Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect civil liberties whilst tackling Islamic extremism across the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    The government is committed to disrupting extremism and we use the full force of the law to do so, including proscribing groups concerned in terrorism, prosecuting the perpetrators of hate crime and excluding preachers of hate from the UK. We also remain committed to protecting fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of speech. That is why it is vital that we challenge those extremist ideas that also form part of a terrorist ideology, and threaten these freedoms. Central to this is challenging those behaviours and views which run counter to our shared values, which include freedom of speech, democracy, the rule of law, equality of opportunity and treatment, and the rights of all men and women to live free from persecution of any kind.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by her Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

    Dr Andrew Murrison

    My Department does not hold records of duplicate supplier payments. The system currently operating in the Northern Ireland Office registers invoice numbers and will not allow two invoices with the same reference number to be paid. To manually search through the invoices received and paid from 2010 to date would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what timescale the upgrade of the Halton Curve will follow.

    Claire Perry

    The Government is providing £10.4m, in support of the Liverpool City Region Growth Deal, to fund the reinstatement of the Halton Curve. The scheme is currently being developed by Network Rail and detailed proposals are expected to be available early next year. Final sign off of funding for the scheme will be for the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership and delivery is expected in 2016/17.

  • 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, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, column 292W, on Royal Mail, how many staff of the Shareholder Executive worked on the privatisation of Royal Mail.

    Matthew Hancock

    The 17 core staff referred to in the Answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, column 292W, were all from the Shareholder Executive working on the Royal Mail Initial Public Offering.

  • Jon Trickett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Jon Trickett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the broadband infrastructure for businesses in rural areas.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government is investing £780 million, with local match funding, to provide superfast broadband coverage to 95% of UK premises, including in rural locations. Coverage will include both business and residential consumers. In addition, the Government has also launched 8 pilot projects to explore options for improving coverage of superfast broadband beyond 95%, including to the most hard to reach areas of the UK.

  • Dawn Butler – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Dawn Butler – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he to promote the expansion of the turn-up-and-go scheme for disabled transport users throughout the rail network.

    Claire Perry

    The Association of Train Operating Companies launched a six month trial of turn up and go at 36 London stations in May this year. If the trial is successful they will consider whether the service can be made permanent at the trial stations and if it can be expanded further across the network.

  • Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Carolyn Harris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government about the availability of childcare for children of parents who (a) work outside the hours of 9am to 5pm and (b) live in rural communities.

    Priti Patel

    Childcare is a devolved matter. There have therefore been no discussions with the Welsh Government about the availability of childcare in Wales.

  • Valerie Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Valerie Vaz – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the costs of automatic-enrolment of pensions on small businesses.

    Justin Tomlinson

    In 2010 the independent Making Automatic Enrolment Work (MAEW) review considered the impact of automatic enrolment on small businesses. Following the recommendations of the MAEW review, the Pensions Act 2011 introduced a package of measures to reduce costs and make implementation easier for small employers. DWP’s impact assessments continue to monitor the costs and benefits of automatic enrolment on small businesses.

    DWP is working hard to minimise the additional costs of automatic enrolment, particularly for small employers. The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) was established by the Government specifically to ensure that smaller firms have access to high quality, good value pension provision.

    NEST continues to undertake service improvements, including making it possible for small employers to set up and run NEST directly through their payroll software. The Pensions Regulator is also undertaking research and testing in order to enhance its tools and educational material, and to simplify the automatic enrolment process for small employers.

    The decision to defer the staging period of small and micro firms from April 2014 to June 2015 brought significant easement to small and micro employers, leading to lower contribution costs and lower administrative costs. Additionally the contribution level is being phased in, in order to help employers adjust to these costs. The minimum employer contribution is currently 1% and this will rise to 3% when the auto-enrolment programme is fully rolled out over the next few years.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many publications produced by his Department other than, Employment and Support Allowance sanctions for the work related activity group (ISBN Number: 978-1-78425-557-2), have been withdrawn from the gov.uk website since 8 May 2015.

    Justin Tomlinson

    In common with other departments, DWP regularly reviews its publications and other content online at GOV.UK and supplementary websites.

    Records for changes to our websites are not held centrally, and this information could only be collated at disproportionate cost.

  • The Lord Bishop of Bristol – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Bristol – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Bristol on 2015-10-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, and in particular its commitment to freedom of religion or belief.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Saudi Arabia is a Foreign & Commonwealth Office priority country because of the human rights situation, particularly on the death penalty, access to justice, women’s rights, restrictions on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion or belief. The British Government strongly supports the right to freedom of religion or belief. Islamic law is strictly enforced in Saudi Arabia and the public practice of any form of religion other than Islam is illegal. The Saudi authorities do accept foreign workers privately practising religions other than Islam.

    We believe that the key to increasing freedom in this area is to focus on tolerance. We have worked with Saudi Arabia to identify areas where different faiths could work together and foster trust.