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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what role he plans that further education providers and colleges will have in the governance and delivery of the Institute of Apprenticeships.

    Nick Boles

    The Board of the Institute will be comprised primarily of employers, business leaders and their representatives to ensure that employers continue to drive apprenticeship quality at the highest level. The Institute will also be able to draw on the expertise of education providers, colleges and others in the exercise of its functions.

  • Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Manzoor on 2016-06-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many civil servants involved in the delivery of Universal Credit have left the Department for Works and Pensions in each of the last five years; how large is the team working on Universal Credit delivery; and how many people involved in the delivery team when it was originally created remain within the department.

    Lord Freud

    Universal Credit rollout started in April 2013. At the same time the Universal Credit Directorate was established within Operations, to deliver Universal Credit with 80 paid employees.

    AT 31st March 2016, the Universal Credit Directorate consisted of 4,295 paid employees.

    The numbers of Universal Credit Directorate employees who have left DWP since April 2013 are as follows:

    Leaving Period

    Number of Employees who left DWP

    April 2013 to March 2014

    5

    April 2014 to March 2015

    46

    April 2015 to March 2016

    357

    Of the original 80 employees who were part of Universal Credit Directorate in April 2013, 67 are still employed by DWP.

  • Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of retrospective planning applications to local councils in (a) Devon and (b) the UK in the last five years.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Department does not collect the data requested.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the incidence of cyber-fraud and to advise the public of the level of care they should take in transferring money online.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Government launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce earlier this year. This partnership between government, law enforcement and the financial sector is working in new innovative ways to deliver a more effective response to fraud. The Taskforce is looking at new ways to ensure individuals have the tools and knowledge to protect themselves from fraudsters, including when transferring money online.

    A Joint Fraud Taskforce partner, Financial Fraud Action UK, recently launched a nation-wide fraud prevention campaign ‘Take 5’ which advises that individuals take five minutes to consider what they are being asked to do, especially if being pressured to take an unusual course of action such as transferring funds to an unknown individual. The Taskforce is also working closely with the financial sector to look at how fraud can be designed out of systems such as internet banking, to stop individuals transferring money to a potential fraudster.

    The Government’s Cyber Aware campaign aims to help small business and individuals protect themselves from cyber criminals by adopting simple secure online behaviours such as having a strong password and always downloading the latest software updates. Cyber Aware works with a range of public and private sector partners to embed cyber security advice into a range of every day touch points, including Get Safe Online, whose remit is to help individuals and small businesses safeguard themselves against fraud and other online data threats.

    The Government is also encouraging all businesses which rely on the Internet to adopt the Cyber Essentials scheme to protect themselves against the most common Internet threats. We know the vast majority of cyber attacks exploit basic weaknesses in IT software and systems. Cyber Essentials shows organisations how to address those basics and get a good level of online security in place which all organisations operating online should aim for as a minimum.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Civil Service Commission was consulted on changes to the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, published in October 2015.

    Matthew Hancock

    The October 2015 version of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers was revised and published in accordance with the requirements of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the (a) location and (b) budget is for each agri-tech centre in each year from 2016-17 to 2020-21.

    Anna Soubry

    The planned budgets (2016/17 to 2020/21) and locations of the four Centres for Agricultural Innovation are:

    Centre for Crop Health and Protection (CHAP) – headquarters in York at the National AgriFood Innovation Campus in Sand Hutton

    16/17

    17/18

    18/19

    19/20

    20/21

    £m

    6.5

    4.3

    4.4

    0.0

    0.0

    Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock (CIEL) – headquarters in York at the National AgriFood Innovation Campus in Sand Hutton

    16/17

    17/18

    18/19

    19/20

    20/21

    £m

    8.6

    6.0

    4.5

    0.0

    0.0

    Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre (Agri-EPI) – hubs in Edinburgh, Harper Adams University (Shropshire) and Cranfield University (Bedfordshire)

    16/17

    17/18

    18/19

    19/20

    20/21

    £m

    5.3

    3.6

    3.0

    0.0

    0.0

    Centre for Agricultural Informatics (Agrimetrics) – headquarters in Harpenden (Hertfordshire) at Rothamsted Research

    16/17

    17/18

    18/19

    19/20

    20/21

    £m

    3.2

    2.9

    1.8

    0.0

    0.0
  • Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what contingency plans her Department has put in place in the event of one or more stakeholders in the Hinkley Point C project being unable to raise sufficient funding to complete development.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The funding of Hinkley Point C is a commercial matter for the parties involved. However, the agreements between EDF and CGN announced in October 2015 show the commitment of all sides to the project. EDF and CGN have confirmed major investment in Hinkley Point C and are working to rapidly conclude the detailed investment documentation.

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State expects to be in a position to take her final decision on the Contract for Difference and associated agreements for Hinkley Point C once the documentation relating to equity investment into the project is finalised.

  • The Lord Bishop of Durham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Durham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Durham on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have deployed, or intend to deploy, experts from the UK preventing sexual violence in conflict initiative team to help support local responses in Burundi to conflict-related sexual violence.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We take the allegations of sexual violence in Burundi very seriously. The UK has been at the forefront of supporting the UN’s efforts to encourage an end to violence and human rights abuses in the country. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), has raised the subject with the Government of Burundi, including with the Burundian Foreign Minister at the African Union Summit in January. While we have not deployed any experts from the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials will explore the possibility of supporting non-governmental organisations already present and active in Burundi when the allegations first came to our attention.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans the Department of Health has to instruct NICE to include a broader assessment of value in its appraisals of cancer medicines.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that provides guidance on the prevention and treatment of ill health and the promotion of good health and social care. NICE is responsible for its own processes and methodology.

    In 2014, NICE held a three month consultation on proposals for a wider approach to the assessment of value. The diversity of the responses to NICE’s consultation showed that this is a very complex issue. It is critical that stakeholders continue to have confidence in NICE’s work and the Government agreed with NICE that it should not proceed with making the proposed changes to the way it assesses new medicines at that time.

    NICE regularly reviews its processes and methodology and its internationally renowned technology appraisal programme has evolved constantly to meet new challenges. NICE has demonstrated its ability to adapt to changes in the health and care environment, and we expect it will continue to evolve in the future.

    NICE most recently consulted on proposed changes to its technology appraisal methods and processes as part of its joint consultation with NHS England on proposals for a new Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

    The Accelerated Access Review (AAR) is actively engaging with NHS England to ensure alignment between the work of the review on speeding up access for NHS patients to innovative and cost effective new medicines and the CDF. The AAR is looking at the capability of NICE, NHS England and the Department to support innovative pathways for the assessment, adoption and reimbursement of treatments.

  • Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there was any prior consultation before the decision was taken to end the post transaction valuation check and PAYE health check currently provided by HMRC with effect from 31 March 2016 and, if not, why not.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been consulting representative bodies through the Valuation Fiscal Forum over the last 18 months.

    HMRC has not withdrawn valuation services that are most relevant to employee share ownership schemes.

    HMRC has withdrawn valuation checks for income tax and PAYE as in most cases acceptable valuations were submitted, and therefore the service offered was not of sufficient value.