Tag: Parliamentary Question

Adam Afriyie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the cyber security implications of driverless cars.

Anna Soubry

Government recognises that vehicle security is a priority to ensure the safety and security of the public and their data.

Government believes connected and autonomous vehicles should be “secure by design” and handle data appropriately. We are working closely with industry to achieve these aims as part of a wider programme of activity to ensure that the significant opportunities of these technologies can be realised safely and securely.

Connected technologies present cyber security challenges across a range of sectors. Cyber security has been identified as a key priority in the latest National Security Strategy. The Government has announced the formation of a National Cyber Security Centre, which will bring together the UK’s cyber expertise from different parts of Government into one organisation. The Government will also publish a new National Cyber Security Strategy later this year.

01/01/2023
Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many times he has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Secretary of State regularly visit all parts of the United Kingdom, including Scotland. Details of meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed via the gov.uk website.

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01/01/2023
Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many reports of tombstoning have been received and investigated by a coastguard team from Plymouth to Selsey Bill in each of the last five years.

Mr John Hayes

Her Majesty’s Coastguard has responded to the following number of tombstoning incidents, in the area listed in the question, in each of the last five years:

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

4

4

8

0

1

1

HM Coastguard responsibilities end with its search and rescue response to each incident.

01/01/2023
Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-10-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to increase financial protection for investors within the UK who invest in mini-bonds.

Simon Kirby

The government is committed to regulating only where there is a clear case for doing so, in order to avoid putting additional costs on lenders that would ultimately lead to higher costs for businesses and consumers.

The marketing and promotion of mini-bonds is subject to financial promotion restrictions set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA). Firms that fail to meet any of these requirements may be subject to enforcement action by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

01/01/2023

Graham Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of its annual income has been held in reserve by Thames Valley Constabulary in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning

It is up to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Chief Constables to decide how to allocate their resources, including the efficient use of reserves, based on local priorities. The total amount of revenue funding received by each PCC (formerly Police Authorities) and the total amounts of usable reserves, taken from publically available force area accounts are included in the table below. This includes total core Government funding area from the Home Office, Legacy Council Tax Grants and locally raised precept income. It excludes specific grants such as the Innovation Fund and other locally raised income.

Hertfordshire Police Authority/PCC reserves

Year	Reserves £m	Total revenue funding £m	Reserves as % of government grant+precept
31 Mar 2011	19.4	197.4	9.8%
31 Mar 2012	24.9	191.5	13.0%
31 Mar 2013	28.0	189.7	14.8%
31 Mar 2014	36.7	185.2	19.8%
31 Mar 2015	47.9	181.1	26.5%

Lancashire Police Authority/PCC reserves

Year	Reserves £m	Total revenue funding £m	Reserves as % of government grant+precept
31 Mar 2011	20.1	285.6	7.0%
31 Mar 2012	26.3	273.5	9.6%
31 Mar 2013	27.5	273.5	10.1%
31 Mar 2014	35.8	266.0	13.4%
31 Mar 2015	49.3	258.9	19.1%

Thames Valley Police Authority/PCC reserves

Year	Reserves £m	Total revenue funding £m	Reserves as % of government grant+precept
31 Mar 2011	41.1	395.0	10.4%
31 Mar 2012	48.2	383.4	12.6%
31 Mar 2013	45.8	382.2	12.0%
31 Mar 2014	49.1	375.9	13.1%
31 Mar 2015	51.4	369.7	13.9%

01/01/2023

Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions the fire brigade has been called to an incident at a migrant detention centre in each of the last five years.

Lord Bates

Information for the complete data period requested is not held centrally.

Provisional management information available on the number of attendances by the fire brigade for fires at immigration removal centres from January 2013 is provided below in line with the period for published statistics:

Jan to Dec 2013 – 12 incidents

Jan to Dec 2014 – 10 incidents

Jan to Sep 2015 – 8 incidents

Attendances by the fire brigade for incidents other than fires during the same data period could only be provided by examination of individual records so this information cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department gives to Jobcentre Plus staff on alerting applicants to the possibility of applying for universal credit by telephone rather than online.

Priti Patel

The main route to access Universal Credit (UC) is through digital channels. Where a claimant is unable to access the on-line service, departmental guidance directs staff to advise claimants of the UC helpline number to make a claim.

01/01/2023
Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-02-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff of HM Revenue and Customs’ Large Business Service worked on each of that service’s investigations relating to the tax of companies in each of the last six years.

Mr David Gauke

Until 31 March 2014, HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Large Business Service (LBS) dealt with the tax affairs of around 800 of the largest businesses in the UK. From 1 April 2014 HMRC’s Large Business directorate (LB) deals with the tax affairs of around 2,000 large businesses.

At 31 December 2015, the number of staff deployed in LB was 2,600.

At year end (31 March), the number of staff deployed in previous years was:

LB

2014-15 2,350

LBS

2013-14 1,303

2012-13 1,194

2011-12 1,306

2010-11 1,438

These staff are supplemented by specialists in other parts of HMRC. It is not possible to say how many staff were deployed on each investigation.

01/01/2023
Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-25.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what recent assessment the Commission has made of the level of electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission works with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to collate data from police forces about cases of alleged electoral fraud reported each year. This data is published on the Commission’s website.

The data show that 49 cases of alleged electoral fraud offences were reported in Tower Hamlets in 2014. Of these cases, no further action was taken following investigation by the police in 39 cases. This was either because the activity involved was not in fact an offence; there was no evidence that an offence had been committed; or there was insufficient evidence to identify a perpetrator. It also included cases which, following investigation, were found not to have involved electoral fraud offences.

Five cases were locally resolved with advice from the police or the Returning Officer, and one case resulted in a caution being given. Of the remaining four cases, one resulted in court proceedings being initiated, one awaits prosecution advice and two remain under investigation.

A total of 28 cases of alleged electoral fraud offences were reported in Tower Hamlets in 2015. No further action was taken following investigation by the police in 23 cases, and one case was locally resolved. One case awaits prosecution advice and three remain under investigation. The Commission will monitor the outcome of any investigations relating to electoral fraud offences.

In advance of the May 2016 elections, the Commission is working closely with the police and electoral administrators in each of the 18 areas it has identified as being at higher risk of allegations of electoral fraud, including Tower Hamlets, to ensure that robust plans are in place to detect and prevent fraud.

The Commission also encourages anyone who has evidence that an electoral offence may have been committed to report this to the police, either directly or anonymously through Crimestoppers.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding of the Young Women’s Trust on page 13 of its report, Making apprenticeships work for young women, that apprenticeships are reinforcing, rather than challenging, occupational segregation by gender.

Nick Boles

We want to make apprenticeships accessible to the widest possible range of people, as part of meeting our commitment to reach 3 million starts in England by 2020.

Women are well-represented within English apprenticeships – 53.0% of starts in 2014/15 were made by women. This is higher than in both 2013/14 (52.9%) and 2009/10 (49.6%). We will continue to support the extension of this positive representation across all sectors.

We have made it a priority to ensure that all young people have access to quality careers advice and support to help them make the right personal choices. This includes communicating career opportunities in sectors such as science and engineering. We will launch a new communications campaign in May aimed at promoting the benefits of apprenticeships. Our promotional campaigns include role models of successful female apprentices in sectors where they are under-represented.

01/01/2023