The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criminal record-sharing facilities exist between the UK and the A2 countries of the EU; and if she will make a statement.
James Brokenshire
The UK exchanges criminal records information with the A2 countries – Bulgaria and Romania – as a result of the UK’s participation in the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-07-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they will take to prevent further deterioration of Southern Rail services.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Prior to the start of the industrial action by the RMT on Southern, the performance on this route was improving; we urge the union in the strongest terms to get round the table and end this unjustified action which is harming passengers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of objections to the creation of lorry area in Kent to address problems caused by Operation Stack.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Highways England (HE) held a public consultation on their proposals for a lorry area between 11 December 2015 and 26 January 2016. The information gathered was analysed and published in:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/535213/Public_Consultation_Report_Managing_Freight_Through_Kent_March_2016.pdf and is attached for ease of reference.
Highways England held a second public consultation between 12 August and 23 September 2016 on the design of the lorry area. They are currently analysing all comments Highways England received and will publish a consultation report in due course.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of safety measures used on the road network to protect road maintenance workers.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport and Highways England are working closely with the Highways Maintenance Term Association and the wider construction sector on safety initiatives to ensure the safety and protection of operatives working on the highway network in England.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-11-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times explosive ordinance officers were deployed to deal with incidents in Northern Ireland between 1 January 2015 and 1 July 2015.
Penny Mordaunt
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my predecessor, the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mark Francois) on 27 February 2015 to Question 225158. The Report of the Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 which contains the requested information is published annually. The next report will be published in January 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of new HGV drivers who will be required in each of the next five years.
Andrew Jones
The Department is working with other parts of Government to encourage and enable more people to become lorry drivers, including via apprenticeships and action related to Jobcentre Plus.
The Department is taking steps to ensure that the increased demand for driving tests is accommodated through recruiting driving examiners and providing increased numbers of test appointments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what factors she takes into account in considering a request from a local authority to dispose of school sites under Schedule 14 of the Education Act 2011.
Edward Timpson
Since January 2013, the Secretary of State for Education has received:
These figures include applications in those local authorities relating to land held by Academy Trusts under a lease from the local authority.
The Education Act 2011 requires that the Secretary of State must give consent prior to the disposal of land which has been used for any school or academy in the last eight years. Secretary of State consent is also required under section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 where local authorities wish to dispose of playing field land that has been used by a school in the last ten years. A key consideration for the government is whether the land proposed for disposal could be suitable for use by a new school.
There are a range of reasons for these disposals. Some disposals are leases from the academy trustees back to the local authority, which allow a children’s centre on site to continue or which provide land for another school. A substantial number of consents refer to local authority maintained school sites for outright disposals where the school has closed or relocated to a new build site.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) funding the Government will provide to the Joint Security Fund, (b) funding his Department will receive from that fund, (c) funding Defence Intelligence will receive from that fund and (d) proportion of the funding his Department will so receive will be passed onto the armed forces.
Michael Fallon
The Treasury has allocated £3.5 billion to departments over this Parliament to provide joint security funding across government: the Ministry of Defence will benefit from £2.1 billion of that funding to deliver the investment for our Armed Forces set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether central clearing houses in financial markets are required to prepare living wills; and what measures have been put in place to manage a capital failure.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
UK legislation requires central counterparties (CCPs) to develop recovery plans and to have ‘loss allocation’ rules, in order to allocate any losses sustained by the CCP either following the default of a clearing member or due to certain non-default events, so that the CCP can continue to provide its critical functions.
The Government has also broadened the scope of the UK’s Special Resolution Regime to cover CCPs. When certain conditions are met, this allows the Bank of England to intervene by transferring all or some of the business of a CCP to either a private sector purchaser or to a bridge CCP owned by the Bank of England, or to transfer ownership of the CCP to any person.
Qualifying changes of control of CCPs are assessed by the Bank of England and I refer the noble Lord to my written answer HL7153 of 1 April 2016.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the role of betting shop staff and their recognition of excluded customers in the betting shop multi-operator self-exclusion scheme.
David Evennett
The Betting Shop multi-operator self-exclusion scheme came into force across the whole betting sector on 6 April following successful pilots in Chatham, Glasgow and London. Self-exclusion is an important harm minimisation tool designed to provide greater protection to players who require assistance to manage their gambling. The Gambling Commission will continue to assess how well self exclusion schemes are being delivered.