The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2016-03-21.
To ask the Prime Minister, if he will create a group at ministerial level of representatives from the relevant government departments to ensure that progress is made on the Government’s sport strategy with cross-departmental coordination.
Mr David Cameron
I refer my hon. Friend to ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation’, published in December 2015, a copy of which can be accessed on the gov.uk website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what guidance his Department issues to Commanding Officers dealing with allegations of sexual assault, voyeurism and sexual activity in a public lavatory as set out in Schedule 2 of the Armed Forces Act 2006.
Mark Lancaster
Commanding Officers (COs) are under a statutory duty, under the Armed Forces Act 2006, to ensure that allegations of any offences, including those mentioned here which are not on Schedule 2, are investigated appropriately. If a CO becomes aware of an allegation or circumstances which would indicate to a reasonable person that one of these offences has been committed, he must ensure that it is investigated appropriately. The allegation must, therefore, be reported to the Service police if it would be appropriate.
Guidance for COs about their responsibilities in relation to the investigation of offences is set out in The Manual of Service Law at Volume 1, Chapter 6. Paragraph 30A refers to the offences of sexual assault, voyeurism, sexual activity in a public lavatory and exposure, stating that the CO should take legal advice to assist him in making the most appropriate decision as to who should investigate such matters and that there is a presumption that a CO should normally ensure that the Service police are aware of such an allegation. The CO has access to legal advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Guidance in the Manual of Service law does not preclude the Armed Forces from issuing further policy on this issue, if this would best meet the needs of their own Service. The Army and Royal Navy have therefore decided to issue a policy instruction to the effect that any cases with a sexual element should be referred to the Service Police for investigation, and the Royal Air Force is currently considering whether to adopt the same approach.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether it is the Government’s policy that the UK is part of the European Project, as that term is used by the EU Commission and the European Council; and if the Prime Minister will make a statement.
Mr David Lidington
The Government is in favour of the UK remaining in a reformed EU. It has made its position on the referendum clear, and published a number of papers analysing the choice facing the British people.
As stated in the paper “The best of both worlds: the United Kingdom’s special status in a reformed European Union” published on 22 February 2016, the Government has secured agreement that the Treaties will be changed in the future so that the UK is carved out of ‘ever closer union’ and established a mechanism for decision-making to return from Brussels to the UK and other nation states, where this is most appropriate. This is all consistent with the UK’s longstanding approach to our relationship with the EU: that it should be based on the practical pursuit of our national interest. Our new settlement means that it has been formally recognised that the UK is not committed to further political integration into the EU and we have secured specific confirmation that the concept of ‘ever closer union’ will not apply to the UK in the future.”
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children with refugee status in the UK have been granted permission to sponsor family members to join them under the refugee family reunion rules in each of the last three years.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Under the Family Reunion Rules, children cannot sponsor family members. Any grant of leave in such cases would be on an exceptional basis outside the Immigration Rules. To obtain the information would involve examining individual case records and would incur a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2016 to Question 45594, on public sector: procurement, where the Crown Commercial Service analysis can be found that is referred to in that Answer.
Ben Gummer
The Crown Commercial Service analysis referred to was undertaken internally to facilitate answering the Hon Member’s previous question. The key data is reproduced below.
UK Tenders on Tenders Electronic Daily (Official journal of the EU) and Contracts Finder
|
MONTH |
TED |
CONTRACTS FINDER |
|
January 2016 |
812 |
2,577 |
|
February 2016 |
760 |
3,080 |
|
March 2016 |
987 |
3,256 |
|
April 2016 |
958 |
2,865 |
|
May 2016 |
881 |
2,960 |
|
June 2016 |
907 |
931 |
|
July 2016 |
1,033 |
2,853 |
|
August 2016 |
1,027 |
3,570 |
This clearly illustrates both the deferment in “Contract Finder” tenders during the EU referendum purdah period, and the lack of any significant change in the number of “Tenders Electronic Daily” opportunities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many civil servants in his Department are members of trades unions; how much working hours facility time is claimed by each such civil servant; and what the cost of that facility time is to his Department.
Jane Ellison
The Department does not hold records of the number of staff who are members of a trade union. This is a matter for the trade unions.
The Cabinet Office publishes data relating to Civil Service facility time and the cost of its provision, on a quarterly basis. The latest data is Quarter 4, 2014 and is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-union-facility-time
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-11-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each of the last five years, how many planning appeals were made against local authority decisions on major housing schemes; what was the average time taken by the Planning Inspectorate to deal with those appeals; how many took longer than six months; how many have so far been made this year, and of those how many have taken, or are scheduled to take, longer than six months.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The table below shows the number of planning appeals made against local authority decisions on major housing schemes (10 or more houses). It shows the average time taken, how many took longer than six months, how many have been made so far this year and of those, how many have taken or will take longer than six months.
|
s78 planning appeals for major dwellings (10+) |
|||
|
Start Date |
Number of decisions |
Average days to decide |
Number of appeal decisions that exceeded 6 months (start to decision) |
|
2010-2011 |
626 |
163 |
142 |
|
2011-2012 |
473 |
146 |
57 |
|
2012-2013 |
397 |
166 |
86 |
|
2013-2014 |
495 |
162 |
117 |
|
2014-2015 |
587 |
166 |
230 |
|
2015-2016 |
392 |
185 |
157 |
|
Number of decisions in progress that are beyond 6 months (in age) = 62 |
|||
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Bahrain on the release of Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace in the last 12 months.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We have raised Dr Al-Singace’s case with the Government of Bahrain, including at the highest levels, and continue to do so on a regular basis. We regularly discuss human rights issues with the Government of Bahrain – including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting, which was recently held in November 2015. I am aware that the Ombudsman’s Office met Dr. Al Singace when he was in Qalaa Hospital and subsequently opened an investigation. We will continue to monitor Dr. Abduljalil Al Singace’s case closely.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22432, how the Director of the Serious Fraud Office measures the undermining of UK PLC commercial or financial interests in the (a) City of London and (b) UK.
Robert Buckland
The Criminal Justice Act 1987 provides that “The Director may investigate any suspected offence which appears to him on reasonable grounds to involve serious or complex fraud.”
Each case is assessed on its own facts and merits.
The Statement of Principle sets out some of the factors that the Director will take into account when considering the matter for investigation. All of these will be considered, and there is no minimum requirement or measure in respect of the different factors.
Each on its own or taken in combination can establish sufficient grounds for the Director to decide that the case is sufficiently large, complex or of wide public interest that it should be dealt with by the Serious Fraud Office.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for the policies of the Cabinet Office of the recommendations of the Mental Health Taskforce report, published in February 2016.
Alistair Burt
We welcome the recommendations for government in the report and will be considering how best to integrate them into our work programme. There will be an impact on policies across Government in this period and, more importantly, a positive impact on people using mental health services.
The Mental Health Five Year Forward View Taskforce Report proposes, and we accept, investing over £1 billion of additional funding by 2020/21 to reach one million more people. There are a number of recommendations in the report which will have an impact on crisis care services, accident and emergency departments, mothers suffering from mental health problems, suicide prevention, children and young people’s mental health services, access to psychological therapies and the physical health of people with mental health problems. The £1 billion announced with the Taskforce report is the total annual cost for all areas in 2020/21.
Announcements on the development of policies, including those with reference to implementing the Mental Health Taskforce will be made in due course.