Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Written Statement of 26 May 2016, on BIS consultation, HCWS30, what proportion of his Department’s £350 million projected savings by 2020 he expects to be achieved as a result of the decision to centralise policy functions in London.

    Joseph Johnson

    Delivering the scale of change required to reduce our operating expenditure by £350m requires the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to fundamentally transform the way it delivers services, works with partners, and makes policy. To help deliver this substantial saving we will be reducing our locations from around 80 sites to 7 business centres, one of which will be the combined policy centre and headquarters in London. The decision to establish this policy centre forms part of this much larger reform programme. The Department estimates that establishing a policy centre will generate savings of at least £7.5m per year by 2019-20, and it will also better enable the Department to operate a more flexible, agile and easily re-deployable policy function which will continue to deliver BIS’ priorities as it reduces in size over the course of the Parliament.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many child refugees have been assisted to enter the UK in the past year (a) in total and (b) who have come from Calais to join family living in the UK.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In the year ending June 2016, 49% (1,308) of those resettled under the Syrian Vulnerable Person’s Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) were under 18 years old. In April 2016 the Home Office announced a new scheme to resettle vulnerable children from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. We have worked closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to design this scheme.

    Since the beginning of this year, over 120 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Europe have been accepted for transfer to the UK, over 70 of which are from France.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on funding for dementia research.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government is committed to maintain and enhance the strength of our research base. This is why we have protected the science resource budget in real terms from its 2015/16 level of £4.7 billion for the rest of the parliament, as well as committing to invest in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale – £6.9 billion over the period 2015-2021, including £150 million for the Dementia Research Institute.

    The Treasury decision to underwrite the grants of competitively bid for EU research funding will give British participants and their EU partners the assurance and certainty needed to plan ahead for projects that can run over many years. We are committed to ensure that the UK continues to be a world leader in international science, including research on dementia.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-10-30.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department allocated to pay staff of HM Revenue and Customs to deal with enquiries from hon. Members relating to constituents’ concerns about tax credits in (a) 2015-16 and (b) each of the three previous years.

    Damian Hinds

    I refer the member to the answer I provided on 30 October 2015 to question 13346:

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=13346

    “

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 31 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, when he plans for the Apache helicopter upgrade to take place.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Apache Capability Sustainment Programme is currently in the Assessment Phase and the investment decision is anticipated in summer 2016 to enable orderly upgrade of our existing fleet as they reach their out-of-service date.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum decisions identified as critically flawed in her Department’s Quality Audit in the last 12 months were (a) reconsidered by officials as a consequence of that finding, (b) overturned as a result of that reconsideration and (c) overturned on appeal.

    James Brokenshire

    In the twelve months to September 2015 a total of 29,246 asylum decisions were made. Over the same period, 4 asylum decisions were identified as critically flawed by the Department’s Quality Audit team of which;

    a) all were reviewed as a result of the assessment,

    b) 3 were overturned as a result of that reconsideration and;

    c) none have to date been overturned at appeal.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans the Government has to contribute to the funding agreed at the Paris Climate Conference in December 2015 to assist developing countries in adapting to the effects of climate change.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Government will provide £5.8 billion over the next five years to support developing countries in tackling climate change through the UK International Climate Fund, including at least £1.76 billion in 2020, ensuring that the UK plays its part in achieving the goal of mobilising $100 billion of climate finance a year by 2020. We plan to spend 50% of our climate finance on adaptation and 50% on mitigation.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will ring-fence housing payments for tenants in supported accommodation.

    Justin Tomlinson

    We value the work of the supported housing sector extremely highly and are working closely with them to ensure they are supported as effectively as possible. As part of this, we have commissioned an evidence review of supported housing. The results of this research will determine any appropriate exemptions.

    In addition, the Government has agreed to put in place a year-long exception for all supported housing provided by local authorities and private registered providers from the one per cent rent reduction.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the discretionary housing payments scheme in preventing households in exceptional circumstances having to pay the under-occupancy penalty.

    Justin Tomlinson

    For 2015/16 we have provided £60 million in Discretionary Housing Payment funding to help protect individuals affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy and we have protected this support at £60 million for 2016/17

    Since 2013, £25 million of the Discretionary Housing Payment funding for the removal of the spare room subsidy has been allocated to support disabled people living in significantly adapted accommodation, including any adaptations made for disabled children. This funding support remains unchanged for 2016/17.

    In the last financial year, the majority of local authorities spent less than or 100 per cent of their funding which indicates that they had sufficient funds to meet demand.

    In the first six months of this financial year (2015/16) the majority of local authorities had spent less than 50 per cent of their Discretionary Housing Payment allocation.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2016 to Question 33976, what assessment his Department has made of the potential change to (a) benefits and (b) risks to the status of the UK Ship Register within the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Work is in progress by the department to explore whether changing the status of the UK Ship Register would help ensure its future competitiveness. The work is in its early stages, but will assess both the benefits and risks of the available options.