Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what equality impact assessment has been carried out on the consequences of selective education, as outlined in the Schools that work for everyone consultation document on the right for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities pupils to be in mainstream education.

    Nick Gibb

    This Government is committed to ensuring all children, including those with SEND, have the opportunity to achieve their potential and make a successful transition to adult life.

    The Admissions Code and the Equality Act 2010 apply to all schools – both selective and non-selective – meaning they must make admission decisions over those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) fairly.

    The Department is having, and will continue to have, due regard to equalities impact, both in the study of responses to the consultation document and throughout any development of policy areas, following the consultation.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Tom Pursglove – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many civil servants in his Department are members of trades unions; how much working hours facility time is claimed by each such civil servant; and what the cost of that facility time is to his Department.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Department does not actively collect information around trade union memberships.

    The Cabinet Office publishes data relating to Civil Service facility time on a quarterly basis. The latest data is Quarter 4, 2014 at and is available athttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-union-facility-time."

  • Holly Lynch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Holly Lynch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Calder Valley Line will be used as a diversion during the electrification of the Manchester to Leeds via Stalybridge line; and what assessment he has made of the merits of those diverted trains calling at Sowerby Bridge.

    Andrew Jones

    As announced on 30 September, Network Rail are working with the Department and Rail North to develop a new plan for electrification of the TransPennine line to focus on delivering key passenger benefits as quickly as possible. In his letter to the Secretary of State, Sir Peter Hendy, the chairman of Network Rail, stated that the planning of this work will be concluded by the end of 2017. The intention is to use the Calder Valley Line as a diversion during the works on the North Transpennine Line via Stalybridge. The details of the calling patterns of the diverted trainsare not yet determined, as the works need to be planned first. The Department and Rail North will work with the new train operators over the next few years to plan the calling patterns. The new train operators will take over from April 2016.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential costs and benefits to business of changes to motor insurance proposed in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Ministry of Justice will launch a public consultation in the New Year on the details of the policy.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made on the effect of the visa refund fee scheme on the number of Chinese people visiting the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office has made no assessment of the effect of the visa refund fee scheme because it is operated by Visit Britain on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department is having with NHS England on ensuring patients continuing access established precision treatments for colorectal cancer.

    George Freeman

    We are not aware of any discussions with NHS England on this matter.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, reference to her speech of 18 November 2015, if she will take evidence from the CoalImP and the World Coal Association in her Department’s forthcoming review of coal; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in her speech that the department will be launching a consultation on proposals to close unabated coal generation by 2025. Coallmp, the World Coal Association and any other interested parties are encouraged to engage and respond.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-04-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the fact that the new Royal Research Ship being built for the British Antarctic Survey is a ship and not a boat, what is their assessment of the suitability of the name Boaty McBoatface for that vessel.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The feedback from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)’s call-for-ideas for the new Royal Research Ship is being considered by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and NERC. The final decision on the ship’s name will be taken by Government. The name will be submitted for registration to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in line with Regulation 30(1) of the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Regulations 1993.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the financial effect on people caring for family members of the closure of the Independent Living Fund and the introduction of the Care Act 2014.

    Alistair Burt

    The Independent Living Fund (ILF) closed on 30 June 2015, with funding and responsibility transferring to local authorities in England and the Devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales. The Department has not made an assessment of the financial impact on those caring for family members, and at this stage does not plan to do so.

    However, the Department has issued statutory guidance to local authorities to support this transfer of responsibility and to prevent any former ILF user having their care interrupted during the transfer. I have recently reminded local authorities of the need to comply with this guidance. In addition, the Care Act 2014 introduced important new rights for carers, and placed a duty on local authorities to assess adults who appear to have care and support needs and to meet those needs which meet the national eligibility criteria.

    The Government has committed to publishing a new cross-Government National Carers Strategy before the end of 2016. A wide-ranging call for evidence is now underway to underpin the development of the Strategy, which will gather evidence from stakeholders, and carers themselves, on their experience of caring including issues of personal finance and the support they receive from local authorities.

  • Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Blackman on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will take steps to encourage the government of Bangladesh to put the perpetrators of violence against religious minorities in the region on trial as soon as possible.

    Alok Sharma

    The British Government is extremely concerned by the increase in extremist-related violence against a number of minority groups including Hindus in Bangladesh since September 2015. The former Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) most recently talked to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh about countering extremism in the margins of the G7 meeting in Japan on 27 May. The former Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) raised this with Foreign Minister Ali on 5 July. The British High Commissioner regularly discusses these issues with Bangladesh government ministers. We welcome Prime Minister Hasina’s “zero tolerance” approach towards terrorism, but this must be implemented in a way that fully respects the international rights standards that Bangladesh has signed up to and which, as a member of both the Commonwealth and the UN Human Rights Council, it has pledged to uphold.