Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims were stockpiled (a) before and (b) after the Upper Tribunal ruling of 17 March 2016 on the unlawful and discriminatory use of the past presence test.

    Penny Mordaunt

    No claims were stockpiled before the Upper Tribunal ruling of 17 March 2016, 40 Disability Living Allowance claims were stockpiled after the ruling.

    Section 27 of the Social Security Act 1998 provides that, where the Upper Tribunal decides on a social security appeal that the Secretary of State has made an error of law in his original decision and other claims subsequently fall to be decided by the Secretary of State, the judgment generally is not to be applied in relation to any period that predates the Upper Tribunal’s decision (s.27(3)). This statutory rule does not apply to the person who brought the original appeal, to people who have already lodged an appeal against a decision or who are still in time to do so, or to people whose case the Secretary of State has stockpiled (or whose appeal he has stayed) pending the judgment under section 25 of the Act.

  • Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, at what intervals her Department receives accident and injury data on (a) racing and (b) retired greyhounds from (i) the Greyhound Board of Great Britain and (ii) individual greyhound tracks.

    George Eustice

    Under the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010, there is no statutory requirement on any greyhound organisation or individual track to report any figures to Defra. The Regulations have now been in force for five years and Defra is currently undertaking a review of their effectiveness. The review is looking at the requirement on tracks to collect injury statistics and how they are then used; and the traceability of greyhounds after they have left the sport. Defra intends to consult on the initial findings of the review.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 31 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, whether he plans for the off-shore patrol vessels being procured by his Department to be manufactured using the same supply chain as the off-shore patrol vessels under construction.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As with the three Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) currently under construction, the two additional OPVs referred to in the White Paper National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence And Security Review 2015 (Cmd 9161) will be built at BAE Systems’ (BAES) shipyards on the Clyde. Decisions about the appointment of sub-contractors to the supply chain will be a matter for BAES.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of sanctions measures imposed on North Korea in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UN and EU sanctions measures on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have increased the cost and difficulty to the DPRK of its efforts to fund, supply and develop their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

    However, these sanctions regimes would be strengthened by more rigorous implementation by all UN Member States. As the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) said following the nuclear test conducted by the DPRK on the 6 January, we are working with other UN Security Council members to ensure the international community responds robustly, including immediate work on further significant measures in a new UN Security Council Resolution.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many meetings she has had on increasing the number of women receiving public appointments since May 2015.

    Caroline Dinenage

    I am working closely with the Cabinet Office to modernise recruitment practices and attract a more diverse field of candidates from an ever-wider range of social and professional backgrounds.

    This includes engaging with government departments, the private sector and a range of different diversity networks and groups. We have engaged with them through online advertising, social media and at events to promote and raise awareness of public appointments and better understand the barriers or concerns for those considering a public appointment.

    The most recent figures published show that we are making real, consistent, progress in increasing the number of public appointments going to women. Last financial year 44% of new appointments were made to women.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Chinooks, (b) Sea King and (c) Lynx helicopters HMS Ocean carried on her most recent deployment.

    Penny Mordaunt

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 3 February 2016 to Question 24276.

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=24276

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of the three million apprenticeships planned by 2020 are expected to be at (a) degree and (b) masters level.

    Nick Boles

    The Department does not currently publish forecasts for Apprenticeship starts by level. Information on the actual number of Apprenticeship starts reported to date, by individual level, is published as a supplementary table (first link) to a Statistical First Release (second link).

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/509999/apprenticeships-starts-by-framework-type-and-level.xls

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held

    “

  • Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possible role of the contraceptive chemical E22, which is resistant to water purification techniques, in the increase in number of freshwater and coastal water fish bearing both male and female sexual organs.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    In the UK, environmental regulators, scientific experts and the water industry have been researching the link between the synthetic steroid, 17α-ethinyloestradiol (EE2, used in human oral contraception) and fish populations to understand the role of endocrine disrupting chemicals on the reproductive physiology of fish. Most work has focused on EE2 which has been measured in some of our rivers and downstream of sewage treatment works (STWs); this matches findings in other countries.

    Based on scientific evidence from the UK and in Europe, there is reasonable certainty that very low concentrations of EE2 can cause feminisation (intersex condition) in male fish. The incidence of intersex seems to relate to the size of the STWs and the dilution ability of receiving waters. In the UK, fish inhabit comparatively small-sized rivers where limited dilution of EE2 occurs. Conventional STWs can remove EE2 from sewage, but not to the very low levels of less than one nanogramme per litre (ng/L) where no endocrine disrupting effects are predicted. In some cases the impact on fish populations remains unclear, and some affected populations appear to be self-sustaining.

    In 2014, EE2 was included on the European Commission’s ‘watch list’ under the Water Framework Directive to gather information on its occurrence in surface waters across the European Union. Data will be reported by the UK and other Member States, and reviewed by the Commission throughout 2017 to assess whether this pharmaceutical is to be prioritised for monitoring and control and is to be included in future versions of the Directive.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many UK-registered offshore supply vessels (OSVs) have been laid up in Aberdeen port since January 2015; and what the average period of inactivity was for UK-registered OSVs (a) at that port and (b) in total during that period.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    According to commercial world fleet data sourced from IHS Global Limited, there were two UK registered offshore vessels with a ‘laid-up’ status on 31 December 2015.

    We do not have any further data available for use on laid-up vessels since this time. The data is not in a format from which inactivity periods are readily obtainable.

    According to online vessel search engines, the last known ship positions for the two UK registered offshore vessels that were laid-up at the end of 2015 were Port Elizabeth (South Africa) on 24 August 2015 and Elefsis (near the Athens port of Piraeus, Greece) on 19 September 2015.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with the Ethiopian government on the situation in the Oromia region.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    I visited Ethiopia on 17th June and met with a number of senior Ethiopian Government officials. Our discussions covered a range of issues, including the situation in the Oromia region. I set out the UK Government’s serious concerns about the response to protests in Oromia.