Tag: Parliamentary Question

Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much and what proportion of her Department’s overseas development assistance budget her Department spent was subject to the International Development Act 2002 in each of the last three years.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has spent the following amounts of Official Development Assistance (ODA) over the past three years

*Year*	2013	2014	2015
*Total ODA*	£408.4m	£192.4m	£336m
*Amount under the International Development Act 2002*	£402.8m	£187.7m	£328.2m
*% under the International Development Act 2002*	98.6%	97.5%	97.6%

The spend that is under the International Development Act 2002 comes from the UK’s International Climate Fund (ICF) and the ODA-eligible proportion of the annual subscription to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The remaining DECC ODA spend is the ODA-eligible proportion of the annual subscriptions relating to the International Atomic Energy Agency. This spend is governed by the Supply and Appropriation Act; we seek to ensure this expenditure is consistent with the aims of the International Development Act.

01/01/2023

Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the average time in post of Trade Ministers of Her Majesty’s Government in (1) the last five years, and (2) the five years before that.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The average tenure of Ministers for Trade & Investment from 2011 until the departure of my noble Friend Lord Maude in March 2016 is 628 days or approximately 1 year, 8 months.

The average tenure of Ministers for Trade & Investment between 2006 and 2011 was 342 days or approximately 11 months.

01/01/2023
Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the outcome was of the National Offender Management Service Authority Audit of South Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company in September 2015 on that company’s risk management.

Andrew Selous

Major transitions are always challenging, but figures show the performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and National Probation Service, is continually improving. Thanks to these reforms, offenders in prison for less than 12 months are now receiving support from probation providers for the very first time.

Operational assurance audits were completed by the Ministry of Justice on all Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) during the first year of operation. The reports of these audits are commercially sensitive and, as such, will not be released. It is normal Government practice not to release commercially sensitive information.

We hold providers rigorously to account for their performance and take action wherever they are falling short. We are continuing to monitor the performance of CRCs closely.

Following an audit by the Ministry of Justice last year, South Yorkshire CRC developed an action plan.

01/01/2023
Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke on 2016-05-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with GCHQ about the security of customers of UK financial institutions.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The government takes the resilience of the financial sector, and the protection of bank customers, very seriously. Making sure that everyone has access to basic banking and financial services is at the heart of the government’s long term economic plan. The government is working with the banking industry, the retail sector, and law enforcement agencies to put in place the right steps to tackle online fraud against the public.

As the Chancellor announced in November, the government is creating a new National Cyber Security Centre, which will open in October. Its recently launched prospectus outlines the Centre’s proposed vision, goals and work. In February, the Home Secretary launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce, which aims to use the collective powers, systems and resources of banks, payment providers, police, wider law enforcement and regulators to tackle fraud, and raise awareness of the risk of fraud among consumers. Further details on both can be found on the GOV.UK website.

01/01/2023
David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many forced marriages the Forced Marriage Unit has helped prevent since 2005.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Figures on cases of potential or actual forced marriage reported to the Forced Marriage Unit via its public helpline and email inbox are published on GOV.UK on an annual basis and already includes data for 2012-2015. Figures for 2005-11 are provided below.

Year Total number of cases

2011 1,468
2010 1,735
2009 1,682
2008 1,618
2007 262
2006 197
2005 152

01/01/2023
Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government has access to radar data covering Aleppo city and Aleppo governorate from 18 September 2016 onwards that might identify the type, the origin and identity of aircraft present during (a) the attack on 18 September 2016 on populated areas in east Aleppo city, (b) the attack on 19 September 2016 on Syrian Arab Red Crescent trucks and warehouses in Urum al-Kubra in Aleppo governorate, (c) the attacks on 27 September 2016 on UOSSM supported hospitals M2 and M10 in Aleppo at approximately 4am local time and (d) other attacks on civilian targets and populated areas since that date.

Mike Penning

I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

However, indiscriminate attacks which fail to distinguish between civilians and legitimate military targets would be a violation of International Humanitarian Law and we welcome the UN’s recent decision to establish an Internal Board of Inquiry into the attack on a UN aid convoy on 19 September.

01/01/2023
Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-28.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to support growing small businesses that require more facilities after they leave business hubs.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Growing small businesses can get assistance from a number of Government schemes. For example the Government set up Enterprise Zones across England to support new and expanding businesses by offering incentives such as tax relief on top of the doubling of Small Business Rates Relief which we have extended for a further year until April 2016.

There are also Catapult centres round the country – places where the very best of the UK’s businesses, scientists and engineers work together to transform ideas into products and services. They allow small businesses access to resources and equipment they may need.

Small businesses can find out more about these schemes and also obtain other advice that may help them by approaching their local Growth Hub. There are now 30 Growth Hubs across England that are bringing together local and national business support so that people can find the help they need quickly and easily.[i]

[i] http://www.lepnetwork.net/about-leps/the-network-of-leps/

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01/01/2023
Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for disparities between clinical commissioning groups in achieving the recovery target for mental health patients who have received NHS treatment.

Alistair Burt

NHS England monitors clinical commissioning groups’ (CCGs) performance against the recovery target for people who have received psychological therapies through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme.

The Department is working closely with NHS England to reduce the variation in recovery rates across CCG areas. Key factors that have been identified are variation in data quality, waiting times, numbers of sessions completed by patients, leadership and supervision of services and particular challenges in areas with high deprivation.

NHS England is working with good performers and is analysing data from the IAPT programme to better understand factors that impact on recovery performance.

NHS England is also supporting lowest performing IAPT providers to improve their recovery rates and is offering workshops to spread good practice to all commissioners and providers.

01/01/2023
Bernard Jenkin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bernard Jenkin on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff in his Department are working on matters related to (a) European policy, (b) the future of Europe, (c) reform of the EU, (d) the renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU, (e) the EU referendum and (f) the consequences of the EU referendum; how many full-time equivalent staff are working on such matters; what the (i) staff and (ii) other cost of such work is; what proportion of that work is undertaken by such staff on (A) communications, (B) strategy and (C) policy; whether his Department has established any specific unit or units to deal with those matters; to whom such (1) staff and (2) units report; whether his Department has issued guidelines to staff on those matters; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock

The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for our country and secure our future. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe, including the renegotiation and referendum.

01/01/2023
Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, under what arrangements people can be extradited from Pakistan to the UK.

James Brokenshire

Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2015 there were no extraditions from Pakistan to the UK.

There is no bilateral extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan and, unless a multilateral convention applies, extradition is on the basis of reciprocity.

The Government will neither confirm nor deny whether it is considering or is involved in negotiations with a particular country regarding an extradition treaty.

01/01/2023