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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-10-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have asked, or plan to ask, Hitachi to equip the trains that will be provided for the Great Western Mainline with diesel as well as electric engines.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The first 36 Intercity Express Programme (IEP) trains deployed on the Great Western lines from 2017 will be bi-modes capable of running in diesel or electric mode. The Department for Transport is actively looking at a range of options to ensure passenger benefits are delivered on time. No final decisions have been made.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-10-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that all evidence, and not just scientific studies, is presented to the inquiry into the safety of hormone pregnancy tests.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The terms of reference for the inquiry into the safety of Hormone Pregnancy Tests (HPTs) state that the Expert Working Group (EWG) of the Commission on Human Medicines will consider all available evidence on the possible association between exposure in pregnancy to HPTs and adverse outcomes in pregnancy (in particular congenital anomalies, miscarriage and stillbirth). This will include scientific studies as well as wider sources of evidence.

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is providing the secretariat to the review and is compiling all the available information. To date, the MHRA has requested relevant published and unpublished information from all companies whose predecessors marketed HPTs and has conducted a search of the National Archives with a view to obtaining a complete set of historical documents relevant to this issue. The MHRA will also search for all relevant published literature and review all suspected adverse drug reactions that have been submitted in association with HPTs in the United Kingdom. All of this information will be made available to the EWG.

    Interested individuals and organisations were invited to provide any information relevant to a possible association between the use of oral HPTs and adverse outcomes in pregnancy through a public call for evidence between 25 March and 30 June 2015. In addition, the EWG will hear evidence from a number of individuals who feel their lives have been adversely affected by HPTs.

    The report of the review and all documents will be made public subject to the usual legal requirements.

  • Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many officials in his Department are working on the review of post-16 education and training institutions.

    Nick Boles

    The Department for Education (DfE) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), along with respective funding agencies, have re-prioritised staffing resources to support the review of post-16 education and training.

    There are seven reviews in the first wave of area reviews which have either launched since September or will launch in the next few weeks. Each review will take 3-4 months to complete and will be supported by resource from the DfE, BIS, Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency.

    The area reviews of post 16 education and training are being undertaken in waves and can be triggered by either the local area requesting a review or the FE Commissioner or Sixth Form College Commissioner identifying the need for a review because one or more colleges in an area are at risk of failing. The first wave is underway now and details of the following reviews have been announced and can be found on the gov.uk website :

    Birmingham and Solihull

    Greater Manchester

    Sheffield City Region

    Tees Valley

    Sussex Coast

    Solent

    West Yorkshire

    The second wave will start in January 2016 and we aim to announce details in November 2015. We are currently looking at the geographies and phasing for other areas and will aim to issue further information on this before the end of the year but in doing this we recognise that the position should remain fluid to take account of the views of local partners and also cases of failure.

    We expect all reviews to be completed by March 2017.

  • Steve Rotheram – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve Rotheram – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government’s proposed changes to business rates on (a) Liverpool Walton constituency, (b) Liverpool City Council, (c) the North West and (d) the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority area.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Liverpool City Council is forecast to collect £190 million in 2015/16, while for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Area the total forecast is £466 million. The 45 local authorities that comprise the North West are expected to collect £2,588 million in 2015/16.

    The Government intends to move to 100% business rates retention for the local government sector across England by the end of this Parliament. As part of the new system, there will continue to be a redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities, with protections in place for authorities that might see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will work with local government on the detail of these reforms.

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made under what working assumptions of the cost and the salary and other elements of the remuneration package for the potential future position of regional mayor of the North East of England.

    James Wharton

    We have made no such estimates as all these costs are matters for the councils concerned which will have considered such matters when giving their provisional agreement to the North East Devolution Deal, which in addition to establishing a North East regional mayor, will create an Investment Fund to support the North East, worth up to £1.5 billion, with an initial allocation of revenue funding for capital financing of £30 million a year for 30 years.

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 11 of his Department’s Defence Equipment Plan 2015, what the reasons are for the increase in spending on support for existing in-service equipment; and on what items that additional funding will be spent.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    I refer the hon. Member to the Defence Equipment Plan 2015, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-defence-equipment-plan-2015. Paragraph 11 explains the movements in the high level elements of the equipment plan from the previous financial year. Each of the operating centre breakdowns in Section C of the Equipment Plan contains an explanation of any increase or decrease in spending from the previous financial year.

    “

  • Toby Perkins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Toby Perkins – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which pieces of equipment included in his Department’s Defence in Numbers publication of August 2015 are used only for training or ceremonial use.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Defence in Numbers booklet is a snap shot of the UK’s Defence capability and how we are spending the fifth largest Defence budget in the world. As well as giving details on civilian and personnel numbers and current operations, it also includes a list of the Ministry of Defence’s equipment holdings, the vast majority of which are in service and deployable. We will continue to review the Defence in Numbers booklet to ensure that it best reflects the breadth of defence equipment.

    The Defence in Numbers booklet has a section for "training aircraft", and all of the aircraft types listed there are used for training only. This includes the Hawk, Viking, Vigilant, Tucano and Jet Provost aircraft.

    The other pieces of equipment used only for ceremonial use are BAE-125 aircraft, Wessex helicopters, Challenger 1 battle tanks, FH70 Towed Howitzers and Chieftain Armoured Vehicles.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many GCSEs were awarded for foreign language courses in Dartford constituency in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education publishes information at local authority level on the percentage of pupils achieving the languages component of the English Baccalaureate in the “Statistics: GCSEs (key stage 4)” series[1]. Information at parliamentary constituency level is not routinely published.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4

    “

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many visits her Departmental officials have made to China in support of the development of the Strategic Investment Agreement between EDF and China General Nuclear Corporation announced on 21 October 2015; how much each such visit cost; and if she will publish the minutes of each meeting held between UK and Chinese government officials on this agreement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Officials visited China twice, in July and September, as part of my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s visits at the same time. The cost of the first visit for the relevant officials was £8,900, the cost of the second visit was £6,750. I do not intend to publish minutes of the meetings, which discussed commercially sensitive information.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-10-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that UK weapons are not used in strikes that constitute serious violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent arms export control regimes in the world. All defence and dual-use exports are required to meet the UK’s strict export control legislation and adhere to the UK international commitments, including international treaties and obligations. We do not issue an export licence if there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression or in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law, and we take account of any risk that the goods might be diverted to undesirable end-users or end-use.