Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Melanie Onn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of local authority social housing residents have access to the internet at home.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government is on target to deliver access to superfast broadband for 95% of UK premises by December 2017, and to extend coverage beyond that as far as possible. As the Prime Minister announced last autumn, the government proposes that by the end of this parliament people should have a legal right to request access to a good level of broadband speed, no matter where they live.

    The honourable member will be pleased to hear that in her Great Grimsby constituency, 96 per cent of homes and businesses can already access superfast broadband – and it is estimated that coverage will rise to98 per cent by the end of 2017. Additional funding sources, including the £129 million of gainshare funding that BT will return in response to the high levels of take-up being achieved, will allow coverage to be extended further in Great Grimsby and the rest of the area covered by the North Lincolnshire broadband project.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff in his Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

    Joseph Johnson

    If staff are on a detached duty or overseas postings they can claim for certain travel expenses. Out of 2514 employees in BIS HQ, fewer than 20 employees are paid reasonable extra travel costs. These are paid for a limited period.

    There are no BIS policies that allow the payments of car allowances or subsidised health insurance to employees. However BIS has a legal obligation to honour contractual arrangements when staff join through a TUPE transfer including car allowances and subsidised health cover. Due to TUPE transfers, there are fewer than 20 employees paid car allowances or subsidised health cover. These benefits would not be renewed for new employees.

    As the number of payments are so low, exact numbers have not been provided to ensure that individual employees are not identifiable.

    The requested information is not held by BIS in respect of non-Departmental Public Bodies.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 28993, whether he plans to give Ministerial approval to relax the restrictions of the public sector exit cap on employees of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

    Greg Hands

    The power to relax restrictions on exit payments imposed by the cap will enable decisions to be taken on individual or collective cases where there may be exceptional circumstances that justify the cap being relaxed. This would be subject to scrutiny and approval by the relevant Minister in accordance with directions issued by the Treasury. The relevant Minister for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority would be the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

    The Government can confirm that the regulations detailing the relaxation provisions will not come into force before 1 October 2016 and therefore all exits before that date will not be within the scope of the public sector exit payment cap.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Scotland who reach state pension age in 2016-17 will receive less than the full flat rate of the new state pension.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department cannot model the impact of the new State Pension at a regional or country specific level. Results for the whole of Great Britain can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491845/impact-of-new-state-pension-longer-term-reserach.pdf

    “

  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of pupils in local authority maintained schools have (a) statements of special educational needs and (b) Education, Health and Care plans.

    Edward Timpson

    Information on the number and percentage of pupils with statements of special educational needs or Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan by type of institution in the January 2015 School Census is available on GOV.UK:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2015 (Table 1A and 1D.)

    “

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Chinese counterpart on releasing the Tibetan blogger Druklo.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We plan to raise the case of Druklo (also known as Shokjang) at the next round of the UK-China human rights dialogue.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England is operating a moratorium on the opening of new mental health beds in the areas of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and eating disorders; and if he will make a statement.

    Nicola Blackwood

    At present, annual expenditure on in-patient facilities for children and young people with mental health problems is £280 million this includes the expenditure on beds for those with children and young people who have eating disorders.

    In 2014, the Government provided £5 million in 2014/15 to open an additional 56 beds, bringing the total to 1,442. Whilst there is no moratorium on the opening of new mental health beds , NHS England is currently undertaking a re-procurement of all Children and Young People’s Mental Health beds, so that services are commissioned which meet the needs of children and young people who require in-patient care and ensure that they are located appropriately.

    The major £1.4 billion programme of investment over five years to transform children’s mental health services will increase the opportunities for earlier intervention in the community. This investment includes £150 million over five years to develop community eating disorder services for children and young people in every area of the country, as the evidence indicates that those with eating disorders recover better with this model of care.

    NHS England will continue to work with clinical commissioning group commissioners to build integrated pathways of care that ensure that children and young people are only admitted to inpatient beds when it is clinically appropriate, and are discharged as soon as possible, with any appropriate follow-up care in place. For eating disorders, this will include the development of dedicated teams which will in time reduce the need for inpatient beds and shorten lengths of stay.

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the political situation facing UK companies contemplating investing in Turkey.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    UK companies are active in a range of sectors in Turkey, and the UK is consistently among the country’s top sources of foreign investment. The failed coup in Turkey on 15 July and its aftermath has had some short term impact, and the political situation remains challenging. The Turkish economy is well under-pinned and offers significant opportunities for investors in the medium and long term, particularly if the government proceeds with planned structural reforms.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alison Thewliss – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2015-11-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that universal credit claimants are not sanctioned in the period between accepting an offer of employment and starting employment.

    Priti Patel

    Universal Credit claimants, who are expected to look for work, must take all reasonable action they can to become employed. Any requirements placed on the claimant will be based on a discussion with their work coach, taking into account the individual’s circumstances, including any offer of employment they may have received.

  • Lord Empey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Empey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of aid provided by the UK following the earthquake in Nepal last year.

    Baroness Verma

    DFID gave £70 million to the Nepal earthquake response to support humanitarian and early recovery efforts, making us one of the major donors. The Department for International Development’s expenditure in Nepal is assessed in a number of different and complementary ways. Across the portfolio, monitoring plans are in place for every programme including our response to the 2015 earthquake. This places emphasis on results delivery, ensuring we are well placed to monitor the effectiveness of our programmes. Our strong focus on evaluation, both globally and in our country programmes, ensures we can evaluate performance and impact across the sectors in which we work.

    In addition to regular monitoring and evaluation, since the earthquake DFID Nepal has set up a regional office in Gorkha district to increase oversight of humanitarian and reconstruction programmes.