Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Leader of the House, how many (a) Peers and (b) civil servants have offices within the Palace of Westminster.

    Mr David Lidington

    As of 13 October, there is a total of three hundred and sixty eight (368) Peers with desks provided within one hundred and twelve (112) offices in the Palace of Westminster.

    There is a total of twenty eight (28) desks provided within eight (8) offices to Civil Servants in the House of Commons foot print of the Palace of Westminster for the following: Prime Minister, Home Secretary, Leader of the House and Government Chief Whip.

    There is a total of twenty one (21) desks provided within six (6) offices to Civil Servants in the House of Lords foot print of the Palace of Westminster for the following: Cabinet Office (16 desks, 4 offices) and Crown Office (5 desks, 2 Offices). In addition there is a Bill Team Room in the House of Lords. This is a single office with two desks which is for the use of civil servants from whichever department is having legislation debated in the Chamber to use as a ‘hotdesking’ facility.

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the number of women completing PhDs in STEM subjects.

    Joseph Johnson

    The number of female doctorate qualifiers in STEM subjects increased from 5,485 in 2009/10 to 6,300 in 2013/14, an increase of 15%. The total number of doctorate qualifiers in STEM subjects also increased over this period, from 12,830 in 2009/10 to 14,020 in 2013/14, and the proportion of female doctorate qualifiers in STEM subjects who are female increased from 43% to 45%.[i]

    The Government is committed to developing a strong, diverse research community. The Research Councils and National Academies share this commitment. We are taking steps to encourage greater representation of women in STEM subjects at university and in the academic community through the establishment of a Diversity Steering Group and support for such initiatives as the Athena SWAN charter which promotes gender equality in academia.

    [i] Higher Education Statistics Agency: Number of Doctorate Qualifiers in STEM subjects by Gender. (Academic Years 2009/10 to 2013/14). Excel spreadsheet is attached to this PQ.

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

    Baroness Prosser – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Prosser on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) what is the cost per call of the Equality Advisory Support Service, including the wrap-up time after each call; (2) how this cost compares to benchmarked comparators; and (3) how many calls the service handled each year since 1 October 2012.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS) costs are calculated on a per case basis, covering everything from an initial inquiry through to final action on behalf of the customer, but the EASS estimate of the call element of a case is under £10.

    The costs per call or per contact of similar services to EASS are treated as commercially confidential information by the providers concerned.

    The numbers of calls handled by the service each year since 1 October 2012 are provided in the table below.

    Year

    Contacts via telephone

    Oct 2012 to Sept 2013

    37,379

    Oct 2013 to Sept 2014

    39,095

    Oct 2014 to Sept 2015

    41,032

    Oct 2015 to Nov 2015

    7,630

    Total

    125,136
  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-01-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether persons coming to live in the UK on spousal visas are entitled to make use of existing schemes of English language tuition provided through public funds; and on what terms.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Funding for english for speakers of other languages (ESOL) provision in England is normally restricted to people who have been resident in the UK or another EEA country for at least the previous 3 years on the first day of learning. For the 3-year residency rule not to apply to a person coming to live in the UK on a spousal visa, the spouse in the UK whom they are joining would have to have been resident in the UK for at least 3 years.

    Full-funding is prioritised for people who are in receipt of certain work-related benefits and are mandated to undertake skills training to improve their English in order to find work. This is funded through a provider’s Adult Skills Budget. People on other state benefits who are unemployed and where poor English skills are a barrier to finding work, may still be eligible for full funding at the discretion of the training provider. All others can be co-funded but are expected to make a contribution towards the costs of training.

    Other opportunities to learn English on publicly-funded programmes include BIS supported community-ESOL programmes and DCLG community-based English language projects.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police call-outs to betting shops there were due to violence related to fixed odds betting terminals.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not collect information centrally on the reasons why police officers are called out to specific locations. The Home Office has no plans for a formal assessment of the impact of fixed odds betting terminals on levels of crime.

    It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to decide crime priorities at a local level, and the most appropriate response in their areas.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many nationals of other EU member states are awaiting deportation from the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    The removal of foreign national offenders (FNOs) has been increasing year on year since 2010. In 2015, 5,602 FNOs were removed, the highest number in a year since records began in 2009.

    As of December 2015, there were 4,217 EEA foreign national offenders awaiting deportation.

    (1) The figures quoted have been derived from management information from the Home Office databases and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

    (2) A Foreign National Offender (FNO) is defined as an individual with a criminal case on the Home Office’s Case Information Database (CID) and may include individuals with asylum cases.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the legal status of NHS Improvement is; how and to whom that body is accountable; and what functions he has in relation to that body.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS Improvement has brought together two distinct legal entities: Monitor, a non-departmental public body and the NHS Trust Development Authority, a special health authority, under a single leadership and operating model. It is a combination of the continuing statutory functions and legal powers vested in these organisations.

    They will continue to maintain their current legal underpinnings as two separate bodies, although they will function as a single organisation to manage NHS trusts and foundation trusts more effectively in the interests of patients and taxpayers.

    NHS Improvement will be accountable directly to Parliament, the Secretary of State and the Department’s Principal Accounting Officer for discharge of Monitor’s statutory and regulatory functions and to the Secretary of State and Principal Accounting Officer for the specific functions of the Trust Development Authority.

  • 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 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his Department’s White Paper, Success as a knowledge economy: teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice, published on 16 May 2016, what the minimum number of (a) students and (b) higher education students is which any new provider would have to have registered at their institution in order to be granted university teaching powers.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government’s intention is that – as now – in order to be eligible for taught degree awarding powers a provider must have the majority of its higher education students enrolled on study programmes which are recognised as being at level 6 or above of the Framework of Higher Education Qualifications for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This requirement will be set out in detailed criteria and guidance on degree awarding powers on which there will be a consultation in due course.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the statement in his article in The Telegraph of 27 March 2016, on his Department’s hesitation in using the term genocide, what his assessment is of whether Daesh has committed genocide.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Government maintains that genocide should be a matter for judicial authorities rather than a political decision. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), announced on 21 July that the UK will work with our international partners to drive a global campaign to hold Daesh to account for its crimes.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the cycling and walking investment strategy will include investment for the proposed cycling and pedestrian bridge linking Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf.

    Andrew Jones

    The draft Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy sets out the Government’s plans for increasing cycling and walking in England. It is a high level document, with a long term ambition up to 2040, supported by a target and a number of objectives.

    The Strategy outlines how Government will work with local bodies and business to develop expertise and support, the tools and policies Government will deliver to support them in increasing walking and cycling in local communities, and how this work will enable progress towards our national objectives and target. It does not set out details of individual schemes as that is a matter for local bodies.