Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Grade of Yarmouth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Grade of Yarmouth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Grade of Yarmouth on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the policy guidance provided by the Housing Minister and the Department for Communities and Local Government on short-term lets in London, whether the proposed restriction of short-term letting of homes to a maximum 90 days in a calendar year will apply only to entire homes or whether the letting of spare rooms will also be subject to the cap.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Section 25 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973 provides that a residential premises, and each part thereof, which is used for stays of less than 90 consecutive nights is a change of use, and would therefore require planning permission. Through the Deregulation Bill, the Government is proposing to allow the premises subject to Section 25 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973 to be let for up to 90 nights per calendar year without applying for planning permission.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of applications her Department has received for free schools in districts experiencing a high or severe need for extra primary school places in the present academic year.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    As reported in the National Audit Office review of free schools, 70% of free schools have opened in areas where there was a need for additional school places.

    Based on data provided by local authorities in May 2013, nine authorities were projected to have high or severe basic need for more primary school places in the 2013/14 academic year. Between May 2010 and May 2014, the Department for Education received a total of 34 applications to open primary free schools in these areas. This represents 8% of all primary free school applications received over the same period.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the CITES Management Authority has declared that the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane facility.

    George Eustice

    The elected government of the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, has devolved constitutional responsibility for animal welfare and conservation including for legislation and policies governing the Cayman Turtle Farm.

    An independent investigation in 2002, carried out in support of an application to register the Cayman Turtle Farm as a captive-breeding operation under CITES, a Convention for which Defra is responsible, concluded that the standards of care at the Cayman Turtle Farm were humane.

    The UK Government has been in contact with the Cayman Islands Government more recently, expressing the UK’s commitment to raising animal welfare standards and requesting an assurance that the Cayman Islands Government takes the findings of a report by the then World Society for the Protection of Animals seriously and be committed to making appropriate improvements. I am pleased to say that the Deputy Premier of the Cayman Islands, Mr Kirkconnell, gave that assurance in a response to the Secretary of State on 24 October 2013.

    The UK CITES Management Authority has not made a recent assessment of whether the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane facility.

  • Khalid Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Khalid Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the statement of 10 July 2014 by the Secretary General of the UN on the escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We support the statement of 10 July 2014 from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. There has now been further escalation with Israel’s ground operation started on 17 July. The UK will continue working towards our three policy objectives for the Gaza crisis – to secure a ceasefire, to alleviate humanitarian suffering, and to keep alive the prospects for peace negotiations, which are the only hope of breaking this cycle of violence and devastation once and for all.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many beds in each UK spinal cord injury centre are ring fenced for the exclusive treatment of spinal cord injured readmissions or outpatients.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England’s Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) service specification clearly sets out what providers must have in place to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. It sets a core requirement that each specialised SCI Centre (SCIC) can demonstrate they have a minimum of 20 beds dedicated exclusively for the treatment and rehabilitation of SCI patients. Specialised SCI Services encompass all activity for SCI patients provided by the host trust of the SCIC, including any readmission or attendance for SCI-related care, wherever the treatment is located in the trust. A copy of the specification can be found at the following link:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/d13-spinal-cord-0414.pdf

    NHS England is aware that a number of beds in one ward at Stoke Mandeville spinal injuries unit are being used as escalation beds by medical specialties to assist with patient flow. It is planned for these beds to re-open as specialist spinal beds from September 2014.

  • 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 proportion of the World Health Organisation budget was contributed by the Government in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what the sterling value of that contribution was.

    Jane Ellison

    The total World Health Organization (WHO) revenue for 2013 was $2614 million; the United Kingdom contributed $312.2 million of that, which represented 11.9% of the WHO’s budget. The UK total contribution comprised of $30.7 million, assessed contributions and $281.5 million, voluntary contributions. This is around 185 million in sterling. The total UK contribution to WHO in 2013 also includes funding to WHO hosted partnerships such as Stop TB partnership, partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, and Roll Back Malaria partnership.

    All of this UK funding contributes to the Government’s 0.7% international development target.

  • 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, who decided on which days to migrate the IT accounts of hon. Members and hon. Members’ staff to Office 365.

    John Thurso

    The Improved Access to Services Project Board agreed the high-level schedule for the migration of parliamentary emailboxes to Microsoft 365. The more detailed decision on which days to migrate the emailboxes of hon. Members and hon. Members’ staff was taken by the project team, overseen by the Director of Parliamentary ICT, taking into account factors such as: mailbox access rights (so that users accessing a particular mailbox are migrated at the same time); staff who work for more than one Member; and trying to balance the number of emailboxes accessed by BlackBerry devices across the migration days.

  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will estimate the annual cost to his Department of (a) stationery and (b) postage incurred when sending a ministerial reply to hon. Members; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Ministry of Justice does not hold information at the level of detail requested. We have however taken steps to reduce our overall spending on stationery by securing better value for money from our suppliers and reducing paper usage.

  • 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, with reference to the commitment in the Coalition Agreement, when he plans to introduce a Parliamentary Business of the House Committee.

    Mr William Hague

    Given the absence of consensus, the Government has decided not to pursue the establishment of a House Business Committee at the present time.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road traffic accidents there were per 100,000 of the population in (a) the UK, (b) London and (c) Barnet in each of the last five years.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The numbers of reported personal injury road traffic accidents per 100,000 population in a) Great Britain, b) London and c) Barnet for the years 2009 to 2013 are shown in the table below:

    The number of reported personal injury road traffic accidents in a) Great Britain b) London and c) Barnet per 100,000 population: 2009 to 2013.

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    a) Great Britain

    270

    253

    246

    235

    223

    b) London

    234

    300

    298

    290

    274

    c) Barnet

    317

    343

    311

    280

    269