Tag: Parliamentary Question

Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the security situation in Somalia of al Shabaab’s seizure of Buqda.

Grant Shapps

We assess that the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM’s) withdrawal from Buqda, and its consequent re-occupation by Al Shabaab, will have little impact on the security situation in Somalia, given Buqda’s limited strategic importance within the context of the overall AMISOM campaign.

AMISOM and Somali National Security Forces (SNSF) have regained 75% of the territory formerly controlled by Al-Shabaab, forcing it out of many of its traditional strongholds, including major urban centres and its former headquarters in Baraawe. The current AMISOM offensive is designed to remove Al Shabaab from their strong holds in the Gedo, Bakool and Bay regions of Somalia. But Al Shabaab still holds ground in the lower Juba Valley and retains the ability to infiltrate other areas and cause instability.

We continue to support African Union and SNSF efforts to defeat Al Shabaab, including through the provision of stipends, training, equipment and infrastructure enhancements, and capacity-building. We are also supporting stabilisation and countering violent extremism efforts, including working with the Federal Government of Somalia to develop counter-terrorism legislation.

02/11/2022
Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to improve the quality of adult social care; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

The Government is committed to improving the quality of adult social care. We have taken a number of recent steps to do so.

In October 2014, we introduced a tougher inspection system by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Following inspections, the CQC now also awards each care service a single quality rating with providers rated as “Outstanding”, “Good”, “Requires Improvement” or “Inadequate”. Services rated “Inadequate” are being placed into Special Measure which means they could face closure if they fail to improve.

These new ratings and other information about the type and quality of care at every care home and homecare service in the country are now available on NHS Choices and the MyNHS Transparency website, making it much easier for people to compare the quality of services.

This year we introduced a Certificate of Fundamental Care, now known as the Care Certificate. This will help ensure that care workers can deliver a consistently high quality standard of care.

The Department is funding and working with a number of organisations including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Skills for Care, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association on a range of projects to help adult social care organisations and staff improve the quality of care. These resources include new NICE Quality Standards and Guidelines which bring clarity to what excellence looks like in care and Commissioning for Better Outcomes – A Route Map* that sets out a series of commissioning standards that will be used as part of local government sector-led improvement to drive best practices in local authority commissioning under their new duties in the Care Act 2015.

*Available at:

http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/5756320/Commissioning+for+Better+Outcomes+A+route+map/8f18c36f-805c-4d5e-b1f5-d3755394cfab

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02/11/2022
Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department paid in spectrum charges in each financial year from 1999-2000 to 2014-15.

Mike Penning

The table below details the amount the Department paid in spectrum charges from 2009/10 to 2014/15. The variation in charges from 2010 is the result of Home Office reducing its holdings by sharing and releasing spectrum. Use of spectrum in the years from 1999 to 2009 remained at a constant level and our records indicate this was charged at £2,916,000 per annum.

Financial Year/ Cost:

2009-2010 £2,916,000

2010-2011 £2,819,820

2011-2012 £2,317,836

2012-2013 £1,779,309

2013-2014 £1,816,022

2014-2015 £1,325,654

02/11/2022
Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-09-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reasons were for each application made by local authorities in England and Wales for care orders in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014 and (f) January to March 2015.

Caroline Dinenage

This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

02/11/2022
Tracey Crouch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on how much society lotteries have generated for good causes in each of the last six years.

Mrs Helen Grant

Information about how much society lotteries generate for good causes is collected by the Gambling Commission. The most up to date information can be found in the Gambling Commission’s industry statistics, which are at:http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/gambling_data__analysis/statistics/industry_statistics-1.aspx

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02/11/2022
David T. C. Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps his Department is taking to simplify regulations applying to the UK’s shale gas industry.

Michael Fallon

The Department works closely with the relevant regulators and industry to ensure that the regulatory system is as streamlined as possible, whilst remaining robust enough to safeguard public safety and the environment.

In order to help companies navigate our regulatory system, the Department published in December a Regulatory Roadmap setting out all the regulation that applies to shale at the exploration stage.

We have already reduced unnecessary duplication in the regulatory system for shale gas, clarifying and streamlining the regulation of exploration activity through the Environment Agency, including developing a single application form for permits. The average waiting time for environmental permits for onshore oil and gas is 8 to 9 weeks. We will introduce standard rules environmental permits later this year cutting permitting times for low risk activities to 2-4 weeks.

The Department of Communities and Local Government published planning guidance for onshore oil & gas projects last July, which makes clear that planning authorities when assessing applications should assume that the environmental and health and safety regulatory regimes operate effectively rather than duplicating effort.

We are also consulting on proposals designed to simplify current procedures for obtaining access to underground land. This consultation is open until the 15th August and, subject to the outcome of the consultation, could lead to legislative proposals.

02/11/2022
Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to support calorific labelling on alcoholic drinks.

Jane Ellison

Energy labelling of alcoholic drinks is regulated by the European Union. The EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation allows voluntary energy labelling for alcoholic drinks pending a European Commission report on nutrition labelling and ingredient listing on alcoholic drinks, which we expect later this year. The Government supports mandatory energy declarations, and we will continue to press for this to be included in any new legislative proposals.

02/11/2022
Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s submission to the Inter-Departmental Group for the Valuation of Life and Health review and all evidence submitted to the series of interviews with his Department’s staff conducted by researchers from the University of Leeds in 2008.

Dr Daniel Poulter

I refer my Rt. hon. Friend to the answer given on 26 June 2014, Official Report, column 283W.

02/11/2022
Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many contract or temporary employees are employed in the Older Live Cases Unit; and what proportion of the overall staff count are contract or temporary employees.

Karen Bradley

There were 208 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) temporary agency workers employed on
OLCU casework at the end of Q1 2014, this was equal to 62.7% of the overall
staff at the time. FTE means that part time employees are counted by the
proportion of full time hours they work, so that staff working half the time of
an equivalent full time colleague would count as 0.5 FTE.

02/11/2022

Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many remote sites for giving evidence in court are open in each region of England and Wales.

Mr Shailesh Vara

We must do everything we can to support vulnerable witnesses and help them give their best possible evidence to bring offenders to justice. That’s why we are trialling pre recorded cross-examination to allow young and vulnerable witnesses to give evidence away from what can be an aggressive court room atmosphere. This is on top of a range of measures to help reduce the anxiety of attending court, including giving evidence behind a screen. We will continue to explore ways we can use remote links and new technology to help witnesses give evidence from outside the court building.

The list below sets out the number of courthouses in each of the seven HMCTS Regions in England & Wales. These facilities enable any victim or witness to appear by video link from a different court location to that of the trial court; it is also possible for third party users to access the court system through a secure bridge.

HMCTS Region	Number of courthouses enabled for remote video link.
Wales	22
London	32
South East	52
South West	35
Midlands	40
North West	31
North East	37
Total	249

02/11/2022