Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has received any reports of any potential breaches of international humanitarian law from UK personnel working with the Saudi military.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    We are aware of reports on alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Yemen by the Saudi Arabians and take these very seriously. The UK is not a partner to the Coalition and British military personnel are not directly involved in Coalition operations. The Ministry of Defence closely follows alleged IHL violations, using available information, which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. We consider a range of information from government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations. We are also offering advice and training to Saudi Arabia to demonstrate investigations best practice and to help ensure continued compliance with IHL.

  • Colleen Fletcher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Colleen Fletcher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Colleen Fletcher on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure cyber defence capabilities and preparedness match developing threats.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The 2015 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review identifies cyber security as a priority. We are actively monitoring cyber threats, and continually reviewing and adjusting our security measures. Defence and its people are prominent targets for criminals, foreign intelligence services and other malicious actors seeking to exploit personnel, disrupt business and operations, corrupt systems and steal information. This is not unique to the Ministry of Defence; other Government Departments, industry and business are also affected. The threats constantly changes in scope and complexity, and cyber security depends on a broad range of factors including human, technological and systematic. Our approach therefore spans technical, organisational, policy, procedural and physical measures, and also entails close collaboration with partner organisations across Government.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many (a) publications, (b) consultation documents and (c) circulars his Department has issued since August 2012; and what the title was of each such publication, consultation document or circular.

    Mr David Lidington

    Over 3,500 Foreign and Commonwealth Office publications since 1 August 2012 are available on the gov.uk website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications

    Many of our Posts and Missions overseas publish documents that are relevant to their work. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold information on the full range of documents centrally and it could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

    “

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the number of UK firms based in the East of England that trade with other EU member states; and how many people are employed by each such firm.

    Anna Soubry

    HMRC Regional Trade Statistics on the number of firms trading with the EU are publically available through the UKTradeInfo website.

    HM Treasury has published estimates of the number of UK jobs linked to EU exports broken down by region. These are available through the GOV.UK website.

  • Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Northover – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Northover on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in which countries the Department for International Development (DfID) has awarded contracts for the drilling of water wells; and how many of those contracts were awarded centrally by DfID, and how many were awarded locally.

    Baroness Verma

    DFID delivers a range of water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities, through partners in 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia all of which use proven approaches that deliver affordable and sustainable services.

    These interventions are not restricted to the drilling of water wells. As such, DFID do not disaggregate individual activities separately and are therefore not able to report specific numbers of drilling contracts.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the next review of the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area is planned to take place.

    James Duddridge

    The South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area was established in the Maritime Zone in 2012 and revised in June 2013 to include further protection measures. The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands will undertake reviews every five years, with the next review taking place in 2018.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-09-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish all sustainability and transformation plans that were submitted within the June 2016 deadline.

    David Mowat

    The June Sustainability Transformation Plan (STP) submissions were a ‘checkpoint’ for draft plans and, as works in progress, will not be published. STP proposals are currently at a draft stage, but it is expected that all local leaders will be talking to the public and stakeholders regularly as it is vital that people are able to shape the future of their local services. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation. There are longstanding assurance processes in place to make sure this happens. All footprints will submit an updated plan in October, with further formal public engagement and consultation taking place from this point, as appropriate. Many footprints are already publishing patient-facing summaries as part of their engagement programme. All footprints will submit an updated plan at the end of October and, following this, we would expect to see areas publishing proposals for engagement by the end of the year. Many footprints are already publishing patient-facing summaries as part of their engagement programmes.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken to process a Security Industry Authority licence application has been in the last year.

    Brandon Lewis

    The average time taken to process applications is unavailable in the format requested. The SIA’s new IT system (introduced in July 2016) enables more detailed performance analysis. The system shows that the average number of days for processing applications (including renewals) was 38 days in July and 30 days in August. Once fully embedded, the SIA expect that the processing time for applications will be quicker than under the old system. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) have an annual performance target to process 80% of applications (including renewals) within 25 working days. The SIA met this annual target in the 2015/16 financial year. Performance for 2016/2017 to date is included in the table below.

    Applications

    Percentage within 25 working days

    Sep-15

    11618

    89%

    Oct-15

    10799

    85%

    Nov-15

    10499

    83%

    Dec-15

    8589

    76%

    Jan-16

    9905

    80%

    Feb-16

    10597

    83%

    Mar-16

    10352

    85%

    Apr-16

    9951

    86%

    May-16

    9889

    81%

    Jun-16

    9277

    80%

    Jul-16

    6305

    46%

    Aug-16

    9208

    72%
  • Derek Twigg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Derek Twigg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many soldiers left the army voluntarily in each year since 2010.

    Mark Lancaster

    Defence Statistics publish information on a regular basis showing voluntary outflow figures for the Armed Forces, broken down to single Services.

    Figures for 2010-11 are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/280435/1_january_2013.pdf

    Figures from 2011-12 to 2014-15 are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/426880/QPR_Apr2015.pdf

    The most recent information is contained in ‘UK Armed Forces Monthly Service Personnel Statistics September 2015’ and associated tables which is available at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-monthly-service-personnel-statistics-2015

    “

  • Jack Dromey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether any reduction in the formula grant will be required for the (a) £1 billion Emergency Services Communication Programme and (b) £500 million additional counter-terrorism funding.

    Mike Penning

    The Spending Review settlement set out £1 billion investment in the Emergency Services Network (ESN). Final decisions on the treatment of ESN core infrastructure costs within the overall police settlement in 2016/17 will be confirmed as part of the provisional police funding announcement in mid-December.

    The overall size of Counter Terrorism Policing Grant is negotiated completely separately from the rest of central Government funding to the police. The Spending Review announcement confirmed a real terms increase in funding for counter-terrorism policing. As in previous years, the Counter Terrorism Policing Grant will be ring-fenced. The amount of this funding in 2016/17 will be confirmed as part of the provisional police funding announcement in mid-December.