Tag: Parliamentary Question

Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the Estate Optimisation Strategy to be published.

Mark Lancaster

As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Ministry of Defence is aiming to reduce the size of its built estate by 30% by 2040 and is committed to release land to accommodate 55,000 houses by 2020 in support of the Government’s public sector land release agenda. This year I have announced the release of 35 sites which will provide land for potentially some 39,000 homes, of which approximately 20,000 are expected in this Parliament. We do not have an annual target for a reduction in the defence estate each year.

I will announce the results of the Department’s Estate Optimisation Strategy later this year.

January 1, 2023
Baroness Pinnock – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Pinnock on 2015-11-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the value of the charges deferred to local authority budgets as a consequence of a school with a deficit joining an Academy Trust with an external sponsor, in each of the last five financial years.

Lord Nash

The Department does not hold this information on local authority budgets.

It is right that the deficits of sponsored academies remain with their local authority when they convert. These schools were the responsibility of the authority when they were found to be failing or underperforming and it is the authority’s responsibility for ensuring the school managed its expenditure satisfactorily.

January 1, 2023
Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to ensure that marines who attended a demonstration at Downing Street in respect of Marine Blackman are not subject to disciplinary procedures.

Mr Julian Brazier

Disciplinary procedures against any member of the Armed Forces are a matter for the relevant Service and it would be inappropriate for any Minister to interfere in such a process.

January 1, 2023
Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to transport food supplies by air into the town of Madaya in Syria to alleviate severe food shortages.

Earl of Courtown

The UK has pledged over £1.1 billion in response to the crisis in Syria and the region, making us the second largest bilateral donor after the US. By the end of June 2015, UK support inside Syria and in the surrounding region had, for example, delivered almost 20 million food rations that feed one person for a month; over 2.5 million medical consultations; and relief items for 4.6 million people. The UK co-sponsored and lobbied hard for the passage of UN Security Council Resolutions 2165, 2191 and 2258 which call on the parties to allow rapid, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian aid to besieged and hard to reach places.

The UK will consider any option compliant with international law that might save lives in Syria. We rule nothing out. However, the use of air drops is high risk and should only be considered as a last resort when all other means have failed. Attempting air drops without the consent of the parties to the conflict may risk undermining negotiations on humanitarian access to the 4.5 million people in hard to reach areas across Syria. Even in uncontested space air drops poise significant challenges. There is a requirement to identify clear drop zones, ensure safe access for the intended recipients and to co-ordinate with authorities on the ground. Instead, the UN, the Red Cross Movement and NGO partners are best placed to deliver aid to vulnerable people in besieged and hard to reach areas.

The most effective way to provide assistance to people who are starving is for all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and to provide sustained, permanent and safe humanitarian access to humanitarian agencies.

January 1, 2023
Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who represents the Government on the board of Integrated Debt Services Limited.

Matthew Hancock

Ed Welsh and Thomas Vogt-Skard are the Cabinet office Non-Executive Directors on the board of IDSL.

January 1, 2023
Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2016 to Question 25976, whether the proceeds from the £227 million fine imposed on Deutsche Bank will be specifically applied to a new new three-year fund to create 50,000 apprenticeships.

Greg Hands

As we have said previously, this government will be spending twice as much in cash terms on apprenticeships by 2020 compared to 2010. Spending on apprenticeships in England will be £2.5bn in 2019-20. The BIS spending review settlement for apprenticeships reflects the government’s commitment regarding the proceeds of the Libor fine the FCA announced in April 2015. Further announcements that support the government’s commitment to delivering employment opportunities for young people will be announced in due course.

January 1, 2023
Diane Abbott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to page 169 of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s report, Economic and fiscal outlook March 2016, to which partners the £800 million loans will be disbursed in 2016-17; what assessment she has made of the comparative utility of loans and grants for effective development projects; how repayments of those loans will affect the level of recorded Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend; and what assessment she has made of the effect of the growing proportion of capital departmental expenditure limits (DEL) ODA spend and a declining proportion of resource DEL ODA spend on her Department’s effectiveness.

Justine Greening

DFID is planning to invest around £400m in loans in 16/17 rather than the £800m figure erroneously reported in the Office for Budget Responsibility figures. The precise breakdown of those loans has not been finalised.

January 1, 2023

Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers for what reasons have taken long-term sick leave in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous

Long-term sick leave is defined within the Civil service as periods of absence of more than 28 calendar days. The number of Band 3-5 prison officers to have taken at least one period of long-term sick leave in each of the last five years for which information is available is shown in the table below.

Table: Number of Band 3-5 Officers who had an incidence of sick leave of 28 or more days, by type of sickness, 2010/11 to 2014/15

Type of Sickness	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Blood and Blood-Forming Organs	~	~	~	10	10
Circulatory System	120	130	120	120	110
Digestive System	150	140	140	110	90
Ear and Mastoid Process	20	10	20	10	10
Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases	10	20	20	20	~
Eye and Adnexa	20	20	20	10	20
Genitourinary System	60	60	50	70	60
Infective and Parasitic Diseases	50	40	50	40	50
Injury and Poisoning	300	310	300	380	380
Mental and Behavioural Disorders	840	850	850	960	920
Musculoskeletal System	920	800	730	610	550
Neoplasms	40	40	40	40	40
Nervous System and Sense Organs	60	70	70	60	50
Pregnancy Complications	50	40	40	30	30
Respiratory System	50	50	60	40	40
Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue	20	20	30	20	10
Symptoms Ill-Defined	670	750	790	790	680
Not Recorded	80	80	90	80	160
Grand Total	3490	3430	3410	3390	3200

Where an officer has more than one period of long-term absence within a year for the same reason, they are counted once. Where multiple absences were for different reasons they are counted more than once.

All figures are rounded to the nearest 10, with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time, to ensure consistency of reporting. However the database itself is dynamic, and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate, and to present unrounded figures would be to overstate the accuracy of the figures. Rounding to 10 accurately depicts the level of certainty that is held with these figures.

Totals are formed from unrounded parts prior to rounding. For this reason, rounded totals may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.

~ denotes suppressed values of 5 or fewer. Low numbers are suppressed, in conjunction with the rounding policy to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998.

January 1, 2023

Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-07-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what additional qualifications are required to teach Careers Education in schools.

Lord Nash

We want schools to build the skills and expertise required to plan strategically for the provision of careers education and guidance, embedding careers and employability skills in the curriculum and engaging external partners in the delivery of high quality, inspirational support. The careers strategy, to be published later this year, will set out further details of how we will support schools to achieve this. The strategy has been developed in consultation with key partners across the education and careers sectors.

Pupils can gain confidence and motivation from the opportunity to explore career ideas through individual, face-to-face discussions with a range of people. The careers statutory guidance sets out the main qualifications for careers professionals: the Qualification in Career Guidance (QCG) (which replaced the earlier Diploma in Careers Guidance) and the Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development. The statutory guidance also provides information about the register of careers professionals, developed by the Career Development Institute, which schools can use to search for a career development professional who can deliver a particular service or activity.

January 1, 2023
Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the link between a family and their social worker in the event of a failed submission for a Care Protection Order.

Edward Timpson

No assessment of the effectiveness of the link between a family and their social worker in the event of a failed application for a Care Order has been made by my Department. It would be for the local authority to determine what action to take following a failed application for a Care Order, including whether or not a change of social worker is necessary and whether the child remained at risk of harm and/or the family needed support.

In these circumstances, a further assessment of need should be undertaken by a social worker to decide whether the child and/or their family should receive services as a child in need, or if a child protection plan is needed.

January 1, 2023