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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of adequacy of the level of transparency in the recruitment process for Chief Fire Officers.

    Mike Penning

    Matters of recruitment are for individual fire and rescue authorities as employers. However, Ministers have been clear that payments for senior fire officers who return to employment immediately after retirement are an unacceptable use of taxpayers’ money, especially when fire authorities need to be making sensible savings.

    That is why this Government has issued explicit guidance on the re-employment of senior staff who have previously been in receipt of a redundancy or severance payment, or who are in receipt of a local government or fire service pension. Fire and rescue authorities have the ability to deal with this problem and should do so. The public have a right to know when, and on what basis, these decisions have been made, and we have made provision for this.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of hotel bookings his Department made for (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in each of the last five years.

    Matthew Hancock

    Details of Ministerial overseas travel, and senior officials’ business expenses are published on a quarterly basis. The remaining information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to improve public trust and confidence in charities.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The Government has taken a number of steps to improve public trust and confidence in charities in England and Wales

    The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 gives the Charity Commission new and enhanced powers to tackle serious abuses of charitable status. The Charity Commission is already taking a more robust approach to tackling abuse and mismanagement and has also simplified and updated guidance for trustees to remind them of their duties.

    Following scandals in 2015 that highlighted unacceptable charitable fundraising practices, a new Fundraising Regulator has been established. Chaired by Lord Grade of Yarmouth, this independent regulator is tasked to set high standards of fundraising practice and to deal with public complaints when these have been breached. It has a range of sanctions and can refer serious non­compliance or abuse to the relevant statutory regulator.The Fundraising Regulator will also develop a Fundraising Preference Service to enable people who feel inundated with targeted fundraising requests to put a stop to them if they wish.

    The Office for Civil Society and Innovation is further working with charities to explore the challenges facing the leadership of the voluntary and community sector. One of the four themes that has been identified as part of this work is ‘responding to decline in trust and confidence’. A dedicated working group has been convened to explore this issue and identify potential solutions.

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess the potential merits of introducing more incentives to encourage motorists to use cleaner fuels and public transport.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Department for Transport assesses a number of different fuels in terms of a range of environmental impacts including air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. A number of initiatives are underway to encourage cleaner, lower carbon fuels.

    This Government is investing over £600 million in this Parliament in addition, to a more favorable tax regime towards less polluting vehicles to ensure that almost all cars and vans are zero emission vehicles by 2050.

    The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) has supported a market for low carbon fuels and delivered significant greenhouse gas emissions savings. In 2014/15 these savings were equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the road. We have been working with industry and others on proposals to increase the supply of low carbon fuels in line with our UK carbon budget targets. We plan to consult on proposed changes to the RTFO scheme later this year.

    The Government will continue to promote public transport choices, supporting the market for innovative forms of transport and encourage a move to cleaner and lower carbon vehicles.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the effect that the offshore wind industry has on stimulating investment in the north of England.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Recent major investments in the north of England include Siemens and APB’s investment in Hull, Offshore Structure Britain in Teesside and JDR Cables in Hartlepool. There has also been significant investment in operations and maintenance facilities. These investments are helping to deliver high quality and long term jobs to the region.

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-12-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of people, including children, who continue to suffer the consequences of predictable and preventable disasters globally, and what assessment they have made of the case for Disaster Risk Reduction being included in all development assistance programmes in high-risk countries.

    Baroness Verma

    DFID uses the global assessment undertaken by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology for Disasters (CRED). CRED estimates that in 2014 107.3 million people were affected by disasters caused by natural hazards such as drought, earthquakes and floods. A DFID funded report recognises that, although there is limited available data, women and children are disproportionately affected by disasters.

    In 2012 DFID undertook a study which highlighted the case to invest in measures to build resilience to natural hazards, including Disaster Risk Reduction. The study proved that investing in disaster resilience in advance of shocks or in the early stages of a crisis saves lives and is more cost-effective than humanitarian aid provided after a disaster strikes. It found that, for instance, in Kenya, over a 20 year period, every $1 spent on disaster resilience resulted in $2.90 saved in the form of reduced humanitarian aid, avoided losses and development gains. Since 2011 DFID has undertaken a process to embed disaster resilience in all our country programmes, resulting in the inclusion of disaster risk reduction when appropriate. The Political Champions for Resilience Group has ensured building resilience has been institutionalised in donors, aid agencies and national governments. Strengthening resilience and response to crises is one of the four priorities of the 2015 UK Aid Strategy, Tackling Global Challenges in the National Interest.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers who were on the Higher Level Scheme and Entry Level Scheme have joined the Countryside Stewardship Scheme; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Natural England is currently processing 2,848 applications for the new Countryside Stewardship Scheme. 1,526 agreements have been offered so far and 859 have been accepted. All agreements will have a start date of 1 January 2016.

    ‪ The number of farmers applying who were formerly in Entry Level Stewardship is not yet known. Natural England is, however, currently working on applications from at least 159 farmers whose Higher Level Stewardship agreements are due to end in 2016.

  • Lord Boateng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Boateng – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boateng on 2016-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many full-time accredited diplomatic staff are employed in the British Embassy Liaison Office in Bujumbura; and of those, how many are not locally engaged, and what are their civil service grades.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Our Embassy Liaison Office in Bujumbura is a subordinate post, covered by our High Commission in Kigali. It has three full time locally engaged staff. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is seeking to appoint a full time accredited diplomatic officer to be based in Bujumbura. Our High Commissioner to Rwanda is accredited as the British Ambassador to Burundi while the Department for International Development Head of Office in Rwanda also covers Burundi. Full-time accredited diplomatic staff at our High Commission in Kigali and elsewhere in the region support political engagement with Burundian actors and visit Burundi regularly.

  • Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2016-03-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they intend to take to discourage the inappropriate use of lasers with potentially damaging consequences for pilots and air passengers.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government is exploring a number of options to address the threat from the misuse of laser pens. This is a matter we take very seriously, particularly in light of recent events that have been reported.

    There is specific legislation prohibiting the use of laser pens against aircraft. Under the Air Navigation Order (2009), it is an offence to direct or shine any light at any aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract the pilot of the aircraft. Anyone found guilty of this offence could be liable to a fine, up to a maximum of £2,500.

    It is also an offence to “recklessly or negligently act in a manner to endanger an aircraft, or any person in an aircraft”. Anyone found guilty of this offence could be liable to a fine, up to 5 years imprisonment, or both.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-04-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times explosive ordinance officers were deployed to deal with incidents in Northern Ireland between 1 July 2015 and 1 January 2016.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Explosive Ordnance Device teams in Northern Ireland continue to respond with great professionalism to requests for assistance. We will continue to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland in the most operationally effective way.

    Incidents requiring explosive ordnance disposal experts in Northern Ireland are dealt with solely by military personnel.

    The information requested on the number of occasions Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel have responded to incidents in Northern Ireland is published annually in the Report of the Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007. A copy of the report covering up to 31 July 2015 is available in the Library of the House and can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/499691/Independent_Reviewer_of_the_Justice_and_Security__Northern_Ireland__Act_2007__8th_report.pdf

    Between August 2015 and December 2015, Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel responded on a further 111 occasions to incidents in Northern Ireland.