UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Charles Walker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Charles Walker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Solicitors Regulation Authority is continuing to endorse the Law Society practice note on Sharia succession rules; and whether such an endorsement is compatible with the SRA’s obligations under the Equality Act 2010; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Sharia law has no jurisdiction in England and Wales and the Government has no intention to change this position.

    The legal profession is independent of Government and is regulated by approved regulators for which the Legal Services Board has oversight responsibility. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society, the approved regulator for solicitors under the Legal Services Act 2007. The SRA has advised that its recent guidance issued on the drafting and preparation of wills relates to conduct issues concerning the drafting and preparation of wills, rather than their content. At the end of that guidance, reference was made and links attached to other sources of information, amongst which was a link to the practice note issued by the Law Society. The SRA advise that such references are regularly attached to their guidance and are not an endorsement of their content. The SRA advise that the reference to the Law Society practice note has now been removed from the appendix to its guidance note.

  • Iain Wright – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Iain Wright – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission about inclusion of the glass manufacturing industry in Annex II to the Certain State aid measures in the context of the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme post-2012; and if he will make a statement.

    Matthew Hancock

    BIS Ministers have met with the European Competition Commissioner and have argued the case for including parts of the glass and ceramics sector as well as the cement sector in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and Carbon Price Floor compensation, highlighting the issues of competitiveness.

    The Government understands fully concerns about the impact of the these guidelines on UK companies in these sectors and will be engaging further with the Commission to seek a review of the list of eligible sectors to include other energy intensive industries in the compensation schemes in the future.

  • Andrew Bingham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andrew Bingham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

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

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to reduce the bureaucracy required to apply for a new mortgage.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently put in place new regulations for mortgages in the UK, known as the ‘Mortgage Market Review’ (MMR). The MMR is a matter for the FCA, whose day-to-day operations are independent from government control and influence.

  • Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lyn Brown on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the annual administrative costs of the firefighters pension scheme 1992 and the new firefighters pension scheme 2006.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Firefighters’ Pension Schemes are administered locally by individual fire and rescue authorities. No assessment has been made of the administrative costs of the schemes by this Department.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Mark Pritchard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold discussions with the major auction houses on the sale of stolen antiquities from conflict areas and the links between the proceeds of such sales and the funding of terrorism.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    I have no current plans to hold discussions with the major auction houses, nor has the Government recently discussed the sale of conflict antiquities with them. The Government believes that regulating trade in antiquities is primarily the responsibility of the art and antiquities trade itself. The established trade associations possess codes of ethics by which they expect their members to abide and we expect the associations to strictly enforce those codes. The DCMS has produced advice and guidance to help UK dealers and auction houses consider the relevant issues such as ensuring the secure provenance of cultural objects in which they deal.

    The UK takes the issue of illicit trade in cultural goods very seriously and is continuously working to combat this type of trafficking.

    The UK has legislation in place, the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, which makes it an offence to import or export objects if that is prohibited under any enactment. Once an EU Regulation prohibiting such import or export comes into force, the act becomes a UK offence. Accordingly, prohibitions on export and import of certain Syrian cultural property under Council Regulation (EU) 1332/2013 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria, have been backed up by UK offences since December 2013. These are complemented by a statutory instrument (The Export Control (Syria Sanctions) (Amendment) Order 2014) which was laid before Parliament on 18 July 2014. The prohibitions relate to the trade in certain Syrian cultural goods where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the goods were removed from Syria on or after 9 May 2011 without consent of the legitimate owner or in breach of Syrian or international law.

    The import, export and dealing in illegally removed Iraqi cultural property is prohibited under The Iraq (United Nations Sanctions) Order 2003. While not specific to war situations, the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 prohibits dealing in cultural objects illegally excavated or illegally removed from monuments or structures of historical, architectural or archaeological interest.

  • John Glen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Glen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether IGCSE qualifications will be included in 14 to 16 school performance tables after 2016.

    Mr David Laws

    We expect to make an announcement in the near future on how achievements in IGCSEs and other level 1/level 2 certificates will be reflected in key stage 4 performance tables from 2017 onwards, following the first awarding of new GCSEs.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

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

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

    Amber Rudd

    The Department has identified and recovered the whole of two duplicate supplier payments totalling £1,000 in this period.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 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.

    Dan Rogerson

    Core Defra has controls in place to prevent duplicate payments being made to suppliers. These include careful checking of each invoice against evidence of delivery and against any previous payments in respect of the relevant purchase order. External and internal audit reviews of key financial controls have found no evidence of weakness that would lead to duplicate payments. There are also regular reviews of expenditure against budgets which would quickly bring to light unexpected payments and would lead to immediate action for recovery.

    Core Defra is carrying out a Spend Recovery Audit, as part of a Cabinet Office initiative on fraud and error which we expect to conclude by Autumn 2014.

  • 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 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to implement the commitments contained in the white paper, The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature published in 2011.

    Dan Rogerson

    We have made good progress on implementing the ambitious programme of policies set out in the White Paper. Of the 92 commitments made in the White Paper, over three quarters are now assessed as “completed” and action is ongoing to deliver the remaining commitments.

    We have published a series of implementation updates on the GOV.UK website, setting out the progress that has been made towards the White Paper’s commitments, most recently in February 2014. This information can be found at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-environment-white-paper-implementation-updates.

    “

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he had with his Libyan counterparts about violence in Tripoli.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Since assuming office on 15 July, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has yet to have direct discussions with the Libyan Foreign Minister. However, through our Embassy in Tripoli, we remain in direct contact with the Libyan Government at the highest levels. We share their concern at the attacks in and around Tripoli International Airport, and condemn all actions which put lives in danger whether in the East or West of the country. We support the Libyan Government’s call for a ceasefire and urgent dialogue.