Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2015 to Question 700, when she plans to (a) publish the evaluation report on the Access to Elected Office Fund and (b) make a decision on whether that fund should continue.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The number of people who have applied to the Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund is in the table below:

    Financial Year

    Number of applicants (some applicants made more than one application)

    2012/13

    27

    2013/14

    34

    2014/15

    48

    The total amount claimed by successful applicants was £271,260 (out of awards totalling £418,733)

    An evaluation of the pilot fund is currently being undertaken and will be published in due course. An announcement regarding the future of the fund is anticipated early in 2016.

    The information on regional breakdown of expenditure and the diversity of candidates can be found in the tables below:

    Region (location of election seat)

    Amount claimed and paid (£)

    East Midlands

    1,099

    East of England

    480

    Greater London

    89,399

    North East England

    4,382

    North West England

    20,567

    South East England

    69,474

    South West England

    21,260

    West Midlands

    20,281

    Yorkshire and Humberside

    17,882

    Total (rounded)

    271,260

    Political Party

    Amount claimed and paid (£)

    Conservative

    32,361

    Democracy 2015

    350

    Green

    5,791

    Labour

    120,846

    Liberal Democrat

    32,601

    Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

    276

    UKIP

    53,236

    Independent

    25,798

    Total (rounded)

    271,260

    Gender

    Amount claimed and paid (£)

    Male

    139,524

    Female

    131,736

    Total

    271,260

    Ethnic Group

    Amount claimed and paid (£)

    White; all backgrounds

    218,117

    Mixed ethnic origin

    1,348

    Asian; all backgrounds

    26,680

    Black/African/Caribbean/Black British

    22,977

    Other ethnic group

    350

    Prefer not to say

    1,788

    Total

    271,260

  • Baroness King of Bow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness King of Bow – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2016-01-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the legal Transfer Agreement between Tower Hamlets Housing Action Trust and Circle 33 Housing Trust for the transfer of the Tredegar, Monteith and Lefevre estates in Bow to Old Ford Housing Association.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    We are not able to place a copy of the document in the Library of the House; the transfer took place in 1999 and records are not kept that long.

  • Lord Wallace of Tankerness – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Wallace of Tankerness – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wallace of Tankerness on 2016-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken to support Bite the Ballot’s National Voter Registration Drive 2016, as well as the efforts by other organisations to engage and register (1) attainers, and (2) young voters, ahead of the elections in May and the EU referendum.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The introduction of online voter registration makes it easier and faster to register to vote. This provided a platform for Bite the Ballot’s National Voter Registration Drive 2016 which made heavy use of on digital media. The Government supported the initiative by encouraging government departments and relevant stakeholders such as local authorities to promote it. Since its introduction, three quarters of applications to register to vote were made online by people aged 16-24. As part of the week long activity, my Rt Hon. Friend the Minister for Constitutional Reform met with representatives of several faith organisations to discuss democratic participation.

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Altmann on 2 March (HL6343), why there is a difference within the Overseas Territories resulting in some people receiving uprating of their pensions while the pensions of others are frozen, and what would be the annual cost of unfreezing pensions for all those living in the Overseas Territories.

    Baroness Altmann

    The government has a clear position, which has remained constant for around 70 years: the UK State Pension is payable worldwide and is uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so for example in the European Economic Area or in countries where there is a reciprocal agreement in place that allows for uprating. There are no plans to change this.

    The annual additional cost of up-rating the state pensions of those recipients who are resident in the British Overseas Territories is estimated at approximately £1million in 2015/16.

    Were this to occur, liabilities for pensioners who live in other countries and territories would also have to be met. The estimated cost of increasing pensions in those countries where they are not currently uprated would be over £0.5 billion a year. This would be financially unaffordable.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to (a) notify recently bereaved spouses of the existence of bereavement benefits and (b) encourage those people to check their entitlement.

    Priti Patel

    Information about Bereavement Benefits is widely available through GOV.UK. We also work closely with third party organisations who the bereaved traditionally contact such as registrars, hospitals, funeral directors and voluntary groups ensuring that they have the correct information available to signpost the bereaved to the DWP Bereavement Service.

    Upon contacting the DWP Bereavement Service our staff will ensure that any benefits and pensions arrears are claimed and will also initiate a claim for Social Fund Funeral Payments and Bereavement Benefits if appropriate.

    .

    We continue to look for opportunities to improve the availability of advice about these particular benefits and as a result we have improved the information available on GOV.UK, and are currently exploring ways in which to to join up the Tell Us Once and Bereavement Service offers.

    Tell Us Once is a cross-government service delivered through Local Authorities whereby notification of the death is cascaded out to other agencies, thus reducing the number of contacts an individual has to make.

    The time limit for claiming Bereavement Allowance is three months from the date of death, which is consistent with the time limit for other welfare entitlements. We are currently developing the new Bereavement Support Payment due to be implemented for new claims from April 2017, and we will assess the merits of further flexibilities on backdating as part of this work.

    Information available on the number of people in receipt of Bereavement Allowance by duration of current claim can be found at:

    http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html

    Guidance for users can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

    “

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the criteria is for which hospitals are listed as being supported by the Emergency Care Intensive Support Team.

    Ben Gummer

    In 2015/16, increased resources were provided to the Emergency Care Intensive Support Team (ECIST). This was to enable it to provide a programme of deeper support to 27 health communities in England selected on the basis of poor performance against the national 4-hour accident and emergency standard during 2014/15 and quarter one of 2015/16. ECIST is also resourced to provide expert input to the eight urgent and emergency care vanguards.

    Since April 2016, the team has offered limited improvement support to a small group of trusts at the request of NHS Improvement regional teams.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2016 to Question 41415, what assistance the Government provides for UK coal and gas producers seeking to export their fuels overseas to the (a) EU and (b) rest of the world.

    Amber Rudd

    In the case of gas, UK Trade and Investment is active in helping the UK oil and gas sector do more business internationally. In addition the remit of the new Oil & Gas Authority, established in 2015, is to work with government and industry to make sure that maximum economic benefit is derived from the UK’s oil and gas reserves.

    UK companies are freely able to export and import coal as part of normal market operators.

    UK demand for both coal and gas outweighs domestic supply, therefore the UK imports the vast majority of its coal needs and around half of its gas supply.

  • John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    John Pugh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Pugh on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, approximately how many (a) British and (b) non-British nationals are employed cleaning the Westminster estate of his Department.

    Greg Hands

    I refer the hon. Member for Southport to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak on 13 October, UIN 47419, 47396.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Indian government on re-opening border crossings to Nepal since discussions were held between the British and Indian ambassadors to Nepal on border blockages on 30 October.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 November 2015 to question 15614 which can be located at: www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers. In addition to this answer, I discussed the blockage at the border with the Indian Foreign Secretary during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to the United Kingdom.

  • Karin Smyth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Karin Smyth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who he was accompanied by at a cost to the public purse on each of his official overseas trips since his appointment.

    Jane Ellison

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State is generally accompanied by an official from the Department and/or a member of staff from his private office when he is travelling on official business.