Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that the costs of social care do not rise as a result of the introduction of the national living wage.

    Alistair Burt

    The introduction of the National Living Wage is part of Government’s wider approach to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society. The national living wage is an important step in rewarding the valuable contribution made by care workers, who often fall into the lowest earning occupations. It is expected that any increase in costs in the care sector associated with the National Living Wage will be partly met by higher productivity, efficiencies and will also help deliver better-quality care through improvements in staff retention and commitment.

    Local authorities are responsible for ensuring the availability of high quality social care in their areas and the commissioning of local services for those people who are entitled to public funding. They are locally accountable for how their budgets are allocated and spent. The terms and conditions of contracts negotiated between local authorities acting as commissioners of services and providers on an open market are a local matter that should reflect local conditions.

    However, under the Care Act, local authorities must have regard to fostering an effective workforce with the appropriate capabilities when shaping their local markets. The Act and its statutory guidance are absolutely clear that prices and fee rates agreed with providers must reflect these new duties, including the National Living Wage. The Department has also worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Local Government Association and care providers to co-produce a set of commissioning standards to support local authorities to assess and improve their commissioning practices. These standards are based on best practice and amplify the requirements set out in statutory guidance.

    As part of the Autumn Spending Review the Government is giving local authorities access to £3.5 billion of new support for social care by 2019/20. Councils will be able to introduce a new Social Care Precept, allowing them to increase council tax by 2% above the existing threshold. This could raise up to £2 billion a year for social care by 2019/20. From April 2017, the Spending Review makes available social care funds for local government, rising to £1.5 billion by 2019/20, to be included in the Better Care Fund. Taken together, the new precept and additional Better Care Fund contribution mean local government has access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament and meet costs from the introduction of the National Living Wage.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36103, whether the Government has requested access to any post-activity operational reports of air strikes by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    There are a small number of UK Liaison Officers based in the Saudi Air Operations Centre that have access to Coalition reporting data. These are fast jet post mission reporting data only. These liaison officers are not embedded personnel taking part in the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition operations and are not involved in carrying out strikes, directing or conducting operations in Yemen or selecting targets and are not involved in the Saudi targeting decision-making process. All UK personnel remain under UK command and control.

  • Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterpart on the detention of Tamil political prisoners in Sri Lanka.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We regularly raise matters of concern with the Sri Lankan government, including the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the detention of Tamil political prisoners without trial. I met Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, the Honourable Mangala Samaraweera MP, on 14 September in Geneva. I was encouraged by our discussion and by his speech to the UN Human Rights Council. He told members of the UN Human Rights Council that the Sri Lankan government would review and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act and replace it with anti-terrorism legislation in line with contemporary international best practices. I have also been encouraged by the recent announcements that bail has been granted to 39 prisoners being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many homeowners and businesses have received a grant from the Repair and Renew Grant fund, and what is the average payment.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Over 6,000 home and business owners have benefitted from the Repair and Renew Grant scheme to help protect their property against future flooding events. The average payment was £3,918.

  • Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent representations he has received in favour of Government involvement in any part of the running of departments or divisions of Rolls Royce connected to that company’s production of the Nuclear Reactor Component of the Successor Programme.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence has received no such representations.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.

    Harriett Baldwin

    This information is published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on their website http://www.ons.gov.uk. ONS figures include both the mean and median gender pay gaps for the Civil Service and HM Treasury. The ONS headline estimates are also calculated using hourly earnings excluding overtime.

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  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase participation in the arts by people from low income backgrounds.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to experience and participate in culture and the arts whatever their background and the Prime Minister acknowledged the importance of this in a speech in January 2016 on life chances. Government is maintaining the same level of funding for Arts Council England throughout the next spending period which will include support for arts programmes in areas where participation is low.

    Arts Council England funds a number of community arts organisations that look to engage disadvantaged people, such as Cinderford Artspace and Helix Arts which focus on encouraging unemployed adults and employed people on low incomes to participate in the arts. Arts Council England also places responsibility on every funded organisation to make their programme of work more reflective of the communities they serve.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what climate change adaptation support her Department plans to make available to businesses after the closure of the Climate Ready Support Service.

    Rory Stewart

    The first National Adaptation Programme sets out more than 370 actions to help the UK better prepare for climate change – we continue to deliver on these actions and make sure adaptation is integrated across government policy making. We will carefully review how we work with business and industry as part of the preparations for the next National Adaptation Programme report which is due around 2018.

    The Environment Agency continues to play an important role in helping businesses adapt to climate change, in particular as part of its core role on flooding, coastal risks, water management, freshwater habitats, and as a statutory adviser in the land-use planning system. In addition, the Environment Agency will continue to provide advice to businesses and other organisations on using the UK climate projections and it will continue to contribute to a range of stakeholder groups. Over 70 online tools developed by the Climate Ready Support Service are still available for use by businesses.

  • Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Caroline Ansell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, who he plans to consult about the soft drinks industry levy; and when that consultation will be launched.

    Damian Hinds

    We will launch a formal consultation covering various aspects of the proposed levy this summer and we are developing the consultation questions now. The consultation will be open to anyone to respond.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether security staff working on mass deportation flights have accredited training in the use of force in the confined space of an aircraft.

    James Brokenshire

    Yes. All escorting staff employed on charter flights are required to undertake and pass training in the Home Office Manual for Escorting Safely (HOMES). This is an accredited training package which is provided by the National Offender Management Service for use in confined spaces, including aircraft. Escorting staff are required to undertake refresher training on a regular basis.