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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-11-30.

    To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what consideration has been given to moving to digital voting in the House.

    Tom Brake

    The Commission has given no formal consideration to a move to digital voting in the House. Its responsibility in this matter is limited to any financial or staffing implications of any change to the present system, were a change to be agreed by the House.

    In January 2015 the Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy recommended that the House should move to record votes using Members’ security passes but retain the tradition of walking through division lobbies. The House has not yet been invited to respond to this recommendation. House officials have undertaken some preparatory studies in the event of the House deciding to endorse this proposal. Members wishing to pursue the issue can seek a debate via the Backbench Business Committee or raise it with the Procedure Committee. It would also be open to Ministers to bring forward proposals.

    Accurate recording of divisions and timely publication of division lists are critical business activities of the House of Commons. The House Service has therefore been investigating means of electronic recording of divisions since October 2014, with a view to improving the timely publication of division lists, making division data more accessible to the public and easier to analyse, and improving accuracy. A trial was held in the House in March 2015 in which seven divisions were recorded in part by division clerks on tablet devices. Full implementation of tablet recording of divisions is expected to take place early in 2016. In the meantime, any divisions held under the new English votes for English laws procedure will be recorded on tablet devices, because the tablets can generate the results required under the ‘double-majority’ system. Electronic recording of votes by division clerks will not in itself alter the requirement for Members to vote by walking through the lobbies.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of progress in implementing the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Action Plan.

    Mr David Gauke

    The G20 Leaders endorsed the package of measures developed under the ambitious G20/OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project at the Antalya Summit, 15-16 November 2015.

    The UK has already taken action to implement two of the internationally agreed BEPS outputs with domestic legislation to introduce country-by-reporting and rules to address hybrid mismatches.

    Several BEPS outputs need to be implemented through changes to double tax treaties. Over 90 countries are working with the OECD to develop a Multilateral Instrument, which will simultaneously update their bilateral treaties. The UK chairs the group, which is scheduled to complete its work by the end of 2016.

    The G20 has called on the OECD to develop a framework by early 2016 to monitor the implementation of the BEPS project globally involving all countries that commit to implement the BEPS outputs.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20663, what the end date is of the contract awarded to Deloitte to support NHS England in the development of clinical commissioning policies.

    George Freeman

    There is no set end date to the contract. The contract will end once the programme of agreed work is complete, which should be in early summer.

  • Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Karen Buck – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) environmental health officers and (b) other staff in local authorities were responsible for enforcement of provisions in the Housing Act 2004 in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not collect this data. It is the responsibility of local authorities to decide appropriate staffing levels to meet their obligations on enforcement.

  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what contribution her Department is making to Government steps to reduce the incidence of serious youth violence.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education is working with the Home Office on a series of measures to reduce the incidence of serious youth violence.

    In January 2016, the Home Office published its Ending Gang Violence and Exploitation approach. Among its priorities, this publication describes action to protect locations where vulnerable young people can be targeted, including pupil referral units and residential children’s care homes. New regulations and guidance, introduced in 2015, make it clear that homes can prevent a child leaving the home where there is an immediate risk to their safety – which would include where a gang was seeking to lure a child away for involvement in gang activities. The Department for Education has also undertaken a stock-take of frontline practice in relation to missing children, which will inform and help to shape ongoing work to strengthen and improve practice with the Association of Directors of Children’s Services.

    The Ending Gang Violence and Exploitation publication also states that the Department for Education continues to focus on action to improve school attendance. Regular attendance plays a vital role in keeping young people away from gang involvement and other crime and antisocial behaviour. The Department has, from September 2015, reduced the threshold for ‘persistent absence’ from 15% to 10%, emphasising the message that attending school should be a priority for every pupil.

    In March 2016, the Home Office published its Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, outlining measures to strengthen the Government’s response to knife crime. This publication notes that the Home Office is working with the Department for Education to deliver prevention messages in schools; teaching school pupils to recognise and challenge unhealthy and exploitative relationships, to prevent them from being abused or from engaging in abuse themselves. We are working with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to train teaching staff in areas that seek help, to help them to teach young people to recognise and avoid exploitation and abuse.

    The Modern Crime Prevention Strategy also highlights that the Department for Education will work with the Home Office on how best to raise awareness in school age children about the risks of carrying knives, and the role schools can play to build resilience in children and young people so they do not give in to peer pressure to carry knives.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the new Network Rail Property company will have responsibility for disposing of any part of Network Rail’s operational estate.

    Claire Perry

    Before disposing of any asset, Network Rail will have to satisfy its Board, the Secretary of State and the regulator that it is safeguarding the current and future requirements, including operational needs, of the railway. Network Rail’s enhanced property business will lead on disposals.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to assess the case for the proposed Crossrail 2 Eastern Phase.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    No final decisions have yet been taken on the Crossrail 2 route. We have safeguarded a route from Angel to Hackney Central, which could form an eastern branch of Crossrail 2 at a later phase of the project, should there be a good business case and funding available for it. However, this is not being assessed as part of the core scheme under current consideration.

  • Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Kevin Foster – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Foster on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons the Gender Recognition Panel administrative guidance states that the Statutory Declaration should be dated within six months of the date of the Gender Recognition Certificate application.

    Dr Phillip Lee

    The date of the statutory declaration needs to be close to the date of application for a GRC (Gender Recognition Certificate) because the Gender Recognition Panel must be satisfied that the applicant and the spouse’s consents are still valid and current at the time of the application for a GRC. The 6 month timeframe reflects this need for up-to-date evidence.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK civil servants, and of what grade, who work in units, directorates or sub-departments within the Treasury are charged with EU policy formulation, advising on EU policy or enforcing EU policy.

    Lord Young of Cookham

    Staff within the longstanding International and EU group lead on providing advice to Ministers on EU and EU related issues.

    Staff within other groups throughout the Treasury also provide advice or analysis on EU issues as required, including policy formulation and enforcement.

    HM Treasury do not routinely capture information about each employee’s specific work. Given the interactions between EU policy and other work, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure.

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of road safety awareness educational programmes in reducing accidents.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Road safety education includes a range of interventions including educational courses and publicity campaigns.

    The Department funds the THINK! road safety publicity campaign. We evaluate the campaign to ensure it is effective, that we continually improve performance; and that we ultimately deliver value for money for the taxpayer.

    Prior to each campaign we set communication objectives and key performance indicators. We measure progress against these by running surveys with our target audience before and immediately after the campaign. We have seen positive shifts in key performance indicators for the majority of our campaigns. All of our recent campaign evaluation reports are published on gov.uk[1].

    In the long run, positive changes in key performance indicators on campaigns such as speeding, drink driving and seatbelts have correlated with fewer drivers exceeding the speed limit, fewer accidents involving drink driving and higher seatbelt wearing rates; and ultimately to fewer road casualties.

    Publicity campaigns are part of the solution to reduce road casualties and work best when used alongside enforcement and engineering interventions. Due to the multiple factors affecting casualties (weather, road conditions, traffic levels, the economy etc.) it is difficult to demonstrate a causal relationship with a specific intervention. However, in 2012 the department commissioned an independent agency to evaluate the impact drink drive campaigns have had on casualties. They used econometric modelling to estimate that over a 30 year period, drink drive communication campaigns have saved almost 2,000 lives and prevented over 10,000 serious injuries[2].

    In 2013, the Transport Research Laboratory published[3] a review and synthesis of evidence on the effectiveness of pre-driver education and training for those under 17 years of age which was undertaken for the Coalition Government. The findings showed that very few interventions had been robustly evaluated and that the evidence base around pre-driver interventions was weak. The Government recently commissioned an evidence base review, to build on existing work, to help us to understand the effectiveness of a range of pre- and post-test behavioural and technological interventions for young drivers. The Government is currently also funding an evaluation of the effectiveness of speed awareness courses.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/think-communication-activity

    [2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drink-drive-30-years-of-communication

    [3] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/249282/novice-driver-research-findings.pdf