Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Clark of Windermere – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Clark of Windermere – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clark of Windermere on 2015-11-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what restrictions there are on army officers being selected by a political party as a candidate for an elected post, such as police and crime commissioner.

    Earl Howe

    Members of the regular Armed Forces of the Crown are disqualified from membership of the House of Commons by the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 and from election to the European Parliament by the European Parliamentary Act 1978. Such personnel must therefore apply for permission to retire voluntarily or resign or be granted a free discharge from the Service before their formal adoption as a Parliamentary candidate or prospective candidate. Such personnel must complete their last day of service before their formal adoption as a candidate or prospective candidate.

    No regular Service personnel or members of the Reserve Forces when serving on a full time Service commitment or additional duties commitment shall issue an address to electors or in any other manner publicly announce themselves or allow themselves to be publicly announced as a candidate or a prospective candidate for election to:

    UK Parliament, European Parliament, Scottish Parliament or Parliament of the Irish Republic for any Parliamentary constituency;

    the Northern Ireland Assembly or the National Assembly for Wales for any Assembly constituency;

    any legislative assembly of the Commonwealth; or as a

    Police and Crime Commissioner.

    Any person to whom this applies and who desires to stand as a candidate or who seeks election as described above must make an application through normal Service channels to retire voluntarily or to resign or to be granted a free discharge. Such an application should be made as early as possible. Approval of an application will depend on the exigencies of the Service. On leaving the Service, an unsuccessful candidate will have no right to reinstatement. A candidate or prospective candidate must take all steps within his power to ensure that no public announcement of his candidature is made before he has retired, resigned or been discharged.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make business expenditure on resource and energy efficiency measures tax deductible.

    Damian Hinds

    The government already provides support for businesses who want to invest to become more energy efficient. The annual investment allowance (AIA) lets businesses deduct up to a total of £200,000 of their investment in plant and machinery from annual profits before tax.

    In addition, enhanced capital allowances (ECAs) let businesses that invest in certain energy-saving equipment write off the total cost of the equipment against their taxable profit as a 100% first-year capital allowance.

    A review into the business energy efficiency tax landscape concluded in November. The government is considering all responses submitted to this consultation and is likely to publish its formal response at Budget 2016.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of mechanisms by which a disabled student can challenge a failure to make reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010 by a higher education institution.

    Joseph Johnson

    Higher Education Institutions have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled students and to monitor their compliance with their Equality Act duties. The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 require institutions to publish information as to their compliance with the general public sector equality duty.

    In those cases where a student is dissatisfied with the response from their higher education institution and have completed the institution’s formal complaints procedures, they can take their complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) for Higher Education. The OIA is independent of Government and publishes an annual report setting out its performance in handling unresolved student complaints. In providing remedies, the OIA aims to return students to the position they were in before their complaint. In appropriate circumstances this can include financial payments.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials of his Department had an operational level (C1) examination pass in which languages in (a) 2001 and (b) 2010.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I refer my right hon. Friend to my answers of 10 February 2016 (PQs 23665 and 25484). We only record current C1 passes, valid for five years after the date of the exam, and therefore do not have pre-2010 data.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to monitor the role of institutional investors in voting their clients’ shares regarding the potential takeover of the London Stock Exchange, in order to ensure that this reflects the best interests of the clients rather than the fund manager or related parties.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The regulatory framework governing asset managers requires managers to take all reasonable steps to identify, prevent, manage and monitor conflicts of interest.

    The Financial Conduct Authority are responsible for the supervision of firms to ensure consumers are protected and treated fairly.

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will discuss with Amnesty International the evidence that it has collected that the government of Turkey has in Hatay Province been expelling groups of Syrians almost daily since mid-January.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are in regular contact with Amnesty International in Turkey and would be happy to discuss evidence of specific cases.

  • Anne McLaughlin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne McLaughlin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne McLaughlin on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to ensure that Home Office rules do not deter women who are victims of domestic violence from accessing protection.

    Karen Bradley

    Our new Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy committed funding of £80 million between 2016 and 2020 to protect women and girls from violence, helping to deliver our goal to work with local commissioners, delivering a secure future for refuges and other initiatives. We continue to offer support to victims of domestic violence through our Immigration Rules and signpost asylum seekers suffering sexual violence to relevant support services.

  • Deidre  Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to his Department was of its communications team in each year since 2007; and what the projected cost is of that team in 2016.

    Caroline Nokes

    The table below shows the details of actual and forecast expenditure for the staff cost of the Department’s Strategic Communications Directorate.

    The staff costs include the costs of salaries, employer national insurance contribution, employer pension contribution, performance related awards, overtime, travelling time, temporary duty allowance, secondments, contractors and staff substitutions. Also, associated IT costs and communications directorate external contracts are included.

    Financial Year

    Staff Costs £m

    2013-14

    17.543

    2014/15

    15.277

    2015/16

    15.109

    2016/17*

    15.134

    *forecast as at July 2016

    Following a significant organisational design review (ODR) which resulted in fundamental structural changes within the Corporate Centre of DWP, expenditure prior to 2013/14 is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Colleen Fletcher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Colleen Fletcher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Colleen Fletcher on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients who have been denied a second allogeneic stem cell transplant following an individual funding request in each of the last three years; and what estimate his Department has made of the associated cost saving to the health service.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The total number of Individual Funding Requests for a second allogenic stem cell transplant that were declined during the calendar years 2013, 2014 and 2015 is below NHS England’s threshold for releasing individual data, as fewer than 10 individual funding requests were declined.

    Due to the complexity of such treatments, and any alternatives used, it is not possible to assess any associated cost impact to the National Health Service.

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what amount of Government funding was allocated to help reduce suicide rates in each year from 1995 to 2015.

    Alistair Burt

    In 2012 the Department announced investment of over £1.5 million over three years on suicide prevention research and development.

    Data on the funding allocated to suicide prevention is not available from 1995. The tables below show the funding that was allocated from Department of Health programme budgets to suicide prevention between 2011/12 and 2015/16 and self-harm prevention from 2012/13 – 2015/16. Prior to this, funding allocated to suicide prevention was held within broader mental health strategy budgets.

    Funding allocated to suicide prevention between 2011/12 and 2015/16

    Year

    Funding allocation

    2011/12

    £75,000

    2012/13

    £100,000

    2013/14

    £100,000

    2014/15

    £130,000 *

    2015/16

    £90,000

    Total

    £495,000

    * Includes £70,000 allocated by the Department to Public Health England to publish Help is at Hand, suicide bereavement support document.

    Funding allocated to self-harm prevention between 2012/13 and 2015/16

    Year

    Funding allocation

    2012/13

    £330,000

    2013/14

    £330,000

    2014/15

    £330,000

    2015/16

    £330,000

    Total

    £1,320,000

    Source: Department of Health

    Information on the number of suicide attempts recorded by health bodies in England is not held centrally.