Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on ensuring that policy and border staff share information on the illegal wildlife trade with Interpol, Europol and World Customs Organisation.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force are in regular contact with all the Organisations listed and regularly use their systems to communicate and share Intelligence on IWT to the global community .They are also represented on the EU Enforcement Working group that covers the Illegal wildlife trade.

  • Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-11-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of the Government’s spending on infrastructure since 2010.

    Greg Hands

    In 2010, the government launched the Infrastructure Cost Review seeking to improve the cost effective delivery of infrastructure projects and programmes. In 2014, the Cost Review reported savings of around 15% – worth around £3billion per annum – by addressing a number of drivers of high costs. But more can and is being done, working closely with infrastructure clients from public and private sectors to continue to bear down on costs and improve delivery performance.

  • Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the longest length of time is that a person has spent in an immigration holding or detention centre in the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    Information on the length of detention has been published since quarter 1 (January to March) 2010.

    The longest time a person has been detained in the immigration estate – a foreign criminal who left detention and was returned to Algeria in Q1 2012 – was 2,319 days. The individual in this case had accumulated 14 convictions from 32 offences committed between 1998 and 2004, including – but not limited to – convictions for firearms/ shotguns/offensive weapons, drug offences, offences relating to police/courts/prisons and theft. He was continuously non-compliant with the Home Office and Algerian authorities, using a false identity and nationality, which frustrated attempts to obtain travel documentation to facilitate his deportation. His continued non-compliance, deception and a history of absconding led to detention being prolonged. This information does not include those held in prisons solely under Immigration Act powers.

    The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of people detained in the United Kingdom for immigration purposes, within the Immigration Statistics release on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

  • Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-01-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to table 2.7 on page 85 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, which Departments will fund the cross-government overseas development aid spending set out in that table in each of the five years from 2015-16 to 2019-20.

    Greg Hands

    As set out in the strategy for official development assistance “UK Aid: tackling global challenges in the national interest”, published on 23 November, meeting our responsibilities to the world’s poorest while also serving and protecting the UK’s interests and security, requires us to harness skills from across government.

    The cross government ODA funding in “Table 2.7: Department for International Development (DFID)” is part of DFID’s total DEL settlement. DFID will transfer this to other government departments and cross government funds to spend on activities that can be classified as Official Development Assistance (ODA) according to the OECD definition.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Treasury takes the wellness of its staff seriously. Wellness is incorporated within the Treasury’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing policy.

    In 2015/16 the following wellness initiatives were given priority:

    • reducing levels of sickness absence relating to Mental and Behavioural Disorders (including stress, depression, anxiety) and Musculoskeletal Disorders;

    • increasing the usage of the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP); and

      In addition the Treasury has signed up to two key external initiatives:

    • the Public Health Responsibility Deal. Every April the Treasury reports to the Dept of Health on the activities carried out to meet the six pledges signed up to; and

    • the ‘Time to Change’ pledge. Following this a Mental Wellbeing Network was set up and a range of associated activities take place focusing on improving the mental wellbeing of Treasury employees.

      In addition we support and provide reasonable adjustments for a variety of physical and mental conditions and requirements.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to improve the assessment process for personal independence payments.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Since its inception, the system of assessing claimants’ eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has been continually reviewed and refined in order to improve its efficiency, effectiveness and the claimant experience. We have worked extensively with PIP assessment providers and disability rights groups to make improvements to guidance, training and audit procedures in order to ensure a quality service.

    The Government’s response to Paul Gray’s independent review of the process can be found at:

    www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/478224/pip-assessment-first-independent-review-second-response.pdf

    The Government has committed in legislation to a further independent review which will report by April 2017.

    “

  • Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of police funding after service reorganisation.

    Mike Penning

    The Government has protected overall police spending for the coming Spending Review period, once police precept is taken into account. The public can be confident that over the next four years the police will have the resources they need to carry on cutting crime, fighting terrorism and keeping the people of this country safe.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims of 24 March 2016, Official Report, column 221, on the Policing and Crime Bill, in which types of situations her Department anticipates that police volunteers will have the need of CS spray for self-protection.

    Mike Penning

    Currently, volunteers already have all the powers of a police constable as a Special Constable and have done so for over a century.

    Chapter 1 of Part 3 of the Bill will enable chief officers to designate police staff with a wider range of police powers. They will also be able to confer police powers – other than the core powers reserved for warranted officers set out in Schedule 9 to the Bill – on volunteers. The intention is that the powers that can be conferred on employed staff and designated volunteers are the same. This includes the power to carry and use defensive sprays, such as CS or PAVA, in situations where the chief officer considers there to be an operational case for this. It is already the case that chief officers can equip police community support officers with defensive sprays; accordingly, the Bill simply codifies the existing position for staff. Chief officers must ensure appropriate training before conferring a power.

    Since opening the recruitment for Volunteer Police Community Support Officers (VPCSOs) in the autumn of 2013, Lincolnshire Police have recruited 80 volunteers, who have been trained to the same standard as paid PCSOs. The College of Policing guidance in respect of VPCSOs has not yet been written.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the cost to the NHS of people with long-term health conditions not taking their prescribed medication.

    Jane Ellison

    It is estimated that over 15 million people in England live with at least one long term medical condition.

    No estimate has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of people with long term conditions not taking their prescribed medication.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) domestic fires, and (2) fires in industrial and commercial buildings, were recorded in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, and (c) 2015; and what estimate they have made of the direct and indirect economic and environmental costs of those fires.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Data from the Fire Incident Recording System are published by financial year.

    (1) Fire and rescue services attended 31,899, 31,329 and 31,333 dwelling fires in England in financial years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively.

    Dwelling fires are fires in properties that are a place of residence i.e. places occupied by households such as houses and flats, excluding hotels/hostels, residential institutions such as student halls of residence and care homes for children and elderly people. Dwellings also includes non-permanent structures used solely as a dwelling, such as houseboats and caravans.

    (2) Fire and rescue services attended 2,385, 2,280 and 2,129 fires in industrial premises in England in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively. There were 6,132, 5,821 and 5,819 fires in commercial buildings in England in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively.

    The latest figures were published in August in the Fire Statistics Monitor, which can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-monitor-april-2015-to-march-2016 while detailed tables can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables.

    We have not estimated the economic and environmental costs of these fires.