Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Mike Weir – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the transparency of contact details for the National Consumer Council pension scheme.

    Nick Boles

    The National Consumer Council participated in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), which is managed by the Cabinet Office. Administration of the PCSPS is contracted out to MyCSP Ltd. MyCSP’s performance in administering the PCSPS is monitored by the Supplier Management team within Civil Service Pensions in the Cabinet Office; the performance of MyCSP is also reported to the Civil Service Pensions Board on a regular basis, which is independent of the Cabinet Office team.

    Contact details for MyCSP are available from the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/contact-us/.

    “

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support the armed forces is providing to Iraqi forces related to the conflict with Daesh in Falujah.

    Penny Mordaunt

    As part of Coalition forces, the RAF is conducting airstrikes against Daesh targets in support of ISF operations in Fallujah.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to monitor the effect of the change from disability living allowance to personal independence payments on the standard of living of the recipients of those payments.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Both Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are designed to contribute towards the extra cost of having a disability. PIP is a modern benefit that maintains the key principles of DLA; it is a non-means-tested, non-taxable cash benefit available to people in and out of work. In addition, it takes proper account of mental health conditions and targets resources on those who need support. Most people will continue to receive support under PIP and, in fact, a greater proportion of claimants are receiving the highest rates of the benefit than in DLA – 23 per cent compared to 15 per cent on DLA.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-10-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department had with UK steelmakers before the decision was made to use French steel in the construction of Trident successor submarines.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The management of the steel procurement process for the Successor Programme is the responsibility of the Prime Contractor, BAE Systems. The Ministry of Defence’s involvement with suppliers was limited to conducting a technical assessment during the tendering process to ensure bids met specifications.

    The tendering process was progressed and concluded by the Prime Contractor, no viable UK bid was received for this part of the Successor submarine manufacture. Other stages of construction will include grades of steel manufactured by British suppliers and I encourage them to take the opportunity to bid.

    Overall, 85% of BAE System’s supply chain for the new submarines is based in the UK.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the likely causes of changes in the size of the UK Ship Register since 2010.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    A decline in UK shipping interests, including in the size of the UK Ship Register, was one of the reasons government launched the Maritime Growth Study in 2014. The evidence into the Study included an assessment from the independent UK Ship Register Advisory Panel, which was commissioned by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) to review the current performance of the UK Ship Register and consider the conditions which would enable the Register to become more internationally competitive. The Panel’s report includes their views on the reasons for the decline in the Register and was published on 16 July 2015.

    The wider Study, published on 7 September 2015, considered the increasing international competition faced by the UK maritime sector as a whole, but contains a number of proposals specific to the UK Ship Register.

    The Government will respond formally to the Maritime Growth Study by the end of 2015, but is taking immediate action in response to some recommendations. This includes the establishment of a Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth and taking steps to support the improved operation of the MCA such as appointing a commercial director to lead the UK Ship Register separately from the Agency’s regulatory functions and a business case exploring the costs and benefits of options for more significant reform of the MCA.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about reports that Israeli vehicles entered the northern Gaza Strip near Jabalia and created earth mounds to prevent Palestinian farmers from accessing their land.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While we have not made representations on this specific issue, our Ambassador in Tel Aviv discussed the need to create economic sustainability in the West Bank and Gaza with the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, Public Security and Information on 19 November. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv also discussed the issue of access to Gaza with the Head of the Civil Department of the Israeli Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) on 24 November. During this meeting we welcomed the indefinite continuation of permissions for agricultural exports to Israel and the lifting of restrictions on exporting textiles, furniture and scrap metal to Israel.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the UK Athletics report A Manifesto for Clean Athletics.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    I welcome UK Athletics contributing to the debate on anti-doping and underlining its commitment to clean sport.

    It’s important that all sports continue to look at ways they can further promote clean sport and we will continue to work closely with UK Anti-Doping, World Anti-Doping Agency and sports governing bodies on tackling doping.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to review the harmony guidelines on periods of time away for service personnel.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence has no plans to review the harmony guidelines, which are set to ensure that there is an acceptable balance between the competing aspects of the lives of Service personnel.

    We recognise that when harmony guidelines are breached, this can have an impact on operational effectiveness. That is why we are committed to minimising the number of unnecessary breaches whilst at the same time maintaining operational capability.

    The Ministry of Defence publishes Monthly Service Personnel Statistics which include (at Table 10) the numbers of trained UK Regular Personnel breaching Individual Harmony Guidelines. The latest report, published on 14 January 2016, shows that as at 1 October 2015 the breach rate equated to 0.4% for the Naval Service, 2.6% for the Army and 1.3% for the Royal Air Force.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-monthly-service-personnel-statistics-2015

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in his Department.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Since 1998 the Department for Work and Pensions has outsourced the provision and maintenance for the majority of its estate to Telereal Trillium under a 20 year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract that expires on 31 March 2018.

    Under the terms of the contract, Telereal Trillium provides fully-serviced accommodation, for which we pay an all-inclusive annual charge. Engie are Telereal Trillium’s cleaning service provider.

    The Engie base rate of pay for all cleaners within the M25 is £9.15 (London Living Wage) which will increase to the new London Living Wage of £9.40 by May 2016.

    The Engie base rate of pay for all cleaners outside the M25 is £6.70 (or the scale appropriate to their age) which will change in April 2016 to the National Living Wage of £7.20 (or the scale appropriate to their age).

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the economic security implications of the proposed merger between the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Borse.

    Harriett Baldwin

    I refer the honourable Member to my previous written answer 34500 of 25 April 2016.