Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to consult farmers and the agricultural sector on its firearms policy.

    Mike Penning

    Home Office officials recently met the Countryside Alliance, along with other interested groups, to discuss the proposed revisions to the European Firearms Directive. In 2014-15, the Home Office consulted widely on the increase to the firearms fees administered by the police made in 2015. From the consultation responses received, 8% of respondents identified as farmers and 6% as gamekeepers. We are also aware that the Countryside Alliance contributed to the Law Commission consultation on the review of firearms law.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage more young people to go into farming.

    George Eustice

    The Government is working with the food and farming industries to encourage bright, talented young people into agriculture. We aim to treble the number of food and farming apprenticeships by 2020. Agriculture and related subjects is the fastest-growing subject at university, with a 4.6% increase in student numbers last year. We are also working with industry partners and others to build links between food and farming businesses and schools. The Great British food campaign will help to highlight the breadth of careers the food and farming industries can offer.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total value is of the contracts Atos holds with the Home Office.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office holds three contracts with Atos.

    The first is “IND Procurement of Infrastructure Development and Support” (IPIDS), which provides application management supporting and hosting for major immigration IT systems. This contract expired on 31st January 2016, and a six-month transition period was invoked to provide support for a smaller subset of applications not covered by the replacement programme.

    The whole life cost of IPIDS was circa £220 million (exclusive of any additional project charges) until 31st January 2016. The maximum cost of the six-month transition period will be £642,000 (excluding VAT).

    The Department’s second contract with Atos is “Contain,” which is a direct replacement for IPIDS. The programme provides continuity for seven major Immigration IT systems, whilst work continues on the Immigration Platform Technology (IPT) platform. The Contain contract allows legacy immigration applications to be phased out whilst service continuity is preserved, and enables new applications delivered by the IPT programme to be brought in without disruption. The contract will run for a maximum of two years, and the total contract value is £18.1 million (excl VAT), which includes run and decommission costs.

    The third contract with Atos Worldline is a small G-Cloud Call-Off Agreement to enable passport application payments to be made online; the total contract value is £183,000.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many infraction proceedings the EU has initiated against her Department in each of the last 10 years; what the reasons were for each such proceeding being undertaken; and what the outcome was of each such proceeding.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The information requested is publicly available on the website of the European Commission where the infringement cases for each member state can be found. This includes the infringement and the decision. These records go back to 2002 and can be found here.

    http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/?lang_code=en

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government has made on implementing its policy to move graduate recruitment outside London and establish a regional assessment centre.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Bridge Group Report into Socio-Economic Diversity in the Fast Stream recommended that the Fast Stream should introduce at least one regional assessment centre from Autumn 2016 and move to a greater number of regional assessment centres in future years.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to attend the UN General Assembly meetings on refugees and migrants on 19 and 20 September 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    HM Government will be represented at the UN General Assembly high level meeting on 19 September and the Leaders’ Summit on refugees to be hosted by President Obama on 20 September.

  • Philippa Whitford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philippa Whitford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philippa Whitford on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what preparations his Department has made for the likely relocation of the headquarters of the European Medicines Agency away from London after the UK leaves the EU.

    David Mowat

    The future arrangements which apply in relation to European Union institutions based in the United Kingdom should be determined once the UK has left the EU. It is too early to speculate on the future location of the European Medicines Agency.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on support for people with mental health conditions who claim jobseeker’s allowance.

    Alistair Burt

    Ministers at the Department of Health and Department for Work and Pensions met on 3 June and agreed to greater cross government working between our respective Departments. Following that meeting, the Department of Health and Department for Work and Pensions Work and Health Unit was created to improve the health and employment outcomes of benefit claimants. Next year, the unit will launch a range of voluntary mental health and employment pilots to support working age individuals with or at risk of developing a mental health condition retain and return to employment.

    We know that people come into contact with the welfare system at a time when they may be vulnerable because of unemployment and its associated consequences. The Department for Work and Pensions provides guidance and training for staff to help them identify and support people who may be vulnerable.

  • Lord Mawson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Mawson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what practical actions they are taking to promote and encourage inward investment into the Lower Lea Valley.

    Lord Maude of Horsham

    UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) has overall responsibility for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK. For investors with an interest in London it shares leads with London & Partners (London’s promotional organisation) to land those investors here in what is a very competitive international market for FDI.

    The Mayor of London is also responsible for attracting FDI into London and as such London & Partners also generates its own leads.

    As part of its ‘UK First’ approach to attracting inward investment, UKTI actively supports these efforts and those of London Councils, including those that cover the Lower Lea Valley.

  • 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 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons the National Offender Management Service decided not to impose financial penalties on private prisons on each occasion when such penalties were applicable in the last five years; and what the value of those fines so foregone was.

    Andrew Selous

    Performance points are accrued when a custodial service failure occurs. Charges are then applied when the total points exceeds the relevant performance baseline. A performance baseline is allowed in recognition of the complex operational nature of prisons where we know that there will be occasional incidents no matter how well the prison is run. This charge protocol is a longstanding practice in prison contracts.

    The performance points, and subsequent calculated charges, are signed off by all parties at the Quarterly Contract Review Meeting. Following this meeting, charge payable will, without exception, be collected by NOMS.