Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether Israeli military action during Operation Protective Edge has complied with its international legal obligations.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have not yet made a full assessment. We continue to monitor events in Gaza and Israel carefully and call on all sides to ensure that their actions are in line with International Humanitarian Law. International Humanitarian Law requires all sides to distinguish between military and civilian targets and enable unhindered humanitarian access. It is vital that all actions are proportionate, in line with International Humanitarian Law and are calibrated to avoid any further civilian casualties.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many beds in each UK spinal cord injury centre have been ring fenced for the treatment of spinal cord injured readmissions or outpatients in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England’s Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) service specification clearly sets out what providers must have in place to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. It sets a core requirement that each specialised SCI Centre (SCIC) can demonstrate they have a minimum of 20 beds dedicated exclusively for the treatment and rehabilitation of SCI patients. Specialised SCI Services encompass all activity for SCI patients provided by the host trust of the SCIC, including any readmission or attendance for SCI-related care, wherever the treatment is located in the trust. A copy of the specification can be found at the following link:

    www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/d13-spinal-cord-0414.pdf

    NHS England is aware that a number of beds in one ward at Stoke Mandeville spinal injuries unit are being used as escalation beds by medical specialties to assist with patient flow. It is planned for these beds to re-open as specialist spinal beds from September 2014.

  • Graham Brady – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Graham Brady – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the UK contribution to the World Health Organisation budget is counted towards the Government’s target of contributing 0.7 per cent of gross national product to international development.

    Jane Ellison

    The total World Health Organization (WHO) revenue for 2013 was $2614 million; the United Kingdom contributed $312.2 million of that, which represented 11.9% of the WHO’s budget. The UK total contribution comprised of $30.7 million, assessed contributions and $281.5 million, voluntary contributions. This is around 185 million in sterling. The total UK contribution to WHO in 2013 also includes funding to WHO hosted partnerships such as Stop TB partnership, partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, and Roll Back Malaria partnership.

    All of this UK funding contributes to the Government’s 0.7% international development target.

  • Thomas Docherty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Thomas Docherty – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thomas Docherty on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, columns 176-7W, on computer software, what estimate the Commission has made of the (a) average and (b) aggregate amount of time spent by (i) hon. Members, (ii) Members’ staff and (iii) others in migrating to Office 365.

    John Thurso

    (a) Parliamentary ICT (PICT) estimates that, following the migration of a user’s mailbox to Microsoft 365, it takes the user’s computer (laptop or PC) an average of five minutes to reconfigure Outlook.

    It can take a user an average of approximately five minutes to reconfigure a mobile device – other than a BlackBerry – that uses ActiveSync to connect to parliamentary email. Following that reconfiguration, it can take up to a maximum of 60 minutes for the device automatically to re-connect to parliamentary email.

    BlackBerry devices need to be physically reconfigured by PICT, and this process can take over an hour – the length of time is linked to the age and model of the device. Furthermore, it takes longer to reconfigure a personal BlackBerry device than a BlackBerry issued by PICT. PICT has issued 92 BlackBerry devices for use by hon. Members and their staff to access parliamentary email.

    (b) It is not possible to provide a figure for the aggregate time taken to reconfigure the above devices because more than one device can be reconfigured at the same time.

  • John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    John McDonnell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John McDonnell on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons the hardware and software providers in the new contract for electronic monitoring of offenders have been separated.

    Andrew Selous

    We divided the provision of electronic monitoring into discrete components, separating the supply of hardware and software, and competed these as separate lots because we consider this approach most likely to support the development and deployment of the best technology. This strategy also had the advantage of encouraging the participation of new entrants, SMEs and specialist companies, allowing them to bid for a particular component rather than the entire end-to-end service.

  • Peter Bone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    Peter Bone – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Leader of the House, how many programme motions were proposed in each year since the introduction of such motions; and how many such motions were agreed to.

    Mr William Hague

    No records of the number of programme motions moved each year are maintained and this information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. In the last ten years, every programme motion that has been moved has been agreed to.

  • Kate Hoey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kate Hoey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many of the existing franchise agreements between his Department and train operating companies contain punctuality targets for timetabled passenger services; what the target is in each case; and what the penalties are for missing such a target.

    Claire Perry

    6 existing franchise agreements contain punctuality targets for timetabled passenger services.

    The targets are in the franchise agreements, which are published online by the Department for Transport at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-register-of-rail-passenger-franchise-agreements. The associated contractual payments are commercially confidential.

    “

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Youth Contract wage incentive payments made since April 2012 have related to work activity of (a) over 30 hours’ duration and (b) between 16 to 29 hours’ duration per week.

    Esther McVey

    The information is not available.

  • Andrew Bingham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Bingham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the financial advantages enjoyed by larger companies in preventing their marketing and promotional emails from being blocked by servers.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Department has not made an assessment regarding this issue.

    If there is evidence that treating emails in this manner is driving anti-competitive behaviour by companies, this should be referred to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s independent competition authority, for consideration.

  • Fiona Mactaggart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Fiona Mactaggart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2014-07-15.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what average length of time was taken to provide individual taxpayers with refunds of overpaid tax in (a) the most recent year for which figures are available and (b) the preceding four years.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) refunds tax to individual customers for different types of taxes throughout the year. HMRC endeavours to refund tax as soon as practicable after they identify tax is to be refunded.