Tag: Parliamentary Question

Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the recent deaths of Kurdish men and youths in Van and other parts of south-east Turkey since 1 January; and whether they have made representations to the government of Turkey about that matter.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The ongoing violence in the predominantly Kurdish areas of south east Turkey, including Van, is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces in violent terrorist attacks. We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the violence. We have been clear, in public and private, that PKK violence must end and we support a return to the peace process, in the interests of Turkey and the region. We stand ready to help in any way we can. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and our Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised the need to respect human rights and the importance of avoiding civilian casualties to the Government of Turkey.

01/01/2023

David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

The following table shows the average hourly rates of pay for all Civil Servants in the Department by gender and by working pattern for the last five years. The average hourly rate calculation uses net hours for both full-time and part-time staff.

	March 2012	March 2013	March 2014	March 2015	January 2016
Female	£22.34	£22.23	£22.23	£22.45	£22.48
Male	£25.37	£25.41	£21.69	£24.40	£24.56
Part-time	£22.95	£22.64	£23.60	£24.08	£23.95
Full-time	£23.74	£23.75	£23.12	£23.11	£23.21

01/01/2023

Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to discuss e-cigarettes and other reduced harm smoking products with tobacco companies.

Jane Ellison

Supporting smokers to quit successfully is an important part of reducing the prevalence of smoking in England today. We know that a large number of smokers have and continue to use nicotine delivery devices to support their quit attempts.

We will consult a range of stakeholders to consider how the use of these products fits with overall tobacco policy as we start to develop the new tobacco control plan.

01/01/2023
Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings or other communications took place between Mr Sheridan Westlake, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister, and Mr Chris Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs relating to government funding of voluntary organisations in the 12 months prior to the announcement on 6 February of the new clause in grant agreements restricting the use of government grants for lobbying purposes.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Institute of Economic Affairs’ written research into the misuse of government grants was acknowledged at the time that the clause was first introduced by the Department of Communities and Local Government before the last general election, and also by the Cabinet Office when it published its guidance on the new clause.

Details of Cabinet Office Ministers’ meetings, and those of the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretaries, are centrally collated and routinely published in transparency returns available on the Gov.uk website.

Information relating to the meetings and communications of Cabinet Office civil servants, including special advisers, is not routinely collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023
Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the case for including (a) biomass energy and (b) biomass conversions from former coal-fired stations alongside offshore wind in future Contract for Difference auctions; and what assessment has been made of the case for evaluating bids in such auctions on a whole system costs basis.

Andrea Leadsom

Biomass can be used as a feedstock in Dedicated Biomass with CHP, Advanced Conversion Technologies and Anaerobic Digestion plants. Those three technologies are already eligible to compete alongside offshore wind in the CFD allocation pot for “less established” technologies.

The Government will consider whether it is appropriate for biomass conversions to compete alongside offshore wind or the allocation pot for “established” technologies in due course.

DECC recognises the importance of considering the whole system impacts (both costs and benefits) of different electricity technologies when formulating future government policy, since it is a crucial element in delivering secure, clean and affordable energy to consumers.

01/01/2023
Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Solloway on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that adequate funding is directed to local mental health bodies to reduce waiting times for child mental health care.

Alistair Burt

In total the Government has made available an additional £1.4 billion over the course of this Parliament to support significant transformation in children and young people’s mental health so that there is easy access to the right support from the right service when it is needed.

The key mechanism in delivering this transformation programme, as set out in the Future in Mind report, are the Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) that all clinical commissioning groups covering all local areas have produced. These plans should meet the needs of all the local population and cover the full spectrum of services needed to ensure that children and young people can access services when they need to.

NHS England’s Local Transformation Planning guidance issued in August 2015 and the robust assurance process around it, backed by a programme of regional and national support, are in place to ensure that the additional money will be spent for the purposes intended and that locally determined key performance indicators will be met. NHS England will continue to support local areas to refresh their LTPs to take and merge into the wider Sustainability and Transparency Planning process.

01/01/2023

Baroness McGregor-Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McGregor-Smith on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the UK’s energy supply was produced from fossil fuels in each year between 1997 and 2015.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The proportion of the UK’s energy supply produced from fossil fuels in each year between 1997 and 2015 is shown in the table.

Year	Proportion (%)
1997	88.1
1998	88.3
1999	88.6
2000	89.9
2001	89.6
2002	89.5
2003	89.8
2004	90.2
2005	89.9
2006	90.1
2007	91.2
2008	91.2
2009	88.9
2010	89.5
2011	87.3
2012	87.1
2013	85.8
2014	84.3
2015	82.0

Data are published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2016, table 1.1.1.

01/01/2023

Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Statement of 10 November 2015, HCWS301, (a) how many Volkswagon vehicles have been retested to date, (b) how many such vehicles he expects to be retested and (c) what the findings were of the retest in relation to discrepancies in (i) nitrogen oxide and (ii) carbon dioxide emission figures; what recent estimate he has made of the cost of the retest programme; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

Two Skoda vehicles (from the Volkswagen Group), of a type identified by the manufacturer as having defeat devices fitted, have been tested. These tests were to determine the potential for a wider test programme to identify the presence of a defeat device.

We are not planning to retest any further Volkswagen group vehicles that are known to have defeat devices fitted but the Vehicle Certification Agency will test vehicles presented by Skoda (and at Skoda’s expense) to verify that the technical solution proposed ensures that the affected vehicles operate in accordance with the regulatory requirements.

We do not have firm numbers for these preliminary tests in relation to nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide as they were not designed to provide absolute measurement, but to validate a test procedure for the wider programme.

We have approved a budget of £675,000 from public funds to ensure that this important work can proceed. However, we have agreed with ministers in Germany and in France that we will collaborate to avoid duplication of testing and secure best value for the taxpayer.

01/01/2023
Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2015 to Question 13962, when he most recently made representations to his Ethiopian counterpart on the detention of Andargachew Tsege.

James Duddridge

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond) wrote to Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros on 10 December about Andargachew Tsege’s continued detention. He made clear that Mr Tsege should have access to a lawyer, and be allowed to challenge his detention through a legal process.

01/01/2023
Earl Attlee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Earl Attlee on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) SO1, and (2) SO2, staff appointments are established at the British Army Headquarters, and of those, how many are gapped or unfilled, excluding short handover periods.

Earl Howe

Army HQ in Andover is currently undergoing reorganisation. There are presently 221 SO1 and 375 SO2 established posts in Andover, but this includes elements of the Army that are not part of Army HQ, including Commander Field Army and parts of Personnel Support Command. Of these, seven SO1 and 13 SO2 posts are gapped. The final structure of Army HQ under the Army Command Review is not expected to be finalised until April 2016 at the earliest.

01/01/2023