Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Chuka Umunna – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chuka Umunna – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued on the applicability of Florrie’s law, capping council housing repair bills, to works which were commissioned but not implemented before that law was introduced in August 2014.

    Brandon Lewis

    Free advice and information about service charge issues, including the applicability of The Social Landlords Mandatory Reduction of Service Charges (England) Direction 2014 (known as ‘Florrie’s Law’), is available from the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE). This is a specialist body funded by my Department to provide initial advice and guidance on a wide range of residential leasehold issues.

    These Directions do not apply to service charges for major works where a local authority has already been awarded Government funding to carry them out, regardless of whether the works have commenced before the law was introduced.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23088, on electoral register: costs, what the £23 million not shared between all EROs in Great Britain was spent on.

    John Penrose

    The remaining £23 million was for developing and maintaining the online registration service, electoral management software costs, payments to civil society organisations to help boost voter registration levels and staffing and related costs.

  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidelines he has issued to local authorities to require them to record the proportion of their procurement spent on small and medium-sized businesses.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is committed to ensuring there is a simple and consistent approach to procurement across the public sector so that small businesses can gain better and more access to public sector contracts – either directly or as sub-contractors.

    The Government produced guidance as part of the reforms included in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 which aim to make public contracts more accessible to businesses and in particular to small and medium enterprises. The reforms included the abolition of pre-qualification questionnaire for low value tenders; simplification of the pre-qualification questionnaire for high value tenders; advertising all local authority contracts of £25,000 or over (or the authority’s standing order limit if higher) on Contracts Finder; and paying down the supplier chain in 30 days.

    The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires all local authorities to publish details of contracts exceeding £5,000 including information on whether or not the supplier is a small or medium sized enterprise and/or a voluntary or community sector organisation.

    However, the Department has made no assessment of the amount or proportion of local government procurement spend going to small and medium sized businesses.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage investment in (a) sustainable aircraft fuels and (b) other renewable technology.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The UK wants to ensure that the aviation sector makes a significant and cost-effective contribution to reducing global emissions. The Government supports a range of measures to achieve this, including the use of sustainable alternative fuels, technological improvements to aircraft, operational improvements in air traffic management, and market-based measures.

    Sustainable fuels have an important role to play in reducing carbon emissions from transport, particularly in sectors where there are limited alternatives for decarbonisation such as aviation.

    We are assessing the benefits of making sustainable aviation fuels eligible for certificates under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). We aim to publish a consultation on legislative amendments to the RTFO later this year including proposals for aviation biofuels.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the Government’s policy is on continuing to adhere to the terms of the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters after the UK has left the EU.

    Mr David Jones

    I refer the honorable Member to the answer given on 26 July to Question 43162.

    Until we leave the EU, EU law continues to apply so the UK continues to comply with EU law that implements obligations in the Aarhus Convention. The UK remains a Party to the Aarhus Convention.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will commission research into the economic, social and environmental contribution of the organic farming sector in England to assist in informing policy and funding of this sector once the UK leaves the EU.

    George Eustice

    As part of our commitment to evidence-based policy making, we regularly collect and analyse data on all farm types – including small farms and organic enterprises. We will continue to develop our evidence base to inform policy development, and are committed to working with the industry to ensure a vibrant and productive future for all agricultural sectors outside of the European Union.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of cases of hypothermia diagnosed in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) Yorkshire and Humber and (c) the UK in each year since May 2010.

    Jane Ellison

    The table below sets out the count of finished admission episodes (FAEs)1 with a primary diagnosis2 of hypothermia3 in Barnsley Central constituency4, North Yorkshire and Humber, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Area Teams of residence5 and England for years 2010-11 to 2013-146

    Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    Barnsley Central constituency

    *

    *

    *

    *

    North Yorkshire & Humber Area Team of Residence

    53

    60

    61

    73

    South Yorkshire & Bassetlaw Area Team of Residence

    33

    50

    36

    55

    West Yorkshire Area Team of Residence

    73

    78

    76

    78

    England

    3,390

    3,406

    3,942

    3,837

    Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Notes:

    1. Finished admission episode

    A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

    2. Primary diagnosis

    The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital.

    3. ICD-10 Codes

    The following ICD-10 codes were used to identify hypothermia:

    T68.X Hypothermia

    R68.0 Hypothermia, not associated with low environmental temperature

    P80.- Hypothermia of newborn

    4. Parliamentary constituency of residence

    The parliamentary constituency containing the patient’s normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another parliamentary constituency for treatment. This field is only available from 2009-10 onwards.

    5. Area Team of residence

    The area team containing the patient’s normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another area for treatment.

    6. Assessing growth through time (Inpatients)

    HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.

    7. Small numbers

    To protect patient confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify figures from the total, additional figures have been replaced with "*". Where the symbol "-" (dash) appears this represents the absence of data.

    Note that HES disclosure control rules only apply to ‘known’ values, e.g. small numbers where the age is unknown do not need to be replaced with "*".

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the value of Palestinian universities as a human resource for Palestine and the wider Middle East; and what additional resources and support they plan to provide for their development and contribution to peace-building.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While the British Government has not made any assessment of the value of Palestinian universities, we do continue to encourage links between UK and Palestinian institutions.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding his Department has provided to the Gender Recognition Panel in each of the last five years.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will meet the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish to discuss the consultation process for the draft Greater Manchester Spatial Framework Development Plan.

    James Wharton

    The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities is currently involved in the preparation of a Greater Manchester Spatial Framework Development Plan working with the 10 metropolitan councils in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s area. We understand that this is intended to become a joint development plan document.

    A local authority may arrange for the discharge of any of its functions by a committee, sub-committee, an officer or by any other local authority. The ten local authorities have delegated responsibility for the “coordination” of the Greater Manchester Strategic Framework to Association of Greater Manchester Authorities Executive Board, a committee of the Combined Authority. Under these current arrangements, it is for each individual authority to decide how to engage its members in the production of the document.

    Each local planning authority must also comply with section 18 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which requires them to prepare a Statement of Community Involvement which should explain how they will engage local communities and other interested parties in producing development plan documents and determining planning applications. This should be published on the local planning authority’s website and it is the authority’s responsibility to ensure that any Development Plan Document is prepared in accordance with it.

    It would not be appropriate for me to meet to discuss the detail of a plan in preparation.