Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • The Countess of Mar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The Countess of Mar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Countess of Mar on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 11 July (HL873), whether ExxonMobil was consulted by, or supplied evidence to, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food and the Environment (COT) prior to the publication of the 2007 COT Statement and whether the results were conclusive.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) identified and evaluated over 400 references when producing their 2007 statement, called “Statement on the Review of the Cabin Air Environment, Ill-health in Aircraft Crews and the Possible Relationship to Smoke/Fume Events in Aircraft”. The evidence base consisted of data submitted by the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) and references identified as relevant by the COT Secretariat.

    All evidence reviewed can be found listed at the end of the Statement. There are no references to ExxonMobil submitting evidence, or being consulted by the COT during the review.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to make available funding at the same level as currently received from the Asylum, Immigration and Integration Fund after the UK leaves the EU.

    Mr David Gauke

    Leaving the EU means we will need to consider carefully how to deliver the policy objectives previously targeted by EU funding, including the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.

    Over the coming months, we will consult with stakeholders to review all EU funding schemes in the round, to ensure that any ongoing funding commitments best serve the UK‘s national interest.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children under the age of (a) 13 and (b) 18 gave evidence from a (i) remote site and (ii) court building in 2014-15.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry is committed to supporting all victims and witnesses, including children, when giving evidence in criminal trials. All victims and witnesses are eligible for special measures to relieve stress when giving evidence, including giving evidence by video remotely.

    We have secured over £700m of funding to invest in our courts and tribunals. We have worked closely with the senior judiciary to develop a plan for investing this in reforming the courts and tribunals so they can deliver swifter, fairer justice at a lower cost. This will include digitisation and modernisation of our IT infrastructure. This will mean court users can attend hearings remotely, and not be inconvenienced by having to take a day off work to come to court. It will also mean victims of crime can give evidence from somewhere they feel safe.

    Since March 2015 vulnerable and intimidated witnesses, including child abuse victims, can give evidence from a remote site which is away from the court environment. There is at least one remote site in each of the seven Regions in England and Wales, and twelve sites in total.

    In addition, the court estate is video-enabled so that any victim or witness can give evidence from a court building other than the trial site to ensure they do not come into contact with the defendant, or their family and supporters.

    Whilst HMCTS collates data on the number of witnesses giving evidence by video, the ages of the victims and witnesses are not recorded.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with Solutions for Public Health on developing a draft commissioning policy for everolimus.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has a service level agreement in place with Solutions for Public Health (SPH), a NHS public health unit which forms part of the NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit.

    NHS England has commissioned SPH to provide impartial clinical evidence reviews. These clinical evidence reviews are undertaken independently in line with an agreed methodology and are a critical component in informing evidence based clinical commissioning policies for directly commissioned specialised services, based on the latest published research.

    However, SPH does not have any subsequent involvement in the development, drafting or consideration of NHS England’s clinical commissioning policies.

  • Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Angela Rayner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what modelling his Department has undertaken on potential transitional arrangements for women born in the period 1951 to 1953 who are affected by accelerated equalisation of the state pension age; and if he will publish the results of any such modelling.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Of the group stated in the question only women born on or after 6 April 1953 are affected by the changes in State Pension age in the 2011 Pensions Act.

    The faster increase to 65 under the Pensions Act 2011 affect an estimated 230,000 women born between 6 April 1953 and 5 December 1953. This figure, rounded to the nearest 10,000, is for Great Britain and is based on DWP calculations using ONS statistics.

    During the passage of the Pensions Bill 2011 the Government tabled an amendment so that the maximum delay to State Pension age relative to the previously legislated timetable that any individual faced was 18 months. This amendment affected people born between 6 January 1954 and 5 September 1954. The analysis accompanying this amendment is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182066/pensions-bill-spa-info.pdf

    “

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of applicants for disabled students’ allowance (DSA) used supporting notes from (a) medical professionals connected to and (b) medical professionals not connected to their higher education institution to back up their application; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of people who claim DSA without the knowledge of their higher education institution.

    Joseph Johnson

    Students wishing to apply for Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) need to provide evidence of their disability to Student Finance England (SFE) in order to demonstrate their eligibility. Depending on their disability, this needs to come from a medical doctor or other suitably qualified professional. Information about whether this evidence is provided by someone connected to the students’ HE provider is not held centrally.

    Students are encouraged to speak to their institution’s disability adviser, to ensure they are receiving all the help that is available to them. However, students do not need to disclose their disability to their HE provider in order to apply for DSAs.

    All disabled higher education students who are eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowances are referred to an independent assessment centre so as to identify the type and level of support they require.

    Students are free to choose which assessment centre they wish to attend. They can find a centre via the DSAs Quality Assurance Group’s website:

    http://www.dsa-qag.org.uk/students/find-an-assessment-centre

    “

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will appoint an independent commission to investigate the role of PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte in designing, selling and implementing tax avoidance schemes.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is committed to countering tax avoidance to ensure all taxpayers pay their fair share. At Budget 2016, the Chancellor announced a comprehensive package of measures to tackle tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning, and tax evasion by individuals and businesses. Overall, this will raise £12 billion by 2020-21.

    We keep our policy on countering tax avoidance under continuous review to respond to emerging risks.

  • Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has provided support to developing countries to encourage financial inclusion.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID has made an important contribution to date in developing robust, efficient and inclusive financial markets. Between 2010-2015, UK Aid achievements included providing 68.9 million people, including 35.9 million women, with access to financial services.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35765, whether officials of his Department discussed the findings of the report by Fertility Fairness, 2015 Audit of Specialist Fertility Services in England, during their meeting with that organisation in December 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    The meeting that I and Departmental officials had with Fertility Fairness on 14 December was arranged in the light of the publication of `2015 Audit of Specialist Fertility Services in England’ and issues highlighted in the report were discussed.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the maximum duration is of an apprenticeship.

    Robert Halfon

    To ensure that apprenticeships are focused on providing sustained and substantial training, they must last for at least 12 months. We do not set a maximum duration centrally, but apprenticeships generally take between one and four years to complete.

    The suggested duration of each apprenticeship is set by employers when designing the apprenticeship standard.