Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) serving military personnel and (b) civilian staff were seconded to (i) the Joint Intelligence Organisation’s Assessments Staff and (ii) the National Security Secretariat within the Cabinet Office during 2015.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence is able to confirm that one member of civilian staff was seconded to the Joint Intelligence Organisation’s Assessments Staff and two members of civilian staff were seconded to the National Security Secretariat within the Cabinet Office during 2015. For information on Service personnel seconded to these bodies, I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many times the National Emissions Target Board has met since April 2013.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Some of the governance arrangements related to carbon budgets were amended last year. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster now chairs an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on Clean Growth, which considers issues relating to air quality and decarbonisation, where these have a cross-departmental aspect. The group meets as and when required. Its members include ministers and officials from the relevant departments, including Defra, DECC, DfT, DCLG and BIS.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-07-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the humanitarian needs of the civilians living in the rebel-held areas of Aleppo, and of reports that those civilians are facing starvation.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK is at the forefront of the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis. We have pledged over £2.3 billion to date, our largest ever response to a humanitarian crisis.

    The Syrian regime and Kurdish forces have cut the main access route into opposition-held eastern Aleppo City. The UN reports that up to 300,000 people are trapped there, with humanitarian assistance unable to get in. The UN and humanitarian partners have prepositioned some food supplies and rationing of supplies has begun. Further life-saving aid is needed urgently. In other areas of Syria prolonged denial of humanitarian access has led to cases of acute malnutrition and, in some cases, starvation.

    There is no excuse for not allowing humanitarian supplies into east Aleppo City and doing so is a violation of International Humanitarian Law. The Syrian Regime approved the UN’s request to deliver humanitarian supplies to East Aleppo City as part of its July humanitarian convoy plan. We call on the Regime to live up to this commitment. We are working with the UN and other humanitarian partners to find ways to alleviate the situation.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have met the administrator of Norfolk Island since 1 July 2016.

    Alok Sharma

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers have not met the Administrator. The Department’s officials have met the Administrator of Norfolk Island, most recently on 7 October.

  • Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of new claimants of employment and support allowances who will be placed in the work-related activity group from April 2017 to May 2020; and whether he has made an estimate of the number of those claimants who will be people with cancer.

    Priti Patel

    Information regarding the number of new claimants who will be placed in the work related activity or limited capability for work groups can be found in the following table, for each of the financial years in the time period requested :

    2017/18

    2018/19

    2019/20

    2020/21

    Total work related activity or limited capability for work group decisions from new claims to ESA or UC

    100,000

    100,000

    100,000

    100,000

    Figures are consistent with the Autumn Statement 2015 forecasts, which do not separate out ESA and UC.

    We do not hold estimates on the number of claimants we expect with specific conditions.

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

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Hepatitis C Improvement Framework will be published and whether that framework will contain guidance to commissioners on increasing patient access to new Direct Acting Antiviral treatments that have been approved by NICE.

    Jane Ellison

    A date for publication of the hepatitis C Improvement Framework has not yet been set. Public Health England continues working with NHS England and Operational Delivery Networks to establish a process of monitoring hepatitis C treatment access and uptake.

    New Direct Acting Antiviral treatments have been available to patients meeting the criteria of the NHS England policy for the treatment of cirrhosis since June 2015. These patients have access ahead of the implementation of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisals (TAs).

    Access has also been made available to patients meeting the criteria set out in the NICE TAs for simeprevir (May 2015) and sofosbuvir (August 2015). Access to three new treatments will be available from 23 February 2016 for patients (dependent on treatment type and treatment history) without cirrhosis.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much real estate the Government owns in Plymouth.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government owns the following properties in Plymouth:

    • Buildings : 8 Freeholds, 21 leaseholds and 8 Private Finance Initiatives
    • Land: 7 freeholds and 4 leaseholds

    Details available at the following website: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/epims.

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  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of tax credit investigations carried out by Concentrix under its contract with his Department have resulted in findings of (a) fraud and (b) error in the claim.

    Mr David Gauke

    As at 21 February 2016 Concentrix had closed around 440,000 cases. Around 390,000 of these resulted in no amendment to the award. Around 50,000 awards have been amended, though HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold information on how many of these were cancelled and how many adjusted.

    HMRC does not separate out the number of awards that were amended for error and from the number amended for fraud.

    On appeals, I refer the member to the answer I provided on 15 February 2016 to question 26041.

  • Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he took to take into account the rules on conflicts of interest set out in (a) Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies, (b) Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Rules of Conduct and (c) Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct in the recruitment process for the recently-appointed Pubs Code Adjudicator; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    • Paul Newby was appointed in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ (OCPA) Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies.
    • His prior experience of the pubs sector as a surveyor and arbitrator and his ability to forge trusted relationships with both tenants and PubCos is an asset, not a conflict of interest.
    • The appointment panel discussed conflicts of interest with him at interview. The Panel was satisfied there were no conflicts of interest, and put this advice to ministers.
    • Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators membership were not requirements for this post, so the documents referred to are not directly relevant to the appointment process.
  • Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Clive Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Lewis on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who are eligible to receive the winter fuel payment and have voluntarily chosen not to receive it in each of the last three years.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Details of the number payments made to individuals and households are publicly available on the GOV.UK website.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/winter-fuel-payments-caseload-and-household-figures

    The voluntary relinquishments requests for the past three years are as follows:-

    2013 139

    2014 78

    2015 82

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