Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the value of the UK defence industry’s total exports to the EU in each of the last three years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Official Government statistics do not differentiate exports to the European region between EU and non-EU countries. In 2013, UK defence exports to the European region accounted for 12% of total sales by value, approximately £1.3 billion. In 2014, UK defence exports to the European region accounted for 10% of total sales by value, approximately £800 million. Official statistics for 2015 will be released later this year.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NHS England on support for research into immuno-oncology treatments for head and neck cancer.

    David Mowat

    The Department has had no specific discussions with NHS England on this topic.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether it is the Government’s position that the UK can sign new trade deals before the UK has formally exited the EU.

    Greg Hands

    The UK will remain a member of the EU until we formally exit, with all of the rights and obligations that membership entails. This means that the EU currently retains competence for most aspects of trade policy. We are, however, engaging with a broad range of international partners to best promote British trade, and to ensure that Britain becomes the global leader in free trade once we leave the EU.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the number of counter-terrorism officials in the West Midlands; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr John Hayes

    The level and distribution of counter-terrorism resources across the country is informed by advice from the police and security and intelligence agencies on assessments of what is needed to counter the threat. This is regularly kept under review. For security reasons we do not publish a breakdown of counter-terrorism resources by region.

    In the Spending Round 2013, specific funding for counter-terrorism policing was protected at £564.3 million for each of the years 2014-15 and 2015-16. We are also providing an additional £14.9 million in 2015-16 to the police to strengthen capabilities in response to the increased threat from terrorism.

    In the Summer Budget on 8 July, we committed to protecting overall counter-terrorism spending across the course of the next Spending Review Period. On 16 November we said we would go further. Through the Strategic Defence and Security Review, we will make new funding available for the security and intelligence agencies to provide for an additional 1,900 officers – an increase of 15% – to better respond to the threat we face from international terrorism, cyber-attacks and other global risks.

  • Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bradley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to audit (1) NHS England, and (2) Clinical Commissioning Groups in England, on their expenditure on mental health services during this Parliament.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    As part of the mental health parity of esteem requirement for 2015-16, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were asked to plan for an increase in spend on mental health services at least in line with the increase in their overall funding allocation for the year, which set a higher bar than achieving a real terms increase in spending, though not all CCGs were able to achieve this target. 192 of the 209 CCGs achieved a real terms growth in mental health planned spend measured against the 1.4% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflator for 2015-16.

    The list attached shows which CCGs have achieved real terms increases in spending on mental health in 2015-16.

    The final data for CCGs’ spending on mental health in 2015-16 will be submitted to NHS England by commissioners in May 2016, and it is anticipated NHS England may be in a position to provide final spend information by around the end of the first quarter of 2016-17.

    NHS England has not yet published CCG planning guidance for 2016-17. Consideration will be given to holding commissioners to account for spending on mental health.

    CCG and NHS England mental health spending information is now routinely collected as party of NHS England’s monthly financial reporting regime. Monthly financial reports by CCGs are scrutinised and quality assessed by NHS England’s regional teams. The monthly reports also form part of the CCG assurance process. NHS England is also in the process of setting up the financial plan assurance process for 2016-17, which will incorporate the review of planned spending on mental health services for future years.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who were at any time included in the universal credit in-work conditionality pilot are no longer receiving any element of that credit.

    Priti Patel

    National roll-out of the In-Work Progression Randomised Control Trial commenced in December 2015 and is likely to be completed in summer 2016. We are unable to provide the information requested at this early stage.

  • Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Palmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees, further to his Written Answer on 10 February (HL5554), whether partners and spouses of Catering and Retail Services staff are also entitled to receive meals without charge.

    Lord Laming

    Partners and spouses are not entitled to receive meals without charge.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what infrastructure the UK has in place to ensure that households and businesses do not face energy shortages in the next (a) five and (b) 10 years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    In addition to the generation capacity within the market, National Grid has already procured 3.6GW of reserve capacity for next winter and, in January, the Capacity Market Transitional Arrangements auction bought 800MW of demand side response capacity for winter 16/17 which will also help secure the system.

    In the medium to long term, the capacity market will ensure we have the electricity infrastructure to prevent energy shortages. On 1 March 2016, DECC announced that we are consulting on changes to the CM, to buy more capacity and earlier; tighten the sanctions on those who fail to deliver on their obligations; and bolster energy security in the short–term, by holding a new auction bringing forward the first Capacity Market delivery year to 2017/18.

    We are confident that the Capacity Market is the right mechanism to bring forward the necessary new capacity as older, less efficient plants close.

    Furthermore, Hinkley will be the first new nuclear power plant built in the UK for 20 years. Once up and running in 2025, it will provide 3.2 Giga Watts of secure, base-load and low carbon electricity for around 60 years, meeting 7% of the UK’s energy needs.

    GB also has 4GW of electricity interconnection infrastructure across 4 interconnectors to France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Northern Ireland. Around 7GW of projects are currently proceeding through Ofgem’s cap and floor regulatory regime, with a further 1GW progressing under the “merchant-exempt” route, more than doubling our capacity in the early 2020s. Ofgem will open a further cap and floor application window at the end of March.

    As for gas, GB has a total gas infrastructure deliverability of around 700 mcm/d compared to average winter demand of 290 mcm/d (record demand 465 mcm/d, Dec 2010) giving a surplus capacity against average winter demand of 410 mcm/d.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken through the Commonwealth to promote abolition of the death penalty in all Commonwealth States.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government supports a moratorium on use of the death penalty across the Commonwealth and works diplomatically and by means of projects to promote abolition in individual Commonwealth countries. Some Commonwealth member states are steadily moving towards abolition. Relatively few persist with carrying out executions and several are contemplating legislative reform. Fiji abolished the death penalty altogether in 2015.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make it her policy to remove the deadline for the installation of SMETS 1 meters as a result of software upgrades making such meters compatible with her Department’s requirements.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government remains committed to ensuring the industry and consumer benefits of SMETS2 meters operated through the Data and Communications Company (DCC) are realised as soon as possible, while providing industry sufficient time to transition from SMETS1 to SMETS2 meters.

    The Government considers that a SMETS1 end-date of 12 months from availability of all DCC functionality strikes this balance; however we reserve the right to review the end date.