Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 2.1 of the briefing by the National Audit Office entitled Delivering major projects in government, published on 6 January 2016, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of its monitoring the benefits of (a) ongoing and (b) complete infrastructure projects.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport (DfT) accounts for a whole life value of £92bn within the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

    The DfT follows the Cabinet Office transparency policy by publishing the Department’s data in line with requirements, including the annual publication of GMPP data, SRO appointment letters and individual project cases.

    The Department continually assures project delivery in relation to costs, timings and benefits through clear governance and project and programme management (PPM) requirements, which must be satisfied throughout the life cycle of a project. This includes investment board endorsement at key project planning and delivery stages, and independent assurance within the Department. Further external assurance is provided for example by the Infrastructure and Project Authority (IPA). The department uses a widely understood and highly regarded economic tool, known as WebTAG, for calculating costs.

    In addition to individual project assurance, the Department works with the IPA on both GMPP and its own portfolio reporting requirements. The Department has been actively involved in work to improve the collection, collation and analysis of key areas of project delivery, including costs and benefits, in line with the recent IPA review and refresh of GMPP data collection.

    As part of the Department’s internal governance, regular portfolio reporting on the aggregated performance and health of major projects is presented to the Department’s investment board. The Department has recently assessed the maturity of its portfolio reporting and has an action plan to further develop its capability in key areas.

    The Department reports infrastructure projects that are £50m or more on the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) which details public and private infrastructure investment which is either forecast, being delivered, or completed. It is published on the Treasury’s website (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-pipeline-july-2015).

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  • 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 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18874, on offensive weapons: confiscation orders, how many such confiscations took place in each Crown and magistrates’ court in each of those years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The information requested could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

  • Chris Heaton-Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Heaton-Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Heaton-Harris on 2016-03-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the commitments contained in the Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, on 18 and 19 February 2016 not to create obstacles to, but facilitate such deepening of the Eurozone and to sincere cooperation with the Eurozone, create any additional legal obligations to those already contained in Article 4 (3) of the Treaty on European Union.

    Mr David Gauke

    No new legal obligations on the UK have been created in this regard. The Eurozone is a key trading partner for the UK and a stable, successful Eurozone economy is of vital importance to the UK’s own economic security. While the UK Government supports the Eurozone taking the steps it needs to succeed, the Prime Minister has secured a legally-binding agreement which recognises that the UK should not be forced to participate nor have its interests undermined.

  • Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rachael Maskell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachael Maskell on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of police funding after service reorganisation.

    Mike Penning

    The Government has protected overall police spending for the coming Spending Review period, once police precept is taken into account. The public can be confident that over the next four years the police will have the resources they need to carry on cutting crime, fighting terrorism and keeping the people of this country safe.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims of 24 March 2016, Official Report, column 221, on the Policing and Crime Bill, in which types of situations her Department anticipates that police volunteers will have the need of CS spray for self-protection.

    Mike Penning

    Currently, volunteers already have all the powers of a police constable as a Special Constable and have done so for over a century.

    Chapter 1 of Part 3 of the Bill will enable chief officers to designate police staff with a wider range of police powers. They will also be able to confer police powers – other than the core powers reserved for warranted officers set out in Schedule 9 to the Bill – on volunteers. The intention is that the powers that can be conferred on employed staff and designated volunteers are the same. This includes the power to carry and use defensive sprays, such as CS or PAVA, in situations where the chief officer considers there to be an operational case for this. It is already the case that chief officers can equip police community support officers with defensive sprays; accordingly, the Bill simply codifies the existing position for staff. Chief officers must ensure appropriate training before conferring a power.

    Since opening the recruitment for Volunteer Police Community Support Officers (VPCSOs) in the autumn of 2013, Lincolnshire Police have recruited 80 volunteers, who have been trained to the same standard as paid PCSOs. The College of Policing guidance in respect of VPCSOs has not yet been written.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the cost to the NHS of people with long-term health conditions not taking their prescribed medication.

    Jane Ellison

    It is estimated that over 15 million people in England live with at least one long term medical condition.

    No estimate has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of people with long term conditions not taking their prescribed medication.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) domestic fires, and (2) fires in industrial and commercial buildings, were recorded in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, and (c) 2015; and what estimate they have made of the direct and indirect economic and environmental costs of those fires.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Data from the Fire Incident Recording System are published by financial year.

    (1) Fire and rescue services attended 31,899, 31,329 and 31,333 dwelling fires in England in financial years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively.

    Dwelling fires are fires in properties that are a place of residence i.e. places occupied by households such as houses and flats, excluding hotels/hostels, residential institutions such as student halls of residence and care homes for children and elderly people. Dwellings also includes non-permanent structures used solely as a dwelling, such as houseboats and caravans.

    (2) Fire and rescue services attended 2,385, 2,280 and 2,129 fires in industrial premises in England in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively. There were 6,132, 5,821 and 5,819 fires in commercial buildings in England in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively.

    The latest figures were published in August in the Fire Statistics Monitor, which can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-monitor-april-2015-to-march-2016 while detailed tables can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables.

    We have not estimated the economic and environmental costs of these fires.

  • Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent from the public purse on purchasing (a) wearable fitness tracking technology and (b) diet pills for soldiers deemed to be overweight in the last financial year.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Wearable fitness tracking technology equipment is purchased by individual military units. Records of the cost of these purchases are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

    In accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, the Ministry of Defence prescribes the medication Orlistat for the management of obesity. The drug is prescribed to both UK military personnel and their dependants. In financial year 2015-16 the total purchase cost of Orlistat was £6,300.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects to publish his review of the residential conversion threshold for agricultural buildings.

    Brandon Lewis

    We announced in the Rural Productivity Plan that we will review the planning constraints facing rural businesses. This will include a review of the current threshold for agricultural buildings to convert to residential buildings. A Call for Evidence will be published later in the autumn.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Tomlinson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what help his Department will provide to assist local authorities to resettle Syrian refugees over the next five years.

    Richard Harrington

    Local authorities have played a vital role in helping those Syrian refugees arriving here to settle into a new life in the UK. The Syrian Resettlement Team, made up of officials from Home Office, DCLG and DFID, is working closely with those local authorities that wish to participate in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, helping to manage the process of accepting refugees for resettlement, providing help and advice where appropriate.

    At the Spending Review the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 for those local authorities who are resettlling refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. This is unringfenced funding and it will be for local authorities to decide how to use the funding to support the refugees they resettle.