Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much funding is given annually by the UK to assist refugee projects in the Middle East.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Department for International Development is providing support to refugees in a number of countries in the Middle East including in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Yemen and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In financial year 2015/16 our support totalled more than £204 million.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the effectiveness of the Need to Sell scheme for residents who are reapplying, (b) the level of flexibility offered by that scheme for those who are reapplying under different criteria, (c) how that scheme streamlines its procedures for those constituents who have terminal illnesses, financial burdens arising from High Speed 2 or any other pressing requirement to sell.

    Andrew Jones

    The Need to Sell scheme is operating as it was intended, and operating fairly. We have already updated guidance to reflect learning from the scheme since its inception in January 2015. This demonstrates that we keep the scheme under review and act if necessary to improve the way it operates.

    Those reapplying for the Need to Sell scheme within six months of their initial application are only judged on the criteria on which they previously failed to meet. Furthermore the assessment panel provides detailed feedback directly to applicants on the criteria they failed to meet. This means that when reapplying applicants can provide targeted evidence that may increase the chance of a re-application being accepted.

    HS2 Ltd endeavours to make decisions on all applications as quickly as possible. As all applicants are applying with a compelling reason to sell it would not be fair to introduce a fast-track system for some applicants. We aim to deal with all applications within three months, however currently the average time to deal with an application is seven weeks.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by what proportion UK military capabilities have been reduced in the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the resources available to the armed forces to defend the UK in the event of a major conflict.

    Michael Fallon

    The Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2010 set out a clear plan for the future structure of the Armed Forces to ensure they could meet new and emerging threats to our security. We are currently conducting a Strategic Defence and Security Review which will consider the threats to the UK and the resources required to meet current and future threats. We are also committed to making no further reductions in the number of Armed forces personnel, including an Army of 82,000, and we have some of the most sophisticated aircraft, ships and submarines in the world. We will spend 2% of our GDP on defence, in line with NATO targets, and have the largest defence budget in the EU and the second largest in NATO.

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.62 in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, published on 23 November 2015, what projection he has made of the savings to the public purse from the sale of 30 per cent of the built estate.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence is developing a Footprint Strategy to enable the reduction of its built estate by 30% by 2040. This Strategy is currently being developed and is due to be published in 2016. It is therefore too soon to state what scale of efficiencies might be achieved from our intended estate rationalisation.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents have moved to direct pay since the introduction of the 2012 child maintenance scheme.

    Priti Patel

    As at the end of August 2015, 82,600 cases were paying via Direct Pay.

    More details can be found on page 6 of the Child Maintenance Scheme quarterly summary of statistics which can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-aug-2015-experimental.

    Notes:

    1. This figure only includes cases that are live with a payment that is due.
    2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

    “

  • Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment the National Crime Agency has made of the methods used by criminals in the UK to re-traffic Vietnamese child victims out of foster care.

    Lord Bates

    The National Crime Agency is responsible for the assessment of threats, including methods of trafficking by criminals. Information on this is not centrally recorded on the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). Data included in NRM referral forms concentrates on detail specifically required to prove the three constituent elements of human trafficking. This would not necessarily include the detail required to assess methodology used to re-traffick victims and as such does not form part of assessment reporting. The independent evaluation of the trial by the University of Bedfordshire collected data on the number of all potentially trafficked children referred to the trial, along with their characteristics including age, gender and geographical location, as well as the number of children that were recorded as missing. However the evaluation did not collect data on the number of children in the trial that were re-trafficked and it is not possible to determine how many of those children who went missing were subsequently re-trafficked.

  • Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Wes Streeting – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wes Streeting on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the UK was paid under the European Health Insurance Card scheme for the treatment of UK-registered patients in European Economic Area countries in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    The United Kingdom European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) means that people living in the UK are able to travel to the European Economic Area (EEA) safe in the knowledge that they will be able to receive free or reduced cost healthcare should they need it.

    EEA countries reimburse the UK for the cost of the National Health Service providing treatment to EEA EHIC holders, just as the UK reimburses other EEA countries for the cost of them providing healthcare to UK EHIC holders.

    The Department does not hold information on how many people have used their UK EHIC to obtain state provided healthcare in another EEA country in any 12 month period. This is because data on UK EHIC usage is recorded by individual treatment episode rather than the card holder.

  • Baroness Nye – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Nye – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Nye on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many level 2 Craft, Creative Arts and Design (9.2) vocational qualifications were completed in each year since 2011 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined.

    Lord Nash

    As there is no formal definition of what constitutes “Craft, Creative Arts and Design”, it has not been possible to provide the information that is requested.

  • Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Government has made of the adequacy of the fire safety regulations governing staffing levels and other procedures on London Underground.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Fire safety regulations on London Underground are a matter for Transport for London (TfL). Under London Underground’s new staffing model introduced in April 2016, all London Underground stations continue to be staffed during traffic hours in line with the London Underground Rule Book – which includes defined minimum numbers of staff at sub-surface stations as required by the Fire Precautions (Sub-Surface Railway Stations) (England) Regulations 2009.

    The introduction of the new staffing model followed a review of individual stations’ Congestion Control and Emergency Plans, which identified various improvements to help maintain London Underground’s good safety record.

  • John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which EU (a) legislative and (b) other proposals her Department is leading negotiations on for the Government in the Council of the EU.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office is responsible, along with the Ministry of Justice, for negotiating EU legislation in the Justice and Home Affairs area. The Home Office provides Explanatory Memoranda to Parliament on any proposals defined by the terms of reference of the parliamentary EU scrutiny committees, which can be found online.