Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with Police and Crime Commissioners to improve diversity in police forces.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government is clear; increasing diversity in our police forces is not an optional extra. It goes right to the heart of this country’s historic principle of policing by consent. We must ensure that the public have trust and confidence in the police, and that the police reflect the communities they serve.

    The Government has reformed policing to ensure that there is a sector-led approach to making improvements, including in the area of recruitment and representation.

    The College of Policing as the professional body for policing is delivering a major piece of work -black, Asian and minority ethnic Progression 2018 – to address under-representation in policing. The Government looks forward to working with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and individual Police and Crime Commissioners as democratically elected local leaders of policing, to place a greater emphasis on this agenda and urges PCCs to consider the opportunities provided through the Police Transformation Fund.

    While the Government would expect senior commitment in all forces it is for local leaders to decide how they will deliver improvements.

  • Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Altmann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Altmann on 2016-10-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 15 September (HL1462), what happens to letters that are returned undelivered when incorrect details are held.

    Lord Freud

    Letters are issued to the latest address held on our records. Whilst the onus is on our citizens to notify appropriate Departments of their current address, DWP takes all reasonable steps to determine the correct address when letters are returned. This includes scrutinising all available DWP systems to determine if a revised address is held. At the time of the age equalisation communications campaign the process for State Pension included contact through Local Authorities or a DWP Visiting Officer. Where an updated address is confirmed the customer account details are amended.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her objectives are for the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The World Humanitarian Summit will provide a major opportunity to set out an ambitious vision for humanitarian and development action to guide our work until 2030.

    The Secretary of State for International Development has four priorities for the Summit:

    • Strengthen the protection of civilians in a crisis and improve compliance with International Humanitarian Law;
    • Deliver a step change in how the humanitarian community approaches resilience to natural disasters, moving from managing crises to managing risk and ensuring Governments and communities have the capacity to do this themselves;
    • Address the growing gap between need and available resources through smarter financing that delivers better outcomes at lower cost and is more accountable to people in need;
    • Focus on women and girls throughout the summit to ensure existing commitments are translated into action.
  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether a new HS3 fast line from Manchester and across the Pennines should pass through Leeds.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    In November 2015 the Government and Transport for the North jointly published a progress report on the Northern Transport Strategy, including our work to transform rail in the North. Our vision is an integrated network of rail services providing fast, frequent, comfortable and convenient connectivity between the main centres of the North.

    We have commissioned Network Rail and HS2 Ltd to identify options to meet, or move towards meeting this vision. This includes development of infrastructure options, including between Manchester and Leeds, as part of a wider network also encompassing Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle and Hull.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of income accruing to the Exchequer annually if ISA returns became taxable on pots greater than (a) £250,000, (b) £500,000 and (c) £1 million.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Revenue and Customs publishes detailed statistics relating to Individual Savings Accounts on Gov.uk. Links given below:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487119/Dec15_expenditure_reliefs_Final.xlsx.pdf)

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/423438/Table_9.10_2012-13_for_publication.pdf).

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2016 to Question 25549, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for (a) Work and Pensions, (b) Communities and Local Government and (c) other Government departments on proposed changes to housing benefit for tenants in supported housing; and if he will make an estimate of the number of people likely to be affected by the proposed change.

    Alistair Burt

    Shortly, we will be engaging colleagues across Government on the proposed changes to housing benefit. As the cross-Government lead, the Department for Work and Pensions is coordinating any work to understand the likely impact of the reforms.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15303, on reoffenders, how many (a) offenders had committed each of the listed offences and (b) offenders in each category were given a fixed term recall for committing a further offence.

    Dominic Raab

    I am unable to provide the data you have requested in Question 29034 within the timescales for this parliamentary question. I will write to you in due course with such data as officials can collate it from casework systems.

    Any offender who is believed to have committed further offences whilst on licence is liable to be arrested and charged and, if convicted, given a further sentence. If the offence is serious, they can be remanded into custody until trial. Offenders on licence who are charged with further offences are also liable to be recalled, potentially to serve the rest of their sentence in prison, as they will be in breach of the requirement of their licence to be of good behaviour. If the offender is assessed as not presenting a risk of harm to the public they can be assessed as suitable for a shorter, fixed term recall. Those who have been charged with serious sexual or violent offences will not be considered suitable for a fixed term recall.

    The table below provides the proportion of recalls in 2013 and 2014 and the proportion who received a fixed term recall.

    Year

    Proportion of total recalls which were fixed term

    2014

    42%

    2013

    42%

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on upgrading its IT systems in 2014-15.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Department spent £38m on upgrading IT systems in 2014-15, including both software and equipment development. This includes around £31m for internally developed software, predominantly within delivery bodies of the department such as the Student Loans Company. It also includes the Core Department roll out of a new ICT system, Evolve, for use by all staff. This replaced the previous IT service. The total cost of the Evolve rollout was £3.5 million.

  • Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on recognition of the Polisario Front as the representative of the people of Western Sahara.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Government officials engage with the Polisario Front regularly, most recently on 16 March in London. We regard the Polisario Front as a pro-independence movement and party to a UN-mediated dispute, but not all Sahrawis consider it to be their representative. Therefore the UK Government does not regard the Polisario Front as representing all Sahrawis. Because of this, Ministers do not meet Polisario Front members.

  • Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Attorney General, what the cost is to the Crown Prosecution Service of obtaining a transcript of the Southwark Crown Court trial of charges against Gurpal Virdi.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has requested an estimate of the cost of obtaining a transcript and has been informed that it will take 10 days for this to be supplied. Once the estimate is received the CPS will write to the Honorable Member to inform him of the figure.