Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Hannah Bardell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hannah Bardell on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps he is taking to provide crèche services for the children of hon. Members.

    Tom Brake

    Following consultation with Members, a nursery model of childcare was determined as best fulfilling their needs and the needs of the children. The Nursery opened in 2010. A crèche would need to be separate from the nursery, and would require appropriate accommodation. The Nursery Governance Committee discussed this at its meeting in October 2015 and was not persuaded of the case for a crèche.

    However, I am sure that the Commission would welcome fuller consideration of the case for such services, and of an appropriate funding model.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on how many occasions the Clean Growth Committee has met to discuss air quality to date; and who attended each such meeting.

    Rory Stewart

    The inter-ministerial group on Clean Growth meets as and when required and its members include ministers and officials from the relevant departments, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to apply for an extension to the exemption to the European Regulation 181/2011/EU for drivers from the requirement for disability awareness training for personnel of carriers and terminal managing bodies after March 2017.

    Andrew Jones

    Positive interaction between drivers and disabled passengers can be key to giving many people the confidence to travel by bus, and so I welcome the industry’s continuing efforts to deliver effective disability awareness training within the Certificate of Professional Competence.

    Regulation 181/2011 will make such training compulsory for all drivers when the present five year exemption ends in February 2018. The exemption cannot be renewed beyond this date but we are working with bus operators to ensure they have the tools to deliver meaningful training, meeting the needs of drivers and disabled passengers alike.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with HM Chief Inspector of Schools about the performance of free schools.

    Edward Timpson

    The Secretary of State meets with Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools regularly to discuss a wide range of issues including the performance of free schools.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the target response times are for ambulances responding to C1 and C2 incidents.

    Jane Ellison

    Category C1 and category C2 are terms used by London Ambulance Service to describe the first two categories of green calls.

    Green calls are lower acuity calls where there is still a need for an ambulance, but in slower time scales than life-threatening or more urgent calls. They are usually split into four categories and the response times for these are agreed and set locally.

    Data on green call performance is not centrally held.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made since the Anti-Corruption Summit of 12 May 2016 on implementing the Government’s plan to establish central registers of beneficial ownership in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

    James Duddridge

    Agreement has been reached with all the relevant Overseas Territories, and with the Isle of Man and Jersey on the establishment of central registers or similarly effective systems. These arrangements will give UK law enforcement and tax authorities quick and unrestricted access to beneficial ownership information on corporate and legal entities incorporated in these Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. This is a significant step forward in our ability to fight criminal activity. The signing of a similar arrangement with Guernsey is expected shortly, following their recent general election and formation of a new government.

    Requests from UK law enforcement will be processed within 24 hours and quicker in urgent cases. The new arrangements must be in place by June 2017, but relevant Government Departments and law enforcement authorities are working with the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to ensure some changes are made immediately.

  • Andrew Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what functions are planned to become the responsibility of the proposed Solent combined authority; what estimate he has made of the costs of each of those functions in the next (a) 12 months, (b) five years and (c) 30 years; and if he will publish all information that his Department holds on those proposed functions.

    Andrew Percy

    The proposals for a Solent Combined Authority have been developed by local leaders and partners in the Solent and leaders in the Solent have been undertaking a consultation to inform their proposals and gather the views of local people. Following that it will be for the local authorities to decide if they wish to propose forming a Combined Authority.

    Ministers and officials have held discussions with Solent partners on what additional powers and funding could be devolved to the local area, as we have with local areas up and down the country. These discussions have not as yet reached a conclusion although I expect that if a Solent Combined Authority is proposed to government a devolution deal could be rapidly concluded.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to publish the report of the Cutting Red Tape programme.

    Anna Soubry

    The Cutting Red Tape programme has completed the evidence gathering stage for the six reviews launched earlier this year. The programme is now working with the responsible departments and regulators to understand the scale of potential savings, and to support them in developing next steps which respond to the findings of the reviews. The Government’s next steps will be to publish the review findings and associated responses in the New Year.

    The programme is also running an open call for evidence for future reviews via its Twitter account @CutRedTapeUK and #CutRedTape, and its website https://cutting-red-tape.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/

    “

  • Holly Lynch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Holly Lynch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of how much his Department will have spent on implementing digitalisation requirements by April 2016 at the courts and tribunals proposed for closure in the recent Proposal on the provision of court and tribunal estate in England and Wales consultation.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service are committed to delivering a quicker and fairer justice system. The digitalisation programme is on track to deliver £220m of benefits.

    Investment of digital technologies to court centres under consultation was immediately paused pending the outcome of this process. £1.35m had previously been spent in courts which have subsequently been announced for closure. The vast majority of this expenditure was in re-usable hardware assets which will be reallocated to other sites within the HMCTS estate. Additionally, the savings from the installations are expected to outweigh average installation costs by the time courts start to close.

  • Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Mrs Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mrs Anne Main on 2016-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the EU ban on neonicotinoids has been renewed; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    EU restrictions prohibiting the use of three neonicotinoids on some crops have been in place since 1 December 2013. Other uses of these neonicotinoids remain approved. The restrictions have been implemented in full in the UK and will remain in place unless and until the European Commission decides to change them. The Commission has mandated the European Food Safety Authority to carry out a scientific review of the effects of neonicotinoids on pollinators. The UK will participate in that process.