Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Northern Powerhouse Rail rolling stock will be permitted to operate on HS2 infrastructure.

    Andrew Jones

    Transport for the North are leading the development of a number of potential options for Northern Powerhouse Rail, including options that make use of sections of the HS2 network.

    Should Northern Powerhouse Rail be integrated directly with sections of the HS2 network, the rolling stock will be specified to operate on HS2 infrastructure.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who she met during her visit to China in November 2015; and what was (a) discussed and (b) agreed at those meetings.

    George Eustice

    During her visit the Secretary of State met a number of her counterparts, supported the two week long Food is GREAT Campaign in China and took with her the largest ever UK delegation to the Food and Hotel China trade show. She signed agreements to open the markets for UK barley and pigs trotters worth up to £190m over 5 years and discussed the forward plan for opening up the markets for poultry, beef and lamb. She discussed shared priorities with the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Water Resources and agreed programmes of closer collaboration.

  • Lord Lennie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Lennie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lennie on 2015-12-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many households that currently claim tax relief on income from residential property finance costs also claim child benefit.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The information requested is not available.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees how many agency staff are employed by the House of Lords; and whether those staff are paid the London Living Wage.

    Lord Laming

    The House currently employs approximately 34 agency staff in each sitting week. The majority of these staff are deployed in Catering and Retail Services.

    The House of Lords is accredited by Citizens UK (CUK) as a London Living Wage Employer. The terms of its accreditation licence require that contractors and sub-contractors with dedicated staff who are based on parliamentary premises are paying those staff at least the London Living Wage.

    In accordance with the terms of the accreditation licence, all agency staff are paid at least the London Living Wage rate from day 1 of week 9 if they are working on parliamentary premises and employed for at least two hours of work in a week, for 8 consecutive weeks in a year.

  • Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times (a) family and (b) legal visits to prisoners in HM Prison Belmarsh have been cancelled in each of the last 12 months; and for what reason each such visit was cancelled.

    Andrew Selous

    Family and legal visits have been cancelled on two occasions in the last 12 months at HM Prison Belmarsh. These were;

    8 October 2015 – Due to a full lock down search of the prison

    9 December 2015 – To enable a Trade Union meeting

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when an appropriate assessment, as defined in Article 6 of the EU Habitats Directive, was undertaken for the South-West London Waterbodies Special Protection Area.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    A habitats regulations screening assessment was prepared in June 2012 which concluded that the impact of construction and operation of HS2 would have a negligible impact on gadwall and shoveler ducks in the Colne Valley Lakes and therefore no likely significant effect on the Southwest London Waterbodies SPA/Ramsar site. The details were reported in the main Environmental Statement published in November 2013.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures her Department has to ensure that aviation watch lists are cross-referenced with passenger manifests; and what steps her Department takes in instances of failure of such procedures.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government works closely with all carriers, not just British registered carriers, to connect their systems to the Government’s border systems to ensure those connections are operating properly and to ensure that any IT problems are identified and resolved. Should any circumstance arise where a carrier should have refused authority to carry an individual to the UK, that individual will be met on arrival. Border Force also conducts 100% checks at passport control on all passengers arriving in the UK by commercial air, rail or maritime services at passport controls. This includes screening against watch lists.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The Department for Communities and Local Government does not have an annual food budget. Catering services are provided via a contract with Interserve Plc, and is operated on a nil subsidy basis.

    Annual spend is determined by the contractor and is informed by private sales to members of staff.

    Approximately 34% of products across all food and drink categories were sourced from British producers as at March 2016.This proportion reflects that a large volume of food and drink sold includes non-indigenous products such as rice, pasta, tea, coffee and bananas, and that as this period falls in the Winter season there are out of UK seasonal products procured from the wider EU.

    The proportion also reflects consumer trends, and the commercial contractor’s pursuit of value for money given the nil subsidy arrangement.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to speed up the application process for refugee family reunion.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Customer service is a key priority for UK Visas and Immigration, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the visa application process is kept under regular review, including by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration. Customers now apply and pay online in addition to being able to make appointments to submit their documents and biometrics at visa application centres in over 200 locations around the world.

    The published service standard for resolving refugee family reunion applications is within 12 weeks, or 60 working days. Where an application is complex and likely to take longer than the advertised processing times, UKVI will contact the applicant to inform them of this. The average processing time for 2015 was 40 days.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether risk adjustments have been made to the rail passenger franchises currently out to tender for services on the (a) South Western, (b) West Midlands and (c) East Anglia lines since 23 June 2016; and if he will provide details of any such adjustments in each case.

    Paul Maynard

    The Department issued the Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the West Midlands franchise on 30 August 2016, and bidders have until 29 November 2016 to submit their bids. The Department intends to follow the risk adjustment process as detailed in the published ITT once bids have been received.

    The Department is evaluating bids for the South Western rail franchise and intends to follow the risk adjustment process as detailed in Appendix 3 to the Invitation to Tender, published on the Department’s website.

    The East Anglia franchise competition concluded on 23 August, when the Department signed the Franchise Agreement with Abellio East Anglia. The Department followed the risk adjustment process detailed in the Invitation to Tender, published on the Department’s website.

    The Department does not communicate the detail of Risk Adjustments, as these relate to cost and revenue details of the leading bid, which are commercially sensitive.