Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2015 to Question 12401, if he will publish the socio-economic data collected for the 2015 intake of the Future Leaders Scheme and Senior Leaders Scheme.

    Matthew Hancock

    There is an ongoing review into the most effective and appropriate definition for social mobility which we will align with in future years. This work is being led by The Bridge Group, a charitable policy association promoting social mobility, as part of research they are undertaking on social mobility in the Fast Stream.This research is the largest quantitative analysis of its kind and will help to inform how we define and measure social mobility across all Civil Service talent schemes, including the Future Leaders Scheme and Senior Leaders Scheme. The research will also help us to determine what information we collate and publish on these schemes in a meaningful and accessible way.

    We are also working towards a position where we collate and publish diversity data in a single format on the gov.ukwebsite to improve transparency and accountability on overall progress towards diversity and inclusion in the Civil Service.

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  • Lord Palmer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Palmer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Palmer on 2015-11-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the link between rates of smoking prevalence and the level of tobacco control, as measured by the OECD.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Government considers international comparisons of tobacco control produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and other organisations, such as Joossens and Raw’s Tobacco Control Scale in Europe, which ranks the United Kingdom as number one in tobacco control activity of 34 European countries.

  • John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many mobile pumps the Environment Agency owns.

    Rory Stewart

    The Environment Agency owns a total of 245 mobile pumping units which can be deployed to respond to flooding incidents.

    During the flooding in December 2015, 425 mobile pumping assets owned and held by responding organisations, including the Fire Services and the Environment Agency, were identified as being available to Strategic Coordination Groups (Gold Controls).

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons use animals as part of their rehabilitation schemes; and which animals are used in such schemes.

    Andrew Selous

    This information can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department has allocated to projects which are primarily aimed at Eritrean nationals in the last three years; and in which countries such projects are based.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    As a member of the European Development Fund Committee (EDF) my Department scrutinises all EDF programming. The National Indicative Programme (NIP) for Eritrea under EDF 11 was considered at the Committee on the 17th of November 2015 and received a positive opinion. Prior to that DFID officials worked with other member states to secure a joint EU and member state approach to linking implementation of the NIP with successful dialogue on human rights.

    We continue to monitor this, both in country and in Brussels, alongside other member states.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3.63 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 and paragraph 2.16 of the Budget 2016, for what reasons the funding to support women’s charities equivalent to the annual VAT raised on sanitary products has changed from £15 million to £12 million.

    Mr David Gauke

    As announced at Autumn Statement 2015, the Tampon Tax Fund is a £15 million annual fund to support women’s charities, equivalent to the amount of VAT raised on sanitary products. The Chancellor announced initial donations at Autumn Statement totalling £5m. Further grants totalling £12 million have been announced at this Budget.

    The Government has introduced legislation in the Finance Bill to enable the zero rate of VAT for women’s sanitary products.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with which local authorities her Department has held discussions on the possibility of local authorities running multi-academy trusts.

    Edward Timpson

    Regional Schools Commissioners discuss the options for schools to convert to academy status with local authorities on a regular basis – and in the case of underperforming schools in particular, those discussions focus on which multi-academy trusts are the most effective way of securing sustainable improvement.

    The White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere makes clear that we want to ensure that we make best use of talented staff currently within local authorities to establish or join multi-academy trusts. Our discussions with local authorities will continue to look at the options available to harness that talent.

  • Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on conscientious objection for midwives asked to (a) advise on and (b) participate in abortions.

    Jane Ellison

    Section 4 of the Abortion Act provides that “no person shall be under any duty, whether by contract or by any statutory or other legal requirement, to participate in any treatment authorised by this Act to which he has a conscientious objection”. In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that this is limited to those staff who actually take part in treatment administered in a hospital or other approved place and does not include ancillary, administrative and managerial tasks that might be associated with treatment.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what he plans the timescale to be for the planned public consultation after the Government has made its decision on airport expansion.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government will take a view on the timing of a public consultation once it has reached a decision on its preferred scheme.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Blaydon of 19 August 2016 on the application of the Apprenticeship Levy in Scotland.

    Robert Halfon

    The hon. Member should have received an email response on 14 October, with a hard copy to follow.

    Skills policy is devolved, which means that the Scottish Government is responsible for managing apprenticeships in its own territory. This has been the case since the Scotland Act 1998 and UK employers understand that they need to engage with different funding bodies in different parts of the UK. The introduction of the apprenticeship levy in April 2017 will not change this position.

    On 12 August, we published detailed proposals on how we will fund apprenticeships in England when the levy is introduced in April 2017. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/apprenticeship-changes. We are committed to publishing the final apprenticeship funding policy information for England before the end of October. It will be for the Scottish Government to set out its own plans for funding apprenticeships in Scotland.


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