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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Graham Brady – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Graham Brady – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what formula determines the proportion of the World Health Organisation annual budget that should be contributed by each member state government; and when that formula was last updated.

    Jane Ellison

    The proportion of assessed contribution, the amount the United Kingdom is required to pay to the World Health Organization (WHO), which excludes any additional voluntary contributions, is based on the United Nations (UN) scale of assessments. The Government believes that UN member states should share fair and balanced financial responsibility for supporting international institutions through “capacity to pay”, as their national economies develop and presses for reform to this end. In 2012 the UK successfully negotiated a reduction in our rate of contribution to the UN Regular Budget, falling from 6.6% to 5.2%. This generated savings of around £100 million a year for HM Government through linkages between the scale rate for the Regular Budgets and those used to calculate member states’ contributions to the budgets of many other UN bodies, including the WHO. This was applied to the UK’s assessed contribution to WHO, with effect from 2014, the start of the current biennium.

  • Thomas Docherty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Thomas Docherty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thomas Docherty on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, column 176-7W, on computer software, what further feedback the Commission has received from (a) hon. Members, (b) hon. Members’ staff and (c) other users on migration to Office 365 since that Answer was given.

    John Thurso

    In the period 22 June to 16 July, 3,482 mailboxes assigned to hon. Members and their staff had been migrated. In that period, PICT logged 766 cases from hon. Members and their staff – either by phone or at PICT Local – directly related to issues resulting from the migration of their mailboxes. Parliamentary ICT (PICT) acknowledges that the implementation has not been as simple and straightforward as was hoped, and is aware that it has caused problems for some hon. Members.

    Since the answer to the hon. Member on 8 July, three hon. Members have given PICT written feedback on the migration of their mailbox. One was complimenting the PICT team on making it a smooth process. One was questioning the process and the distinction between the upgrade to Office 2013 and the migration of a mailbox to Microsoft 365. One had a problem with the limit on the number of people who can be added to a single email distribution list in Microsoft 365.

    Two further hon. Members have given positive oral feedback and asked to join the pilot of the wider suite of tools within Microsoft 365. Oral feedback from the teams of House staff who are also piloting the use of this wider suite of tools continues to be positive.

    The Director of PICT would be delighted to meet the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife, or any other interested Member, to discuss the feedback in more detail.

  • John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John McDonnell on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the capabilities are of the multi-purpose ankle tag; and what forms of surveillance and supervision it makes possible.

    Andrew Selous

    The multi-purpose ankle tags will support the monitoring of compliance with curfew, exclusion and inclusion zones, and subject location.

  • Peter Bone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    Peter Bone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Leader of the House, if he will bring forward proposals to provide that the Leader of the House should be elected by the whole House, not appointed by the Prime Minister.

    Mr William Hague

    No.

  • Kate Hoey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kate Hoey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria are used to establish whether delays over five minutes to a scheduled commuter train service in (a) London and (b) the South East were caused by (i) Network Rail, (ii) the train operating company or (iii) other factors; and what changes have been made to those criteria since January 2008.

    Claire Perry

    The criteria for establishing delay causes are to be found in the Delay Attribution Guide, issued by the Delay Attribution Board – a joint industry body remitted to provide guidance to the industry on delay attribution issues.

    The current guide was issued in April 2014. Copies of the all the guides since 2007 can be seen at:

    http://www.delayattributionboard.co.uk/delayattributionguides.htm

    “

  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2014, Official Report, column 110W, on personal independence payment, if he will estimate the number of people who do not currently claim disability living allowance who go into debt while their claims for personal independence payment are pending.

    Mr Mark Harper

    We have no plans to carry out such an estimate. As referenced in the earlier answer from the former Minister of State for Disabled People, the Rt. Hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning), most people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will already be receiving some element of financial support to meet day-to-day living expenses. If entitlement to PIP is established, payment will be backdated.

  • Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chuka Umunna – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chuka Umunna on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assurances were sought from priority investors ahead of the privatisation of Royal Mail on long-term holding of shares by (a) Ministers in his Department (b) Officials in his Department (c) the Financial Adviser to the Government and (d) the banking syndicate working on the privatisation.

    Matthew Hancock

    No assurances were sought from the priority investors ahead of the sale of shares in Royal Mail.

    Any mechanism which requires a buyer to give up the rights normally associated with shares, such as a restriction on the right to sell those shares for a period of time, would be reflected in the price investors would be prepared to pay for those shares.

    These investors gave the Government confidence to take forward the IPO which raised nearly £2bn for the tax payer and reduced the risk that the tax payer to support the universal postal service.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Moore Stephens undertook a Spend Recovery Analysis on five years’ worth of HM Treasury data between June 2013 and March 2014. The outcome of the analysis was that there were no duplicate supplier payments identified.

  • David Wright – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Wright – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Wright on 2014-07-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HM Revenue and Customs staff in each (a) grade and (b) pay band were loaned to the UK Border Agency on 10 July 2014 to cover staffing shortfalls.

    Mr David Gauke

    The UKBA was closed in March 2013.

  • Nick Raynsford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Nick Raynsford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Raynsford on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what research he has undertaken into the effects of the changes introduced in 2010 to Part F of the Building Regulations.

    Stephen Williams

    We have not undertaken any research yet into the effects of the 2010 changes to the ventilation provisions in Part F of the Building Regulations, but this is being considered by the Department.