Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Baroness Thomas of Winchester – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Thomas of Winchester – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of inflation on those who rely on benefits.

    Lord Freud

    Central to the Government’s long term economic plan is the creation of jobs and making work pay. We know that work is the best route out of poverty so our welfare reforms are focussed on supporting those people who can work to find and keep work rather than rely on benefits, ensuring fairness and affordability for the tax payer. We are committed to balancing incentivising work with protecting pensioners and those who cannot work, and help with the costs of additional needs. That is why benefits for the additional costs of disability, and for carers, are up-rated each year in line with prices, and the basic and new State Pensions are up-rated with our triple lock guarantee.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with manufacturers of drugs for the treatment of AIDS on preventing rises in the prices of such drugs.

    George Freeman

    There have been no such representations or discussions. The prices of branded medicines are controlled by the 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme or under the statutory scheme established under the Health Service Branded Medicines (Control of Prices and Supply of Information) (No.2) Regulations 2008 and the Health Service Medicines (Information Relating to Sales of Branded Medicines etc.) Regulations 2007.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of vacancies in each region and nation of the UK which were advertised on Universal Jobmatch in the most recent month for which figures are available were for part-time jobs.

    Priti Patel

    Official statistics on Universal Jobmatch (UJ) vacancies by region and type of job are not available. This reflects that UJ is an online aggregator of job adverts, and adverts can be posted on the system from more than one source.

    Real-time information on Universal Jobmatch is available at https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/register.aspx?redirect=http%3a%2f%2fjobsearch.direct.gov.uk%2fhome.aspx.

    “

  • Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the Armed Forces Covenant has been enacted in Northern Ireland.

    Mark Lancaster

    Since the launch of the Armed Forces Covenant in 2011 the Ministry of Defence has worked closely with Northern Ireland Government Departments, Service charities and other groups to build on existing measures to support the Armed Forces Community. In 2013, the Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs reported that, less some specific areas, Covenant measures were being applied in Northern Ireland.

    I acknowledge that the Armed Forces Covenant does not enjoy the same level of awareness or appreciation in Northern Ireland as in other parts of the UK. However, I am clear that every effort is being made to implement the Covenant against the particular nuances of the Northern Irish political and legal environment. The Ministry of Defence and other parties work tirelessly to ensure good relationships help develop improved understanding of specific needs and I have been impressed by the way in which solutions to these needs are generated in a focussed and professional manner. Such provision is fully commensurate with the aims and objectives of the Covenant, whether it is branded as such or not.

    Service personnel in Northern Ireland are well-catered for under the auspices of the Covenant and are at no particular disadvantage, although more work is needed to identify the needs of those within the veterans community. This work is ongoing, well-resourced, and fully recognised as activity provided within the scope of the Armed Forces Covenant.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to reduce plastic waste; and what assessment she has made of the contribution of the circular economy to reducing that waste.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government has taken a number of steps to reduce plastic waste.

    These include the introduction of a 5p charge on single use carrier bags, which is expected to deliver a reduction of 70-80% in bag usage.

    The UK Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations require producers of packaging to ensure that a proportion of the packaging they handle is recovered and recycled. As recycling targets become more challenging, the incentive on businesses to minimise the packaging they use increases.

    We encourage packaging producers to use a minimum level of packaging through the implementation of the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations which require that packaging should not exceed what is needed to ensure that products are safe, hygienic and acceptable to the consumer.

    The third phase of the Courtauld Commitment aims to further optimise packaging, reduce packaging waste and improve recyclability. It aims to deliver a 3% relative reduction to the amount of packaging generated by signatories.

    Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme we have developed and delivered a number of activities in support of both the use of recycled materials in new products, and on activities to stimulate its demand.

    For example, the Plastics Industry Recycling Action Plan has identified key actions that need to take place across the whole supply chain to ensure that recycling plastics packaging can be done sustainably. This includes design for recyclability, collections and sorting, reprocessing and development of sustainable end markets.

    Developing and securing sustainable end markets for recycled materials is key to delivering a circular economy.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many civil law suits have been brought against her Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    None.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 192 of the Office of Budget Responsibility’s report, Economic and fiscal outlook, published in March 2016, how the estimated savings of £0.8 billion by 2020-21 from the minimum income floor of universal credit were calculated.

    Priti Patel

    The savings were estimated using DWP’s and HMRC’s models of the tax and benefit system. Extracting the full details of the calculations carried out within the models would only be possible at disproportionate cost.

  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons the English Housing Survey Headline Report 2014 to 2015, published in February 2016, did not contain a breakdown of the nationality of the Households Representative Person by tenure; and if he will publish the data held on the nationality of the Households Representative Person by tenure for each of the last 10 years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The department collects details on the nationality of all household reference persons in the English Housing Survey. However, the sample size of the English Housing Survey does not permit us to report detailed nationality statistics.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many unanswered telephone calls the National Maritime Operations Centre has each day.

    Mr John Hayes

    Her Majesty’s Coastguard does not record the number of unanswered routine telephone calls at the National Maritime Operations Centre or at any of the Coastguard Operations Centres within the national network.

    It should be noted that there is a robust system, in line with the Public Emergency Call Service (PECS) Code of Practice, to ensure that ‘999’ calls to Centres within the network are answered. This is through a cascade system across the network and if necessary to other emergency services.

  • Lord Temple-Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Temple-Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Temple-Morris on 2016-10-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 11 October (HL1831), how many arrests of illegal immigrants, and how many arrests for immigration offences, there were in each of the last five years; and how many of those arrested in each year (1) were deported from the UK, (2) remained in custody, and (3) were released within the UK.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    It is not possible to provide information specific to the number of arrests for illegal immigrants because immigration offences cover a wide range of activities and the data specific to arrests for illegal immigration cannot be separated from arrests for other immigration offences. Additionally, an individual may be arrested for committing more than one offence, but as only one offence per arrest is recorded in a format that can be reported on centrally it is not possible to provide complete figures on arrests by individual offences type.

    Information on arrests – either by an Immigration Enforcement or Police Officer – for committing an immigration offence is available. For the period 2011/12 to 2015/16, our records indicate that there were 119,730 arrests.

    Data on the custody or detention status of those arrested cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost because checks of individual records would be required.