The Act has not been brought into force. To do so would require an Order in Council, with the approval of both Houses of Parliament. The Act requires that, before the Order is made, “regard shall be had to any opinion officially expressed by any Church or other Christian Body." If the Christian churches were to agree on moving to a fixed date for Easter then the Government would consider, depending on what date is agreed, whether to bring into force the Easter Act 1928 or to make such other legislative provision as may be needed.

01/01/2023
Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse of the assisted voluntary return scheme was in each year since 2004.

James Brokenshire

Up until January 1st 2016 the Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) scheme has been outsourced but is now part of the Home Office Voluntary Return Service (VRS).

The cost of the outsourced scheme in the years 2006 to 2015 is set out below. Data for 2004 to 2006 is incomplete and has therefore been omitted.

Years

£m

2006-7

22.2

2007-8

21.7

2008-09

10.80

2009-10

20.40

2010-11

17.30

2011-12

7.50

2012-13

8.77

2013-14

8.84

2014/15

10.86

01/01/2023
Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the (a) extra cost to police forces and (b) extra staff hours in police forces resulting from the change in the level of reported cases of contact child sex offences in the last two years.

Mike Penning

Resourcing is an operational matter for individual Chief Constables. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement to empower police forces to maximise specialist skills and expertise to prevent offending and resolve cases. This means that police forces must have in place the capabilities they need to protect children from sexual abuse.

In 2015/16 the Government provided an additional £10 million to the National Crime Agency to create specialist teams to tackle online child sexual exploitation. We have also made available £1.7 million to fund Operation Hydrant, which coordinates the handling of multiple non-recent child sexual abuse investigations specifically concerning institutions or persons of public prominence, and up to £1.5 million to support regional coordinators and analysts to oversee the implementation of the National Policing Plan for tackling child sexual exploitation.

01/01/2023
Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what evidence he has received on the possible use of cluster munitions in Yemen by Saudi Arabia.

Michael Fallon

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have alerted us to their online reports on the use of cluster munitions in Yemen, which we are analysing.

01/01/2023

Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average annual spend per pupil was in grammar schools in each region in 2015-16.

Nick Gibb

Schools self-select their own admissions category on Edubase. 163 schools are identified as ‘selective (grammar).’

The Department does not yet hold the income and expenditure data from 2015-16. The data will be available for those which are maintained by the local authority in December 2016, and for those which are academies in the summer of 2017.

The overall expenditure per pupil in grammar schools by each region for 2014-15 is listed in the following table:

Region	Number of grammar schools	Expenditure per pupil (£)
East Midlands	15	5,195
East of England	8	5,644
London	19	5,683
North West	18	5,392
South East	55	5,332
South West	20	5,210
West Midlands	17	5,553
Yorkshire and the Humber	6	5,557
England Total	158*	5,404

*Note: There are 5 selective schools which converted to academies during 2014-15 and as such we do not have comparable financial data for them for this period. The expenditure per pupil takes into account expenditure from all income sources, including self-generated income.

01/01/2023

Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to raise the security, humanitarian access, freedom of movement and citizenship rights of ethnic groups with the Burmese government.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Government consistently raises concerns about the human rights situation in Burma, including for all ethnic groups, with the Burmese government. However, these are issues that particularly affect the Muslim Rohingya community in Rakhine State, who are subject to persecution and denied the most basic rights. I and other Ministers take every appropriate opportunity, both publicly and in private, to press the Burmese authorities to take urgent steps to address the desperate situation of the Rohingya. I did this with senior Burmese ministers during my visit to Burma in July, when I travelled to Rakhine State for the second time. Most recently, I raised the issue with the Burmese Foreign Minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, in September in New York. We will continue our efforts to address the serious, ongoing human rights violations against the Rohingya community, including with whoever forms the next Government of Burma.

01/01/2023