The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with HM Chief Inspector of Schools about the performance of free schools.
Edward Timpson
The Secretary of State meets with Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools regularly to discuss a wide range of issues including the performance of free schools.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the target response times are for ambulances responding to C1 and C2 incidents.
Jane Ellison
Category C1 and category C2 are terms used by London Ambulance Service to describe the first two categories of green calls.
Green calls are lower acuity calls where there is still a need for an ambulance, but in slower time scales than life-threatening or more urgent calls. They are usually split into four categories and the response times for these are agreed and set locally.
Data on green call performance is not centrally held.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-06-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made since the Anti-Corruption Summit of 12 May 2016 on implementing the Government’s plan to establish central registers of beneficial ownership in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
James Duddridge
Agreement has been reached with all the relevant Overseas Territories, and with the Isle of Man and Jersey on the establishment of central registers or similarly effective systems. These arrangements will give UK law enforcement and tax authorities quick and unrestricted access to beneficial ownership information on corporate and legal entities incorporated in these Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. This is a significant step forward in our ability to fight criminal activity. The signing of a similar arrangement with Guernsey is expected shortly, following their recent general election and formation of a new government.
Requests from UK law enforcement will be processed within 24 hours and quicker in urgent cases. The new arrangements must be in place by June 2017, but relevant Government Departments and law enforcement authorities are working with the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to ensure some changes are made immediately.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2016-09-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what functions are planned to become the responsibility of the proposed Solent combined authority; what estimate he has made of the costs of each of those functions in the next (a) 12 months, (b) five years and (c) 30 years; and if he will publish all information that his Department holds on those proposed functions.
Andrew Percy
The proposals for a Solent Combined Authority have been developed by local leaders and partners in the Solent and leaders in the Solent have been undertaking a consultation to inform their proposals and gather the views of local people. Following that it will be for the local authorities to decide if they wish to propose forming a Combined Authority.
Ministers and officials have held discussions with Solent partners on what additional powers and funding could be devolved to the local area, as we have with local areas up and down the country. These discussions have not as yet reached a conclusion although I expect that if a Solent Combined Authority is proposed to government a devolution deal could be rapidly concluded.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent in legal costs on the Information Rights Tribunal case on the Reducing Regulation Sub-Committee Freedom of Information request.
Mr Oliver Letwin
Litigation and Counsel’scostswill be accounted for at the end of the process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-12-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the end of the Advice Services Transition Fund in December 2015.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The fund is a Big Lottery Fund programme, to which Government contributed 50% of the budget. As the fund comes to a close, the Big Lottery Fund will be monitoring how organisations have met their agreed outcomes and will be supporting the dissemination of learning amongst the ASTF partnerships and beyond.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government has given to the government of Nepal on the conduct of elections.
Mr Hugo Swire
The UK provided £14 million to support the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections in Nepal. This consisted of support to provide an environment conducive to free, fair and inclusive elections and technical support.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Question 23620, what steps his Department has taken to implement new Government guidelines to help UK steel suppliers compete effectively for future defence projects; and what processes or policies have been changed as a result of those guidelines.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has issued new policy outlining the steps that should be taken to meet the Government’s aim of levelling the playing field for UK steel producers. This policy emphasises the importance of pre-market engagement, including through industry days, and signalling future requirements for steel. The MOD has also written to its largest defence contractors to highlight the new guidelines.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2016-03-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the building of the proposed Sizewell C nuclear plant is contingent on future decisions on the Hinkley Point C plant.
Andrea Leadsom
No application for development consent to build a new nuclear power station at Sizewell has yet been made. EDF have completed the first stage of local public consultation which is necessary before an application for development consent can be made, and have said they will make available more information on the next consultation stage once they have made a final investment decision on Hinkley.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the updated farm animal welfare codes; how (a) much funding and (b) many staff her Department will provide for the update of those codes; and what research her Department plans to undertake related to the update of those codes.
George Eustice
We have the highest standards of animal welfare in the world, and we will be retaining the framework that upholds them. Defra will continue to work with industry to ensure farmers have the guidance they need to help them comply with legislation, and we will consult as and when updates are needed.