Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions on potential job losses in Newport took place between his Department, the Home Office and Steria prior to the decision to privatise the Ministry of Justice Shared Services.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Ministry of Justice are entering into detailed discussions with Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) regarding the future delivery of their back office services, with the intention of awarding a contract in August 2014. We expect this to bring increased savings and efficiency in back-office functions, provide further benefits across wider Government and offer better value for money to the tax payer.

    SSCL have stated their intention of providing 12 months job protection for all transferring staff from the point of transfer in October 2014. This means that there will be no compulsory redundancies during this period. No decisions have been made to close buildings and we expect all sites to remain open during this period.

    Following the transfer of staff, services and IT, there will be a stabilisation stage during which SSCL will look at how the service is currently delivered. No decisions will be made until SSCL has had the opportunity to fully understand the operation.

    We will continue to work with staff, trade unions and other stakeholders to assess any impacts on staff.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gordon Marsden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people are employed at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham; and how many people will be employed at that centre when it is fully operational.

    Stephen Hammond

    The transition to the new HM Coastguard structure is progressive over 15 months, from September 2014 until December 2015, and is structured to incrementally deliver the right number of staff at the right point of the transition timetable.

    There are currently 27 Coastguards employed at the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC). In preparation for the start of operational duties in September 2014 this will increase further as successful internal candidates are released from their current operational duties elsewhere around the UK.

    Once the transition is complete, and the NMOC fully operational, this figure will rise to 96 Coastguard Officers.

  • Ms Diane Abbott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ms Diane Abbott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Diane Abbott on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many start-up loans have been granted to businesses in Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency in each of the last five years.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Start-Up Loans programme commenced in September 2012, in that year there was 1 loan with a value of £5000 drawn down in Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency. In 2013 there were 110 loans with a drawn value of £752,465 granted and 2014 to date there have been 53 loans with a drawn value of £259,065 granted.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many expressions of interest in response to the Locally-led Garden Cities Prospectus have been (a) received and (b) considered to date.

    Kris Hopkins

    Garden cities are not just housing developments: they are extremely complex infrastructure projects, and high quality proposals will take time to develop. We have had a number of positive informal discussions with localities in response to our locally led garden cities prospectus, published in April. We expect Expressions of Interest to be made formally once proposals are properly worked up.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department defines surplus land; and what land held by his Department’s non-departmental public bodies can be so described.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Department defines surplus land as land surplus to its business requirements.

    The attached table sets out land held by the Department’s Non-departmental public bodies that is surplus as at 23 June 2014.

  • Liz Kendall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liz Kendall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many residents of care homes had an emergency admission to a hospital in England in each of the last four years.

    Norman Lamb

    Information is not held centrally on the number of calls to 999 made by or on behalf of residents of care homes, or the number of residents of care homes attending accident and emergency departments.

    Information on the number of residents of care homes who had an emergency admission to a hospital in each of the last four years shown in the following table.

    Number of finished admission episodes for emergency admissions by source of admission in England, 2009-10 to 2012-13

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    NHS run care home (from 1 April 2004)

    3,428

    3,396

    3,086

    3,538

    Non-NHS (other than local authority) run care home

    10,965

    10,510

    11,806

    15,158

    All sources of admission

    5,177,887

    5,287,032

    5,242,839

    5,336,043

    Source:

    Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Notes:

    1. Includes activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.

    2. A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

    3. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage, improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice.

    4. FAEs recorded as "The usual place of residence, including no fixed abode" may contain a number of episodes where patients may have resided in care homes, subsequently designating it as their usual place of residence. Such FAEs were not recorded as admissions from a care home. The number of times this may have occurred is unknown.

  • Graham Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Graham Evans – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 25 April 2014, Official Report, column 717W, on human trafficking, what tailored support is given to victims who have received a Conclusive Grounds decision to safely return home; to which countries such victims returned in January to March 2014; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    Currently, there is no specific return and reintegration package for those who
    have received a positive Conclusive Grounds decision and wish to return home.
    The Assisted Voluntary Returns package is available to nationals of non-EEA
    countries. Where possible and appropriate to do so, the Government will work
    with host countries’ Government agencies to ensure that the victim receives
    adequate support.

    Information pertaining to the countries to which victims returned via the AVR
    programme is not collated centrally and would require a detailed examination of
    case files in order to extract such data.

    Between January and March 2014, The Salvation Army recorded that 30
    individuals, in their care, returned to their country of origin. These were:

    Country of Origin Count
    China 1
    Czech Repubulic 2
    Hungary 3
    Latvia 3
    Lithuania 4
    Poland 1
    Romania 9
    Slovakia 4
    Sri Lanka 1
    Congo 1
    Uganda 1
    Grand Total 30

    Care and support for victims, once they receive a positive Conclusive Grounds
    decision is being considered as part of the review of the National Referral
    Mechanism and as part of the re-tender of the Government’s victim support
    service.

  • Mark Menzies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Mark Menzies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to ensure that the views of homeowners are taken into account before any change in existing trespass legislation to allow for horizontal shale gas drilling.

    Michael Fallon

    We are currently running a twelve week consultation on proposals for underground drilling access for shale gas, oil and geothermal energy. Homeowners are invited to take part in this consultation, and can respond by post, email or by using our online portal. The Government will not make a decision on this issue until we have analysed the consultation responses. This feedback may help to refine the existing proposal, develop an alternative proposal, or convince the Government that the existing system is fit for purpose.

    In addition to the consultation, we have engaged with groups or organisations that represent homeowners. We held workshops in February and March this year, which were attended by representative groups such as the Country Landowner’s Association, the National Farmers Union and a number of local authorities and elected representatives.

  • Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Adrian Sanders – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adrian Sanders on 2014-06-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what reforms his Department plans to make to the Work Programme following the downgrading of the project’s rating from green to amber by the Major Projects Authority.

    Esther McVey

    The Major Projects Authority has not downgraded the Work Programmes project rating. The rating was amber in 2012/13 and has remained amber in 2013/14.

  • Baroness Doocey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Baroness Doocey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Doocey on 2014-06-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times the Crown Prosecution Service has made a charging decision not to proceed on the use of section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 in each of the last five years where the victim was under 18 at the time of commission of the offence.

    Lord Wallace of Tankerness

    The Crown Prosecution Service does not hold figures centrally for the number of cases where a decision was made not to charge under section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, including those cases where the victim was under 18 at the time of commission of the offence. To obtain such information would require a manual examination of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.