Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on supporting proposals for a new Libyan government involving restoration of a monarchy and a return to the 1951 Libyan Constitution.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK, along with our international partners, is focused on working closely with the Government of National Accord (GNA) as the only legitimate government in Libya. It is clear the GNA, agreed after more than a year of political talks between a range of Libyan parties, enjoys clear majority support as the institution to govern the country.

    It is for the Libyan people to decide whether they want to pursue proposals for the restoration of the monarchy and return to the 1951 Libyan Constitution. There is no strong evidence that these proposals have broad support at this time.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-05-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the regulatory impact of the Financial Conduct Authority authorisation of insolvency practitioners.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The government consulted extensively on its reforms to the consumer credit market prior to the transfer of regulation from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in April 2014. The result of that consultation included the exclusion for insolvency practitioners when acting in reasonable contemplation of being appointed as an insolvency practitioner (IP).

    It remains the government’s view that when an insolvency practitioner is no longer acting in reasonable contemplation of being appointed as an IP, they must be authorised by the FCA if they wish to continue providing debt advice. There are no immediate plans to review this exclusion. However, the government does maintain an interest in the impact of regulation on the debt advice market.

    The FCA is thoroughly assessing every debt management firm’s fitness to trade as part of the authorisation process. The size of the debt advice market will not be known until this process is complete. The government will stay in contact with the FCA throughout the authorisation process to monitor the impact on customer journeys and capacity.

    For IPs concerned about the potential burden of FCA authorisation, the FCA has been clear that it takes a proportionate approach to setting fees. This includes imposing tiered fees based on the income a firm generates from its credit activities, ensuring that the smallest firms pay the lowest fees. There also remain other options for smaller firms to consider, including the appointed representative regime.

  • Simon Hart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Simon Hart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Hart on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 22080, when the Environment Agency will be consulting on the proposals to modernise the rod licence service.

    George Eustice

    The Environment Agency advertised its proposed changes to the rod licence structure and duties on 6 May 2016 in the London Gazette, Welsh newspapers and in the angling press. The Environment Agency also consulted stakeholders through focus groups, newsletters, publications, websites, telephone calls and their stakeholder forum, the England Fisheries Group, prior to advertising the changes in England and Wales.

  • Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Foster on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed new junior doctors’ contract on ensuring safe working hours.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The new contract includes stronger limits on working hours and patterns of work and a robust oversight mechanism to ensure that prompt action is taken if needed. This will be an integral part of how trusts meet their statutory obligations to keep staff and patients safe. Required action includes a review of work schedules to ensure safe working, payment for additional work done and fines where the limits in the contract are breached. There are no such protections under the current contract. For instance, at present, junior doctors can be asked to work up to 91 hours a week, up to seven night shifts in a row and every weekend under the current contract. The Guardian of Safe Working Hours will be tasked with ensuring that rotas reflect the hours that juniors work and they are within the new contractual limits.

    These limits under the new contract are a maximum of 72 hours per week (compared to 91 currently), and the limit on average weekly hours will remain 48 hours (and be limited to 56 hours where a doctor opts out of the Working Time Regulations).

  • Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many students completed apprenticeships in each year from 2010 to the last year for which records are available.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The table shows the number of learners that achieved apprenticeships from 2010:

    All Age Apprenticeship Framework Achievements (2009/10 to 2014/15)

    2009/10 Full Year

    2010/11 Full Year

    2011/12 Full Year

    2012/13 Full Year

    2013/14 Full Year

    2014/15 Full Year

    Total

    171,500

    200,300

    258,400

    252,900

    255,800

    260,900

    This data is published as part of a Statistical First Release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held

    “

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of green belt land in the East Dorset District Council area has been redesignated in the last five years as community land trust.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.

    The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.

    Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:

    East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and

    Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.

  • Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Birt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Birt on 2016-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of buses, taxis, and other public transport road vehicles are wholly electrically powered.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We do not have detailed numbers on the information requested.

    According to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) statistics some 133 public transport buses, coaches and minibuses are wholly electrically powered. There are no purpose built electric taxis recorded on the DVLA records, although electric cars are used as minicabs and private hire vehicles, and a number of plug-in hybrid purpose built taxis are in development.

    This Government has a comprehensive £600 million package of measures over the course of this parliament to keep Britain at the forefront of the ultra-low emission vehicle technology. This includes grants encouraging low emission buses and taxis.

    The proportion of wholly electric vehicles operated by central Government is not recorded by the DVLA. However, the total number of central government electric vehicles that have been purchased via the Crown Commercial Service framework is 20. Just over 300 ultra-low emission vehicles are being integrated into public sector fleets under the ULEV readiness project; with over 70% being fully electric.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times (a) gold, (b) silver and (c) bronze command suites were opened in each prison in each of the last three years.

    Andrew Selous

    Violence in prisons has increased in recent years. The nature of offenders currently in custody and the widespread availability of new psychoactive substances have both contributed to making prisons less safe. There is no single, simple solution to the problems we face but we are making progress.

    We have launched a two year Violence Reduction project to help us to gain a better understanding of the causes and characteristics of violence in prisons and to strengthen the handling of this. We are also trialing the use of body worn cameras in prisons, training sniffer dogs to detect new psychoactive substances and have made it an offence to smuggle new psychoactive substances into prison. However, ultimately the only way to reduce violence in our prisons is to give governors and those who work in prisons the tools necessary to more effectively reform and rehabilitate offenders, which we are determined to see through.

    The safety of staff and prisoners is a priority. Gold Command is opened in order to deal with incidents as quickly and safely as possible. Not all incidents turn out to be serious, but Gold Command is opened as a precaution when incidents are regarded as potentially serious.

    Tables 1, 2 and 3 show the number of times Gold Command has been opened in each of the past three years by prison.

    The decision to open Silver Command is made at the local level. Data regarding Silver Command openings is not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

    There is no “Bronze Command suite” within NOMS incident response procedures.

    Table 1: Number of times Gold Command Suite opened by prison in 2013

    Prison

    Number of Incidents

    Aylesbury

    2

    Cardiff

    1

    Doncaster

    2

    Elmley

    1

    Everthorpe

    2

    Featherstone

    1

    Full Sutton

    1

    Garth

    1

    Gartree

    1

    Glen Parva

    4

    Haverigg

    1

    Hewell

    2

    High Down

    2

    Holme House

    1

    Hull

    3

    Isis

    1

    Lewes

    1

    Lincoln

    2

    Lindholme

    3

    Long Lartin

    3

    Maidstone

    1

    Moorland

    2

    Morton Hall

    1

    National – Industrial Action

    1

    Northumberland

    1

    Onley

    1

    Pentonville

    1

    Peterborough

    1

    Preston

    1

    Ranby

    1

    Risley

    2

    Rye Hill

    1

    Stafford

    1

    Stocken

    3

    Swaleside

    1

    Swinfen Hall

    6

    Warren Hill

    1

    Wayland

    1

    Wealstun

    2

    Wetherby

    3

    Wolds

    1

    Woodhill

    1

    Wormwood Scrubs

    1

    Wymott

    1

    Table 2: Number of times Gold Command Suite opened by prison in 2014

    Prison

    Number of Incidents

    Altcourse

    2

    Aylesbury

    1

    Brinsford

    1

    Bristol

    1

    Bullingdon

    3

    Cardiff

    1

    Channings Wood

    2

    Chelmsford

    1

    Cookham Wood

    1

    Deerbolt

    3

    Doncaster

    1

    Elmley

    1

    Garth

    1

    Glen Parva

    7

    Harmondsworth

    1

    Haslar

    1

    Haverigg

    3

    Highpoint

    1

    Holme House

    1

    Humber

    4

    Leeds

    1

    Lincoln

    1

    Lindholme

    3

    Littlehey

    1

    Moorland

    3

    Morton Hall

    1

    National – Industrial Action

    1

    Northumberland

    2

    Norwich

    1

    Nottingham

    1

    Oakwood

    1

    Onley

    1

    Portland

    1

    Preston

    2

    Ranby

    3

    Rochester

    3

    Rye Hill

    1

    Stoke Heath

    1

    Swaleside

    4

    Swansea

    1

    Swinfen Hall

    3

    Wayland

    3

    Winchester

    2

    Table 3: Number of times Gold Command Suite opened by prison in 2015

    Prison

    Number of Incidents

    Brinsford

    1

    Deerbolt

    3

    Doncaster

    2

    Dovegate

    1

    Durham

    1

    Featherstone

    2

    Garth

    3

    Gartree

    1

    Glen Parva

    3

    Haverigg

    2

    Highdown

    2

    Highpoint

    2

    Hull

    1

    Humber

    3

    Isis

    3

    Isle of Wight

    1

    Lancaster Farms

    1

    Leeds

    2

    Leicester

    5

    Lewes

    1

    Lincoln

    2

    Lindholme

    3

    Liverpool

    2

    Long Lartin

    1

    Lowdham Grange

    1

    Manchester

    1

    Morton Hall

    1

    Nottingham

    2

    Onley

    1

    Pentonville

    2

    Portland

    1

    Ranby

    1

    Rochester

    1

    Stocken

    3

    Swaleside

    5

    Swinfen Hall

    2

    The Mount

    2

    Wandsworth

    5

    Wayland

    3

    Werrington

    1

    Whatton

    1

    Whitemoor

    1

    Woodhill

    1
  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Type 2 diabetics manage their condition with (a) insulin injections and (b) insulin tablets.

    Jane Ellison

    Information is not collected centrally on the number of people prescribed a medicine or the medical condition being treated.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage Sudan and South Sudan to engage in dialogue to overcome disputes relating to the border between the two countries.

    James Duddridge

    I am concerned at the recent increase in tensions between Sudan and South Sudan. As part of our ongoing discussions with the governments of both countries, we have consistently stressed that dialogue is the only means of resolving the border-related disputes. We have also raised our concerns about recent tensions in the UN Security Council and continue to support the efforts of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel to encourage both sides to re-engage in negotiations.