Tag: Parliamentary Question

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24112, if he will make an assessment of responsibility for damage to cultural property in Yemen.

Mr Philip Hammond

We remain concerned about any damage to cultural property in Yemen and are aware of reports of alleged damage by actors in the conflict. Yemen and many members of the Saudi-led coalition are parties to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict and to the 1972 World Heritage Convention. We have raised our concerns regarding protection of cultural property with both the government of Yemen and the Saudi Arabian government.

01/01/2023
Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the annual cost was of the Youth Justice Board monitoring carried out at each secure training centre in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Andrew Selous

A total annual cost of the Youth Justice Board’s (YJB) monitoring of each Secure Training Centre provided by the YJB is not held centrally.

01/01/2023
Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average distance is travelled by residents of Hove for face-to-face personal independence payment assessments.

Justin Tomlinson

Atos Healthcare does not hold or retain information about customer journey times to attend assessments. Should a customer foresee a problem with travelling to their assessment they are asked to contact Atos to discuss their circumstances.

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support the Government is providing to remote rural communities on obtaining reliable access to broadband.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Public investment in improving broadband is nearly £1.7 billion, including £790 million of UK government funding, to bring superfast broadband to areas of the UK where it would not otherwise be available. Superfast broadband is now available to 90 per cent of UK premises and this will reach 95 per cent by December 2017.

The Government has also implemented a basic broadband scheme to enable all premises to gain access to speeds of at least 2Mbps. This allows residents to gain access to every government service available online.

Furthermore, in November 2015 the Prime Minister announced the Government’s intention to introduce a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) with the aim to provide a safety net for those homes and business in the hardest to reach parts of the UK without access to superfast broadband.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the DVLA on waiting times for HGV driving licence renewal; what the (a) rate of renewals, (b) number of new applications, (c) total number of renewals outstanding, (d) average waiting time from application to renewal and (e) number of staff processing renewals was for HGV driving licence renewals; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The table below shows the average waiting time for straightforward vocational licence renewals and the time taken to process the transaction from the day it is received at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The figures are the latest available and are for the period September 2015 to August 2016 and include applications and renewals of HGV and PSV (bus driving) entitlements.

a) Rate of renewals:

11,675 on average per month

b) Number of new applications:

5,126 on average per month

c) Total number of renewal outstanding:

Approximately 8,000 on 5 September 2016

d) Average waiting time from application to renewal:

The average waiting time from application to renewal is 1.5 working days. September 2015 – August 2016, 99% of straightforward applications were processed within three days of receipt. Applications that are more complex or where there is a medical condition involved take longer to investigate before a licensing decision can be made.

e) Number of staff processing HGV driving licence renewals:

120 staff members work on all types of vocational transactions. This includes both HGV and bus driving licence renewals.

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, what estimate he has made of the amount of money lost by UK investors as a result of Providence Bonds and Providence Bonds II being placed in administration in September 2016.

Simon Kirby

The government does not hold this information.

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 Hertfordshire police 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 Ministry of Justice

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the monthly sales figures for (1) e-cigarettes, and (2) tobacco products, in prison shops in the past year.

Lord Faulks

For prisons in England and Wales monthly sales (number of units sold[1]) for the period December 2014 to November 2015 were as follows:

	TOBACCO & CIGARETTES	SUNDRIES[2]	E CIGARETTE
DECEMBER 2014	318,300	252,500	310
JANUARY 2015	352,500	284,200	140
FEBURARY 2015	283,600	228,300	80
MARCH 2015	291,700	228,400	20
APRIL 2015	344,100	282,500	40
MAY 2015	290,800	230,100	60
JUNE 2015	286,000	216,000	60
JULY 2015	350,400	268,400	40
AUGUST 2015	286,900	220,400	6,500
SEPTEMBER 2015	280,200	219,100	5,600
OCTOBER 2015	344,200	268,700	3,000
NOVEMBER 2015	278,400	220,200	1,500

It should be noted that some of the variation in monthly sales is due to months having four weekly accounting periods and other months having five.

From December 2014 to mid-August 2015 e-cigarettes were only available in prisons in Wales plus the three Public Sector Prison establishments in England, (Eastwood Park, Stocken, and Preston) hence the relatively low sales. From 17 August 2015 all public sector establishments offered an e-cigarette on their Local Product List (prison shop form). The decrease in e-cigarette sales since August is thought to be due to an initial peak in sales when these products were first introduced.

[1] Rounded to the nearest 100, or nearest 10 when sales are less than 1,000.

[2] Sundries include, for example, rolling papers, lighters, matches, filter tips and rolling machines.

01/01/2023

Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many people of each gender have worked as special advisers in the Government Equalities Office since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage

Since May 2010, four female and two male special advisers working for successive Ministers for Women and Equalities have had responsibilities which have included women and equalities issues.

01/01/2023
Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the level of potential exposure to risk transferred to the public purse due to the introduction of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Harriett Baldwin

The Treasury publishes annually an assessment of risk from the Government’s financial interventions, including the risk borne by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) due to these interventions. This was most recently disclosed in the Treasury Group 2014/15 Annual Accounts published in July last year.

01/01/2023