Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Julian Brazier – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Julian Brazier – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Brazier on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what audit he has made of the performance of the Student Loans Company.

    Mr David Willetts

    Each year the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Devolved Administrations set Student Loans Company (SLC) stretching performance measures which are confirmed in an Annual Performance and Resource Agreement (APRA) letter. BIS closely monitors SLC’s performance against these measures throughout the year. Monitoring arrangements include formal quarterly reviews of SLC’s performance which are conducted by Ministers and senior officials.

    Each year the SLC publishes externally audited information on its performance in its Annual Report and Accounts. The APRA letter and SLC’s Annual Report and Accounts are available on SLC’s website: http://www.slc.co.uk/

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  • Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to disabled students’ allowances on the number of disabled students completing higher or further education.

    Mr David Willetts

    The announced changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) will be subject to a full equality analysis to determine the impact of these changes on students with protected characteristics. The equality analysis will be given full consideration before regulations are laid before the House.

    These changes will apply to all full-time, full-time distance learning, part-time and postgraduate students in higher education applying for DSA for the first time from the 2015/16 academic year. DSAs are not available to further education students, as the Government provides Learning Support funding to further education colleges and providers to help meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2014-04-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Treasury received in VAT charged on ebooks in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

    Mr David Gauke

    No reliable estimate has been possible for the value of VAT levied on the sale of e-books purchased in 2012‑13 and 2013-14.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2014, Official Report, column 56W, on families: disadvantaged, what criteria his Department uses for assessing whether a family has been turned around.

    Kris Hopkins

    As set out in my answer to the hon. Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) on 2 December 2013, Official Report, column 556W, the criteria used by local authorities to determine whether a family is deemed turned around are published in the Financial Framework for the Troubled Families Programme’s Payment by Results Scheme. This can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-troubled-families-programme-financial-framework

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  • Vernon Coaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Vernon Coaker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force personnel of each rank have been in breach of their harmony guidelines in each year since 2010.

    Anna Soubry

    The “Harmony Guidelines” are used by the Services to strike a balance between deployment, training and time with families. Individual Harmony Guidelines (IHG) are different for the three Services, equating to no more than 660 days away from home over a rolling three year period for the Naval Service, no more than 415 days away in a 30 month rolling period for the Army and no more than 280 days away over in the previous 24 months for the Royal Air Force.

    The tables below show the information available in respect of breaches of harmony guidelines, by percentage in each year, by rank, since 2010 to the latest date available (1 January 2014 for the RAF or 1 March 2014 for the Naval Service and the Army).

  • Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sharon Hodgson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what advice he has received from the UK Statistics Authority on the required rate of return of Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service satisfaction surveys for younger children between the ages of five and eight before a reliable satisfaction figure may be arrived at.

    Simon Hughes

    Cafcass does not carry out satisfaction surveys with the children it works with. They have other child-friendly ways of gaining feedback from children, which does include a feedback form. They have different versions of the form for children and young people. One encourages young people to write out their feedback to Cafcass in response to various questions, while the feedback form for younger children asks them to circle the feelings and emotions they have about Cafcass. These are therefore qualitative rather than quantitative. This feedback is collected and acted on at a local level rather than a national one. Complaints are monitored at a national level but addressed at the local level.

    Cafcass does not provide a return to the UK Statistics Authority; however they have published anonymised comments from feedback forms as part of their Annual Reports to draw out their direct work with children.

    Cafcass commissioned the Family Justice Young People’s Board to review the means by which Cafcass encourages feedback from the children and young people it works with. This review resulted in four recommendations which Cafcass has taken forward including ‘feedback trees’ and changes to the feedback forms.

  • Nick Raynsford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nick Raynsford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Raynsford on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Thames Water plc on (a) the change in capacity of the sewerage system in London required in consequence of (i) the Mayor of London’s revised draft housing strategy and (ii) the projected change in the population of London by 2050 and (b) the role of the Thames Tideway Tunnel in meeting demand for capacity.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Government has not held discussions with Thames Water on the details of the Mayor’s revised draft housing strategy or any change in the capacity of London’s sewerage systemrequired as a consequence of it. It is for Thames Water to take population changes into account as part of its business planning for the five-yearly price review process with Ofwat.

    However, Defra is working closely with Thames Water on enabling construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The Tunnel will significantly reduce pollution in the Tidal Thames caused by sewage overflowing into the River Thames from combined sewage overflows when there is significant rainfall. It will also ensure that London’s Victorian sewerage system, which is currently close to capacity at certain times of day, is able to meet the needs of the predicted increase in population in central London. This is set out in the economic and strategic case for the Tunnel, which can be viewed at the gov.uk website.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by the Burmese government to (a) prevent sexual violence and (b) end impunity for sexual offences allegedly committed by the Burmese military.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    During his visit to the UK last year, President Thein Sein welcomed the initiative of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), on preventing sexual violence in conflict (PSVI). We continue to encourage Burma to join 146 nations and endorse the declaration on PSVI. The launch in October 2013 of the Burmese government’s National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women (NSPAW) committed Burma “to develop and strengthen laws, systems, structures and practices to eliminate all forms of Violence Against Women and Girls and to respond to the needs of women and girls affected by violence”.

    We are clear, however, that all of these steps need to be accompanied by actions leading to real progress in Burma. We remain concerned by continued reports of sexual violence against women, including reports of crimes committed by members of the Burmese military. We regularly lobby the Burmese government on the rights of women, particularly on preventing sexual violence in conflict areas. We continue to make clear that where serious crimes have been committed, those who have perpetrated them should be held accountable for their actions. I raised the issue of sexual violence directly with senior Ministers, the Commander in Chief and the Northern Commander during my visit to Burma in January. More recently, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised the issue in a call with the Burmese Foreign Minister on 28 April.

  • David Blunkett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    David Blunkett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Blunkett on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that the work carried out under the Girls’ Education Challenge Fund is fully inclusive of girls with disabilities.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The Girls Education Challenge programme has seven projects providing over £9 million to fund disability-focused girls education projects in Uganda, Kenya and Sierra Leone.

  • Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Julie Elliott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-05-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps his Department is taking to define and safeguard quality in solar farm developments.

    Gregory Barker

    In April 2014 we published the Solar PV Strategy [1], which set out the principle that Solar PV should be: appropriately sited, give proper weight to environmental considerations such as landscape and visual impact, heritage and local amenity, and provide opportunities for local communities to influence decisions that affect them and gain some form of community benefit.

    The Solar Trade Association has produced “10 Commitments” for solar farm developers [2], and the National Solar Centre has produced its best practice guide for large scale solar PV development [3]. DECC will continue to work with industry through the Strategy Working Group to promote industry best-practice.

    [1]

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/302049/uk_solar_pv_strategy_part_2.pdf

    [2] http://www.solar-trade.org.uk/media/STA%2010%20commitments%20v%2010.pdf

    [3] http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/pdf/other_pdfs/KN5524_Planning_Guidance_reduced.pdf

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