Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people working for his Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    Simon Kirby

    No direct employees of HM Treasury, Office of Budget Responsibility, Government Internal Audit Agency and Debt Management Office are paid less than the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation as a living wage. No direct employees are employed on zero hours contracts.

    The Government supports businesses that choose to pay the Living Wage however our prime policy is the National Minimum Wage for the low paid. This is independently set by the Low Pay Commission at a level that maximises their wages without reducing employment prospect. It is for workers and employers to decide the level of wages above the minimum wage based on current circumstances. This includes the Government as a procurer and an employer. Over 95%, around 20 million employees earn above the minimum wage and the majority of public sector workers currently earn above the Living Wage. Government will always award contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayers – which includes the low paid.

    HM Treasury does not hold information on wages paid by our suppliers.

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2016-10-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will be responsible for the regulation of British civil aviation during and after Brexit.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the Government’s expert Arm’s Length Body for the safety, security, consumer rights and economic regulation of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. The CAA participates in European Union (EU) regulatory systems in these areas. The Government is considering carefully all the potential implications arising from the UK’s exit from the EU including the implications for the continued participation in European aviation safety and security regulatory processes. Until we leave, EU law still applies, and EU regulation in these areas will continue to apply in the UK, alongside national rules.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assistance her Department is providing to the agronomic sector in the UK to reduce (a) carbon emissions and (b) water use; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Agriculture produces relatively small amounts of carbon dioxide emissions with this gas accounting for around 10% of emissions from the industry sector. The major greenhouse gasses (GHG) produced by agriculture are methane and nitrous oxide. Defra has engaged with the agriculture industry in England to help develop an industry led approach, the Green House Gas Action Plan, which includes farming sector roadmaps for reducing GHG emissions. We will be reviewing progress on the action plan with the industry next year.

    The Government is investing £160 million in the UK Agri-Tech Strategy to help take our world class agricultural research to the farm. £60 million of Government and industry funding has already been committed to projects which aim to make farming more productive, resilient and sustainable.

    Rural Development Programme (RDPE) funded capital grants are available for reservoirs to improve security of water supplies for agriculture (including horticulture) and reduce pressure on summer water flows in the environment Capital grants to improve efficiency of water application to reduce water use are also available.

    Applications are also being processed for Countryside Productivity scheme capital funding for precision farming equipment to improve the accuracy of field operations and application of fertilisers and sprays, which can achieve savings of (typically) 5% plus in fuel, fertilisers and sprays with consequent reduction in CO2 emissions.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Government plans to hold or collect any information on the number of UK businesses operating in or contracting with the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government does not maintain a database of UK businesses operating in or contracting with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

    Data on the value of trade between UK businesses and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is published by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Information on the number of UK businesses exporting goods to, and importing goods from, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are collected by HMRC. Specific information relating to individual businesses cannot be published due to legislation protecting business confidentiality and in line with statistical disclosure control.

  • Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps are being taken to ensure that all NHS trusts are (a) identifying patient safety incidents, (b) conducting full investigations to identify the causes of such incidents and (c) implementing measures to prevent recurring such incidents.

    Ben Gummer

    Currently, NHS England has a leadership role for patient safety in the National Health Service and supports providers to identify, understand and manage risks that might affect the safety of patients. The primary source for identifying risks is the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS). The NRLS operates as a database and holds over 1.4 million locally reported patient safety incidents. These are reviewed to help address the identified issues or risks in the NHS. NHS England alerts NHS trusts of emerging patient safety risks via the National Patient Safety Alerting System – a three-stage alerting process which ensures the timely sharing of relevant safety information. The system also encourages information sharing between organisations so that examples of best practice can be widely adopted.

    NHS trusts are expected to review their own patient safety incidents. The revised Serious Incident Framework published in March 2015 has sought to simplify the incident management process and ensure that serious incidents are identified correctly, investigated thoroughly and, most importantly, learned from to prevent the likelihood of similar incidents happening again.

    The NHS standard contract also stipulates that providers must consider and respond to the recommendations arising from any audit, Serious Incident report or Patient Safety Incident report.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 20 January (HL5274), whether it is still a legal requirement to have a daily act of collective worship in academies, free schools and maintained schools.

    Lord Nash

    All state schools, including academies and free schools, must provide a daily act of collective worship for all registered pupils up to the age of 18. Parents have the right to withdraw their children from all or any part of collective worship, and sixth-form pupils have the right to withdraw themselves from collective worship.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the effect is on the public purse of not annually uprating the UK state pensions of British pensioners living overseas.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Government has a clear position, which has remained consistent for around 70 years: UK state pensions are payable worldwide and uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so for example in the European Economic Area or countries where we have bilateral agreements. There are no plans to change this.

    Not uprating where there is no legal requirement to do so frees up about £0.5 billion a year which can be used to fund Government priorities in this country.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much funding his Department received from the European Social Fund (a) between 2007 and 2014 and (b) from 2014 to the last month for which data is available.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office did not receive any funding from the European Social Fund in either period.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on average patient waiting times of the use of closed waiting lists at GP surgeries.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has not assessed waiting times for appointments, as each practice decides how to operate in order to meet the contractual requirement to meet the reasonable needs of their patients. The needs of patients can vary considerably from one practice to another.

    NHS England does not routinely collect data on either general practitioner (GP) appointment or GP registration waiting times. NHS England is currently establishing a new collection process to gather information on closed patient lists routinely. Therefore, it is not able currently to assess the impact of a practice closing their list on appointment waiting times.

    Practices may only close their lists to new patients with the approval of NHS England.

    NHS England works with GP practices to ensure patient lists remain open wherever possible. It is possible that the reasons for closing a practice list impact on the flow of appointments to existing patients e.g. with the sudden loss of a GP, but such effects will often be temporary.

    Any patient struggling to find a practice accepting new patients can contact NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre for support.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of uninsured vehicles in the UK; and how many vehicles were seized for unpaid insurance in each year since 2009-10.

    Andrew Jones

    Since 2011 the Government has had in place an insurance and compliance strategy, namely the Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) scheme operated by DVLA and the Motor Insurers Bureau, which aims to reduce the level of uninsured driving.

    It is estimated that CIE has already helped reduce levels of uninsured driving from 1.4 million in 2010 to 1 million vehicles now.

    The police have powers under Section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to seize a vehicle that is being used on a public road without motor insurance. How police enforce the law is an operational matter for their discretion.

    The table below shows the number of vehicles seized by the police for driving without insurance.

    Year

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    vehicles seized

    180,000

    150,000

    140,000

    137,000

    135,000

    116,000

    121,000