Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many inspections have been carried out into the quality of the food served to UK Armed Forces in each of the last five years.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    All food procured for Ministry of Defence (MOD) personnel must comply with MOD food quality standards. These standards comply with all UK and EU production standards, Farm Assurance or equivalent. The Defence Food Quality Standards (DFQS) establishes the minimum quality criteria that the Department requires a supplier to deliver. It sets the standard of what food and ingredients should be provided as part of the contracts to provide nutritious and balanced meals to Service Personnel. The DFQS publication is available online through the gov.uk website at:

    (www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479299/20151006-DFQS-V12-U.pdf).

    The MOD requires all of its food suppliers to comply with both EU and National legislation whilst operating to industry standards and monitors the suppliers’ compliance with the DFQS through a combination of product testing and conducting inspections of their premises/production facilities.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many vessels (a) completed and (b) failed to complete the C1331 customs declaration form in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    The table below outlines the number of completed C1331 customs declaration forms received by Border Force in each of the last 5 years. This data has been drawn from basic IT systems used for management information which are not subject to internal quality checks and may be subject to change.

    Year

    Number of completed C1331 Forms received by Border Force

    2011

    408

    2012

    331

    2013

    399

    2014

    391

    2015

    319

    There are no records held that could adequately answer the question of how many vessels failed to complete the C1331 form.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 4 March 2016, HCWS581, whether the gift of 40 Land Rovers to Bulgaria counts towards (a) the target two per cent of GDP on defence spending and (b) 0.7 per cent of GNI on Overseas Development Assistance.

    Michael Fallon

    No and no.

  • 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 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department plans to allocate to the College of Policing for (a) digital media investigators and (b) the mainstreaming cyber-crime training in each of the next three years.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office provides the College of Policing with annual funding through grant in aid, with some specific funding uplifts to develop certain programmes.

    Development of the Digital Media Investigator (DMI) training, run by the College of Policing, will be funded by the Home Office for 2016/17 at a cost of £635,448. After this financial year the College will be expected to meet the costs of continuing the training though their grant in aid or a re-charge to forces.

    The National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) provides investment to increase the cyber security of the UK. The NCSP funded the development of the second phase of the Mainstream Cyber Crime Training course which was launched on 30 September 2015 by the College of Policing. This is a modular course consisting of a series of self-teach and interactive modules accessible to all police officers and staff, which gives an introduction to how to recognise and investigate cyber crimes. The course was developed so that once it was rolled out, there would be no ongoing cost to the College into 2016/17 and future years. It has now been licensed to forces to deliver themselves.

    Since the introduction of the College of Policing’s Cyber Crime Training course for all police forces, which was rolled out nationally in February 2014 4,394 officers successfully completed it. The College of Policing reported on 30 March 2016, that 1,014 police officers had received DMI training up to that point.

  • Lyn Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lyn Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lyn Brown on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons NHS England is reconsidering its positioning on commissioning pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England decided to reconsider its decision in relation to the commissioning of pre-exposure prophylaxis following questions concerning interpretation of powers to commission HIV prevention services being raised by some stakeholders.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish secondary legislation on the sale of higher value council homes under the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

    Brandon Lewis

    There are a number of steps that need to be taken before the Government publishes the regulations. The regulations defining higher value will be subject to the affirmative procedure and so, once finalised, they will be published and laid before Parliament before being considered by the relevant committees and debated in both Houses.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to include in the BBC Charter a commitment to broadcast a minimum of 10 hours of in-house Gaelic language programming on BBC ALBA each week.

    Matt Hancock

    During the BBC Charter Review public consultation we have listened to views across a range of issues in relation to the BBC, including Gaelic language broadcasting.

    There is a successful partnership between the BBC and MG Alba for the delivery of Gaelic language broadcasting. The White Paper, published in May 2016, sets out the Government’s intention to require maintain a commitment to minority language broadcasting through the new Charter.

    The level of funding dedicated to BBC ALBA and the number of hours of in-house Gaelic language programming broadcast are matters for the BBC Board to consider when fulfilling this requirement under the new Charter.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have had (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful laser eye surgery in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    Corrective laser eye surgery (surgery to correct a refractive error) is not routinely carried out on the National Health Service other than for exceptional clinical reasons. Refractive errors can be successful corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Data is not collected on the number of corrective laser eye surgery procedures carried out in the independent sector or on the number of successful or unsuccessful procedures.

    The following table, provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, shows a count of Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) for those diagnosed with disorders of refraction and accommodation who underwent corrective laser eye surgery between 2009-10 to 2013-14. This data includes a range of laser eye surgery procedures and is therefore not exclusive to corrective laser eye surgery.

    Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

    Year

    FAEs

    2009-10

    318

    2010-11

    241

    2011-12

    276

    2012-13

    176

    2013-14

    195

    Source:Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

  • Lord Wills – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Wills – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2015-12-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to produce a public response to the final report on electoral fraud submitted by the Electoral Commission in January 2014, including a response to the recommendation to introduce a system of voter identification.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Electoral Commission’s report is an important contribution to the debate on electoral integrity. The Government is currently conducting its own review of electoral fraud, led by Sir Eric Pickles MP, which is considering arguments for and against different measures to improve electoral integrity, including those suggested by the Electoral Commission. Recommendations emerging from the review will be put to the Prime Minister in the New Year.

  • Richard Benyon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Richard Benyon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Benyon on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on school budgets of the National Living Wage.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We want to reward people in work, so we are introducing a national living wage in April 2016 which raises the current minimum rate by 50p per hour. Over a million workers will benefit directly from the increase, many by up to £900 a year.

    Some of those workers are employed in our schools. We will be expecting schools, like all employers, to manage the change within their budgets. To help them do that, we have protected the core schools budget, including the pupil premium, and we have ensured that the extra £390 million allocated in 2015-16 remains in the baseline for future years. Throughout this Parliament we will increase the amount of money for our schools as pupil numbers rise, protecting the total budget in real terms.

    We have committed to target this funding more fairly by introducing a national funding formula. With a fair formula we will be able to fund schools based on their individual needs, so that they can manage cost pressures effectively and make informed decisions about what is best for them and their pupils in the long term. This fairer system will mean schools can keep driving up educational standards while managing their budgets.