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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the (a) NFU and (b) other farming bodies on the effect of herbicides on reducing crop yields.

    George Eustice

    I have had regular meetings with the National Farmers Union (NFU) and other farming bodies where herbicide issues will have been discussed, but there have been no discussions about herbicides reducing crop yields.

  • FALSE – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    FALSE – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by FALSE on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 7 December (HL Deb, col 1310), what assessment they have made of whether the statement that they never allow issues about our economic relationship to get in the way of upholding international law and international humanitarian law” is consistent with the remarks in June 2014 by the then Minister for Small Business

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    As the first country to produce a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights we have advocated the view that the promotion of business and respect for human rights go hand in hand. We see these as mutually reinforcing. The degree of influence we have with a country, including on human rights issues, depends on many factors; as a general rule we have more influence with countries with whom we have a strong trade and investment relationship.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of teaching vacancies at the start of September 2016.

    Nick Gibb

    The department collects the number of teacher vacancies in November each year. The November 2015 collection is still underway as schools, Local Authorities and Academy Trusts have until the end of January 2016 to provide their workforce data.

    The latest available data on the number of vacancies in schools is from the November 2014 School Workforce Census which was published in July 2015 and is available from table 14 at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014

    The published data shows that 0.3% of teaching posts in state funded schools in England were vacant in November 2014.

    “

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2016 to Question 26044, which three of the five funds Northstar Ventures manages are closed to new investments; and when the decision was taken that Northstar Ventures should exit from remaining deals.

    James Wharton

    The three Northstar Venture Funds that are closed to new investments are the Proof of Concept Fund, Co Investment Fund and North East Creative Content Fund.

    Each Fund was designed with an investment phase and closure/end date, specified in the fund management agreements signed at the outset.

    No decision has been made to exit Northstar Ventures from teh remaining deals.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department last reviewed the arrangements at RAF Northolt on the safety of residents living under the flight path and nearby vicinity; and if he will make a statement.

    Mark Lancaster

    Military safety regulations mandate that a continual assessment of air safety risks are carried out. This provides not only internal assurance of operating procedures and air safety standards, but considers wider safety aspects such as the risks to individuals’ off-station.

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) actively manages air safety via this system, across all of its aerodromes, publishing any mitigated or permitted deviations via the individual stations’ Defence Aerodrome Manual.

    For MOD aerodromes that accept commercial/civilian flying activity, these processes have additional Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) oversight and assurance. Commercial operators are required to have similar safety management systems by the CAA, including those operating into RAF Northolt. The MOD and the CAA requires commercial operators to satisfy themselves that RAF Northolt is suitable for the safe operation of their particular aircraft.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will increase its political and economic support for the UN Human Rights Office in Bogota to increase the capacity of that office to observe the human rights situation in that country; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK is one of the top ten donors to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) giving £2.5m annually in global un-earmarked funding, in addition to our assessed voluntary contributions. We will also give another £1m in earmarked funding towards Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) and conflict prevention related work globally in 2016/17. I announced a contribution of £4.2m to the UN Post Conflict Trust Fund for Colombia and £1.1 for an EU Trust Fund. Both will be an important part of the multilateral effort once the peace deal is signed.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the likely effect of the extension of right-to-buy and the sale of council properties on the total cost of housing benefit in each year to 2020.

    Brandon Lewis

    The voluntary Right to Buy will give 1.3 million housing association tenants the opportunity to purchase a home.

    For every home sold through the voluntary Right to Buy or the sale of higher value vacant housing, at least one additional home will be built and for every higher value property sold in London, two will be built, increasing overall supply.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on renovations and repairs to Dover House in 2015-16.

    David Mundell

    The Scotland Office spend on renovations, repairs and maintenance to Dover House in 2015-16 was £660,715.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department is making on the rationalisation of the NHS estate.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The National Health Service estate represents both one of its largest assets, critical in supporting high quality services for patients, as well as one of its largest elements of its running costs.

    As part of the Government’s wider public sector land programme, the Department is committed releasing surplus NHS land sufficient for delivering 26,000 houses by 2020 and raising £2 billion in receipts. The Department and the NHS have made good progress so far, having released land with capacity for over 3,000 homes by June 2016.

    The Department is also committed to driving improvements in the operational efficiency of the NHS estate. Lord Carter of Coles’ report, Operational Productivity and Performance in English NHS Acute Hospitals: Unwarranted Variations, published in February 2016, sets out how acute trusts can improve productivity and achieve efficiency savings, including through reducing the proportion of the hospital estate that is made up of non-clinical services, and reducing under-utilisation. It highlighted that annual savings of up to £1 billion by 2020-21 were achievable by reducing current variations in estates and facilities management running costs.

    The majority of the NHS estate is owned by individual NHS trusts and foundation trusts and it is for them to make decisions about their estate which best support their clinical priorities, in discussion with the commissioners of NHS services. This is part of the current process through which local NHS footprints are developing sustainability and transformation plans (STPs).

    The Department and other national health organisations are providing a range of support measures to the NHS in delivering on the surplus land ambition, in implementing Lord Carter’s recommendations and in delivering high quality estates plans as part of the STP process.

    In addition, the Department has commissioned Sir Robert Naylor to undertake an independent review of the NHS estate. He will produce a report in the autumn which will provide recommendations on how the NHS can achieve best value from NHS property, in alignment with the delivery of the vision set out in the NHS’s Five Year Forward View.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mandatory requirements are in place to ensure that care home staff are well trained.

    Alistair Burt

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 all providers of regulated activities have to register with the CQC and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall.

    The Fundamental Standards include a regulation on staffing which ensures that suitably qualified, competent, skilled persons must be deployed. This regulation also ensures that the person employed receives the appropriate training, professional development and have the opportunity to obtain further qualifications appropriate to the work they perform.

    CQC inspections ensure that providers are meeting these Fundamental Standards and have a wide range of enforcement powers if a provider fails to meet them.