Tag: Parliamentary Question

Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of his proposals to increase the cost cap for environmental legal challenges to £10,000 for individuals on the affordability of such challenges for such people.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Ministry of Justice will keep the impact of any changes to the cost capping scheme for environmental claims under review as part of its consideration of the consultation responses. We will also carry out a full impact assessment on any changes and this will be published as part of the government’s response paper.

01/01/2023
Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will include a specific reference to the abolition of the death penalty in its global human rights priorities.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) work on abolition of the death penalty is intrinsic to this Government’s pursuit of human rights in their universality. The FCO’s Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy, which for the financial year 2016-17 will be doubled in value, is available to support abolitionist projects under any of its three objectives: democratic values and the rule of law; strengthening the rules-based international order; and human rights for a stable world.

01/01/2023
David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many members of staff are employed in the Ministerial correspondence section of his Department.

Jane Ellison

The Department’s Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries unit currently employs a total of 31 permanent staff who work on both public and ministerial correspondence. There are also eight non-permanent workers filling vacancies within the unit who also work on public and ministerial correspondence. In 2015 the unit responded to 42,277 letters from hon. Members, Peers and the public.

01/01/2023
Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what consultations he undertook before deciding to change the funding arrangements for British Academy-sponsored institutions and societies; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson

Funding arrangements for the British Academy-Sponsored Institutes and Societies (BASIS) programme have not been changed. The seven independent Schools and Institutes within the BASIS Programme collectively have an important role in advancing science diplomacy and promoting UK higher education in their regions, and we value the close connections with foreign government ministries, British diplomatic missions and the British Council that are fostered through the BASIS Programme.

The Science & Research budget allocation for the National Academies for 2016-17 to 2019-20 was published on 4 March. The allocation provided for real terms protection for the British Academy’s BASIS programme, enabling the Academy to continue to provide the BASIS Institutes with substantial block grant support throughout this period. Details of direct funding received by the BASIS Programme through its grant from the British Academy, as well as details of the cumulative payments made by the British Academy to individual schools and institutes within the programme, are published in the British Academy Annual Report, available at www.britac.ac.uk/about/annualrep/index.cfm.

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01/01/2023
Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to procure ships under the Military Afloat Reach Sustainability programme; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) programme covers the four Tide Class Tankers which were ordered in 2012 and are currently under construction, and the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships. As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we plan to procure three Fleet Solid Support logistic ships

01/01/2023
Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department’s recent estimate is of the number of civilian casualties in the conflict in Yemen; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen estimates that over 6,000 people have been killed and over 30,000 people injured since the conflict escalated in March 2015. A political solution remains the best way to bring this conflict and the suffering of the Yemeni people to an end. We continue to urge all those involved in the UN-facilitated peace talks to find a way to bring peace and stability to Yemen which its people deserve.

01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department provides to local authorities to help tackle (a) homelessness and (b) the root causes of homelessness.

Mr Marcus Jones

One person without a home is one too many. That is why the Government is clear that prevention must be at the heart of everything we do to tackle homelessness. We will be investing £500 million in work to prevent and relieve homelessness across this Parliament. This includes protecting homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, which will amount to £315 million by 2019-20, to help them continue to provide quality advice and assistance to everyone who approaches them for help. Since 2010, local authorities have helped prevent or relieve over one million cases of homelessness.

Homelessness is rarely a housing issue alone. The causes are varied and driven by issues such as health, education, justice, welfare, and employment. That is why we have increased central investment to tackle homelessness over the next four years to £139 million, including a new £10 million Social Impact Bond to support rough sleepers with the most complex needs. This builds on the success of the world’s first homelessness Social Impact Bond, run by the Greater London Authority to turn round the lives around of 830 of London’s most entrenched rough sleepers. Over half have achieved accommodation, employment or reconnection outcomes.

In addition we have invested £15 million to improve outcomes for young people through the Fair Chance Fund. This funding is turning around the lives of around 1,900 18 to 25 year olds with complex and overlapping needs, by supporting them into accommodation, education, training and employment.

01/01/2023
Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when a UK (a) Minister and (b) official last visited (i) the area designated by the Chinese government as the Tibetan Autonomous Region and (ii) the areas of Tibet subsumed by the Chinese government into China in the 1960’s; what requests for such visits are outstanding; and if he will make a statement.

Alok Sharma

I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer given by the former Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), to the Hon. Member for Dundee West (Mr Law), on 4 May 2016 (PQ 35590), copied below for ease of reference:

The Hon. Member for Bury South (Mr Lewis) was the last serving Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) minister to visit the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), in September 2009. An FCO official last visited the TAR in June 2014. We continue to press the Chinese authorities for further access.

01/01/2023
Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what impact assessment his Department has conducted on withdrawal of ESOL Plus Mandation funding and its effects on further education colleges in (a) Greater London and (b) the UK.

Nick Boles

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) conducted an equality analysis to support its compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty prior to making the decision to withdraw the English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Plus (Mandation) funding for 2015/16. The decision was taken in the knowledge that providers are independent organisations which manage their own budgets and have the flexibility to use their adult skills budget to continue to provide ESOL training for jobseekers and are therefore able to mitigate any adverse impact. It was also taken on the basis of our data which shows that the numbers of learners in England being referred to ESOL Plus (Mandation) provision was significantly lower than originally anticipated and the ESOL Plus (Mandation) budget was underspent in 2014/15.

BIS funds skills provision in England only.

01/01/2023

Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of personal independence payment (a) applications and (b) appeals were successful in (i) Hull and (ii) the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.

Justin Tomlinson

Information concerning part A is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statistics

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2015

The information concerning part B is below.

Personal Independence Payment
	National		Hull
	Number Cleared at Tribunal Hearing	Number In favour DF	Number Cleared at Tribunal Hearing	Number In favour DF
April 15- June 15	7931	4495	60	23
(DF refers to Decision in Favour of the appellant).

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01/01/2023