Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Anas Sarwar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Anas Sarwar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anas Sarwar on 2014-06-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department plans to give the devolved administrations and local authorities before 2015 on meeting the care and support needs of people currently using the independent living fund.

    Mike Penning

    My Department is committed to working closely with the ILF and other Government Departments to support the work required to enable an effective transfer for ILF users by 30 June 2015.

    The ILF has undertaken a dedicated programme of engagement with local authorities and the devolved administrations; and continues to engage directly with all of those authorities who will be involved in the transfer of user care and support in 2015. This includes a commitment to the Codes of Practice agreed between the ILF and English local authorities, and between the ILF and the devolved administrations.

    Specific proposals for distributing the funding transferred to them in respect of former users of the Independent Living Fund living in Scotland and Wales are a matter for the Scottish and Welsh Governments.

  • Anas Sarwar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Anas Sarwar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anas Sarwar on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on increasing the research budget for science to 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product.

    Mr David Willetts

    The Government recognises that science and research is vital in driving economic growth. Our ambition is to make the UK the best place in the world to do science and research.

    In 2012, Government expenditure on science and research through the Research Councils and the Higher Education funding bodies was £4.9bn, equal to 0.3% of GDP. In the same year total public spending on science was 0.6% of GDP. Total UK spending on Research & Development was 1.7% of GDP.

    In the recent Spending Review, Government made a long-term commitment to investment in science and research infrastructure: increasing capital investment in real terms to £1.1bn in 2015-16 and growing this in line with inflation each year to 2020-21. We also continued to protect the science resource ring fence in cash terms for financial year 2015-16. On the basis of existing commitments, the Government’s investment in science through the Research Councils and Higher Education funding bodies will be £5.9Bn[1] in 2015-16, an increase in cash terms of 20% since 2012.

    [1] Cash terms including additional spending announced in AS13 and Budget 14

  • Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much has been paid to converter academies towards pre-opening costs since 2010.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The total pre-opening costs for converter academies from 2010 to the end of March 2014 are £102 million.

  • 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 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what Pearson VUE’s process is for appealing test results and complaints procedure.

    Mr David Laws

    Pearson VUE operates a skills test helpline through which candidates’ queries and complaints are managed. There is no appeals process against test results.

    If a candidate considers that there was a technical or administrative error with the delivery of the test or marking, they are able to raise this either at the test centre at the time of the test or subsequently via the skills test helpline.

    All such requests are considered on a case-by-case basis by Pearson VUE. Where appropriate, Pearson VUE escalates appeals to the Standards and Testing Agency to make the final determination.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent on NHS general dental services in North Yorkshire in 2008-09 and in each year since.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The information is not available in the format requested.

    The total amount spent on general dental services and personal dental services contracts by the former North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) for 2008-09 to 2012-13 is shown in the following table:

    General and Personal Dental Services

    £000s

    2008-09

    38,857

    2009-10

    40,632

    2010-11

    41,773

    2011-12

    43,438

    2012-13

    46,694

    Source: NHS Summarisation schedules

    Notes:

    1. General dental services cannot be separately identified in the published figures. The total gross expenditure for general dental service and personal dental service contracts is categorised between either independent contractor led contracts or on salaried led services provided by the PCT.

    2. Contractor led contracts are all primary care dental services commissioned from practitioners or corporate bodies where payments are processed on the PCT’s behalf by the Dental Services division of the NHS Business Services Authority. Salaried led services include the cost of any dental or support staff directly employed by the PCT and personal dental services or PCT dental services that are directly managed by PCTs or commissioned from other National Health Service trusts either within or outside their area.

  • John Glen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Glen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what resources will be transferred from NHS England to clinical commissioning groups following the implementation of the recommendations in Prescribed Specialised Services Commissioning Intentions 2014-15 and 2015-16.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England has advised that there have been no changes to the scope of specialised services directly commissioned by NHS England in 2014/15, in order to provide a period of stability following the major changes in 2013/14. There has therefore, been no transfer of resources to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in 2014/15, for any changes in commissioning responsibility.

    The Manual for Prescribed Specialised Services 2013/14 describes the prescribed specialised services and sets out which elements of services are commissioned directly by NHS England, and which elements are commissioned by CCGs.

    The Prescribed Specialised Services Commissioning Intentions 2014-15 and 2015-16 document sets out the firm plans for 2014/15 and the direction for 2015/16. There will be a new set of commissioning intentions for 2015/16 to take account of the new environment and to firm up the plans for next year.

    The development of the commissioning intentions for 2015/16 is included in the work of the specialised commissioning taskforce and will be progressed over the next few months ready for publication in the autumn. The taskforce work streams also include actions relating to the future portfolio of services to be commissioned by NHS England and CCGs, and possible future commissioning models. This work will be further progressed over the summer and will inform the 2015/16 commissioning intentions.

    NHS England advise that it is yet to be determined whether or not there will be changes to the scope of specialised services directly commissioned by NHS England in 2015/16 or whether any additional resources will be transferred between NHS England and CCGs.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received requesting the Government to intervene to require the British Pregnancy Advisory Service to remove advice on its website which alleges that gender-selective abortion is not illegal; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    There has been one request for intervention by the Government to require the British Pregnancy Advisory Service to remove the advice from its web site.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) York Central constituency and (b) York Unitary Authority area received pension credit in the last year for which data is available.

    Steve Webb

    Statistics for State Pension and Pension Credit are available from 100% data and are published on the Department’s website at:

    http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/pc/tabtool_pc.html

    and

    http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/tabtool_sp.html

    Guidance for users is available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

    “

  • Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-06-27.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the position of free media in Egypt.

    Baroness Warsi

    The British Government is appalled by the sentences given to Egyptian and international journalists in Cairo on 23 June, including to two British nationals being tried in absentia. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Right Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), made a statement on 23 June expressing his concerns and urging the Egyptian government to demonstrate its commitment to freedom of expression by reviewing this case as a matter of urgency.

    The Egyptian Ambassador, Ashraf el-Kholy, was summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on 23 June. FCO Political Director, Simon Gass, told the Egyptian Ambassador that the Government was deeply concerned by the verdicts, along with the procedural shortcomings seen during the trials. Our Ambassador to Egypt raised this issue in Cairo with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 24 June. We will continue to monitor the situation of these journalists very closely, and raise the issue with the Egyptian authorities. The UK believes that a free and robust media is a bedrock of democracy.

  • David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    David Crausby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with the (a) Prudential Regulation Authority and (b) Financial Conduct Authority about reports of UK banks paying allowances to employees in order to avoid the EU’s bonus cap; and what steps he plans to take to reduce such practices.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The UK is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle excessive pay in the financial sector and ensure that pay is aligned with performance, with a tough Remuneration Code that requires deferral of at least 60% of bonuses of senior bankers and limits the amounts that can be paid in cash. Bonuses are down significantly since their peak under the last Government, and are now largely deferred and paid in shares.

    In contrast, the EU’s bonus cap is a poorly thought through measure that undermines rather than reinforces our efforts by pushing up fixed pay. It was introduced without any proper impact assessment and has issues around its compatibility with the EU Treaty; for these reasons we are challenging it in the European Court of Justice. However, pending the outcome, the Government is fully implementing the cap in the UK, and the Prudential Regulation Authority is responsible for ensuring that the banks comply with these rules.