Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to ensure that Members of Parliament are providing good value for money in communications to their constituents using franked House of Commons envelopes.

    Tom Brake

    Under the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament, Members are personally responsible and accountable for the way they use resources provided at public expense. The House of Commons provides each Member with prepaid envelopes and stationery up to a value of £9,000 a year. In addition, specific rules on prepaid envelopes, available via the Members’ Handbook, preclude their use for communications within Parliament, or for circulars or business, personal or party political purposes. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is responsible for enforcing the rules on the proper use of prepaid envelopes and stationery.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents involving the use of drone technology have been recorded at each type of prison facility in each of the last three years.

    Andrew Selous

    I refer the Hon Member to my answer to PQ 20357.

    Incidents involving drones are rare, but we remain constantly vigilant to all new threats to prison security. This Government has made it a criminal offence to throw, or otherwise project, any article of substance into prison without authorisation. Anyone using drones in an attempt to get contraband into prisons can be punished with a sentence of up to two years. We take a zero tolerance approach to illicit material in prisons and work closely with the police and CPS to ensure those responsible for a drone incident are caught and, if appropriate, prosecuted.

    There were no reported drone incidents in 2013; 2 reported incidents in 2014; and 33 reported incidents in 2015.

    These figures include drone finds and sightings of drones by prison staff in and around all types of public and private prisons in England and Wales.

    These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2016-05-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) successfully made an application for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and (b) were unsuccessful in an application for JSA following a Genuine Prospect of Work assessment in the last two years.

    Priti Patel

    The Department does not record statistics on applications for Jobseeker’s Allowance following a genuine prospect of work assessment.

    To collate the information requested would take the costs of responding to the question over the disproportionate cost threshold.

  • Lord Mawhinney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Mawhinney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government by how much they estimate the deficit of NHS providers will have been reduced by the end of the 2016–17.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    NHS Improvement continues to work with those providers who have not been able to agree control totals by the end of July. At present, 213 of 238 providers (89.5%) have an agreed a control total. Those providers who have been unable to agree a control total will not be able to access the sustainability and transformation fund.

    NHS Improvement is currently consulting on a new oversight regime, which details proposals on how providers will be monitored in future and this will set out how variance from financial plan or control total will be managed.

    NHS Improvement does not intend to replace the boards of those providers who do not achieve financial balance by the end of 2016/17. The organisation’s new oversight regime also sets out in detail how it proposes to monitor and support providers.

    The Government’s Mandate to the NHS 2016-17, a copy of which is attached, confirms that the National Health Service must ensure that it balances its budget, including commissioners and providers living within their budgets. To support this, £1.8 billion of NHS England’s budget for 2016-17 will be allocated through the Sustainability and Transformation Fund to support providers, in particular emergency services, payable through commissioning or as other support.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-09-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many meetings have taken place between Ministers of his Department and Ministers of governments which support the current government of Yemen since January 2016; and in how many such meetings was the civil war in Yemen discussed.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    As set out in UN Security Council Resolution 2216, President Hadi and his government are the legitimate authority in Yemen, and the UK regularly discusses the situation in Yemen with international partners including at Ministerial level. Most recently during the UN General Assembly week in New York, I hosted two meetings on Yemen which involved Gulf Foreign Ministers, the US and the UN Special Envoy for Yemen. The UK remains committed to finding a political resolution to the current conflict and to foster peace and stability for all Yemenis.

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to encourage the growth of stakeholder banks within the UK.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government has taken significant steps to support stakeholder banks. We more commonly refer to stakeholder banks as mutually-owned financial service firms such as credit unions, building societies and mutual savings banks.

    The Government has encouraged the growth of the credit union sector by increasing the maximum interest rate that credit unions can charge on loans from 2% to 3% per month; investing £38m in the sector through the Department of Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Credit Union Expansion Project; ensuring that universal credit and pensions payments can be paid into any credit union account; and launching a Call for Evidence which allowed all credit unions, regardless of size or influence, the opportunity to contribute their vision for the future of the sector to the wider debate.

    This Government has supported the building societies sector through a number of initiatives including: carving out building societies from the Independent Commission on Banking’s ring-fencing regulations; extending ISA eligibility to Core Capital Deferred Shares; allowing building societies to create floating charges for the first time; and applying a £25m sector-specific allowance to carried-forward losses for Corporation Tax.

    The Airdrie Savings Bank is the only remaining example of a mutual savings bank in the UK. At the Summer Budget the government announced that savings banks established under the Savings Bank (Scotland) Act 1819 will benefit from the same £25m carried-forward loss allowance for Corporation Tax as the building society sector. This will be backdated to 1 April 2015 and is being actioned through the Finance Bill 2015.

  • Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Type (a) 45 Destroyers and (b) 23 Frigates will be used to host training programmes for Royal Navy personnel in 2015-16.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Training programmes for Royal Navy personnel are delivered on all Royal Navy ships and submarines as part of the unit’s generation and operation cycles, throughout individuals’ careers. We currently have six Type 45 Destroyers and 13 Type 23 Frigates in service.

  • Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Grahame Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of progress by the UK maritime sector in establishing a single promotional body.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The recommendation in the Maritime Growth Study concerning the establishment of a single promotional body was directed at industry.

    We understand that discussions in respect of this recommendation are currently taking place within industry and we await the outcome of those discussions.

  • Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information she holds on the progress made by South Yorkshire Police in its review of its handling of allegations made against Sir Cliff Richard in August 2014; and what discussions her Department has had with South Yorkshire Police on that review.

    Mr John Hayes

    Any investigation, or subsequent review of any investigation, is an operational matter for the relevant Chief Officer. The Department does not routinely discuss, or seek information, from the force concerned and is not aware of the review into the force’s handling of allegations made against Sir Cliff Richard referred to by the Rt. Hon. Member.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2016 to Question 29383, how many (a) miles and (b) lane miles on which sections of the network Highways England plans to convert to Managed Motorways – All Lane Running (MM-ALR) status by the end of the current Road Investment Period; and how many (a) miles and (b) additional lane miles Highways England intends to convert to MM-ALR status in the next Round Investment Period.

    Andrew Jones

    The information requested is in the table below:

    All Lane Running Schemes – To be started but not finished by the end of the current Road Investment Period (2015 – 2020)

    Scheme Name

    Scheme Length (miles)

    Additional
    lane miles

    Open For Traffic Commitment

    M4 J3-12

    31.8

    63.6

    2021/22

    M1 J13-19

    36.9

    73.8

    2021/22

    M6 J13-15

    17.4

    34.8

    2021/22

    M27 J4-11

    15.2

    30.3

    2020/21

    M56 J6-8

    4.1

    8.2

    2021/22

    M3 J9-14

    9.3

    18.6

    2021/22

    M62 J10-12

    8.5

    16.9

    2022/23

    A1(M) Jct 6 – 8

    7.5

    15.0

    TBC *

    M1 Junctions 23A-24

    1.5

    3.0

    TBC *

    M25 Junctions 10-16

    19.3

    38.5

    TBC *

    M40/M42 Interchange Smart Motorways

    7.7

    10.4

    TBC *

    M53 Junctions 5-11

    6.0

    12.1

    TBC *

    M62 Junctions 20-25

    11.9

    23.7

    TBC *

    Further All Lane Running Schemes Announced for Development in next Road Investment Period (2020 – 2025)

    Scheme Name

    Scheme Length (miles)

    Additional
    lane miles

    Open For Traffic Commitment

    M1 Junctions 19-23A

    30.9

    61.8

    TBC *

    M1 Junctions 35A-39

    13.7

    27.4

    TBC *

    M42 Birmingham Box Phase 4

    6.7

    13.4

    TBC *

    TBC * = no Open For Traffic commitment currently exists.

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