Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what budget was allocated by her Department to the Global Small and Medium Enterprise Financial Initiative in each financial year from 2009-10; and what budget is allocated to that organisation for 2015-16.

    Justine Greening

    Information on previous budget allocations is available at http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/. 2015-16 allocations remain subject to ministerial approval.

    “

  • Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how his Department defines non-fiscal spend.

    Danny Alexander

    “Non-fiscal spend” is not a formal term in the UK National Accounting framework. It is sometimes used to refer to items of public expenditure, which although included in departmental budgets, are either not classified as spending in the National Accounts or use a different source.

  • Andrew Griffiths – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Griffiths – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Griffiths on 2015-01-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were excluded from school for (a) possession and (b) supply of illegal drugs in each of the last five years.

    Mr Nick Gibb

    The Department for Education does not collect information on the number of pupils excluded from school for the possession and supply of illegal drugs. The Department publishes information on the number of pupils excluded permanently or for a fixed period for ‘drug and alcohol’ related reasons. Guidance to schools clarifies that this category includes exclusions for alcohol abuse, drug dealing, inappropriate use of prescribed drugs, possession of illegal drugs, smoking and substance abuse.

    Information showing the number of drug and alcohol related exclusions for 2008/09 to 2012/13 has been included in the attached Excel document. Further information on permanent and fixed period exclusions can be found in the “Statistics: exclusions” series [1].

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-exclusions

    “

  • John Denham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    John Denham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Denham on 2015-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many students started a level 5 apprenticeship in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2011-12 in each parliamentary constituency.

    Nick Boles

    Information on the number of Higher Apprenticeship starts in England by Level and Parliamentary Constituency is attached.

    Although level 4 and 5 apprenticeships were available in all three years, level 6 and 7 apprenticeships were only enabled by legislation from April 2013. Official apprenticeship data provides complete information for government-funded apprenticeships and this shows that there were no starts on the four available level 6 apprenticeships during the 2013/14 academic year.

  • Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Grahame M. Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2015-01-13.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria his Department uses to assess the effectiveness of quantitative easing.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The UK’s monetary policy framework, set out in the Bank of England Act 1998, gives operational responsibility for monetary policy to the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

  • Lord Rogan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Rogan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rogan on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether current staffing levels of HM Prison Service meet the standard complement.

    Lord Faulks

    Staffing levels have been reviewed prison by prison as part of a ‘benchmarking approach’. Benchmark staffing requirements for each establishment have been agreed with the unions and the NAO has commented that the wider strategy for the prison estate is the most coherent and comprehensive for many years. It delivers efficiencies while ensuring that public sector prisons operate safely, decently and securely Benchmarking optimises the skills of staff by introducing new ways of working and puts all prison officers in prisoner facing role.

    Benchmark staffing levels have been agreed in 85 public sector prisons. Amongst prison officers, the shortfall of staff in post against benchmarks for these establishments at 30 September 2014 was 4%.

    Staffing levels have improved, but there remains a geographical variation and detached duty has been used to manage temporary shortages in particular locations. Such measures are always needed in such a large, widely spread organisation.

    In addition HM Prison Service Reserve, consisting of former prison officers, has been established to support capacity changes and unplanned shortfalls in officer numbers.

    The Prison Service has been returning to large scale recruitment levels as the period of closures and benchmarking has been coming to an end. As well as prison officers, we are also recruiting Operational Support Grades (uniformed staff who undertake a wide range of security based work) and instructors (who manage prisoners in workshop activities and training).

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the amount of musculoskeletal training in the general practitioner curriculum, whether they will they publish a workforce development strategy for healthcare professionals, including general practitioners and specialist practitioners in musculoskeletal disorders.

    Earl Howe

    The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. It has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.

    Health Education England (HEE) will work with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the Royal College of General Practitioners to seek to ensure general practice training meets the needs of patients.

    In addition, HEE has established an independent Primary Care Workforce Commission which is chaired by Professor Martin Roland of the University of Cambridge. The Commission will identify models of primary care that will meet the needs of the future National Health Service including greater emphasis on community, primary and integrated services. It will focus on patient and population need; emerging models of care to respond to the population need; and maximising new skill sets and education and training.

  • – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support the decision of the United Nations Human Rights Committee that a ban on subsistence hunting, where hunting is an essential element in the culture of the community”

    Lord De Mauley

    The UK Government is fully committed to promoting and protecting human rights for all individuals, including indigenous people, without discrimination on any grounds. We continue to work overseas and through multilateral institutions to improve the situation of indigenous people internationally, and have long provided political and financial support to the economic, social and political development of indigenous peoples around the world.

    We regard the General Comments and Decisions of the United Nations Human Rights Committee as valuable guidance for all State Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). We do not, however, consider that they are legally binding and have therefore made no assessment of whether a ban on subsistence hunting breaches Section 27 of the ICCPR.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what effect he expects the judgement in Edenred (UK Group) v HM Treasury & Ors to have on the timescale for roll-out for the tax free childcare scheme contract.

    Priti Patel

    Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) will provide support to hard-working families for childcare costs. The introduction of TFC will give almost two million families the opportunity to receive up to £2,000 per annum of support per child, via a new simple online system.

  • Hywel Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Hywel Williams – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hywel Williams on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value is of each of the golf courses owned by his Department.

    Anna Soubry

    The value of the golf courses would depend on market conditions at the time of any sale, therefore this information is not held by the Ministry of Defence.