Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 136 of the publication, HM Treasury analysis: the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives, published in April 2016, whether the total net international migration figure of 185,000 per year from 2021 includes (a) Turkey, (b) Montenegro and (c) Serbia.

    Mr David Gauke

    The “HM Treasury analysis: the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives” uses the ONS central projection of total net international migration, defined as the movement of people to or from countries outside of the UK. As such, it applies to citizens of all countries outside the UK, including Turkey, Montenegro and Serbia.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the report, The Blood of People Who Don’t Cooperate, published by Human Rights Watch in November 2015, if he will review his Department’s policy of providing funding for the training of prison and security officers in Bahrain.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We believe that UK support to Bahrain’s reform programme is the most constructive way to achieve long-lasting and sustainable reform in Bahrain. While it will take time to see the full results, UK support is having a direct, positive impact on areas of concern. We continue to work with the Government of Bahrain to ensure momentum and progress on its reforms, for the benefit of all Bahrainis. All Foreign and Commonwealth Office programmes that support security reform are carefully considered in line with HMG’s Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance in order to assess and mitigate human rights risks. Our assistance is specially designed to improve human rights standards and strengthen the rule of law in partner countries. These programmes are routinely monitored and evaluated on a quarterly basis to ensure that they are on track for delivery.

  • Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long the average anticipated response time is for a review of a driving licence due to medical reasons.

    Andrew Jones

    The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) deals with more than 600,000 medical driver licensing applications annually. The length of time taken to deal with an individual application depends on the medical condition and whether further information is required from medical professionals.

    Between April 2016 and the end of August 2016, the average time taken for a licensing decision to be made was 38 working days. The average time for the period April 2015 to March 2016 was 53 working days.

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-10-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to provide regular reports to Parliament on the withdrawal by local authorities of public services, including welfare, educational and cultural services, including explanations of how local authorities are meeting statutory obligations for the provision of those services.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    Local authorities are independent bodies accountable to their electorate and have a legal obligation to fulfil a range of statutory duties to provide key services. Within the framework of statutory duties, councillors are free to set their own priorities and determine outcomes.

    Local authorities have an important role in making their decisions on resourcing transparent. All local authorities produce public accounts, have open meetings and are required to consult the public, and all are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The public are also entitled to have access to documents relating to council meetings and documents relating to executive decisions made by executive members or officers.

    The Secretary of State can request an inspection under section 10 and intervene under section 15 of the Local Government Act 1999 where there is clear evidence that an authority is failing either to discharge its functions adequately or meet its statutory obligations.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with Vivarail, train operating companies, and Passenger Transport Executives on the potential use of D-trains (class 230), and for which areas or services.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The deployment of rolling stock is a matter for train operators.

    Department for Transport officials have met with Vivarail to understand their proposals for the refurbishment of D78-Stock. Along with other industry stakeholders, officials have visited Vivarail’s facilities at the Long Marston Depot.

    The Great Western Railway franchise includes a commitment for the operator to carry out initial feasibility studies in respect of a number of potential projects, and one of these is into the use of D-Class trains.

    Vivarail is a private sector company that has developed these proposals at its own risk.

  • Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicola Blackwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicola Blackwood on 2015-11-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of her Department’s funding allocated in the Spending Review 2015 will be for research and development expenditure up to 2020.

    George Eustice

    Allocations for future years are currently being finalised as part of the Department’s business planning process. A breakdown of the funding allocated for research and development cannot be provided until this exercise is complete.

  • Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people of each gender work in his Department.

    Jane Ellison

    As at 31 December 2015, of the civil servants employed by the Department 1,180 were women and 838 were men. Their full-time equivalent numbers were 1,110 and 822 respectively.

    The Office for National Statistics produce annual and quarterly statistics for the whole of the Civil Service. The published figures include a gender distribution and a number of other demographics, for each Government Department and Executive Agency. These can be found at:

    http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pse/civil-service-statistics/index.html

    “

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the duration of ambassadorial postings (a) where HM Ambassador is a speaker of the official language of the country to which he is posted (b) where HM Ambassador’s primary foreign language is not that of the country to which he is posted.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The majority of Heads of Mission have a tour length of three or four years, unless they are posted to a hardship or conflict post where the tour may be shorter. Around 100 Heads of Mission roles require language skills and are designated “speaker slots”.

    We offer language training to Heads of Mission where this is required. The FCO Language Centre was re-opened in September 2013 to renew the focus and investment in languages as a core diplomatic skill to ensure that we get the right people with the right skills in the right jobs to deliver our foreign policy objectives. The Language Centre gives us a strong platform to grow our language skills as an organisation and develop a pipeline of talent to fill language slots on a continuous basis. It is essential that all our Heads of Mission have the necessary skills, including languages, to do their jobs. Many of our Heads of Mission will return to Posts where they have existing language capability, in these cases we will provide top up or refresher training. Our Head of Mission Appointment Boards take into account language skills as part of the overall assessment of suitability for a role. In some cases the best candidate may not already speak the language and for these roles we will provide longer training to reach the requisite level. We encourage all those who have undergone language training to maintain their language skills throughout their careers.

  • Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Murrison – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Murrison on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many community hospitals have closed in each year since 2005.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not hold this information.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 26843, if he will publish the terms of reference for the Reaper User Group.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The MQ-9 Users Group is a multilateral forum for France, Italy, the UK and US. As such, the release of the Group’s Terms of Reference can only be approved if all four participating nations agree. To that end, the request for their release was highlighted at the MQ-9 User Group and individual nations will report back as soon as is practicable.