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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Wills – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Wills – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2014-01-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, of the £108 million allocated in the 2010 Spending Review to cover the costs of introducing individual electoral registration, how much was spent in (1) 2010–11, (2) 2011–12, and (3) 2012–13; and how much is planned to be spent in (1) 2013–14, and (2) 2014–15.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The spend to date and budgeted amounts are in the table below. The budget for the transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER) was set in 2010, based on robust cost projections and included optimism bias in line with best practice. Careful management of budgets, combined with an agile approach to the development of the IT supporting the move to IER has helped to ensure that, to date, the programme has come in under budget.

    The budget for IER has supported three rounds of pilots since 2011 and a complete national test of the IT that will support the automatic confirmation of at least 78% of current electors. It has enabled the allocation of resources to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and partner organisations (£4.2m in the current financial year) to improve the completeness and accuracy of the Electoral Register.

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    Actual:

    £2,369,719

    Actual:

    £5,074,446

    Budget:

    £26,148,664

    Budget:

    £65,478,868

    For financial year 2015/16, £148 million has been set aside for the costs of Individual Electoral Registration, the General Election and the 2015/16 Boundary Commission; specific budgets for each of these areas are yet to be allocated.

  • Mr Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mr Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Gareth Thomas on 2013-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding was allocated from Homes and Community Agency to (a) develop new affordable housing and (b) bring empty homes back into use in Harrow in each of the last five years.

    Kris Hopkins

    [Holding Reply: Thursday 7 November 2013]

    The figures for affordable housing are as follows for the London Borough of Harrow area:

    2008-09

    £22 million

    2009-10

    £45 million

    2010-11

    £26 million

    2011-12

    £15 million

    2012-13

    £13 million

    Since April 2012, allocations from the Affordable Housing Programme have been overseen by the Greater London Authority rather than the Homes and Communities Agency. There have been no specific allocations on empty homes over this period.

    As outlined to the hon. Member in the answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, Column 121W, I would note that the new Affordable Rent model now allows for more affordable housing to be delivered with lower levels of taxpayer capital subsidy and lever in more private investment.

    As the National Audit Office has observed: “The Department selected the best delivery model open to it for the funds it had available” and “The Department has so far achieved its policy objective to maximise the number of homes delivered within the available grant funding” (National Audit Office, “Financial viability of the social housing sector; introducing the Affordable Homes Programme”, 4 July 2012, HC465, pp.6-7).

    I also note that the Mayor’s proposed Housing Strategy states: “£1.8 billion of public funding has been secured by the Mayor which will unlock an estimated additional £3.7 billion of other investment for London to enable 55,000 affordable homes to be delivered between 2011-15” (Mayor of London, “The Revised London Housing Strategy”, December2011, p.35).

    Across England, 170,000 affordable homes have been delivered so far since April 2010, and a total of £19.5 billion of public and private investment is being spent on affordable housing over the current Spending Review period.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many times in the past 12 months (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have raised the issue of state aid clearance for the steel sector with the European Commission.

    Anna Soubry

    The state aid rules on giving rescue and restructuring aid to steel companies are clear and all such interventions are prohibited. Officials have been in regular communication with the Commission to progress our application for the broader support package for energy-intensive industries including steel, and the Secretary of State will be raising this with the Competition Commissioner at the earliest opportunity.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2015-10-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what dates officials or Ministers at HM Revenue and Customs have met (a) representatives of Mitie and (b) representatives of MiHomecare in the last year.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs does not comment on an individual taxpayer or company for reasons of confidentiality.

  • Catherine West – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Catherine West – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of mandatory electrical safety checks for dwellings in the private rented sector.

    Brandon Lewis

    Landlords are already under a general legal duty to ensure that electrical installations in the property are safe and kept in good working order. The Government published the How to Rent guide which recommends that electrical installations are checked every 5 years. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ Code of Practice on the letting and management of property makes clear that landlords must repair and keep in proper working order installations for the supply of electricity. In addition, local authorities already have strong powers to deal with unsafe property conditions and we expect them to be used.

    The Government believes that the current regulatory framework, which puts a duty on landlords to ensure electrical installations in the property are safe, provides an adequate level of protection. We do not, therefore, have any plans to introduce a requirement for regular checks. However, we will keep the situation under review.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support the mental health of armed forces veterans; and how much funding his Department allocated to that purpose in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

    Mark Lancaster

    The provision of veterans healthcare, including mental healthcare, is primarily the responsibility of the National Health Service in England and the Devolved Administrations who work in close partnership with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and service charities to ensure that veterans get the best possible care.

    The MOD is determined to ensure that veterans who require help are provided with appropriate support including through the Veterans UK helpline; Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) and the Veterans and Reserves Mental Health Programme (VRMHP) which provides mental health assessments for veterans with operational Service since 1982. For these services it is not possible to disaggregate specific costs incurred in support of veterans’ mental health from wider budgets.

    In addition to the support outlined above, MOD funding is provided for remedial treatment at Combat Stress homes for war pensioners with service related mental illnesses caused before 6 April 2005. In Financial Year (FY) 2014-15 the MOD spent almost £690,000 on this treatment and for FY 2015-16 we have allocated some £665,000.

    NHS England spends £1.8 million per year on mental health services for veterans, including 10 veterans’ mental health teams. Up to a further £18 million of NHS England funding is in place to provide the Combat Stress six-week intensive post-traumatic stress disorder programme for veterans, and an additional £2 million of LIBOR funding is being provided to Combat Stress to help veterans with alcohol problems, which can be indicative of underlying mental health issues. Help for Heroes has received £2 million of LIBOR funding for its "hidden wounds" work which offers low-level improving access to psychological therapies services to veterans.

    Subject to the forthcoming spending review, a further £8.4 million of Government funding will be provided over the next five years to help the most vulnerable veterans who have mental health problems.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department (a) has conducted and (b) plans to conduct any research into alternative customer engagement tools to In Home Displays.

    Andrea Leadsom

    In 2011 the Energy Demand Research Project reported on a series of Government-supported supplier-led trials covering a range of feedback mechanisms from over 50,000 GB houses. These included but were not limited to In Home Displays with research into energy efficiency advice, benchmarking, billing, financial incentives and digital media (e.g. web and television). The findings showed that electricity savings with an In Home Display were generally 2-4% higher than with a smart meter only.

    More recently, the Department has consulted on enabling suppliers to undertake controlled trials of innovative In Home Display alternatives when they install a compliant smart metering system. We are currently considering responses ahead of publishing decisions.

  • Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Hammond – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Hammond on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the implementation of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation; which non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and agencies overseen by his Department will be affected by that regulation; and what estimate he has made of the potential liability of his Department, its agencies and NDPBs in connection with that proposed regulation.

    Mr David Lidington

    Negotiations on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation are ongoing. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is closely involved in work led by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport to consider the implications of the text and to ensure that UK interests are reflected. Once the outcome of trilogue negotiations between the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the Commission are complete, and the Regulation has been adopted, the liabilities will be further assessed. There will then follow a maximum implementation period of two years. We will also be considering the impact on our Executive Agencies (FCO Services and Wilton Park) and our Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) (the British Council, the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, the Great Britain China Centre and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy), all of which will affected by the Regulation.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2015 to Question 11184, on China: nuclear power, if she will publish details of the arrangements for managing the relationship between Chinese National Nuclear Corporation, the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the UK security services.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Security in the civil nuclear sector is a top priority for the Government.

    The Office for Nuclear Regulation is an independent regulator which regulates security in the civil nuclear industry including in relation to new nuclear build in the UK.

    The security services and other Government bodies have a role in protecting key infrastructure, including the civil nuclear sector. There is a longstanding convention of successive Governments not commenting in detail on security and intelligence matters.

  • Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential of minimum unit pricing of 50 pence per unit of alcohol to improve liver disease health outcomes in England.

    Jane Ellison

    The 2015-16 remit letter from the Department of Health asked Public Health England to review the evidence and provide advice on the public health impacts of alcohol and possible evidence-based solutions.