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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who the members are of each local magistrate advisory board.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    I have interpreted ‘Local magistrate advisory boards’ to mean Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, the bodies responsible for recruiting and selecting magistrates in England and Wales.

    To enable their work to be informed by a range of knowledge and experience, Advisory Committees are composed of both magistrates and non-magistrates. At least one third of each Committee’s members should be non-magistrates.

    The attached table contains the names of each Committee’s members and indicates which of those members are magistrates.

  • Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the performance of Govia in operating the Thameslink franchise.

    Claire Perry

    The Department’s senior officials attend four weekly meetings with the train operators senior management team, where all aspects of performance under the franchise agreement can be scrutinised and challenged. In terms of Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR’s) delivery of services to passengers, while operational performance on its Great Northern route is robust, performance on its Thameslink route has been poor.

    Ministers and officials have held a number of meetings with Network Rail, GTR and the Office of Rail Regulation to discuss the poor performance on the Thameslink route. This has resulted in GTR and Network Rail publishing a high level improvement plan on their websites which sets out the actions they are taking to turn things around. They have also committed to updating the plan by the end of February with specific commitments on the outputs that will be delivered. Furthermore, the Department has secured a commitment that Network Rail and GTR shall provide a monthly report on progress towards their committed outputs and publish this on their websites, so that passengers have transparency on what is being delivered.

    The Government is determined to hold GTR and Network Rail to account for the delivery of their joint initiatives to improve Thameslink performance and, ultimately, provide the levels of service that passengers deserve.

  • Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps in the invitation to tender for the Northern Rail and TransPennine Express franchises to ensure that there is always a second person on the train in addition to the driver.

    Claire Perry

    The Department does not specify the numbers of staff or how they should be deployed, as this is something that the operators are much better placed to understand and manage than we are.

    Train operating companies have to abide by all appropriate health and safety requirements.

  • Ian Davidson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ian Davidson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Davidson on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of people in Glasgow South West constituency who have found work after having had their benefits sanctioned in the last five years.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department’s training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The table below shows how much HM Treasury spent on training in the last six full financial years, and the training budget for each of those years.

    Financial Year

    Total staff training costs

    Training budget

    2013/14

    £774,689

    £1,494,452

    2012/13

    £656,790

    £1,697,037

    2011/12

    £819,847

    £2,147,479

    2010/11

    £1,169,237

    £1,793,392

    2009/10

    £2,369,560

    £2,908,638

    2008/09

    £2,282,714

    £3,125,260

    Records on number of staff training days are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate costs.

    HM Treasury provides guidance to staff including managers that all civil servants are entitled to a minimum of 5 days a year for learning which can include training, seminars, mentoring, and other professional and job-based development.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

    Kris Hopkins

    This Government has taken a series of steps to save taxpayers’ money and improve overall quality of the training provision.

    Civil Service Learning was established in April 2011 in response to a wide ranging review of the delivery of training across the Civil Service. The new model is delivering better value out of its investment in training, reducing duplication in procurement and making greater use of the external market to provide the training which the Civil Service requires.

    The figures below illustrate the spending on the category ‘training’ over the past six years, to illustrate the efficiencies we have achieved. The dip in spending in 2011-12 was a consequence of the transition from the old regime to Civil Service Learning.

    2008-09: £2,080,738
    2009-10: £2,309,137
    2010-11: £1,312,688
    2011-12: £377,521
    2012-13: £767,549
    2013-14: £667,618

    I would also observe that my Department has reduced total staffing costs from £218 million a year in 2009-10 to £95 million in 2013-14.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

    Anna Soubry

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on the 3 March 2015 to Question 224510.

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=224510

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what guidance his Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.

    Amber Rudd

    DECC encourages all staff to take at least 5 days of targeted learning and development each year. This forms part of our commitment to the Civil Service Capabilities Plan.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department’s training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Core Department does not budget at a level of detail that allows for the identification of annual training budgets. The information requested can therefore not be provided.

    The table below sets out details of spend on training within Core Defra in the last three complete financial years. This information can also be found in the Department’s published Annual Reports and Accounts.

    Financial Year

    Spend on Training (£000)

    2011-12

    1,191

    2012-13

    1,353

    2013-14

    1,105
  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Like all organisations we invest in training and developing staff. It helps us to provide the best service to the UK and deliver value for the taxpayer. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold central records for all Learning and Development spend. Individual Directorates and overseas Posts each have a devolved budget for learning and development. Amounts vary. To obtain a detailed breakdown of all funding allocated to learning and development will incur disproportionate cost. Based on the records we do hold, the total amount allocated to learning and development during the past 3 years were: 2011-12: £18,931,475 2012-13: £17,722,379 2013-14: £17,805,262 These figures cover the costs of all courses, including language training. It also includes the associated running costs (including salaries) to deliver learning and development in the UK and our 270 overseas posts. The data for 2014/15 is unavailable.