Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many television licenses were purchased in each region and constituent part of the UK in each of the last five years.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The estimated number of television licences in force over last five years is contained in the table below (answers given in millions).

    (Million)

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    England

    20.90

    21.01

    21.09

    21.26

    21.26

    Northern Ireland

    0.66

    0.67

    0.67

    0.67

    0.68

    Scotland

    2.20

    2.20

    2.21

    2.22

    2.21

    Wales

    1.25

    1.26

    1.26

    1.27

    1.27

    Channel Islands & Isle of Man

    0.09

    0.09

    0.09

    0.09

    0.09

    25.10

    25.23

    25.34

    25.42

    25.51

    Please note that:

    • TV Licensing reports on the number of TV licences ‘in force’. The exact number of licences in force varies on a daily basis as people will be buying new licences and some will terminate payment schemes before full payment has been made.
    • Estimated figures have been calculated by applying the proportion of licensed premises to the total number of licences in force.
    • The number of licences premises is different to the number of licences in force as, in some cases, a premises may need more than one licence.
    • These figures exclude concessionary licences for those living in residential care.
  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to assist poorer students with the repayment of their student loans.

    Joseph Johnson

    Student loan repayments are income contingent and deductions are taken at 9% of income over the applicable repayment threshold.

    The repayment threshold affords protection to lower earning borrowers. Borrowers make no repayment if their income remains or falls below the threshold.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contingency arrangements her Department has made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for our country and secure our future. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe, including the renegotiation and referendum.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the announced closure of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ Sheffield office and their proposal to establish six new business centres across the country, where those proposed new centres will be located.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    As part of the Department’s change programme, BIS2020, we anticipate reducing the number of our locations from more than 80 to approximately 7 centres plus a regional footprint. Beyond the announcement made about our Sheffield office at St Paul’s Place on 28 January, we do not yet know exactly which sites will be retained or closed over the course of the Parliament. By 2020 the majority of employees in BIS and its Partner Organisations will continue to be based outside London through a number of centres – such as in Birmingham, Glasgow, and Swindon – as well as a regional footprint for the provision of local services.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take following the second postponement of the visit to follow up the June 2012 report Children in Military Custody.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    On 18 February during his visit to Israel, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), expressed his disappointment to Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister at Israel’s unwillingness to facilitate meetings for the British lawyers. We are now considering alternative means to take forward this work.

  • Lord Mancroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Mancroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mancroft on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government for what reason NHS England intends to treat only a specified number of patients in 2016–17, as defined by recently published run rates for operational delivery networks services.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) specifically requires Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) to prioritise hepatitis C patients on the basis of highest unmet clinical need, as part of a progressive rollout of treatments over the next five years.

    NHS England is funding providers to double the number of patients treated and this number will ensure the National Health Service fully meets in 2016/17 the patient numbers NICE set out for progressive rollout of the treatments at the time it published its guidance.

    NHS England has invested in a Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme to incentivise ODNs to meet their agreed rate of roll-out. If their treatment rates deviate from this agreed rate of treatment, they are no longer eligible for these incentives.

    In meeting the obligations of its Mandate, NHS England has set out a planning approach for hepatitis C that delivers access to NICE recommended treatment without disinvestment in other health services.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what guidance his Department makes available to UK Special Forces and intelligence agencies on the dissemination of intelligence relating to individuals who are at risk of targeted lethal strikes by the US.

    Penny Mordaunt

    It is the longstanding policy of the Government not to comment on our Special Forces or intelligence activities.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in how many local authority areas in (a) London and (b) England broadband speeds are below the recommended speed as advised by Ofcom.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Superfast broadband with speeds of at least 24Mbps 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 enables residents and businesses in all parts of the UK to gain access to every government service available online.

    In addition it is the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation that will give people the legal right to request a broadband connection, no matter where they live, by the end of this Parliament. Our ambition is that this should initially be set at 10 Mbps.

    There is no specific recommended speed advised by Ofcom.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people with refugee status have undertaken study at the level of higher education in the UK in each of the last six years.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government has a longstanding and proud tradition of providing a safe haven to those who have no choice but to leave their home country because of endangerment to their lives or those of their families.

    Student support is available to those recognised as refugees (and their spouses, civil partners and children named on the initial application for asylum), provided they have been ordinarily resident in the British Islands since being recognised by the Government as a refugee and are ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of the course. They are exempt from the three year residence requirement.

    Asylum seekers who are recognised as refugees after the start of their course may qualify for support for the remainder of their studies as follows:

    • living cost support in any subsequent years of the course (and in the quarters following the award in the year of the award); and

    • fee assistance in any subsequent years of the course (and in the year of the award if the award is made within three months of the first day of the academic year of the course).

    Information on the total number of students with a refugee status undertaking Higher Education courses in the UK is not available.

    Information is available from the Student Loans Company (SLC) on applicants with refugee status awarded student finance. Management information from the SLC showing the number of refugee applicants awarded loans in England in each of the last six years can be found in the table below:

    English Domiciled applicants with a refugee status awarded student loans

    Academic years 2009/10 to 2014/15 (data effective as at the end of each academic year)

    Academic Year

    Number of refugees awarded loans

    2009/10

    2,000

    2010/11

    2,500

    2011/12

    3,000

    2012/13

    3,700

    2013/14

    3,800

    2014/15

    3,900

    Source: SLC, Management Information

    Note: Awards do not necessarily translate into payments. An awarded applicant will only receive payments once SLC has received confirmation from the student’s provider at the start of the academic year that the student has been registered on the course.

  • James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cleverly on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department had on the candidates for appointment for the post of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth before the most recent appointment to that post made at the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting in November 2015.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​​We demand a lot of the Commonwealth and had high expectations for the new Secretary-General. The UK wanted the strongest possible candidate to steer the Commonwealth through reform, to ensure that it has a voice on the most pressing global challenges and to unite countries behind the Commonwealth’s values such as the protection and promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. We assessed candidates for the position based on this criteria. We welcomed Patricia Scotland’s appointment as Secretary General in November 2015.