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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the operator of last report provisions are for each franchise agreement for passenger rail services currently in operation.

    Paul Maynard

    There are a number of provisions throughout each franchise agreement that relate to the continuity and preservation of rail services by a Successor Operator which could include the Operator of Last Resort under the provisions of Section 30 of the Railways Act 1993. Schedules 1.6, 10, 14 and 15 of the National Rail Franchise Terms and Conditions are of particular relevance in this regard.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues about providing more comprehensive support for ex-servicemen and women and their families.

    Mark Lancaster

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 20 November 2015 to Questions 15830 and 15831.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 8 December (HL4116), how many personal interviews with adults applying for a passport for the first time were conducted in each calendar year from 2007 to 2015 inclusive.

    Lord Bates

    The table below shows the number of interviews conducted in each calendar year since 2007. The lower figures for 2007 reflect the pilot and roll out of the new interview process for all first-time passport applicants and the figures for 2015 are up to week ending 20 December.

    Year

    Number of Interviews

    2007

    18,160

    2008

    293,337

    2009

    261,593

    2010

    296,434

    2011

    269,587

    2012

    273,680

    2013

    283,284

    2014

    253,156

    2015

    221,759
  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-01-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to distribute the £20 million funding for English lessons for women speakers of other languages; which bodies will be responsible for delivering the new provision; on what basis it will be allocated; how much will be made available in each year of this Parliament, and what kind of learning provision the money will be used for.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Our new English language training offer, worth £20 million over this Parliament, will be informed by the findings of Louise Casey’s Review of Integration and the learning from the six community-based projects we have funded as part of our current integration programme. In particular, we will work with Louise Casey to identify the most isolated communities in England and on the detail of how the programme will be delivered, to ensure it is targeted at those women who need it most. We are working towards as early a launch date as possible for the programme in 2016-17.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 26908, what steps he is taking to improve the recording of knife finds in prisons to ensure that the data is easy to use and analyse.

    Andrew Selous

    Finds of certain prohibited items in prisons, including knives, are recorded on the NOMS Incident Reporting System (IRS).

    Until October 2015, any weapon in prison would be recorded under a miscellaneous incident type, and therefore would not provide consistent and complete information on weapon finds. In October 2015 we introduced a new incident type ‘Find’ on IRS, including a new category for ‘Weapons’, which means that separate data on weapons is now recorded.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Leader of the House, how many and what proportion of each Department’s Named Day Questions have been answered on the named day in the most recent period for which data is available.

    Chris Grayling

    The last submission from the Government on Parliamentary Written Questions performance was sent to the Procedure Committee on 4 November 2015 and covered the 2014-2015 Parliamentary Session. It is available at http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/Letter-fro.pdf!docid=2617780!.pdf.

    “

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32350, how many compliance visits have been carried out on Tier 2 ICT visa recipients employed by Tata Consulting Services in the UK over the last 12 months; and what aspects of employment were assessed on those compliance visits.

    James Brokenshire

    We routinely monitor all licensed sponsors to ensure they are meeting their duties and responsibilities. This includes undertaking visits to sponsors to inspect their compliance with the sponsor guidance. All visits to sponsors are undertaken according to published guidance which is available at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-sponsor-management

    We are, however, unable to comment on specific cases.

  • Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stewart Malcolm McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Malcolm McDonald on 2016-05-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations his Department have received from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on the list of addresses of British entities registered with the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama published by the ICIJ on their website on 9 May 2016.

    Mr David Gauke

    We welcome the statement from the source of the Panama Papers that they are willing to speak to law enforcement bodies. Tax evasion and money laundering are global issues, which is why the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and National Crime Agency (NCA) taskforce is working with international tax and law enforcement partners to take up this offer, and develop as many leads as possible from the data that is currently available.

    HMRC has been in regular contact with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), who have refused to share their full data with HMRC, stating that their policy is not to hand over such material. While we welcome the steps the ICIJ has taken in exposing this issue, its decision not to release the full set of information is disappointing.

    HMRC has begun analytical work on all the data published by the ICIJ, in addition to a wide range of other intelligence. As a result of this, the HMRC and NCA taskforce has opened a number of detailed and forensic enquiries.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support is available in West Lancashire for children with autistic spectrum disorders.

    David Mowat

    The provision of local health services is a matter for the local National Health Service. This information can be obtained from the West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to his Department was of each re-tendering exercise held for franchises for (a) long distance and (b) regional passenger rail services in each year since 2005-06.

    Paul Maynard

    Prior to the re-launch of the Franchising Programme in spring 2013, the costs of different franchising projects were not individually recorded.

    The cost of each re-franchising project since the re-launch is as follows:

    Franchise

    Cost (£M)

    Notes

    Essex Thameside

    4.815

    1

    Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern

    7.288

    East Coast

    8.429

    2

    Northern

    8.668 (to date)

    3

    TransPennine Express

    7.577 (to date)

    3

    East Anglia

    7.413 (to date)

    3

    These figures include adviser costs (financial, technical and legal advisers), pay costs for the project team, “non-pay” costs (such as bidder day seminars, public consultations, etc), and VAT where applicable, for the duration of the procurements.

    The (admin) sums invested in competent staff and advisors are dwarfed by the (Resource) SPRS benefits to the Department – £200 for every pound spent.

    Notes

    NOTE 1: The Essex Thameside figure represents the work done after the relaunch of the Franchising Programme. There was a significant amount of work completed prior to the pausing of the programme in autumn 2012 which is not included here.

    NOTE 2: The costs for the refranchising of the Intercity East Coast Franchise were not charged to the public purse, but were covered by the Performance Bond that National Express put forward following its default of the previous East Coast contract.

    NOTE 3: The figures for Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE) and East Anglia are the latest figures (as at the end of August 2016). East Anglia is still a ‘live’ project. Whilst Northern and TPE have concluded, there are still some residual costs that may affect the final figures.