Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 18162, if he will place in the Library a summary of the internal findings following his Department’s consideration of the Quality Contract Scheme Board report.

    Andrew Jones

    The Quality Contract Scheme (QCS) process is independent of the Department, and as such the Department has not formed a specific view on the merits of the proposed Tyne and Wear QCS proposal. The Quality Contract Scheme Board’s report has been considered internally with a view to informing and developing future policy and it is the Government’s intention to introduce a Buses Bill.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people who voted in the 2015 General Election are not on the latest electoral register.

    John Penrose

    The electoral registers used for the 2015 General Election contained over 400,000 more entries than the last registers published prior to the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration (IER). As such, suggestions that IER would lead to a decline in registration levels were simply incorrect.

    While data is not available on the number of non-IER registered electors who voted at the 2015 General Election, the Electoral Commission found 96% of the entries on the electoral register in May 2015 were already registered under IER.

    The Electoral Commission is planning to publish a report in February/March 2016 on the state of the December 2015 registers. This is expected to include data on the number of register entries and on the number of remaining non-IER registered entries removed in December.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the implications of the judgment of the European Court of Justice in the case of Costa v ENEL in July 1964 for the Government’s policy on the relative relationship between EU and UK law.

    Jeremy Wright

    By longstanding convention, the fact that the Law Officers have advised, or have not advised, and the content of their advice is not disclosed outside government.

  • Lord Foulkes of Cumnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Foulkes of Cumnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock on 2016-03-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 22 January (HL5044), which Members of the House were not sent writs of summons and why.

    Lord Faulks

    All members of the House were sent writs including a further seven writs sent by hand to Members disqualified for sitting and voting in the House.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The number of a) resignations and b) proportion of officials resigning in my department in each of the last 6 years was as follows:

    2010-11
    a) 53
    b) 2.7%

    2011-12
    a) 39
    b) 2.1%

    2012-13
    a) 37
    b) 2.1%

    2013-14
    a) 44
    b) 2.6%

    2014-15
    a) 42
    b) 2.5%

    2015-16
    a) 44
    b) 2.6%

  • Craig Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Craig Williams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Williams on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress his Department has made in its review of Atos contracts.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Atos contracts with an annual spend over £10 million with central Government are currently being reviewed. Data collection was completed by the end of April. Interviews with departments and Atos are taking place. Interviews are expected to be completed by mid-June 2016.

    The Cabinet Office will write to the PAC summarising the findings of the review and it will be completed in summer 2016.

  • Helen Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Helen Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Grant on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the UN Secretary General’s report on Children and Armed Conflict, published on 2 June 2016, what steps he is taking to engage with (a) the Saudi-led coalition and (b) his counterparts in the UN Security Council on the listing in that report of the Saudi-led coalition.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are aware of the UN Secretary General’s annual report on Children in Armed Conflict which was published on 2 June. We note the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that removed the listing of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition from the report’s annex, pending the conclusion of a joint review by the UN and Saudi Arabia on the cases and numbers cited in the text. We welcome co-operation between the UN and Saudi Arabia to look in to this matter.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what targets he has set for recruiting female soldiers into the Armed Forces Reserve; and how he plans to track those soldiers’ performance through the recruiting process.

    Mark Lancaster

    There is a combined UK Regular and Future Reserve 2020 target to increase female personnel to 15 per cent of total intake by 2020. Progress against this target is reported on a biannual basis in the Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics. The information can be found in table 26 at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2016

  • Gerald Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Gerald Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to renew its funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit after March 2016.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government has committed to providing funding to help secure the National Wildlife Crime Unit until at least the end of March next year. Decisions on funding beyond March will be made as part of the current Spending Review process.

  • Anne Main – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Anne Main – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support parents of babies who spend time in neonatal care; if he will take steps to extend the statutory maternity pay of premature babies; and if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of such steps.

    Priti Patel

    The Government currently has no plans to extend Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) for the parents of premature or sick babies who spend time in neo-natal care.

    SMP is designed to help working women during pregnancy and after childbirth by providing a measure of earnings replacement enabling them to stop work for a reasonable period around the birth to prepare for and recover from childbirth.

    Working women are generally able to choose when they want their payments to begin and this flexibility in the start date for maternity pay was introduced in response to medical opinion that the woman herself is best able to judge the point at which she should give up work. This ensures sufficient time off to allow for different situations, including instances where babies are delivered at an earlier date and where babies need hospital care following birth.

    The standard rate of SMP is part of a package of financial support to working families which includes Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay, Parental Leave and Flexible working. Tax Credits and Child Benefit are also available through HM Revenue and Customs to all families who qualify.

    Additionally, the introduction of Statutory Shared Parental Leave and Pay for babies due on or after 5 April 2015 enables eligible mothers, fathers, and partners to choose how to share time off work after their child is born, giving parents much more flexibility in how to use their leave entitlement. This flexibility will be particularly valuable to parents who have to deal with difficult or unexpected circumstances and it allows parents, for the first time, to take leave together in a way that suits them.