Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Prisk on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the total funding allocated for the construction of cycle superhighways in London.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Decisions on how much funding to allocate to cycling projects on the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) are entirely a matter for the Mayor and Transport for London. The Department for Transport (DfT) provides the Greater London Authority with an annual transport grant for TfL, and it is up to the Mayor to determine how this grant is spent. In 2013, the Mayor published a vision for cycling which outlined plans to invest £913 million on a wide variety of schemes to improve conditions for cyclists in London, including the construction of a number of new and improved cycle superhighways.

  • Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Scriven – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 23 March (HL6926), whether the issue of the sugar tax to be introduced by NHS England in their own premises by 2020 was raised as part of their conversations with NHS England, and if so, by whom and which ministers were consequently informed.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We have a range of conversations about key issues at Ministerial and official level with NHS England. NHS England is independent and the decision on a sugar levy on the National Health Service estate is a matter for them operationally. We are interested to see the results of their consultation on a sugar levy.

    The announcement of a soft drinks industry levy by the Chancellor in the Budget is the first step in our comprehensive Childhood Obesity Strategy, which will be launched in the summer, and gives companies strong incentives to reformulate their products.

  • Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Football Association, Union of European Football Associations and the French government on potential risks to safety and security caused by the selling of tickets to UK-based customers for the European Football Association Championships in the secondary ticketing market.

    David Evennett

    It is an offence for an unauthorized person to sell a ticket for a designated football match via the internet under section 166A of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. The Government expects companies in the secondary market to comply with the law.

    Professor Michael Waterson is chairing an independent Review of consumer protection measures applying to the re-sale of tickets for music, sporting or cultural events in the UK through secondary ticketing facilities. In supporting Professor Waterson in carrying out his Review, my officials have had discussions with their counterparts in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Home Office about online re-sale of football tickets.

    The Department agrees with the Football Association that fans of the home nations participating in the Euro 2016 Football Championships should purchase tickets through authorised channels. Such channels include UEFA’s Euro 2016 ticket resale platform.

    The safety and security of the Euro 2016 Football Championships is a matter for the French Government and UEFA. The UK Government co-operates closely with France on matters of policing and security.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish a long-term spectrum plan for broadcast television.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The most recent assessment was made by the independent regulator, Ofcom, in their report: The Future of Free to View TV (May 2014). This is a fast moving market and as it evolves, the Government will keep these issues under review.

    Detailed spectrum planning is a matter for Ofcom.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the adequacy of the level of investment in language subjects at school in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    The Government has invested some £5 million since 2011, funding projects in schools to raise standards of teaching in languages and to equip teachers to teach the new and more demanding languages curriculum.

    We continue to offer generous bursaries for languages trainees, with up to £25,000 for those with a first class or 2:1 degree. In addition, from September 2016 there will be a programme of school-led teacher subject specialism training in modern foreign languages for qualified teachers who wish to develop skills in an additional language to their current specialism, and to provide refresher training for former languages teachers to return to teaching. This funding totals £1.5 million in the current academic year.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will issue a response to EDM 502, Forced Organ Harvesting in China.

    Alok Sharma

    ​I refer the Hon. Member to the Westminster hall debate on forced organ removal in China, where the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan) spoke on 11 October 2016, Official Report, columns 17 – 21WH.

  • Michael Dugher – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Michael Dugher – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Support for Mortgage Relief provisions are available to customers of Northern Rock Asset Management.

    Harriett Baldwin

    No specific provision has been made for customers of Northern Rock Asset Management or any other bank or building society following the restriction to finance cost relief for individual residential landlords.

    Restricting finance cost relief to the basic rate of income tax means all individual landlords will be treated the same by the tax system, regardless of their overall income.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the cost of disallowance penalties relating to the Common Agricultural Policy as a result of the return to paper-assisted digital applications in 2015.

    George Eustice

    The new Common Agricultural Policy has been widely recognised as being more complex for farmers to understand and harder for Member States to administer. The new schemes have not yet been audited by the European Commission so it is too early to say what the level of any disallowance will be, but complexity tends to increase disallowance risk.

    For the Basic Payment Scheme 2015 the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) sent pre-populated claim forms to farmers and land owners to allow them to submit their applications before the deadline. The RPA provided an unprecedented level of support to farmers and land owners through the Rural Payments Helpline and 50 Drop In Centres that allowed some 88,000 applications to be received within the deadline. ‘Paper-assisted’ means that forms were completed on paper but then entered on to a digital system by RPA staff.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Steve Rotheram – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2016-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the amount of new entrant workers that will be needed in the construction industry to meet demand in each of the next five years.

    Nick Boles

    The Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB) Construction Skills Network estimates224,000 new construction jobs are set to be created throughout the UK in the next five years. This means that more than 44,000 jobs could be created every year for the next five years.

    According to CITB estimates, 19% of UK construction workers are aged 55+, and are set to retire in the next 10 years (406,000 people), creating equivalent replace demand.

    The Government has no estimate of the number of construction workers expected to leave the industry due to ill-health.

    The Government is committed to significantly increasing the quantity and quality of all apprenticeships in England to 3 million starts by 2020; the construction industry will have an important part to play in achieving this target. Development of skilled labour can only be achieved with engagement of the industry. Construction employers in England are engaged in the Trailblazer process to develop apprenticeship standards that are fit for business, and we have announced a new apprenticeships levy which will put investment in training, and apprenticeships specifically, on a long-term, sustainable footing. CITB returned over £42m last year, supporting 18,500 first, second and third year construction apprentices.

    Initiatives, by the Construction Leadership Council, or through the CITB are seeking to encourage more young people into construction careers. This work includes the launch of the GO-Construct website and work with the National Careers Service and Construction Ambassadors for schools. The CITB has also developed a range of initiatives, working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions, the Armed Forces resettlement service and Local Enterprise Partnerships, to encourage experienced individuals into the sector.

  • Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department’s policies on shop workers’ rights to opt out of Sunday working of the findings of a recent USDAW survey on the number of shop workers who (a) feel under pressure to work longer hours on a Sunday and (b) want to work fewer hours on a Sunday.

    Anna Soubry

    In formulating its final proposals, the Government has carefully considered all the evidence submitted during the consultation process.

    A number of respondents expressed concern that extended opening hours could increase pressure on shop workers to work longer hours on Sundays. We therefore propose to enable shop workers to opt out of working additional hours on Sundays, to shorten the notice period for shop workers at large shops who wish to opt out of Sunday working altogether, and to strengthen and clarify the duty on employers to notify shop workers of their opt-out rights.