Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are concurrently claiming employment and support allowance and personal independence payments for long-term and degenerative conditions.

    Justin Tomlinson

    In March 2016 approximately 6,600 Employment and Support Allowance claimants with a long-term and degenerative condition as their primary condition also received Personal Independence Payment.

    ‘Long-term and degenerative conditions’ include cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, other rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what proportion of staff on the payroll of his Department who work in Westminster are (a) British nationals and (b) nationals of another country.

    Mr David Jones

    All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

    Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

    More broadly, the Government will be consulting in due course on how we work with business to ensure that workers in this country have the skills that they need to get a job. But there are no proposals to publish lists of the number or proportion of foreign workers.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of private hire vehicles illegally plying for hire.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government is responsible for the legislative structure within which local licensing authorities deliver the licensing regime for taxis and private hire vehicles. Enforcement of the licensing regime, including ensuring that private hire vehicles do not illegally ply for hire, is therefore a matter for local licensing authorities and the police.

  • Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-12-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the status of the Northern Powerhouse rail network, what schemes are incorporated into its remit, what budget it has allocated to it and by whom, what the governance structure is, and what powers it has.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The government and Transport for the North (TfN) published the Northern Transport Strategy in March 2015, setting out the vision for the Northern Powerhouse Rail network: radically improved journey times and frequencies between the major cities of the North, building on the substantial improvements to rail in the North to which the government is already committed.

    In November, the government and Transport for the North published the Northern Transport Strategy: Autumn Report, providing a progress update on the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) network.

    The government has also committed a total of £50 million of funding over this parliament to Transport for the North, to help it develop plans to transform the North’s rail connections and build a single regional economy.

    Work on Northern Powerhouse Rail is governed jointly by the Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for the North as set out in Principles for Governing the Relationship Between TfN and DfT.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who the Deputy Director for Transparency is in his Department.

    Matthew Hancock

    All deputy directors have a responsibility for transparency policies whichreflects the breadth and importance of the agenda. An organogram of the Cabinet Office is available here: https://data.gov.uk/organogram/cabinet-office

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many new athletics tracks have been built since August 2012.

    David Evennett

    According to Sport England’s Active Places Power database which maps community sports facilities in England, 15 new athletics tracks have been built in England since 2012. This data can be found at: www.activeplacespower.com

  • Robert Jenrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Robert Jenrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Jenrick on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value is of sanctioned Iranian assets which have been released by the Government or any other entity within the UK since the conclusion of the Iranian agreement in May 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Financial sanctions are implemented in the United Kingdom by HM Treasury. When assets are frozen they remain where they are held and are not seized or confiscated by the government or the Treasury. As such, the government does not hold frozen assets belonging to designated Iranian or other persons subject financial sanctions.

    Every year the Treasury requests information from businesses on funds they hold that are frozen under financial sanctions legislation. The most recent data from September 2015 showed that there was approximately £728,450,000 of funds frozen under the Iran (non-proliferation) sanctions regime.

    In July 2015 the EU/E3+3 and the Islamic Republic of Iran reached a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). On 16 January 2016 the initial sanctions relief provided for under the JCPoA came into effect. Part of this relief included the lifting of the asset freeze against certain individuals and entities with frozen balances of approximately £657,830,000. Therefore approximately £70,620,000 remains frozen.

    The next phase of sanctions relief under the JCPoA is due on Transition Day in eight years’ time, or when the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded that all nuclear material in Iran remains in peaceful activities, whichever is earlier.

  • Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Attorney General, what procedures are in place to share information from the Serious Fraud Office’s dedicated reporting channel with other investigatory bodies and prosecuting authorities.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is an intelligence led agency and follows the National Intelligence Model (NIM) when sharing information with law enforcement partners.

    Every report made to the SFO is assessed by a member of its Intelligence Unit in conjunction with other information available. The SFO passes information on to others when it has appropriate intelligence to share. This could be information from a single report, or a collated intelligence package.

    The vast majority of reports made to the SFO are not matters which it can investigate, and are more appropriate for the police or other agencies. Action Fraud is the UK’s national fraud reporting centre. Individuals are asked to report matters directly to them so that Action Fraud can make best use of their information. They will also be given a crime report number for future reference.

    The table below shows the minimum number of intelligence referrals made by the SFO to other agencies which are directly referable to reports made through the dedicated reporting channel(1) since these statistics have been recorded. It also shows the number of SFO investigations opened since 2012 where the initial report to the SFO came through its online reporting system.

    Year

    Number of referrals

    SFO investigations that originated through online reporting system

    2012

    Not recorded

    1

    2013

    Not recorded

    2

    2014

    144

    3

    2015

    154

    3

    1. The SFO does not record statistical information about all types of referrals that it makes to other agencies that are directly referable to reports made through the dedicated reporting channel, so the total number may be higher.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government plans to become a founding donor of the Education cannot wait fund for education in emergencies, at its launch at the World Humanitarian Summit.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK has played a leading role in the development of the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, which was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit on 23rd May. The UK has committed to provide £30million in support over two years to the new fund as a founding donor, which was announced by the International Development Secretary at the fund’s launch.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what purposes the income from fines levied on parents in England who take their children out of school in term time is allocated.

    Nick Gibb

    The sums received by local authorities from penalty notices issued to parents should be used for the purposes of issuing and enforcing such penalty notices, and prosecuting recipients who do not pay.

    This is set out in Regulation 23 of the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) Regulations 2007, available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/1867/contents/made