Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the retail sector on alternatives to non-recyclable coffee cups; and if she will make a statement.

    Dr Thérèse Coffey

    This Government remains committed to recycling and will be consulting widely on our plans for resources, waste and recycling in developing our 25 Year Environment Plan. I have had a number of discussions with a range of stakeholders in drawing up our plan; as part of these discussions, companies will raise ideas about new products or treatments.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of using external agencies for recruitment to senior Civil Service posts in his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Mark Lancaster

    Where external recruitment to Senior Civil Service (SCS) posts is required, recruitment agencies and head-hunters may be engaged to assist with campaigns. The costs of agency services include search, advertisement, response handling, assessment and support to selection panels.

    Details of spend on SCS recruitment with external agencies and head-hunters, by calendar year, are as follows:

    Calendar Year

    Spend

    2010

    £121,000

    2011

    £144,000

    2012

    £284,000

    2013

    £373,000

    2014

    £583,000

    2015 (to 31 March)

    £33,000

    Note: information held by the Ministry of Defence extends to 31 March 2015 only; from 1 April 2015 recruitment for SCS posts has been managed centrally by Civil Service Resourcing.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions a special adviser in his Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    A Special Adviser has accompanied the Secretary of State only once on an overseas trip since May 2015. The practice of Special Advisers accompanying the Secretary of State on overseas visits where there is a business need is long-established and has operated as such under various administrations including the previous Labour administration.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) his Department, (b) HM Courts and Tribunal Service, (c) HM Prison Service, (d) the Legal Aid Agency and (e) the National Offender Management Service; how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    Mike Penning

    I refer the honourable member to the answer which I gave in PQ 21339, answered on 23rd February 2016.

  • Gordon Henderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gordon Henderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Henderson on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support smaller building firms in building high-quality new homes.

    Brandon Lewis

    We have put in place a number of initiatives to help smaller builders to build more homes and grow their businesses including the Housing Growth Fund and Builders’ Finance Fund. A new £1 billion short-term housing development fund, announced at Autumn Statement, will be launched in the Spring.

  • Lord Hamilton of Epsom – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Hamilton of Epsom – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hamilton of Epsom on 2016-02-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the judgment of the European Court of Justice in Rottmann v Freistaat Bayern (Case C-135/08) that a decision by an EU member state to deprive a person of national citizenship cannot result automatically from the fact that the person in question acquired that status by deception, in particular in the light of Section A of the Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, concerning issues raised by Denmark regarding the Treaty on European Union (Official Journal C348/1, 31/12/92).

    Lord Bates

    The European Court of Justice confirmed in the case of Rottmann that it was required to take into account the Edinburgh Decision of 1992 when interpreting the EU Treaties. On the facts of the case, the Court found that the decision to deprive the applicant of German nationality had to comply with the EU principle of proportionality. The Court considered that this conclusion was consistent with the Edinburgh Decision.

    In its application of this judgment, the UK Court of Appeal confirmed in the case of G1 that Member States retain competence over the acquisition and loss of citizenship and the principle in Rottmann only applies if EU law is engaged on the particular facts of each case.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the time taken to process Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

    Karen Bradley

    In the vast majority of cases, disclosure certificates are issued in a timely manner. Performance data relating to February 2016 indicates that average processing time for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) applications was 15 days. It is important that checks undertaken are thorough and a proportion of the applications received by the DBS need to be referred to one or more police forces as part of the enhanced disclosure process.

    The DBS is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner. A small number of forces have experienced difficulties in meeting the service level agreements in place between the DBS and each force. Whilst no assessment has been made of the impact of timeliness on unemployed customers, it is recognised that delays may create problems for some people. The DBS is working closely with those forces whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. We will not compromise when it comes to the safety of children and vulnerable adults.

    The number of applications to the DBS from people living in the Clacton constituency that have taken more than 60 days to process in the last 12 months is listed in the table below.

    Month

    Number of certificates issued by DBS to applicants in Clacton constituency

    Applications that took longer than 60 days

    March 2015– February 2016

    5,707

    322
  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many trainee teachers have carried out practical teaching experience at pupil referral units in each year since 2012.

    Nick Gibb

    The number of trainees who undertook teaching experience at a pupil referral unit is listed below.

    Year

    Number of trainee teachers at pupil referral units

    2012/13

    0

    2013/14

    0

    2014/15

    16

    2015/16

    19

    Source: ITT census raw data

    1) Totals include valid trainees on a placement at a PRU or a school with a PRU attached.

    2) The number of trainee teachers at a PRU is sometimes not known, because PRUs may be attached to a maintained school, and trainee teachers may not necessarily be at the PRU.

    3) The numbers have increased in line with the increase in School Direct numbers and the increase in the number of placement schools.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on encouraging regular trips to engineering firms, factories and laboratories by all-girls’ schools to encourage girls to consider STEM careers.

    Caroline Dinenage

    We are committed to increasing the number of girls studying STEM subjects and considering STEM careers. That is why earlier this year we announced an ambition to increase the proportion of girls studying STEM subjects by 20% by 2020. We fully encourage engagement between schools and employers to inform and inspire all young people about STEM careers.

    This government wants to see improvements to the quality of careers advice and guidance available to young people, with many more schools and employers working together to provide excellent support. Helping all young people, regardless of background, get the inspiration and guidance they need for success in working life is a key part of this government’s commitment to delivering real social justice. Later this year, we will publish our careers strategy which will set out a clear vision and roadmap for our £90 million investment this parliament to improve careers education and guidance for young people.

    As part of this investment, we are funding the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) to take a lead role in transforming the provision of careers, enterprise and employer engagement experiences for young people to inspire them and prepare them for the world of work. The CEC announced, in March, the successful bidders to the £5 million careers and enterprise investment fund, some of which have a specific focus on STEM. The fund will boost provision for nearly 250,000 young people across England in 75% of the areas the company has identified as ‘cold spots’.

    The government supports the STEM Ambassadors Programme with a network of over 32,000 volunteers from STEM companies and academia who inspire schoolchildren about STEM careers. We also support the industry led Your Life campaign which aims to transform perceptions of STEM subjects by showing young people the range of careers they can pursue.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Bridgen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2016-09-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which economists advised the Government on the short-term economic effects of the UK voting to leave the EU; and which of those economists forecast that there would be a reduction in UK GDP in any quarter of 2016.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Treasury’s published analysis of the immediate economic impact of a vote to leave the EU benefitted from a review by Professor Sir

    Charles Bean, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, acting in a personal capacity as an academic consultant to HM Treasury. However, all contents and conclusions from the analysis are the responsibility of HM Treasury.