Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

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

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office does not set a budget for food produced for its offices. Catering services are provided by private companies under contract at Home Office buildings and provided to staff without subsidy. Details of the proportion of food produced for the Home Office that was sourced from British producers could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the cost to the economy of the (a) UK and (b) North East of the UK leaving the EU and British digital industries therefore being unable to access the Digital Single Market.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    I refer the hon Member to the answer to her own Parliamentary Question UIN 41682.

    “

  • FALSE – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    FALSE – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the statement by the Minister of State for Immigration, Mr Robert Goodwill MP, in his letter to Lord Roberts of Llandudno of 12 September, CTS Reference M9899/16, that over 3

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Annual Figures on the number of claims for asylum from Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC), including by country of nationality, are published quarterly by the Home Office in the Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics April to June 2016, is available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2016.

    The Government is committed to ensuring that there is a more equitable distribution of UASC across the country and that no one authority has to care for more UASC than they are able to. That is why we introduced the voluntary National Transfer Scheme and have consulted with every region in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on their capacity. In order to continue the success of the voluntary scheme more local authorities will need to participate and offer places for unaccompanied children from councils which are caring for disproportionately high numbers.

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

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many aircraft owned by each service branch of the armed forces are leased to private businesses; and how much is paid to each such branch in respect of such leases.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    No aircraft owned by the Armed Forces are leased to private businesses.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 1.273 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, how much funding he plans to provide to the (a) Science Museum, (b) Victoria and Albert Museum and (c) British Museum.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Chancellor announced in the Spending Review 2015 that government will invest £150 million to support the British Museum, Science Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum to replace out of date museum storage at Blythe House with new world-class storage facilities with public access. The allocations to each museum are yet to be determined.

  • Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne Main on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions of the report from Open Doors, Freedom of Religion and the Persecution of Christians; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government is firmly committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief around the world, and to being a strong voice internationally in defence of this fundamental right. We value our close working relationship with organisations such as Open Doors and their insights from practical work around the world. We welcomed their recent report, which Baroness Anelay of St Johns, FCO Minister for Human Rights, was pleased to discuss with Open Doors on 13 January.

    Our new strategic approach to human rights refocuses our work around three themes: democratic values and the rule of law; strengthening the rules-based international system; and human rights for a stable world. Our work on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is integral to all three of these themes.

    We have an active programme of religious literacy training amongst staff from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and across Whitehall, including through our new Diplomatic Academy.

    Multilaterally, we are working through the UN General Assembly to establish an internationally agreed set of principles for promoting tolerance through education. We also carry out project work in a range of countries, working with non-governmental organisations on issues such as promoting better understanding between faiths, bridging sectarian divides, promoting dialogue between faith groups and government and offering technical advice on amending discriminatory laws. Earlier in January, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced an uplift to £10.6 million for the 2016/17 programme, named the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy. We are encouraging strong bids for projects focused on promoting freedom of religion or belief, and promoting FoRB as one way of tackling the root causes of extremism.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of whether China has met all of the technical Market Economy Status criteria as set by the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    According to the latest assessment by the European Commission China has not met all of the technical criteria for awarding Market Economy Status. However, these criteria were designed to inform decisions in the event that the EU decided to seek to award China MES before the end of the 15 year transition period specified by China’s protocol of accession to the WTO. As the transition period ends in December, the question facing the European Commission now is a legal one about the interpretation of article 15 of China’s protocol of accession to the WTO and whether it requires that China must now be granted MES.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training his Department has given to the Cyprus National Guard in each of the last five years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Details of training provided to the Cyprus National Guard personnel by British Forces Cyprus or wider UK Defence capabilities, incorporating joint training activities, are as follows:

    May 2012 – Crisis response and joint Search and Rescue (SAR) training on Exercise ARGONAUT

    May 2013 – Crisis response and joint SAR training on Exercise ARGONAUT

    October 2013 – Public Order training with Sovereign Base Areas Police

    May 2014 – Crisis response and joint SAR training on Exercise ARGONAUT

    June 2014 – Joint SAR training with 84 Squadron RAF and the Republic of Cyprus SAR Squadron

    October 2014 – Range administrative training

    February 2015 – Small arms firing and range administrative training

    May 2015 – Crisis response training and joint SAR training on Exercise ARGONAUT

    July 2015 – Joint SAR training with 84 Sqn RAF and the Republic of Cyprus

    November 2015 – Joint medical (clinical study) training

    February 2016 – Joint Counter-Terrorism (CT) training on Exercise CHAMELEON

  • 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 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) new contracts and (b) amendments to existing contracts placed by his Department in 2015 were not referred to the Single Source Regulations Office because the approval of the (i) Ministry of Defence and (ii) supplier was not granted.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Each year the Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes an analysis of all new contracts which sets out whether they were placed competitively or non-competitively. This analysis appears in the Department’s Statistical Bulletin Trade, Industry and Contracts and the most recent period for which data is available can be found through the link below. Table six in the excel tables and page 11 of the pdf refer to the relevant information.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-industry-trade-and-contracts-2015

    Figures for amendments to existing contracts are not held centrally and, due to the large number of such cases, an analysis could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    All single source procurement contracts which met the criteria set out in Part two of the Defence Reform Act 2014 (DRA) are subject to the new single source procurement framework, apart from a very small number which have been specifically exempted from the framework by the Secretary of State for Defence, using the powers granted to him under section 14(7) of the DRA. The Department does not release details of these exemptions in order to avoid influencing future decisions.

    Contracts which were signed prior to the new single source procurement framework coming into force can become subject to the regulations on amendment by agreement between the MOD and the contractor. To maximise the benefits from the regulations, the MOD intends to seek such agreement where appropriate, except where there are well founded commercial or practical reasons not to. However, the Department does not hold a central record of the number of contracts which have, on amendment, not been converted to Qualifying Defence Contracts, and the data could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    Contracts which fall under the Regulations are only referred to the Single Source Regulations Office (SSRO) when there is a disagreement between the supplier and the contracting authority which cannot be resolved through negotiation between these two parties. The subjects that can be referred to the SSRO are set out in the DRA, and include whether or not costs are allowable, attributable to the contract and reasonable. Should a referral be made by either the MOD or the supplier, the consent of the other party is not required. One such referral was made in 2015, by the MOD.

    The MOD is currently pursuing the recruitment of a Chair for the SSRO. The SSRO has an Interim Chairman in post and the Department plans to advertise this substantive position shortly.

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

    Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were serving prison sentences for offences related to cannabis in each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    Prior to June 2015, information held centrally on prisoners serving sentences for drug related offences was not sufficiently detailed to identify offences relating to cannabis as opposed to other drugs. Providing data back to 2010 could therefore only be done at disproportionate cost.

    According to centrally held data, as at 30 June 2015 (latest available), there were 1,363 offenders in prison custody for cannabis related offences in England and Wales. This number includes all offenders who have had their offence categorised as a ‘drug offence’ and in which cannabis is explicitly stated in their offence description. This number does not include instances where cannabis may have been a contributing factor to the main offence committed.

    These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.