Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry of Justice does not set a budget for food served in its offices. Catering services are provided by private companies under contract to the Ministry of Justice and provided to staff without subsidy. Spending on food is determined by the contractor based on sales receipts from Ministry of Justice staff.

    The Ministry of Justice has worked with its current suppliers to align existing contracts with the requirements of the balanced scorecard.

    Details of the proportion of food produced for the Ministry of Justice that was sourced from British producers is not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 35065 on 29 April 2016 which provides relevant details about food procured for prisons.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39321, on Civil Service recruitment, what assessment he has made of the effect of the geographical focus on London of fast stream recruitment on his Department’s plans to diversify the civil service.

    Matthew Hancock

    Research undertaken within the Civil Service (by the Bridge Group in 2015/16) and externally (e.g. by Trendence in 2015) shows that lower socio-economic applicants are potentially more likely to be less mobile and less willing to move to London.

    A dedicated new assessment centre will open in Newcastle in Autumn 2016. From Autumn 2017 we intend to regionalise further, introducing ‘pop up’ centres in support of our fixed assessment locations.

    Beyond the assessment process, we also require all centrally managed Fast Streamers to undertake a regional place.

  • Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Vinson on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to classify the cost of armed intervention to achieve regime change as overseas aid.

    Lord Bates

    No – the use of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for general military activities is circumscribed; ODA can only be used in well-defined training on a limited list of topics consistent with development objectives, for example in human rights and humanitarian law.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will assess the extent to which grants made by her Department to third parties are used for activities designed to influence her Department, other departments or Parliament.

    George Eustice

    Grants are made to third parties so that those organisations can deliver Defra’s objectives. They are not made to such organisations for use to influence Defra, other Departments or Parliament.

  • Lord Empey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Empey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any plans to reduce the number of local electoral offices in Northern Ireland.

    Lord Dunlop

    The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is currently considering a range of options for reforming his Office. This includes capitalising on new technology by introducing on-line registration.

    The Chief Electoral Officer will have regard to the continued effective delivery of elections in Northern Ireland and ensuring that his Office remains on a sustainable financial footing. The Northern Ireland Office fully supports him in this approach. I understand that work on some options is at an early stage.

    The Representation of the People Act 1983 makes provision for the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland to delegate returning officer functions to the clerk of a district council.

    Detailed questions on headcount and budget are operational matters for the Chief Electoral Officer who is independent of Government. The Chief Electoral Officer publishes all such information in his annual report which is presented to Parliament and copies are made available in the Library of the House.

    The headline budgets allocated to the Chief Electoral Office are:

    Financial Year

    Operational Funding

    Capital Funding

    2013/14

    £5.452m *

    £100k

    2014/15

    £2.336m

    £56.2k

    2015/16

    £2.296m

    £25k

    * includes £3m for the 2013 canvass

    The Northern Ireland Office has not agreed any budgets with the Chief Electoral Officer for future years pending receipt of the Department’s detailed Spending Review 2015 settlement letter from HM Treasury.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to promote awareness across NHS trusts in England of preventative measures to reduce the risk of atrial fibrillation-related strokes.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England’s (PHE) programme on ‘Stroke and vascular dementia prevention for people with atrial fibrillation’ works with key stakeholders to increase prioritisation for the prevention of atrial fibrillation related strokes.

    PHE’s National Cardiovascular Intelligence Network contributed to the development of atrial fibrillation intelligence packs to help commissioners to identify where improvements can be made to reduce the risk of stroke by improving the detection and treatment of atrial fibrillation.

    The NHS Health Checks best practice guidance recommends that a pulse check is carried out as part of the process of taking a blood pressure reading and those individuals who are found to have an irregular pulse rhythm should be referred to a general practitioner for further investigation.

    Recent research shows that, due to the NHS Health Check and appropriate clinical treatment, 2,500 people will have avoided a major cardiovascular event such as heart attack or stroke over the last five years.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she has made an assessment of the potential effect on carbon dioxide emissions of the life extension of nuclear reactors compared with the use of (a) coal and (b) gas-powered electricity plants producing the same amount of electricity over the same period.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Our existing modelling estimates that in total, 187 TWh of electricity would be generated from the four nuclear plants whose lives have been extended in the period 2019 to 2030; this would lead to 0 MtCO2 emissions. By comparison, approximately 71 MtCO2 would be emitted from 187 TWh of electricity generated from gas CCGT; or 165 MtCO2 if generated from unabated coal. Like nuclear, it is estimated that around 0 MtCO2 would be emitted from the equivalent generation from onshore wind, offshore wind or solar power.

    We have not performed exact modelling analysis on the impact that life extension decisions would have on carbon dioxide emissions because the reduction in emissions will depend on which generation technologies contribute to overall generation and the share of each. The mix in addition to nuclear could include a combination of coal, gas or low-carbon technologies.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what legal costs have been incurred by NHS England in respect of the use of the NHS logo by the Vote Leave group; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has not incurred any legal costs regarding this matter.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 3.35 of Educational excellence everywhere, Cm 9230, if she will issue guidance on levels of remuneration for non-executive academy trust directors.

    Edward Timpson

    Academy trusts are independent charities and must comply with charity law. This means that trust directors can only receive payment for carrying out trustee duties with Charity Commission authorisation.

    The Charity Commission will only authorise payment to academy trustees where it has been clearly shown to be in the charity’s interests. They will consider issues such as the reasons for payment, whether conflicts of interests are managed appropriately, whether the Principal Regulator (for academies this is the Secretary of State for Education) is agreeable and whether payment of any trustees is in the longer-term interests of the charity. These arrangements are set out in the Department’s Governance Handbook, available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-handbook. It is up to trusts to decide on the level of any such remuneration.

    Academy trusts operate under a robust accountability system which holds them to account for the results they achieve and their use of resources. This includes a requirement to publish audited accounts each year allowing the wider public chance to hold academy trusts to account to help make sure that spend is securing better outcomes for pupils.

    “

  • 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 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on developing a scheme to publish pass rates of instructors as set out in his Department’s Motoring Services Strategy; and how much funding he has allocated to that project.

    Andrew Jones

    The proposal to publish pass rates of Approved Driving Instructors forms part of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s broader plans to improve overall standards and transparency.

    The Agency has been exploring with the ADI National Association Strategic Partnership (NASP) the development of a voluntary ‘earned recognition’ scheme which would acknowledge and recognise the extent to which Approved Driving Instructors are compliant with regulations and/or adopting high professional standards.

    The Agency will want to discuss the voluntary publication of pass rates with NASP as part of their ongoing discussions. Once the scope of the proposals has been determined appropriate funding will be allocated to the overall programme of reforms.