Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Julian Sturdy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Universal Service Obligation on broadband download speed for all properties will be achieved by 2016.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Plans have been set out by the Government to ensure that every home and business can have access to fast broadband by the end of this Parliament. We will launch a public consultation early next year in preparation for the implementation of a new broadband Universal Service Obligation by 2020.

  • Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Ian Lavery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what arrangements have been made to ensure that fire cover remains available whilst fire crews are responding to major floods.

    Mike Penning

    I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.

    The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 requires that fire and rescue services have plans in place, working with local partners, to deal with emergencies such as flooding, and to ensure that the appropriate level of resource is available. Fire and rescue authorities are also required by the statutory Fire and Rescue National Framework for England to produce Integrated Risk Management Plans which identify the full range of risks to which an authority’s service is expected to respond, and to consult the local community on those plans.

    In addition, fire and rescue authorities’ mutual aid arrangements are well established under Section 13 and Section 16 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. These arrangements ensure continuity of service provision across authority boundaries, through mutual assistance from supporting authorities and other agencies other than the host fire and rescue authorities. The National Coordination and Advisory Framework, a collaborative arrangement between the Government, the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser and Chief Fire Officers Association, is in place to both support and supplement these arrangements.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22948, whether her Department has recorded all EU countries other than Greece as complying with the Dublin Convention.

    James Brokenshire

    The Dublin Convention no longer governs the determination of responsibility for examining an asylum claim: it was replaced by the EU “Dublin II” Regulation in 2003 for all EU Member States apart from Denmark, which implemented the Dublin Regulation in 2006. An updated “Dublin III” Regulation has applied since 2014.

    The European Commission is the body responsible for overseeing the correct implementation of EU Regulations. All EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein use the Regulation to make requests to take responsibility for asylum applicants.

    As noted in the Answer of 21 January to Question 22948 it is not possible to return asylum applicants to Greece. The Government is satisfied that it remains lawful to transfer to and from all other countries bound by the Regulation asylum applicants who qualify under its provisions.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the numbers of driving examiners in England on waiting times for tests; and what steps he is taking to encourage more examiners to qualify.

    Andrew Jones

    The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) undertake quarterly test forecast reviews to identify the likely demand of driving tests, from which it calculates the numbers of examiners required in order to service those demands. Those numbers are reviewed against the current examiners numbers and where increases are identified, these are factored into DVSA’s recruitment campaigns. DVSA usually run two recruitment campaigns per year, with additional campaigns where necessary i.e. where there has been insufficient take-up/success in geographical areas.

    This process has, over the years, generally worked well, but the unforeseen and exceptionally high increase in demand for driving tests in 2015. Across the whole of DVSA it has recruited 167 new driving examiners during 2015/16 with a further 60 either attending or booked on to new entrant courses. DVSA has also offered posts to a further 40 potential examiners.

    DVSA has also been re-prioritising the activities of examiners and offering them additional overtime in order to increase testing capacity.

    Over 2015 DVSA introduced a number of changes to the marketing of its recruitment campaign in order to try and encourage interest from wider and more diverse groups, additionally DVSA undertook two targeted campaigns for motorcycle examiners and LGV examiners.

  • Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Doocey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children who have received a positive conclusive grounds decision in the National Referral Mechanism in the past three years have been refused asylum after claiming.

    Lord Bates

    Since January 2013, three (3) children received an initial decision to refuse asylum having previously received a positive Conclusive Grounds decision. Of these three refusals two (2) were subsequently overturned on appeal.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether there has been a reduction in the number of British seafarers being employed by the world’s merchant marine, and if there has, what action they are taking to ensure that the necessary numbers exist to meet national requirements for British seafarers in time of war.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The latest UK seafarer statistics can be found in the attached document “Seafarer Statistics, 2015” that is also available on gov.uk.

    In 2015 the total number of UK seafarers active at sea was 23,380, an increase of 2% on the 2014 figure and 2.3% on 2013 figure. The figures for the last five years are shown below:

    Year

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    Active seafarers at sea

    27,010

    24,100

    22,840

    22,910

    23,380

    The Maritime Growth Study, chaired by Lord Mountevans and published on 7 September 2015, recognised the need for more proactive action to replenish and develop the skills needed to maintain the UK position as a world-leading maritime centre. The Government has accepted the recommendations and has already let a research contract to Oxford Economics to establish the requirement for trained seafarers in the UK.

    However, the Government does not hold data on national requirements for British seafarers in time of war.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals were employed by the European Parliament in each year since 2010; and how many such people were employed at administrator grade.

    Mr David Lidington

    The European Parliament does not publish statistics on numbers of permanent staff by nationality. According to our own records, the total the numbers of UK nationals employed by the European Parliament in each year since 2010 is:

    2010: 290
    2011: 306
    2012: 306
    2013: 291
    2014: 271
    2015: 251

    The latest figure available is for May 2016 and is 263.

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many consultant-led NHS maternity units have been downgraded in each of the last six years.

    Ben Gummer

    This information is not held centrally.

    The Government is clear that the redesign of front-line health services, including maternity services, is a matter for the local National Health Service, where clinicians are best-placed to make the decisions in the best interests of their patients.

    All such decisions are locally led and any proposed changes to services are subject to meeting the four tests for service change: they must have support from general practitioner commissioners, be based on clinical evidence, demonstrate public and patient engagement, and consider patient choice.

  • Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Judd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they are making, both bilaterally and multilaterally, to the statement on 8 September of the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine at the extraordinary general meeting called to discuss the acute financial challenges currently faced by the organisation.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The UK is a long-term supporter of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and we regularly discuss with UNRWA how it can resolve its financial situation. The UK remains committed to supporting the Agency and Palestinian refugees at this difficult time in the region. My officials are in close contact with UNRWA’s senior management about the current funding position.

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the announcement by BAE Systems on jobs, related to production of the Eurofighter Typhoon on 12 November 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs in each production location that will be lost which are related to the production of that aircraft.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    BAE Systems issued a statement on 12 November 2015 confirming that the company was taking action to reduce the Eurofighter Typhoon production rate; it also confirmed its intention to reduce the workforce within its Military Air and Information business by up to 371 roles. The majority of the affected posts are based at the company’s Samlesbury site, with the remainder at its Warton facility.

    Decisions on the capacity and capability of any company, including the division of work between sites, primarily rests with the company concerned.