Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Tom Watson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how he plans to reduce the cost per participant of the National Citizen Service.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    Consecutive, independent evaluations have demonstrated that National Citizen Service (NCS) delivers value for money and that the cost per participant has fallen since NCS began. In 2013, the NCS Trust, an independent social enterprise, was established to manage NCS and deliver the programme. Cabinet Office is working closely with the NCS Trust to develop their plans to extend NCS to 360,000 young people per year by 2020, whilst ensuring value for money for the taxpayer.

  • Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the power systems upgrade for the Type 45 destroyer will commence fitting; and whether that work will be carried out by a contractor using facilities at HMNB Portsmouth for each ship in the class.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    On the question of when the power systems upgrade for the Type 45 Destroyers will commence, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 25149 on 8 February 2016 to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Mr Douglas Chapman).

    A decision on where the work will be carried out will be taken when the technical option and delivery model have been selected.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for bereavement allowance have been made for each of the last five years; and what proportion of such claims covered (a) the full eligible 52 weeks and (b) less than the full 52 weeks.

    Priti Patel

    Information about Bereavement Benefits is widely available through GOV.UK. We also work closely with third party organisations who the bereaved traditionally contact such as registrars, hospitals, funeral directors and voluntary groups ensuring that they have the correct information available to signpost the bereaved to the DWP Bereavement Service.

    Upon contacting the DWP Bereavement Service our staff will ensure that any benefits and pensions arrears are claimed and will also initiate a claim for Social Fund Funeral Payments and Bereavement Benefits if appropriate.

    .

    We continue to look for opportunities to improve the availability of advice about these particular benefits and as a result we have improved the information available on GOV.UK, and are currently exploring ways in which to to join up the Tell Us Once and Bereavement Service offers.

    Tell Us Once is a cross-government service delivered through Local Authorities whereby notification of the death is cascaded out to other agencies, thus reducing the number of contacts an individual has to make.

    The time limit for claiming Bereavement Allowance is three months from the date of death, which is consistent with the time limit for other welfare entitlements. We are currently developing the new Bereavement Support Payment due to be implemented for new claims from April 2017, and we will assess the merits of further flexibilities on backdating as part of this work.

    Information available on the number of people in receipt of Bereavement Allowance by duration of current claim can be found at:

    http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html

    Guidance for users can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

    “

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which hospitals are listed as being supported by the Emergency Care Intensive Support Team.

    Ben Gummer

    The Emergency Care Intensive Support Team (ECIST) is focused on helping 27 urgent and emergency care systems across England that are under the most pressure to deliver real improvements in quality, safety and patient flow. ECIST is also resourced to provide expert input to the eight urgent and emergency care vanguards.

    Since April 2016, the team has offered limited improvement support to a small group of trusts at the request of NHS Improvement regional teams.

  • David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent changes her Department has made to licensing criteria for badger control in England.

    George Eustice

    Following a public consultation, the following changes to licensing conditions were published on 17 December 2015:

    • Enabling Natural England to keep the duration of annual badger control operations under review rather than limiting them to six weeks.

    • Reducing the minimum size of an area from 150km2 to 100km2.

    • Removing the requirement for at least 70% of the land in candidate areas to be accessible but retaining a requirement that approximately 90% of the land in the control area be either accessible, or within 200m of accessible land.

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will publish the latest proposals on the Trade in Services Agreement.

    Greg Hands

    Information on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) can be found on the European Commission’s dedicated TiSA website. In a bid to encourage transparency, the European Commission has published a large number of documents including its revised TiSA offer from May 2016, the EU proposals for institutional provisions and state-to-state dispute settlement, position papers and factsheets.

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

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people caring full-time for a relative; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    “Caring full-time for a relative” is not a term that is defined in data collections and so the data is not collected centrally.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Government’s policy is on the appropriate percentage rate of return on investment for (a) schools and community groups investing in on-site solar power and (b) foreign state owned companies investing in new nuclear power in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

    Greg Hands

    We want to attract cost-effective investment in infrastructure. Investors rightly expect a market rate of return and value for money is achieved through competition and careful negotiation. Individual project rates of return will differ to reflect, among other things, the risk profiles involved.

    The Feed-in-Tariff scheme, for which schools and community groups are eligible to apply, aims to offer rates of return for solar installations between 4% and 8%. Returns for each installation will vary according to their individual costs and the amount of electricity generated and used on site. The Government’s recently closed consultation on the scheme includes a review to ensure that tariffs are within this range, given the fall in costs of solar panels in recent years. It will detail its response to the consultation shortly.

    We are unable to disclose the anticipated rate of return for new nuclear transactions as these are commercially sensitive.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on what local government services can be funded by the two per cent social care precept.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Chancellor’s Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 (Cm9162), presented to Parliament on 26 November 2015, makes clear that the two per cent social care precept must be spent entirely on adult social care.

  • Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and British Humanist Association, An Unholy Mess, and in particular that report’s recommendations that guidance be produced for schools to help them to ensure that they comply fully with the School Admissions Code.

    Lord Nash

    Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.

    Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant without undue delay. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.

    We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.