Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how he plans to assess whether prisoners identified as having poor English and mathematics skills make progress prior to their release.

    Andrew Selous

    The Secretary of State for Justice announced on 8th September a review of the quality of education in prisons, chaired by Dame Sally Coates. The review will examine the scope, quality and effectiveness of current provision. It will consider the scope and range of the current curricula and identify the most effective teaching and delivery models. Stakeholders are being consulted and a Call for Evidence has been issued. The review is expected to report in due course. A copy of the terms of reference are lodged in the library of the House and at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-prison-education-terms-of-reference

    “

  • Chris Bryant – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Bryant – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

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

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many special advisers there are in each Department.

    Matthew Hancock

    Information about the number, pay bands, and cost of special advisers will be published shortly in the normal way.

  • Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether it is his policy to take steps towards repeal of the death penalty in states which hold the death penalty.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government’s approach to all states which retain the death penalty is to focus first on suspension of its use as the key step towards permanent abolition. We take a pragmatic approach to achieving that goal. We welcome reforms which improve legal procedures, reduce the number of capital crimes or mitigate some of the cruelties inherent to the death penalty. We fund projects which educate the judiciary, promote reform, mount legal challenges to death penalty systems and stimulate public debate. We engage diplomatically with retentionist states to ensure they are aware of the compelling arguments against the death penalty and of the UK Government’s opposition to any execution. Our assessment is that these approaches are stimulating a long-term movement by states towards abolition.

  • 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 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether RAF personnel have been involved in the running and marketing of the civilian operation at RAF Northolt; how much in staff (a) time and (b) costs is spent on managing and marketing civilian flights; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Our multi-activity contractor runs the Commercial Booking Cell on behalf of the Royal Air Force (RAF), to co-ordinate and book civilian aircraft slots at RAF Northolt. RAF operations and Air Traffic Control staffs are utilised for civilian aircraft movements within the irreducible spare capacity of these areas. From 2011 to 2015 one Executive Officer civil servant spent approximately 20% of their working week undertaking administrative business management functions of commercial bookings. From October 2015, this became a full-time Executive Officer post.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Dogs Trust pilot quarantine on disrupting the illegal importation of puppies under the Pet Travel Scheme.

    George Eustice

    I welcome the Dogs Trust initiative to pay the quarantine costs of dogs and puppies identified at Dover as being not compliant to enter Great Britain under the EU Pet Travel Scheme. Since 2 December 2015, 108 puppies have been licensed into the quarantine facilities, mainly due to concerns that puppies were under the minimum age for travelling.

    The Animal and Plant Health Agency will carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the initiative following its conclusion.

  • Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the public purse has been of storing, maintaining and facilitating research access to the Corsellis Brain Collection in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    The excess costs of maintaining the collection compared with the income from specimen preparation over a number of years have rendered the collection unsustainable as a research resource. West London Mental Health Trust has therefore decided – once it has responded to current requests for samples – to respectfully dispose of those tissue samples for which no scientific purpose can be envisaged. Some tissue has also been requested by the University of Hong Kong for training purposes for their neuropathology students, which the Trust is providing as a more appropriate use of such clinical material than respectful disposal. The Trust has obtained the appropriate Human Tissue Authority licenses for this work. We understand that the collection will close by the end of June 2016.

    The Trust has provided figures for each of the three years to 2014/15. In each case the cost has been borne by the Trust, offset (to a relatively small extent) by fees received for tissue sample requests and – in 2014/15 – by a donation. The figures are shown in the following table.

    Financial Year

    Cost

    Income

    Donation

    2012/13

    £101,126

    Nil

    Nil

    2013/14

    £84,561

    £7,016

    Nil

    2014/15

    £80,684

    £1,003

    £69,316

    The Medical Research Council supports a range of brain tissue banks which have been set-up around specific disorders and diseases generally to collect post-mortem brain tissue from consented donors.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of the German Bundeswehr’s M3 Amphibious Rig bridging vehicles were loaned to UK armed forces in each of the last six years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    38 M3 Amphibious Rigs have been in service with the British Army in each of the last six years. No additional rigs have been loaned from the German Army during that time. The planned out of service date for the M3 amphibious rig is 2027; early work is under way to provide a wide wet gap crossing capability in future. No decisions have yet been made about future basing sites for the M3 Amphibious Rig.

    The following table shows the number of recorded equipment failure reports (EFR) in each of the last six years.

    Calendar Year in which EFR recorded

    No of EFRs recorded in calendar year

    2010

    16

    2011

    0

    2012

    5

    2013

    1

    2014

    4

    2015

    0

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of mechanisms for parliamentary oversight of the UK’s bilateral investment treaties.

    Anna Soubry

    Treaties, including bilateral investment treaties, that are subject to ratification, approval, acceptance, accession or the mutual notification of completion of procedures are laid before Parliament for scrutiny purposes for a period of 21 parliamentary sitting days under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (Part 2: ratification of treaties) which commenced on 11 November 2010. This legislation provides that the UK cannot legally ratify or consent to be bound by a treaty laid under its provisions until the statutory 21 sitting day process has elapsed. During the 21 sitting days, hon Members and Select Committees have the chance to scrutinise the treaty provisions, ask questions, and potentially report. They may ask for extra time. The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act does not guarantee a debate, but any request would have to be seriously considered. If Parliament debated and resolved that HMG “shall not ratify”, then the latter could not legally do so at that point.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35819, on Islamic State, how much funding the Government provided to (a) each of those projects listed in that Answer and (b) other projects to support survivors of sexual violence in each year since the conflicts in Syria and Iraq began.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    In the 2015/16 financial year, we provided £198,000 through the Human Rights and Democracy Fund for the project referenced in the answer to PQ 35819. Since June 2014 we have provided over £1.3million for projects that support gender equality and work to combat sexual violence. This includes funding this year to promote the use of the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict and to combat the stigma associated with sexual violence. The Department for International Development also funded two experts to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to improve coordination and information management of the gender based violence response. We continue to work to mainstream gender sensitivity effectively into all of our programmes in Iraq. Under the UK’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, its predecessor the Conflict Pool, and the Magna Carta Fund, the Government has provided £7 million in direct support to gender related projects in Syria since the start of the crisis. For financial year 2016/17, we are spending a further £1.9 million. And across the 2016 programme, all projects are gender sensitive and taking action to raise awareness of gender equality issues, promote the empowerment of women, and gather evidence and accountability for sexual and gender-based violence. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq have placed many women and girls at risk of violence, exploitation and insecurity. The UK has pledged over £2.3 billion in response to the Syria crisis and since June 2014, has committed £129.5 million in humanitarian assistance to the crisis in Iraq. UK support is enabling INGOs and UN agencies to provide specialist assistance to those affected by sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). This includes clinical care, case management and counselling, reproductive healthcare and cash assistance to particularly vulnerable households. We are working to ensure all humanitarian programmes follow good practice and are sensitive to SGBV, child protection and the importance of women’s participation.

  • Fiona Mactaggart – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Fiona Mactaggart – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have died within a week of being notified of a benefit sanction in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not collected.