Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to introduce independent and impartial advice from qualified professionals into careers advice and guidance.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    All maintained schools have a legal duty to secure access to independent careers guidance for year 8-13 pupils. Guidance secured under the duty must be delivered in an impartial manner.

    The duty gives schools the flexibility to commission a broad range of support for pupils – from careers advisers but also from employers, mentors and coaches, who can give young people real-life insight into the world of work. This allows schools to identify their own priorities and configure their careers education and guidance offer to meet the needs of their pupils. The Careers & Enterprise Company is taking a lead role in transforming the provision of careers, enterprise and employer engagement experiences for young people to inspire them and prepare them for the world of work.

    Careers professionals can play an important role in supporting pupils as one element of a varied careers programme. The careers statutory guidance is clear that schools should include consideration of the role that careers professionals can play in supporting pupils. The statutory guidance provides information about the register of careers professionals, developed by the Career Development Institute, which schools can use to search for a career development professional who can deliver a particular service or activity.

    Ofsted has given higher priority to careers guidance in school inspections – and destination measures help schools and colleges to be held to account locally and inform choices by parents and students.

  • Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-05-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information HM Revenue and Customs holds on the number of people engaged in employment through an employment intermediary in each year since 2008.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs does not have details of the number of people engaged in employment through an employment intermediary. Employment intermediaries are required to deduct tax and National Insurance contributions from most people engaged in employment and tax returns are monitored, but no count is kept of the total numbers of workers.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to raise public awareness of the calorie content of alcoholic drinks; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The last Government’s “Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England”, October 2011 states that alcoholic drinks can be high in calories and contribute to the energy imbalance that can lead to being overweight and obesity.

    We welcome the fact that some businesses are choosing to label calories voluntarily on their alcoholic beverages.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure more members of the Commonwealth abolish the death penalty.

    Alok Sharma

    The Government supports a global moratorium on use of the death penalty as a step towards eventual abolition. Since 2010 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has funded a number of projects promoting reform of the death penalty in individual Commonwealth countries. We also continue to engage diplomatically and urge Commonwealth countries to support the United Nation’s resolution on a global moratorium on the death penalty later this year.

  • Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rehman Chishti – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much each clinical commissioning group spent on mental health services in England in each year from 2013-14 to 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    In total, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have set plans for 2015/16 which reflect an increase in mental health care expenditure in excess of their increase in allocation for the year. NHS England is tracking actual expenditure against those plans and it will report to the Secretary of State at the end of the year on whether those plans have been met.

    Departmental Ministers meet the Chief Executives of NHS England and Monitor regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including funding for mental health services.

    NHS England was formally established on 1 April 2013.Expenditure by NHS England on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2013/14 was £1.780 billion and £1.795 billion in 2014/15. NHS England’s planned expenditure on Specialist Mental Health Services for 2015/16 is £1.859 billion.

    NHS England has published CCG level expenditure on mental health for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £8.1 billion. CCGs are currently in the process of preparing estimates of expenditure for mental health services in 2014/15. Estimates for 2015/16 are not available.

  • 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 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2015 to Question 17505, when he will publish the September half-yearly update on the job titles and pay grades of senior civil servants within his Department.

    Matthew Hancock

    The government publishes information on the job titles and pay grades of senior civil servants along with the numbers of staff they manage on a twice yearly basis.

    The Cabinet Office expects to publish an updated organogram at https://data.gov.uk/organogram/cabinet-officein due course.

    “

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-01-06.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) his Department, (b) the Office for Budget Responsibility, (c) the Financial Conduct Authority and (d) HM Revenue and Customs; how many of those employees earn more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    Harriett Baldwin

    I refer the honourable member to the answer given on the 05 January (UIN 20609)

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the legalisation of same-sex marriage, they intend to legislate to allow heterosexual couples who wish to form civil partnerships to do so, and if not, why not.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    In 2014, after the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 was passed, the government carried out a review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, including a thorough public consultation on potential changes to civil partnership. Views were invited on three options: abolishing, or phasing out civil partnerships; or extending them to opposite sex couples.

    The review found that there was no clear consensus on the future of civil partnerships. A majority of respondents to the consultation were against extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples and several important organisations thought it was too soon to consider making changes to civil partnerships until the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples is known. Given the lack of any consensus the Government has no current plans to make changes to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

    On 29 January 2016, the High Court dismissed a legal challenge to the lack of availability of civil partnerships to opposite sex couples. The Court ruled unequivocally that the current regime of marriage and civil partnership does not disadvantage anyone nor does it infringe anyone’s right to family or private life. We also welcome the Court’s view that it is entirely reasonable for the Government to wait to see the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples before deciding on the way forward.

  • Patricia Gibson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Patricia Gibson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patricia Gibson on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what his plans are for the £3.5 million funding announced for tackling nuisance calls in paragraph 2.289 of the March 2015 Budget, HC 1093 of Session 2014-15; how much of this funding has been allocated to which local authorities; what information his Department holds on the number of call blockers that this funding has paid for the installation of in domestic properties; and what assessment his Department has made of the effect of that funding in the volumes of nuisance calls received and reports of such calls made.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government is taking forward a range of measures to tackle the problem of nuisance calls, including strengthening the regulators’ ability to take enforcement action against organisations that break the law and increasing consumer choice by consulting on making it a requirement for direct marketing callers to display their calling line identification. As part of the £3.5m package announced in budget, Government launched a competition for innovative solutions to tackle the scourge of nuisance calls – and contracts have been awarded to successful applicants, to help develop their products to launch on the open market and benefit customers right across the country. In addition, £0.5 million funding is going to the National Trading Standards Scams Team – via East Sussex County Council – to provide call blocking devices to vulnerable people nationwide and report its effects.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to limit the effect that engineering works on rail lines have on travel over long bank holidays.

    Claire Perry

    An independent review of how the rail industry plans and schedules major improvement work was carried out last year. The review concluded that Christmas, Easter and bank holidays were the best times to carry out upgrades requiring major line closures, particularly in and around London where the network is busiest and access for engineers is most difficult.

    Network Rail always looks to minimise the overall impact of these vital projects on passengers. As such, Network Rail and train operators are conscious that many people want to use the railway over holiday periods to reunite with their friends and families, so where possible they try to ensure the vast majority of services are kept running, as well as delivering passenger improvements on time. Network Rail will ensure around 96% of the network will be available during the next May bank holiday.