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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Christina Rees – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christina Rees on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the costs and benefits of the current funding regime for insolvency litigation between 26 February 2015 and 17 December 2015.

    Dominic Raab

    Since the passage of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012, it has always been the government’s stated intention that the exemption for insolvency cases would be temporary. Commencement of Part 2 of LASPO’s conditional fee (or ‘no win no fee’) arrangement reforms for insolvency, was announced in December and will apply from April this year. The aim of LASPO’s reforms was to control the cost of civil litigation.

    Ministry of Justice Officials discussed Professor Walton’s report with him, but the Ministry of Justice did not agree with his conclusions. Officials have also met representatives of insolvency practitioners who use no win no fee arrangements to fund these cases, as well as those who fund them in other ways.

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what powers are available to ministers to order the release of prisoners duly sentenced and held in England and Wales.

    Lord Faulks

    Prisoners are held in accordance with the type and length of sentence they are given by the courts and legislation prescribes when and how they are to be released. The majority are released automatically, with standard determinate sentence prisoners released at the half-way point in their sentence. Some prisoners are released at the discretion of the independent Parole Board – for example, all prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence and some extended sentence prisoners – once they have reached the point in their sentence when they are eligible to be considered for parole.

    Legislation also gives the Secretary of State discretion to release sentenced prisoners in certain circumstances. In practice, these decisions are taken on behalf of the Secretary of State by prison governors or other officials in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). For example, some shorter sentenced, low risk offenders may be considered for release before their automatic release date under the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) scheme, at the discretion of prison governors.

    There is also a statutory power for the Secretary of State to release any sentenced prisoner if there are exceptional circumstances which justify release on compassionate grounds. Decisions on whether to grant early compassionate release are taken on a case-by-case basis by senior officials in NOMS.

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

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with motor vehicle insurance companies on reducing the level of insurance premiums.

    Andrew Jones

    The Department for Transport has held a number of recent meetings with the motor insurance industry, for example to discuss young driver safety and technology measures which impact on the cost of insurance.

    The Autumn Statement 2015 announced the Government will bring forward measures to reduce the excessive costs arising from unnecessary whiplash claims, and as the industry is competitive we expect average savings of £40 to £50 per motor insurance policy to be passed onto customers. Some insurers have already committed to pass on all savings to consumers as a result of the proposed changes.

    The pricing of insurance products is a commercial matter for individual insurers in which the Government does not seek to intervene.

  • Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tristram Hunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    No posts in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, or any of the Department’s non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies have been abolished in, or relocated from, East Cheshire Local Authority since 2010 and none will be abolished in, or relocated from, East Cheshire Local Authority by 2020.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the annual cost to the NHS of General Medical Council appraisals.

    Ben Gummer

    In November 2012, the Department published an analysis of the costs and benefits of medical revalidation in England: “Medical Revalidation – Costs and Benefits”. This estimated that revalidation would result in additional costs of £97 million per year in England, over the ten-year period starting in 2013.

  • Lord Faulkner of Worcester – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Faulkner of Worcester – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Faulkner of Worcester on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the governing bodies of sports other than football about meeting disabled access guidelines at sports stadia.

    Lord Ashton of Hyde

    Ministerial meetings have taken place with the Rugby Football Union and at official level with the Rugby Union Premier League on accessibility. Ministers are aware that there is both good and bad practice on stadium accessibility across a range of other sports. Ministers expect all sports, and all clubs, whose grounds do not make the reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled spectators as set out in the Equality Act 2010 to take action to fulfil this legal obligation.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans for West Yorkshire.

    David Mowat

    Local areas will submit their plans to the national health and care bodies for review shortly, with further public engagement and consultation taking place from this point.

    We expect that most areas will take a version of their Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) to their organisation’s public board meeting for discussion between late October and the end of the year. We would also expect that most areas will publish their plans, for more formal engagement, during this period, building on the engagement they have already done to shape thinking. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation.

    Bradford Clinical Commissioning Group has confirmed that an extraordinary meeting of the Bradford and Airedale Health and Wellbeing Board has been arranged in public to discuss the local STP. This will take place on Wednesday 19 October. Papers are yet to be published.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many counter-terrorism personnel were employed in the West Midlands in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr John Hayes

    For security reasons we do not publish a breakdown of counter-terrorism budget or staffing by region.

  • Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of the Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicles purchased from Thales have been handed over to the British Army.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As at 15 December 2015, 37 Watchkeeper Unmanned Air Vehicles have been delivered by Thales and accepted by the Ministry of Defence. Of these, 10 are currently held by the Army to meet its current flying training programme and readiness requirements. The remainder are either being used for flight trials at West Wales Airport, or being stored and maintained until required by the Army.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent steps the Government has taken on approving the City Deal proposals for the (a) Inverness, (b) Aberdeen and (c) Edinburgh city regions; and if he will make a statement.

    David Mundell

    I was pleased to be in Aberdeen on 28 January to announce a £250 million City Deal for the city and region. We are currently considering the Inverness and Edinburgh proposals and hope to make an announcement on next steps shortly.