Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive about the timetable for publication of the Penrose Inquiry.

    Jane Ellison

    The timetable for Lord Penrose to complete his report and publish it, is a matter for Lord Penrose himself to decide. Lord Penrose has publicly announced that he will publish his report in the autumn of 2014, but we do not know the exact date. We are keeping in touch with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well Being of the Scottish Government.

  • John Whittingdale – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    John Whittingdale – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Whittingdale on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received about the implications of the proposed EU Package Travel Directive on insolvency protection for consumers; and if he will make a statement.

    Jenny Willott

    BIS officials are in regular contact with a variety of organisations which have a particular interest in the implications of the proposed Directive, including the elements covering insolvency protection for consumers. Those organisations are among the 42 which responded to this Department’s Call for Evidence on the Proposal for a New Directive on Package Travel and Assisted Travel Arrangements. Responses commenting on the insolvency protection proposals were received from a wide range of organisations, representing the interests of the travel trade, consumers, tourism, and legal firms.

  • Pete Wishart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Pete Wishart – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pete Wishart on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people who cancelled holidays in 2014 due to delays in passport applications.

    James Brokenshire

    Her Majesty’s Passport Office do not collect this data.

  • Nia Griffith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nia Griffith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2014-04-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of fiscal policy on the number of young people claiming jobseeker’s allowance for over 12 months since May 2010.

    Nicky Morgan

    Long-term youth unemployment is falling, the number of young people who have been claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for over a year has fallen for 17 consecutive months.

    But no young person should be left behind in the recovery. We have delivered 1.7 million apprenticeships starts so far this Parliament. We will abolish employer National Insurance contributions for under 21s which will help to support jobs for almost 1.5 million young people in employment. And we are supporting up to 500,000 young people into education and employment through the Youth Contract.

  • Michael Fabricant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Michael Fabricant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the Commission plans to modify the Parliamentary wifi system to enable automatic log-in by BlackBerry and other devices without the need to enter a username and password manually each time.

    John Thurso

    There are no immediate plans to change the current method of connection. PICT is aware of the restriction that the current arrangement places on users, and will look afresh at the authentication needed for known users of the guest Wi-Fi service, “Internet Direct”.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Berkeley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 30 April 2012 (WA 420), what is their policy on grants and state aids for harbour dredging; under which United Kingdom Government and European Union funding programmes grants are permitted; what account they take of the effect of any grant on competition with other ports in the area or region; under what circumstances grants for dredging are available for a single beneficiary which will be the main commercial beneficiary; and whether, in any application for a grant for port development, any dredging element must be identified and justified separately.

    Lord Bates

    The Government’s policy, as confirmed in the National Policy Statement for Ports, is that the ports industry in England and Wales is generally successful in funding investment, including in capital dredging, on a commercial basis without need for support from public funds. Consequently there is a general presumption against such grants, which can displace and deter private sector investment and distort competition, whether for single or multiple beneficiaries. There may, however, be occasional exceptions, as in the case of the Regional Growth Fund grant awarded for dredging in Liverpool Bay and the Mersey Estuary. This was based on an exceptional regional economic regeneration justification. In any such case, the prospective impact on competition with other ports would be taken into account during consideration of the application.

    Dredging costs, along with other port costs, could potentially be eligible for grants from European funding schemes such as the Connecting Europe Facility and Trans-European Networks – Transport (CEF/TEN-T). The Government would normally expect any grant application for UK or EU funds to show disaggregated costings, including clear identification of any dredging element that may be present.

  • Valerie Vaz – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Valerie Vaz – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Valerie Vaz on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls each such number has received in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at BT local rates are available in each such case.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    There has been a 79% fall in the Department’s use of higher-rate numbers since 2009.

    The Department has received no revenue from higher rate telephone numbers for the period under review.

    The information held centrally for the public use of (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843 telephone numbers operated (i) and (ii) sponsored by the Ministry of Justice are as follows:

    (a) 0845 numbers – 32

    (b) 0844 numbers – 2

    (c) 0843 numbers – 0

    The majority of these numbers are operated by the County Court Business Centre (CCBC).

    Information on volumes for calls to higher-rate telephone numbers for the last twelve months is not systematically collected by the service providers, and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

    Nineteen higher rate numbers in the CCBC are in the process of being replaced by 0300 numbers. The four 0845 numbers receiving the highest volumes of calls in the CCBC are being discontinued on 1 August 2014, and when enquirers call these numbers they are being advised to contact an alternative 0300 number.

    As stated in previous answers to parliamentary questions, the Department’s approach is not to use higher rate numbers and instead, wherever possible, to assign 0300 numbers, for which the tariff is similar to calling an 01 or 02 (geographic) number, whether the caller is using a fixed line or a mobile phone.

  • Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they take in concert with the United Nations and the European Union to ensure that international aid is fairly and efficiently distributed and that waste and corrupt practices are avoided.

    Lord Bates

    There is no single international system designed to coordinate the level and distribution of international aid. However, the key determinant of where donor funds are distributed is the dialogue and coordination within each recipient country which is, where possible, led by the recipient country’s government.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, which 100 wards in which town, county and constituency had the lowest turnout for voting in person at the last General Election.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not hold the data requested at ward level.

    The Commission collects electoral data at each set of polls. In nearly all cases this is collected down to the level of individual contests, which means that it only holds ward level data for local elections.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-04-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the recent medical evaluation by Dr Emily Keram of the British Guantánamo Bay detainee, Shaker Aamer, whether they will make further representations to the government of the United States concerning Mr Aamer’s release; and whether they intend to provide an amicus curiae brief in support of Mr Aamer’s motion for release, as requested by his lawyers.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    Mr Aamer’s case remains a high priority for the Government. We take Mr Aamer’s welfare very seriously and continue to make clear to the US at the highest levels that we wish to secure his release, and return to the UK, as a matter of urgency. Most recently, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), raised Mr Aamer’s case in a meeting with the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, in February this year. We are currently considering Reprieve’s request for the Government to provide an amicus curiae brief and will respond in due course.