The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what total amount his Department has spent on consultant fees relating to the Intercity Express Programme to date.
Claire Perry
From 2005 to October 2009, £21m was spent. Since then further spend has been incurred taking the total as at February 2015 to £46m.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2015-02-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what arrangements are in place in his Department to manage potential conflicts of interest of civil servants in relation to their previous employment.
Claire Perry
There are a number of arrangements in place; including the Civil Service Code, which refers to an individual’s integrity in putting the obligations of public service above their own personal interests and forms part of the contractual relationship between a Civil Servant and their employer.
Contracts of employment issued to a new member of staff also refer to the subject of Conduct and conflict of interest:
‘As a Civil Servant you are required to conduct yourself in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Code, a copy of which is available within the Staff Handbook. It is essential that you are, and are seen to be, honest and impartial in the discharge of your duties. You must not allow your judgement or integrity to be compromised in fact or by reasonable implication. The detailed requirements governing the avoidance of conflicts of interest, the receipt of gifts and hospitality and the standards of conduct expected of you are set out in the Staff Handbook.’
Any Civil Servant who does not adhere to the Civil Service code is liable to disciplinary action including the possibility of dismissal.
In addition, applicants are required to declare previous employment on job applications, so recruiting line managers will be aware of potential conflicts of interest. If a role requires security clearance, then an additional independent check is conducted as part of the security checking process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2015-02-20.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of people were earning the minimum wage in each ethnic group in each of the last five years; and what proportion of people earning the minimum wage were in each ethnic group in each of the last five years.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his Department’s training budget was in each of the last three financial years.
Mr Francis Maude
We want to ensure that the Civil Service is ready to meet the challenges of the twenty first century.
Through our programme of Civil Service Reform the Government is working to address long-standing weaknesses in four key skills areas: commercial, programme and project delivery, digital delivery, and leading and managing change across the Civil Service.
Civil Servants are encouraged to take at least five days learning a year but the key point is to ensure that civil servants have the particular skills they need to do their jobs well. The Functional Heads, most of whom report to the Chief Executive of the Civil Service, will set the learning curricula for their functions.
Most learning is now provided by Civil Service Learning.
Complete central records are not held on the number of days training, training budgets or training expenditure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average number of days training of full-time equivalent staff employed in his Department was in each of the last three financial years.
Kris Hopkins
DCLG does not centrally collate details of the number of days training undertaken. To collate this information would incur disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Harvey on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when construction work on Box A of Project Pegasus at the Atomic Weapons Establishment started.
Mr Philip Dunne
Pegasus is the replacement Highly Enriched Uranium component manufacturing and storage facility, and forms part of the Government’s programme of investment in the Atomic Weapons Establishment sites.
Preparatory work on Box A started in May 2013 and construction work began in August 2013.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment his Department has made of the resources needed by local authorities to enforce a minimum energy efficiency standard for the private rented sector.
Amber Rudd
Section 8.1.3 of the policy’s final stage impact assessment contains information regarding the Department’s assessment of resources required by local authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Hollingbery on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) time taken and (b) cost of dredging operations undertaken by the Environment Agency was in the (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14 financial years in each operational area; and what the expected benefits of such operations were.
Dan Rogerson
Dredging is not identified as a separate category within the Environment Agency’s budget allocations or work recording systems, as it is often carried out at the same time as other channel activities. It is included within the broader category of ‘conveyance’ on which the Environment Agency spent around £45 million and £32 million in total in 2012/13 and 2013/14 respectively. The Environment Agency carries out conveyance work, including dredging, where it cost effectively reduces flood risk to people and property. The Environment Agency estimate that, on average, conveyance work provides about £7 of reduced flood damages for every pound spent. Dredging can provide other benefits, such as land drainage and navigation.
The funding spent on conveyance in each operational Environment Agency area was:
|
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
|
|
Environment Agency Area |
Total Allocated (£M) |
Total Allocated (£M) |
|
Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire |
1.03 |
0.56 |
|
Cumbria and Lancashire |
3.77 |
1.75 |
|
Derbyshire Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire |
2.31 |
2.27 |
|
Devon and Cornwall |
2.77 |
1.31 |
|
Essex Norfolk and Suffolk |
3.96 |
1.07 |
|
Greater Manchester Merseyside and Cheshire |
4.41 |
4.47 |
|
Hertfordshire and North London |
4.48 |
3.40 |
|
Kent and South London |
3.95 |
3.12 |
|
Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire |
3.26 |
2.86 |
|
Northumberland Durham and Tees |
1.11 |
1.73 |
|
Shropshire Herefordshire Worcestershire and Gloucestershire |
1.07 |
1.39 |
|
Solent and South Downs |
2.01 |
2.10 |
|
Staffordshire Warwickshire and West Midlands |
1.27 |
1.42 |
|
Wessex |
2.01 |
1.38 |
|
West Thames |
4.12 |
1.60 |
|
Yorkshire |
3.43 |
1.82 |
|
Grand Total |
44.95 |
32.27 |
We do not hold information on the time it took for each of the dredging operations to be undertaken.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage respect for freedoms of religion, association and speech in Niger.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Freedom of expression and freedom of religion and belief continue to be important human rights priorities for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
We were concerned by recent attacks on churches and other buildings in Niger following protests against the publication of the Charlie Hebdo magazine. FCO officials recently met religious groups to discuss these incidents.
We will continue to monitor the situation in Niger closely, both bilaterally and through our international partners such as the European Union and the United Nations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2015-02-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the total amount spent from government sources on research into (a) stroke, (b) cancer and (c) coronary heart disease.
George Freeman
Spend on research funded directly by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is categorised by Health Research Classification System health categories. NIHR expenditure on research infrastructure and systems where spend cannot be attributed to health categories is excluded. In 2013/14, the NIHR spent £26.3 million in the category ‘stroke’, £129.9 million in the category ‘cancer’, and £46.3 million in the category ‘cardiovascular’ (including coronary heart disease – CHD).
Research Councils UK has provided the following information on expenditure in 2013/14.
£000s
|
Stroke |
Cancer |
CHD |
|
|
Arts and Humanities Research Council |
– |
34 |
– |
|
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
323 |
10,269 |
1,829 |
|
Economic and Social Research Council |
1,376 |
2,177 |
1,205 |
|
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
– |
– |
– |
|
Medical Research Council (MRC) |
4,140 |
79,900 |
26,300 |
|
Natural Environment Research Council |
– |
– |
– |
|
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) |
– |
395 |
– |
The BBSRC does not fund research directly relating to understanding/treating specific human diseases. The underpinning health research that the BBSRC supports seeks to provide a better understanding of what makes a healthy biological system – and the key moderators of this health (both positive and negative) – and also informs strategies to help maintain resilient health across the life-course and reduce the risk of emergence of diseases typically associated with age-related health decline. In the context of stroke/cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer this may include basic bioscience of angiogenesis/tissue repair, inflammation, cell cycle/signalling/molecular transport, and immune system functioning, and how these processes operate and are influenced (e.g. by genetics and environmental factors such as diet and exercise) across the lifecourse. The BBSRC figures provided are based on examples where specific linkages can be made from the basic bioscience to potential applicability to stroke/CVD and cancer research, but there will be a wider body of more indirectly linked bioscience that may also contribute to developing important baseline understanding.
The EPSRC invested £59 million in 2013/14 in research to develop new technologies that have applications across healthcare from diagnosis and treatment to rehabilitation, and also supports a much wider portfolio of research that underpins advances in medical science. The EPSRC supports basic research which delivers new techniques and technologies, ultimately delivering solutions that underpin the healthcare and life sciences sector, including the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries and the National Health Service. Around 25% of the £4 billion EPSRC portfolio is of relevance to healthcare and the life sciences.
MRC cancer research expenditure shown in the table is taken from National Cancer Research Institute data for 2013.
In addition to the expenditure shown in the table, the STFC also makes support available through its large facilities. For instance, cancer-related research is carried out using ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) in support of the University of Liverpool, who have an EPSRC grant. The grant pays the marginal staff cost and the running cost of the ALICE facility.
In 2013/14 Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency has invested in research concerning stroke, cancer and CHD. The following table details spend for each condition. Figures include research into detection technologies and post-surgery therapies.
£000s
|
Stroke |
Cancer |
CHD |
|
|
Innovate UK |
972 |
18,728 |
345 |