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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Doughty – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on (a) television, (b) newspaper, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising using the phrase Armed Forces Reserves in the last 24 months.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    Recruiting to the Armed Forces, including the Reserves, is carried out by the single Services and is supported by single Service advertising. The expenditure figures for advertising by means of the various media stated are commercially sensitive. Details of the overall single Services’ spend on Reserves advertising in Financial Year (FY) 2013-14 and their budgets for 2014-15 are publishable and were provided in response to Question 215731 on 1 December 2014, reproduced below.

    During financial year (FY) 2013-14, the total cost of the Maritime Reserves’ recruitment advertising was £2.16 million. The Maritime Reserves’ budget for Reserves recruitment advertising in FY 2014-15 is £2.96 million.

    The Army’s ‘More Than Meets The Eye’ recruiting campaign is designed to attract applications to both the Regular and Reserve components of the Army. The cost of the Reserve element of the campaign is, therefore, an estimate based on a 50% share of the overall campaign cost.

    During FY 2013-14, the Army estimates that the cost of advertising for Army Reserve recruitment was £1.882 million. The projected share of the budget to be spent on Army Reserve recruitment advertising in FY 2014-15 is £3.8 million.

    During FY 2013-14, the total cost of the RAF’s Reserve recruitment advertising was £2.52 million. In 2014-15, the RAF’s budget for Reserves specific recruitment advertising is £2.14 million.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of Morocco’s compliance with the (a) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (b) Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and (c) Convention on the Rights of the Child.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We recognise and support Morocco’s international commitment to adhere to the standards laid down in these universal human rights documents. There has been notable progress on human rights in Morocco. In particular, we welcome their ratification of the Optional Protocol for the Convention against Torture in December 2014.

  • Menzies Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Menzies Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Menzies Campbell on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Malaysia on the conviction on 9 February 2015 of Anwar Ibrahim; when he next plans to visit that country; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I visited Malaysia from 25-26 February and met the Malaysian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, YB Dato’ Hamzah Zainudin, as well as a number of other Malaysian Ministers. I repeated the points made in my statement of 10 February, the day the judgement of Anwar Ibrahim was announced, in which I made clear my concern at the Malaysian Federal Court’s decision to uphold his conviction for sodomy. I also met Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, Vice President of opposition party PKR, during my visit.

    I have previously raised my concerns about the case with the Malaysian High Commissioner, on 4 December. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), also raised this issue when he met Malaysia’s Foreign Minister on 9 December. Officials from our High Commission in Malaysia have discussed the matter with Malaysian ministers and officials on several occasions, and officials from the High Commission observed the trial alongside other local diplomatic missions.

  • Wayne David – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Wayne David – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Wayne David on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve diagnosis of hepatic encephalopathy.

    Jane Ellison

    Hepatic encephalopathy is an important end stage complication of liver disease. Monitoring at a national level is difficult because there is no specific code in the 10th edition of the International Classification of Diseases system (ICD10). The ICD10 guide recommends that patients with hepatic encephalopathy are classified as K72.9; hepatic failure, un-specified. Public Health England is working on raising the profile of hepatic encephalopathy with the Lancet Commission.

  • Ronnie Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ronnie Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Campbell on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many agency nurses were employed by Northumbria Healthcare between 2011 and 2013.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Department does not collect data on numbers of agency nurses working in the National Health Service.

    We have written to Brian Flood, Chair of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, informing him of the hon. Member’s enquiry. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that the disability benefits regime takes into account the symptoms of multiple sclerosis which are sometimes hidden.

    Mr Mark Harper

    Eligibility for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not based on the type of health condition or impairment an individual may have but the impact it has on their everyday life or their capability for work.

    Individuals making a claim for these benefits are assessed by Healthcare Professionals who must complete comprehensive training in disability assessment, including fluctuating conditions; they have their work regularly audited and are required to keep their continuing professional education up to date.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total value of contracts her Department has with private sector providers was in each of the last five years for which records are available.

    Karen Bradley

    Details of contracts above the value of £10,000 awarded to private sector
    providers are published on the Contracts Finder website,
    www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk .

    The total value of contracts the Home Office has with private sector providers
    in each of the years for which records are available is as follows:

    Financial Year Aggregated Spend against contracts with private sector providers

    2009/10 Data Not Available
    2010/11 £2.45 billion
    2011/12 £2.40 billion
    2012/13 £2.13 billion
    2013/14 £1.99 billion

    The aggregated spend data provided shows a reduction in private
    sector contract spend of £460 million since 2010-11.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who the members are of each local magistrate advisory board.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    I have interpreted ‘Local magistrate advisory boards’ to mean Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, the bodies responsible for recruiting and selecting magistrates in England and Wales.

    To enable their work to be informed by a range of knowledge and experience, Advisory Committees are composed of both magistrates and non-magistrates. At least one third of each Committee’s members should be non-magistrates.

    The attached table contains the names of each Committee’s members and indicates which of those members are magistrates.

  • Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the performance of Govia in operating the Thameslink franchise.

    Claire Perry

    The Department’s senior officials attend four weekly meetings with the train operators senior management team, where all aspects of performance under the franchise agreement can be scrutinised and challenged. In terms of Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR’s) delivery of services to passengers, while operational performance on its Great Northern route is robust, performance on its Thameslink route has been poor.

    Ministers and officials have held a number of meetings with Network Rail, GTR and the Office of Rail Regulation to discuss the poor performance on the Thameslink route. This has resulted in GTR and Network Rail publishing a high level improvement plan on their websites which sets out the actions they are taking to turn things around. They have also committed to updating the plan by the end of February with specific commitments on the outputs that will be delivered. Furthermore, the Department has secured a commitment that Network Rail and GTR shall provide a monthly report on progress towards their committed outputs and publish this on their websites, so that passengers have transparency on what is being delivered.

    The Government is determined to hold GTR and Network Rail to account for the delivery of their joint initiatives to improve Thameslink performance and, ultimately, provide the levels of service that passengers deserve.

  • Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps in the invitation to tender for the Northern Rail and TransPennine Express franchises to ensure that there is always a second person on the train in addition to the driver.

    Claire Perry

    The Department does not specify the numbers of staff or how they should be deployed, as this is something that the operators are much better placed to understand and manage than we are.

    Train operating companies have to abide by all appropriate health and safety requirements.