Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what further steps she is taking to ensure that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Syria can be resettled in the UK through (a) the Gateway Protection Programme, (b) the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme, (c) the Mandate Refugee Scheme and (d) other schemes or programmes.

    James Brokenshire

    Since the launch of the expanded Syrian Resettlement Scheme last September, we have resettled more than 1000 vulnerable Syrians, around half of whom are children.

    On 28th January the Government announced further initiatives to assist unaccompanied children in the region. The initiatives will complement the very significant existing aid and assistance the UK has given in response to the Syrian conflict and migration crisis; including our existing resettlement programmes.

    As announced last week, the Government will work with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to lead a new initiative to identify and resettle unaccompanied children in the exceptional cases where it is in the child’s best interests to do so. The UK Government is working with UNHCR to establish the numbers and specific needs of these unaccompanied children in order to establish a resettlement process which best addresses the requirements of these vulnerable children.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of donations to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations she expects the UK’s share to be at the end of the 2016 to 2020 funding period.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Based on pledges made at Gavi’s replenishment conference in January 2015, the UK share of the total budget for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, from 2016 to 2020 will be 26%. However, I expect that this level may vary according to other donor pledges.

    Since 2000, Gavi has vaccinated half a billion children and saved 7 million lives. The UK pledge of £1 billion for the 2016 to 2020 period, by itself, is likely to vaccinate an additional 76 million children and save 1.4 million lives.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the total cost of administrating devolution deals in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

    James Wharton

    We do not hold this information.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent representations she has received on the potential link between cavity wall insulation and dampness in houses.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Under the Energy Company Obligation, which is the primary government support for measures of this type, the insulation of a cavity wall must be accompanied by an appropriate guarantee, approved by Ofgem. Amongst other criteria, the guarantee must include an assurance framework for the quality of the installation and the product used in the installation. As the administrator of ECO, Ofgem assess the suitability of this framework.

    Alongside this, the Department for Communities and Local Government has begun research into dampness in buildings caused by both internal moisture and wind-driven rain and related to insulation. This project is due for completion later this year. We are also aware of the recent publication of BBA Technical report No. 3, Full fill cavity wall insulation in areas of very severe exposure to wind driven rain.

    The results of both projects, together with any other relevant information, will be considered as part of any review of the regulations and associated statutory guidance. DECC and DCLG have also commissioned Dr Peter Bonfield to conduct a wider independent review of consumer advice, quality and standards and consumer protection for energy efficiency and renewable installations. The findings of this review will cover installations of Cavity Wall insulations. This report will be published in due course.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many curfew orders have been issued for anti-social behaviour in Stafford constituency since the introduction of such orders.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold information on curfew orders issued for anti-social behaviour.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has undertaken or assessed on links between depression and diabetes.

    Nicola Blackwood

    NHS England is undertaking work aimed at supporting people with diabetes who need psychological support: for example, psychological support for children with diabetes is being incentivised through the paediatric diabetes best practice tariff.

    More generally, work has recently been undertaken on treating common mental health disorders for people with long term physical conditions, including diabetes. Based on the findings from this and other published evidence, Implementing the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health outlines NHS England’s ambition that two thirds of the expansion of psychological therapies services for common mental health problems, such as depression, will be integrated within physical health pathways, including diabetes.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the findings of the report by CLIC Sargent entitled Cancer Costs: the financial impact of treatment on young cancer patients and their families, published in September 2016, whether he plans to review the financial support available for young cancer patients and their families to help meet the cost of their energy bills.

    Penny Mordaunt

    CLIC Sargent has supplied the Department for Work and Pensions with a copy of the report “Cancer Costs”. We are examining the contents of the report and I have asked my officials to arrange a meeting with CLIC Sargent’s representatives in the near future.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to safeguard the size of the homelessness prevention grant in the period up to the 2020 spending review.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    We have made available over £500 million to local authorities and the voluntary sector to tackle homelessness and since 2010 this has helped local authorities to prevent 935,800 households from becoming homeless.

    Since 2010, local councils have had more flexibility over how they spend the money they receive from central government.

    The allocation of Homeless Prevention Grant has developed over many years to take account of different kinds of pressures, including rough sleeping and statutory homelessness. We supported the establishment of the National Practitioner Support Service’s ‘Gold Standard’ programme to help improve the effectiveness of local authority homelessness prevention services.

    Decisions on funding beyond 2015/2016 will be subject to the forthcoming spending review.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Prime Minister, what the evidential basis is for his estimate that there are about 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters on the ground who do not belong to extremist groups; whether he has shared that estimate with all coalition partners; whether that estimate is congruent with those supplied by other partner countries in the coalition; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Cameron

    We estimate that there are around 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters on the ground who do not belong to extremist groups, many of whom are linked to the Free Syrian Army. In addition to these 70,000, there are around 20,000 Kurdish fighters in Syria, who are also playing an important role in combating ISIL. The information we have on individual groups which forms the basis of this estimate is drawn in large part from intelligence. It would not be to the benefit of these non-extremist opposition fighters if we were to make it public to ISIL and the Syrian regime. We have very close intelligence relationships with a range of allies and partners, and share assessments with them as a matter of course.

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-01-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support the Financial Conduct Authority has offered to people affected by the recent administration of Brightsource Debt Management; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that debt consolidation companies make timely payments to creditors so that their customers’ loans are paid down as quickly as possible.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government has fundamentally reformed the regulation of the debt management market, transferring regulatory responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) a more robust and better resourced regulator.

    The FCA is directing the clients of Brightsource Debt Management towards free debt advice and is engaging with the administrator to ensure the interests of clients are protected.

    The FCA require debt management firms which receive client money for the purposes of paying off client debts to pay that money to creditors as soon as is reasonably practical, normally within 5 business days, unless the firm has disclosed to the client that it will hold the money for a longer period in its terms and conditions.

    The FCA supervises the market; it has a broad enforcement toolkit to punish breaches of its rules and there is no limit on the fines it can levy.