Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policy of the conclusion of the Energy Technologies Institute report, published on 12 May 2016, that there are no technical hurdles to permanently and safely storing large quantities of carbon dioxide off the coast of the UK.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government views Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as having a potentially important role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s economy. The Government will set out its approach to CCS in due course, and the recent Energy Technologies Institute report, funded by DECC, will inform the Government’s thinking.

  • Lord Allen of Kensington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Allen of Kensington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Allen of Kensington on 2016-07-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the changes that have transferred policy on apprenticeships and the responsibility for the Institute for Apprenticeships to the Department for Education, how they plan to ensure that employers and business leaders are involved in future development of policy on apprenticeships.

    Lord Nash

    Prior to recent Government changes, the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills were jointly responsible for apprenticeships policy. The Department for Education remains fully committed to working with and involving employers and business leaders in the development and implementation of apprenticeships policy.

    The Institute for Apprenticeships will be employer-led and have responsibility for ensuring the quality of apprenticeship standards in England. The board will comprise primarily of employers, business leaders and their representatives. This will ensure that employers are fully engaged and continue to play a key role in improving apprenticeship quality.

    Employer-led groups will continue to develop apprenticeship standards that meet their skills needs. Over 1,400 employers are currently involved in designing the new apprenticeship standards.

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received on the compatibility with (a) Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and (b) other elements of international law of the Israeli Supreme Court’s rejections of cases where demolition orders have been contested; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    ​While we have not received any representations on these specific issues, we have repeatedly raised our opposition to demolitions with the Israeli authorities and have urged them to provide a legal route for Palestinian construction. On 7 September, during a meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Lieberman in London, I raised our concerns about demolitions.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his Department’s policy that a jobseeker who is telephoned by a Jobcentre Plus adviser and does not answer the telephone on more than one occasion should be considered for a sanction.

    Priti Patel

    Under JSA, claimants are not sanctioned for failing to answer their telephone. In Universal Credit, claimants who have a prearranged telephone interview with their Work Coach, and who fail to participate without good reason, can be referred for a sanction decision.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the case of Abdullah al-Zaher.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The British Government is very concerned about the case of Abdullah al-Zaher. We have raised this case at a senior level in the Government of Saudi Arabia. The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, especially in cases which do not meet the minimum standards defined by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This includes the execution of a minor and the use of the death penalty for a crime which isn’t deemed “the most serious”. We take every opportunity to make the Saudi authorities aware of our views.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of savings to his Department as a result of (a) ISSC1 and (b) ISSC2 in each year since 2013.

    Matthew Hancock

    Cabinet Office does not hold current financial information for Independent Shared Service Centre 1 (ISSC1). As the sole customer receiving services as part of ISSC1, responsibility for the majority of the programme and contract management is now undertaken by DfT.

    ISSC2’s Founding customers achieved net savings of £0.9 million in financial year 2013-14 and £8.19 million net savings in financial year 2014-15. There was a 17% reduction in costs of service in 2014-15 compared with the 2012-13 baseline.

    The Cabinet Office achieved £0.12 million net savings in 2013-14 and £0.31 million net savings in financial year 2014-15 as a result of receiving services through ISSC2. The figure for 2014-15 represents a 17% reduction in costs compared with the 2012-13 baseline.

  • Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to improve access to mortgages for self-employed people.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government is committed to ensuring that the mortgage market delivers for creditworthy borrowers.

    On 1 December 2015 the Government launched the Help to Buy: ISA to help all first time buyers saving for their first home.

    Beyond the requirements set out in the regulations, decisions around the availability of individual mortgage loans are commercial decisions for lenders, including what evidence is required to validate income. The Government does not seek to intervene in these decisions.

  • Amanda Milling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Amanda Milling – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Milling on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to maintain the position of the UK internationally in dementia research and the design of dementia-friendly communities.

    Jane Ellison

    We will spend more than £300million on dementia research this parliament, aiming to double overall investment by 2025. Additionally, we have spearheaded the £130million Dementia Discovery Fund and plan to invest up to £150million to develop a national Dementia Research Institute by 2020. By 2020, over half of people will be living in dementia friendly communities – of which there are already 147 such communities across England.

  • Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to increase the number of school places in Crawley.

    Edward Timpson

    Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area, and supporting them to do so is one of this Government’s top priorities. That is why we have committed to spending £7 billion on school places up to 2021, which along with our investment in the free schools programme we expect to deliver 600,000 new places.

    Basic need funding is allocated to local authorities to help them to create new school places. West Sussex received £113 million of basic need funding between 2011 and 2015, which helped to create almost 10,000 new places between 2010 and 2015. These new places include over 1,000 provided by the Gatwick School, an all-through free school in Crawley.

    West Sussex has also been allocated a further £85 million to create the places needed by 2019, including in Crawley.

    Information on basic need allocations can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations

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  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timetable is for her Department’s assessment of applications for emergency authorisation of neonicotinoid seed treatments; and whether she plans to remove restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids.

    George Eustice

    The timetable for assessing an application for emergency authorisation varies from case to case. It needs to enable expert scientific assessment and a decision to be made against the legal criteria in time for any authorisation to be of value to users.

    Two recent applications for emergency authorisation of neonicotinoids as seed treatments for oilseed rape were turned down on 12 May following expert advice that they did not meet the criteria for authorisation.

    The UK has fully implemented restrictions on the use of three neonicotinoids. UK experts are contributing to a review of the risks to pollinators from neonicotinoids being led by the European Food Safety Authority, which is due to complete by January 2017. The European Commission will then consider whether to propose changes to the current restrictions.