Tag: Parliamentary Question

Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans that his Department’s further education area reviews will incorporate equality impact assessments.

Nick Boles

Government will produce an evaluation of the area review programme and its potential to impact on groups protected by the Equality Act 2010. The reviews do not however, mandate action, and colleges are independent corporations, so it will be for each college’s governing body to assess the potential impact on groups protected by the Act, as part of its decision to accept or reject any recommendation requiring a change to their provision.

Each area review steering group will consider relevant data relating to current courses delivered within their area, assess the relevance of these courses to local learner and employer needs and determine how current and future demand can be best met through the recommendations of the area review.

Individual area reviews are expected to take about four months, the timescale being dependent on the number of colleges and complexity of the local issues involved in each area. The overall review process has been divided into five waves of area reviews and is scheduled to be completed by March 2017

We expect the costs of completing an area review to be met within existing budgets, with minimal additional costs to the colleges, local authorities or LEPs involved. The Departments and their agencies will undertake this work with no additional staffing. Additional costs will be minimal.

The costs arising from the recommendations of each review will be explored as part of the process. We expect the colleges, alongside local authorities and LEPs with devolved skills budgets, to consider how these costs can be met locally. Where there are costs that cannot be met, but which are essential to the successful implementation of the review, we have announced a facility for transitional funding to support this. We will provide more detail in due course.

01/01/2023
Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-08.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the personal and professional connections of the directors of UK-listed banks with domestic and overseas politicians on the potential risk of money laundering; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government is taking concerns about the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements regarding Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) seriously. While addressing corrupt PEPs is an important aspect of global efforts to tackle corruption and money laundering, it is essential that this be done proportionately. The current AML regime is governed by the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, which implement the EU’s Third Money Laundering Directive and are based on the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards. We intend to seek views on the transposition of the EU’s Fourth Money Laundering Directive, which addresses domestic PEPs, in our consultation which will be published in the spring.

It is for individual financial institutions to apply a risk-based approach when considering Enhanced Due Diligence measures with regards to PEPs, in accordance with the Regulations and with FATF standards. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the Treasury-appointed supervisor which oversees financial institutions’ implementation of the Regulations.

01/01/2023

Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33749, on Department for Transport: IBM, when the contracts referred to in that Answer were awarded.

Mr Robert Goodwill

My department has 4 contracts with IBM (UK) Ltd and details are contained in the table below

Agency	Purpose of contract	Award date
DfTc	Annual Software maintenance on IBM SPSS licensing for statistical analysis	30/04/2014
DVLA	Q Radar Security Monitoring Tool	28/09/2015
DVLA	IBM Software-Extended Support	01/10/2015
DVLA	IBM Enterprise Licensing Agreement (ELA)	01/01/2016

01/01/2023

Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Iran.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The human rights situation in Iran continues to cause great concern, in particular its use of the death penalty and the restrictions on freedom of expression and belief. Although President Rouhani pledged to improve the rights and freedoms of the citizens of Iran when he was elected, we are yet to see concrete improvements.

01/01/2023
Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals have been granted in a claimant’s favour following an assessment prior to a transfer from disability living allowance to personal independence payments.

Sir Oliver Heald

Between April 2013, when the Personal Independence Payment was introduced, and March 2016, there were 9,774 reassessment appeals which found in favour of the appellant.

01/01/2023
Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2016 to Question 45660, what estimate he has made of the number of general practices that require assistance from the new practice resilience programme.

David Mowat

Following the launch of the General Practice Resilience Programme in July 2016, NHS England’s local teams have been working to finalise a range of offers that can be put in place to support practice sustainability and resilience. This includes selecting which practices will receive this support, by using nationally published criteria.

NHS England was initially due to set out which practices would be included in the first cohort to receive support through this programme, on 30 September 2016. The deadline for this assessment and report has been revised to 18 October 2016, to allow greater opportunity for practices to self-refer for assessment. The Department cannot provide an estimate of the number of general practices requiring assistance from the new practice resilience programme until this date, when NHS England will have completed its assessment and report.

Identifying practices in need of support is challenging, as there are elements which are subjective and it can be hard to measure the nature, severity and weight of issues facing individual practices. The national criteria seek to chart a middle route between those aspects that are measurable and those less tangible issues. The nature of the issues facing a practice can be generally grouped as follows; demand, capacity and internal issues. The national criteria acknowledges the importance of local input from clinical commissioning groups and local medical committees, as well as how self-referral of general practices is legitimate as a self-declaration of their support needs.

An earlier NHS England programme, the Vulnerable Practice Programme, launched in December 2015, identified around 900 practices as potentially vulnerable and in need of support.

01/01/2023
Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether 18 to 21 year olds who live in supported accommodation will be able to claim the housing element of universal credit when they move out of supported accommodation.

Justin Tomlinson

From April 2017 the Government will remove automatic entitlement to housing support for 18-21 year olds in Universal Credit. This rule, which will apply to new claims from those who are out of work, will ensure parity with those young adults who are in employment but are unable to afford to leave home. However, there will be circumstances where it is reasonable to support a young person in living independently. The Department is discussing this issue with key stakeholders in order to determine which groups might be exempt from the general rule. This includes many organisations that provide supported accommodation for young people. It is too early to confirm the outcome from those discussions.

01/01/2023
Lord Kilclooney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2015-12-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the UK, as one of the three guarantor powers of Cyprus, was consulted in connection with the request by Russia to the government of Cyprus for the provision of military facilities on that island.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have discussed with the Republic of Cyprus their dialogue with the Russian Federation on the provision of facilities for humanitarian and emergency purposes. The Republic of Cyprus have stated very clearly that they have no plans for a Russian military base on the island.

The UK remains fully engaged on issues of regional security with the Republic of Cyprus, while recognising that it is for the Republic of Cyprus to decide which bilateral agreements to sign.

01/01/2023
David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in how many countries UK Reapers are currently operational.

Penny Mordaunt

UK Reapers are currently operational in Iraq and Syria. No UK Reapers have been deployed to Libya, and no personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons have been deployed to Libya, Kenya or Somalia in the last three years.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Kennedy on 2016-02-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with the financial sector and employer groups on workplace money management and workplace payroll savings schemes.

Harriett Baldwin

The government is committed to supporting savers, and government officials meet regularly with the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals to discuss the role that payroll deduction can play in promoting workplace saving, particularly in relation to the credit union movement. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is funding a £38m project to enable participating credit unions to expand their services to many more consumers, including to employees via workplace payroll savings. DWP is also looking into providing payroll savings facilities for their staff who are members of a credit union.

01/01/2023