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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much in budgeting loans was spent in each region of the UK in each of the last six years.

    Steve Webb

    Table 1 provides the Budgeting Loan expenditure in each region of Great Britain in the financial years from 2008/09 to 2013/14.

    Information regarding annual expenditure for Social Fund schemes in Northern Ireland is a matter for Northern Ireland office and is not included in the figures below. Figures are therefore given for Great Britain and not the United Kingdom.

    Table 1: Budgeting Loan expenditure by region between 2008/09 and 2013/14

    Budgeting Loan Expenditure per Region (£ million)

    2008/09

    2009/10

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    East of England

    28.4

    30.3

    27.9

    29.1

    30.0

    27.6

    East Midlands

    30.4

    34.8

    33.1

    33.2

    34.2

    30.5

    London

    64.0

    64.9

    58.9

    57.5

    54.0

    47.7

    North East

    31.2

    34.3

    31.9

    32.6

    33.8

    31.2

    North West

    69.6

    72.4

    65.1

    65.3

    69.0

    62.8

    Scotland

    49.0

    51.9

    48.5

    48.3

    49.2

    44.5

    South East

    36.3

    38.1

    36.6

    37.1

    37.7

    33.7

    South West

    24.6

    27.1

    23.9

    23.5

    23.3

    21.3

    Wales

    28.7

    30.8

    27.9

    27.8

    28.3

    26.9

    West Midlands

    49.1

    53.1

    49.3

    48.5

    48.7

    45.3

    Yorkshire and the Humber

    43.5

    44.4

    43.0

    44.6

    47.1

    44.7

    Total

    454.9

    482.3

    445.9

    447.5

    455.3

    416.3

    Notes

    1. The information provided is (internal)Management Information. Our preference is to answer all Parliamentary Questions using Official / National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official / National statistics, nor does it include the same depth of information. For example the MI does not include expenditure on applications which were processed clerically and have not been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System.

    2. All figures have been rounded to the nearest £100,000. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment she has made of the contribution of sports-related tourism to the economy of Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    Northern Ireland has organised a number of world class sporting events which bring huge benefits, for tourism and the economy (sometimes providing a return against investment of 5:1) as well as also encouraging people to participate in sport.

    The return of the Irish Open to Royal Portrush in 2012 for the first time since 1953 attracted some 130,000 spectators and was beamed into 350m households. Golf tourism is particularly valuable as it contributes more to the economy with the average spend per trip being £300-£450 compared to the other visitors to Northern Ireland who spend some £188 per trip. I look forward to Northern Ireland hosting the Irish Open again in 2015 at Royal County Down and 2017 at the Lough Erne Resort which was also the location for the 2013 G8 summit.

    The World Police and Fire Games in 2013 (the third biggest sporting event in the world) brought a direct economic boost of £7.34 million to the Northern Ireland economy. It has been reported that this figure could rise to £25m once longer-term benefits to the tourist industry resulting from return visits, the positive media coverage received for Northern Ireland internationally and future international events that will come as a result of the games, are included.

    I am advised for example, that one corporate sponsor of the WPFG decided to locate its international conference in Northern Ireland instead of another location in Europe directly as a result of the success of the Games.

    It is estimated that the Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia cycle race that commences in Belfast on 9 May (and featuring 200 riders from over 30 different countries and their technical teams and sponsors) will be seen by 775m people in 174 countries. The Giro d’Italia is expected to attract 140,000 visitors to Northern Ireland and generate £2.5m of economic activity and £10m worth of worldwide media publicity as it showcases the stunning scenery of Northern Ireland to the world.

  • David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many complaints about abortion clinics were made to the Care Quality Commission in the last 12 months.

    Jane Ellison

    This information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    Responsibility for investigating specific complaints about providers lies with other bodies; however the Care Quality Commission uses comments and correspondence from the public to inform its inspection and other regulatory functions.

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how often powers in the Child Support Information Regulations 2008 to require suppliers of gas and electricity to (a) provide the Child Support Agency with information to confirm the whereabouts of a non-resident parent and (b) obtain account information to assist enforcement action to recover child maintenance arrears have been used to date.

    Steve Webb

    The powers available within Section 4(1) of the Child Support Information Regulations 2008 are used as part of the normal trace process available to caseworkers when required. However, this information is not routinely recorded for management information purposes. To provide this would require the creation of new information, which could only be completed and appropriately assured at a disproportionate cost.

  • Diane Abbott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Diane Abbott – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diane Abbott on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that zero-hour contracts are not used in an exploitative manner.

    Jenny Willott

    My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills launched a consultation on proposals to tackle abuses in the use of zero hours contracts. The consultation was launched on 19 December 2013, closed on 13 March 2014 and received over 30,000 responses.

    The Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.

  • Andrew Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with Israeli authorities on discrimination against UK citizens of Palestinian or Arab origin by Israeli border control.

    Hugh Robertson

    Our Embassy in Tel Aviv raises complaints where British nationals appear to have been subjected to differential treatment by Israeli border control on the basis of their race or ethnicity with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what level of assistance has been offered by UK personnel in efforts to locate the missing Malaysian airliner MH370.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The search for the missing Malaysian Airliner MH370 is an extremely difficult and complex operation. The UK has made a number of contributions to the investigation and search for MH370. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch has appointed an accredited representative and an advisor to assist in the investigation, and representatives from Rolls Royce and Inmarsat also provided initial support. Experts from the UK Ministry of Defence, the Hydrographic Office, and the Met Office, have also co-operated with Malaysia and other international partners to analyse available data to help locate the aircraft.

    In addition, the UK deployed submarine HMS Tireless and survey vessel HMS Echo to support the search effort for a signal from MH370’s black box. With the Australian command assessing that there is no prospect of further acoustic detections associated with the aircraft’s black box, HMS Tireless and HMS Echo have been stood down. RAF personnel have also participated in Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force operations to search for wreckage of MH370.

    The Air Accidents Investigations Branch, working as part of an international team, continues to give its full support to the investigation and to share its expertise and analysis with the Malaysian authorities and international partners.

  • William Bain – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    William Bain – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Bain on 2014-04-30.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which meetings or telephone calls have taken place between Ministers and officials in his Department and (a) the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, (b) BlackRock, (c) Capital Research, (d) Fidelity Worldwide, (e) GIC, (f) Henderson, (g) JP Morgan, (h) Kuwait Investment Office, (i) Lansdowne Partners, (j) Lazard Asset Management, (k) Och Ziff, Schroders, (l) Soros, (m) Standard Life, (n) Third Point and (o) Threadneedle since 2010 and what was discussed in any such discussions.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

    Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

    Details of officials’ meetings with external organisations are not held centrally and it would entail disproportionate cost to collate this information.

    “

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what average extra costs are incurred by disabled people as a result of their disability.

    Mike Penning

    We do not hold current information on the extra costs incurred by disabled people as a result of their disability.

  • John Woodcock – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Woodcock – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Woodcock on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of the 20 per cent most disadvantaged two year olds who are currently taking up their free childcare place.

    Elizabeth Truss

    In February 2014, local authorities reported that around 103,000 two-year-olds were already accessing a funded early learning place. Of these, around 95,000 were from the 20% most disadvantaged cohort, which represents 73%.