Tag: Parliamentary Question

Gavin Newlands – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Newlands on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment of the ethical standards of debt collection agencies his Department undertakes before entering into a contract with such agencies.

Joseph Johnson

Any debt collection contracts let by the core Department would primarily use available framework contracts agreed by the Crown Commercial Service who are responsible for including any required assessment of ethical standards. However, if the need for a specialist debt collection contract should arise that could not be met by a framework contract, the Department’s tender and contract documentation would include further assessments as may be deemed necessary.

01/01/2023
Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2016 to Question 28078, what plans his Department has for spending the remaining £40.89 million that was allocated to the South East Flexible Ticketing programme.

Claire Perry

The Government is fully committed to modernising rail ticketing and to honouring the contractual commitments made under the South East Flexible Ticketing programme. Beyond that we are working with industry to find the best way to deliver smart ticket solutions that meet customers’ needs and take advantage of technological improvements, so ensuring that everyone is benefitting from 21st century ticketing.

01/01/2023
Derek Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he plans to take to help give the views of young people greater prominence in policy decisions in their community.

Mr Rob Wilson

The Cabinet Office supports the Government’s commitment of giving young people the power and opportunity to play a real part in their community. We promote engagement, advocacy and consultation at both national and local level

We support the British Youth Council (BYC) to deliver its ‘youth voice’ programme, including key activities such as the national annual Make Your Mark ballot, UK Youth Parliament, and the Youth Select Committee.

Cabinet Office has committed to continuing its support for these activities for the remainder of the current Parliament.

01/01/2023
Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Deech on 2016-05-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on charities operating in Gaza of the freezing of financial transfers to them owing to the orders of the Palestinian Authority to Palestinian banks.

Baroness Verma

The UK remains supportive of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) efforts to strengthen its revenue generation. A transparent and effective tax system is an important part of this. It is also important that the tax system is implemented in a way that does not negatively impact the vital role which NGO’s play in responding to the needs of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is an importtant part of this.

DFID officials have raised concerns with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) about this, particularly the need for clarity on the implications of the tax system for NGOs, and how this could affect issues such as operations in Gaza and banking signatory authorities. The UK, along with other donors, UN OCHA and the NGO community, will continue to be in close contact with PA to clarify their approach.

01/01/2023
John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which EU (a) legislative and (b) other proposals his Department is leading negotiations on for the Government in the Council of the EU.

Justin Tomlinson

The Department for Work and Pensions is leading on one set of negotiations on the following EU proposal:
- Directive 2004/37/EC – Proposal to amend the Directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work.
01/01/2023

Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Attorney General, how many applications under the unduly lenient sentence scheme have been rejected due to falling outside the remit of that scheme in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright

The Government has committed to extending the scope of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme and is carefully considering its approach.

The number of offenders who have had their sentence increased under the unduly lenient sentence scheme in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Offenders who have had their sentence increased by the Court of Appeal	95	62	61	106	102

Some cases attract multiple referrals from various sources and we do not record how many referrals each case has received. The total number of cases where requests were received by the Attorney General’s Office for sentences to be reviewed in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Total number of referrals received by the Attorney General’s Office for sentences to be reviewed under the scheme	377	435	498	674	713

The number of sentences referred to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme that were (a) increased and (b) kept the same in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Total number of sentences referred to the Court of Appeal	117	82	70	122	136
Total number of sentences that were increased	95	62	61	106	102
Total number of sentences that remained unchanged	22	20	9	16	34

The number of referrals under the unduly lenient sentence scheme that have been rejected due to falling outside the remit of the scheme in each of the last five years is set out below.

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Number of referrals that have been rejected due to the offence falling outside the remit of the scheme	62	75	131	194	228
Number of referrals received out of time	3	12	9	10	16

01/01/2023

Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion 44, on Down’s syndrome, don’t screen us out campaign, tabled on 19 May 2016.

Mr Philip Dunne

The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UKNSC) has recommended that Non Invasive Prenatal Testing for Down’s, Patau’s and Edwards’ syndromes should be introduced as an additional test into the NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme as part of an evaluation. Ministers are currently considering this recommendation from the UK NSC.

01/01/2023
Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2015 to Question 14454, what (a) funding and (b) other support the Government has offered UNHCR to identify people for resettlement to date.

Richard Harrington

We recognise that the scaling up of the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme is placing additional demands on UNHCR and have offered them additional support in the form of funding, equipment and seconded personnel, to help with upscaling their resettlement operations. We are currently finalising a support package and will publish details of this once agreed.

This assistance is in addition to £122 million we have already allocated to UNHCR’s work in Syria and the region since the start of the crisis.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups improve (a) screening, (b) vaccination and (b) symptom awareness in order to address geographical inequalities in cancer outcomes.

Jane Ellison

The NHS public health functions agreement, between the Secretary of State for Health and NHS England, enables NHS England to commission certain public health services, including national immunisation and screening programmes that will drive improvements in population health.

Through this agreement, NHS England commissions services from a variety of providers across England. It strives to reduce variation in local levels of performance between different geographical areas using contracting and commissioning levers, while national and local levels of performance are improved or maintained.

The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July this year, and recognised the importance of early diagnosis and symptom awareness to improve both patient outcomes and experience. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. She will lead the implementation of the strategy.

01/01/2023
Mike Wood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Wood on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the introduction of Staying Put arrangements on foster children.

Edward Timpson

Staying Put arrangements help to provide the security and stability that care leavers need to make a successful transition to adulthood. The Department for Education has provided funding of £44m to local authorities for 2014/15 to 2016/17 to support them in implementing the new duty.

Data published by my Department in October 2015 show that, for the year ending March 2015, 48% of eligible care leavers were in a Staying Put arrangement at age 18.

01/01/2023