The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of internet service provision across all Government departments in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Matthew Hancock
The information requested is not held centrally, departments have responsibility for their own Internet service provision.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Leeds on 2016-04-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 5 April (HL7332), what financial assistance they have given to human rights defenders in Iraq to improve victim support and case documentation of sexual violence committed by Daesh.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK has provided over £800,000 of financial support for gender equality and tackling sexual violence in conflict – £750,000 to help implement Iraq’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and over £65,000 to the Iraqi Al-Amal Association to support their work with young people.
Furthermore, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is funding a project (£199,000) through our Human Rights and Democracy Programme which aims to improve the documentation of Sexual Violence in Erbil, Kirkuk, Sulaymaniyah, Dohuk and Zakho and to assist in the development of cases. The project is training a team of human rights defenders to document Sexual Violence and establishes a database of cases across a two year period to inform policy development in the Government of Iraq.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-05-25.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on how many money service businesses had their bank accounts closed in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.
Harriett Baldwin
The FCA have recently published a report on the nature and scale of de-risking in the UK. The report reinforces the view that de-risking is driven by a variety of factors, not just anti money-laundering compliance or a fear of regulatory action. From a data set of 23 banks the report noted that “tracking the proportionately tiny number of closures linked to financial crime concerns within this immense dataset is thus inherently challenging, especially if the reason for closure is primarily commercial, with a small component of the equation relating to ‘increased compliance costs’.”
However the report does indicate that the rate of customer exits has accelerated over the last 2-3 years.
Data from HM Revenue and Customs (the supervisor of Money Service Businesses outside the banking sector) shows that there are about 2000 MSB’s principals registered to trade with approximately 45,000 agents around the UK. It is a large and diverse sector. HMRC does hold data on the number of de-registered MSB’s, however given that MSB’s are not required to provide HMRC with information on when they have had their bank accounts closed, data on MSB’s effected by de-risking is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage reporting of hate crime incidents; and whether she plans to introduce new ways of reporting.
Sarah Newton
The Government condemns all hate crimes and is committed to tackling these crimes in partnership with the communities affected.
We have in place some of the strongest legislation to tackle hate crime in the world – this includes specific offences for racially and religiously aggravated activity and offences of the stirring up of hatred on the grounds of race, religion and sexual orientation.
We also have stronger sentences for hate crime. We continue to carefully consider the recommendations from the Law Commission review into hate crime legislation. The Government has committed to taking action to improve our response to hate crime.
This includes joint training between the police and Crown Prosecution staff to improve the way the police identify and investigate hate crime; building on the improvements to police recording of hate crime by working with the police to break down religious-based hate crime by religion; and working with victims and advocacy groups to improve victims confidence to come forward and report such crimes.
The police are also improving their operational practices and recording. Last year, the College of Policing published Operational Guidance for officers responding to hate crime which comprehensively covers how to address all forms of hate crime.
Hate crime statistics show number of crimes recorded by the police by force area. The decision as to how hate crime is resourced in individual forces is an operational matter for the Police and Crime Commissioner for that area. The latest police funding settlement represents a fair deal for the police and reinforces this Government’s commitment to protect the public. No Police and Crime Commissioner who maximised precept income is facing a reduction in cash funding this year.
Police and Crime Commissioners are also responsible for commissioning local support services for victims of crime. The Ministry of Justice provides the Commissioner with a grant to enable services which best meet the needs of local victims of crime to be funded.
The Home Office published a new hate crime action plan on 26 July 2016, which sets out Government action over the next four years to tackle hate crime. It includes:
● new steps to boost reporting of hate crime and support victims;
● new CPS guidance to prosecutors on racially aggravated crime;
● a new £2.4 million fund for protective security measures at potentially vulnerable places of worship;
● and additional funding to community organisations tackling hate crime.
Nobody in this country should live in fear because of who they are and anyone who experiences hate crime should report it to the police, either in person at a police station, online through the True Vision website, or by phoning 101.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alasdair McDonnell on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report by the British Red Cross, entitled Are pre-hospital deaths from trauma and accidental injury preventable?, published in September 2016, what steps she is taking to ensure that young people have the opportunity to learn basic first aid at school.
Edward Timpson
Schools are free to teach first aid, and may choose to do this as part of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, which is a non-statutory curriculum subject. This is reflected in the PSHE Association’s non-statutory programme of study, which includes first aid.
When teaching first aid, many schools draw on the expertise of reputable organisations, such as the British Red Cross, the British Heart Foundation and St John Ambulance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release, Prison building revolution announced by Chancellor and Justice Secretary, published on 9 November 2015, which prisons the Government plans to sell to property developers; and what estimate he has made of the value of land on each of those sites.
Andrew Selous
On 9 November the Chancellor and Secretary of State announced their intention to build a prison estate which allows prisoners to be rehabilitated, thereby enabling them to turn away from a life of crime. This will involve building nine new prisons and closing old and inefficient prisons which do not support the aims of a redesigned estate. No decisions have yet been made on where new prisons will be built.
We are currently considering which of our old and inefficient prisons will close. We will engage with stakeholders during the process of sale including valuation experts and potential developers in order to maximise the value achieved.
Any relocation of prisoners will be done with careful planning. Where staff are affected they will be managed through the process of change using processes deployed during previous closures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-12-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the role of carbon and storage in delivering the industrial 2050 decarbonation and energy efficiency roadmaps.
Andrea Leadsom
The provision of ring-fenced capital support for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) was judged against other Government funding priorities as part of the Spending Review. Government has not taken the Spending Review decision lightly. The Government continues to view CCS as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors. Neither CCS Competition project proposed to capture CO2 from energy intensive industries.
The detailed design and implementation of CCS policy changes have yet to be determined. The Industrial 2050 Decarbonisation and Energy Efficiency Roadmaps reports published in March 2015 identified a potential role for industrial CCS technologies in decarbonising the steel, oil refining, chemicals and cement sectors. DECC and BIS continue to engage with the energy intensive industries and academics to develop decarbonisation Action Plans by the end of 2016 as the second phase of this process.
The Government remains committed to working with energy intensive industries including those in the Northern Powerhouse area. DECC provided £1million funding to Tees Valley Unlimited as part of the 2013 City Deal agreement to undertake an Industrial CCS feasibility study based on the chemicals and steel industry in the Teesside cluster and we continue to support that work. The devolution deal for Tees Valley, published in October this year, also included a commitment to explore how it can continue to develop its industrial CCS proposals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the thresholds for council homes to be taken into account when calculating the levy on councils contained in part 4 of the Housing and Planning Bill.
Brandon Lewis
The Housing and Planning Bill requires the Secretary of State to define ‘high value’ in regulations.
We are currently in the process of updating data that will be used to help inform the high value threshold. Further details will be available shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25312, whether he has been consulted about proposals for a US drone operation centre at RAF Lakenheath; and whether he has received a Host Nation Notification from the US in respect of RAF Lakenheath in the last year.
Penny Mordaunt
No. The Ministry of Defence received a Host Nation Notification from the US in respect of RAF Lakenheath on 7 January 2015, relating to US F-35 basing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2016 to Question 26660, on housing: construction, if he will place in the Library any value for money review and impact assessment carried out on the decision made by the previous Government.
Brandon Lewis
An overview of all published evaluations of Housing Market Renewal, both pre- and post-cessation, are included in a briefing note that is already in the Library of the House, and which can be accessed online at:
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05953/SN05953.pdf
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