Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that senior Lord’s Resistance Army commanders are gathered in the north-east of the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

    Baroness Warsi

    We have not been able to assess the veracity of reports that senior members of the Lord’s Resistance Army are gathered in the north-east of the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, we are aware of reports that local authorities in south-eastern CAR have been in contact with a contingent of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who have expressed an interest in surrendering.

    The British Government condemns in the strongest possible terms the atrocities carried out by the LRA. Although much reduced in numbers, the LRA remains an unprincipled, violent threat to civilians in the heart of Africa. The UK has consistently promoted a co-ordinated regional and international approach to defeating the LRA. We continue to encourage the UN and African Union to implement their counter-LRA strategies in full and bring Kony to justice.

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Trefgarne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the present arrangements for the protection of patients’ private medical information by general practitioners.

    Earl Howe

    General practitioner (GP) practices are individually responsible for ensuring that they comply with legal and ethical requirements and central guidance in relation to data protection and patient confidentiality. A majority of GP practices in England provide assurance that they do so by completing annual assessments of their compliance against information governance requirements through the National Health Service Information Governance Toolkit, and the results of these assessments are publicly available.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve support for children and adults with dyspraxia, a form of developmental co-ordination disorder.

    Earl Howe

    It is for local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to assess the needs of the local populations they serve. CCGs work with their local providers to gain an understanding of the nature of local provision, and the part it should play in their future commissioning plans.

    The Children and Families Act has introduced new arrangements for supporting young people with a special educational need and disability, including dyspraxia, and their families. A single assessment involving professionals and commissioners, and the child’s family, will identify the care needs for the child or young person (from ages 0 to 25) to inform an individual Education, Health and Care Plan focusing on outcomes and the integrated services to deliver them.

    The Government is committed to ensuring all children and young people should be supported to achieve their best, regardless of their disability or circumstances. The new special educational needs and disability (SEND) Code of Practice due to come into force in September, sets out clear guidance for educational settings on the process for appropriate identifying, assessing and securing further support for children with SEND which can include those with dyspraxia. Through the Code we are ensuring all educational settings have arrangements in place for monitoring the progress of all pupils and responding quickly to their needs.

    Chapter 6 of the draft Code of Practice makes specific reference to dyspraxia amongst examples of conditions that educational settings should be aware of when planning SEND provisions.

  • Lord Addington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Addington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Addington on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of cost is normally allowed for computers and software in one individual allocation of the Disabled Students’ Allowance.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Computers and software are drawn from the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) specialist equipment allowance where a student has been assessed to receive these items. Other items that can be drawn from this allowance include certain items of specialist ergonomic equipment. For the 2013/14 academic year, the maximum amount available to a student from this allowance for the whole course is £5,212 for full time and part time students. There is one single DSA allowance of £10,362 for postgraduate students, from which computers and software can be drawn.

  • Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 14 May (WA 511), and in the light of the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 8 April (WA 267) stating that they do not support eugenic practices in the United Kingdom, why they have no definitions of what these practices might be.

    Earl Howe

    The Government does not support eugenic practices. It is not considered helpful to interpret the term ‘eugenic practices’ other than by reference to its ordinarily understood meaning. Any attempt at a working definition would risk the unintentional exclusion of practices whose unacceptability is no less great than that of practices captured by such a definition.

    As previously stated, in the United Kingdom, the complex nature of devolved responsibilities in this range of policy areas has delayed consideration of full ratification. In the meantime, the UK continues to take an active role in Council of Europe negotiations and development of relevant protocols.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether his Department makes funding available for onshore windfarm operators to place cables underground between the windfarm and the connecting sub-station.

    Michael Fallon

    The Department does not make specific funding available to generators for placing their cables underground. However, network infrastructure costs have been factored into Government decisions on levels of support for onshore windfarms such as the Renewables Obligation.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will publish a list of all consultancy groups and sub-contractors used by her Department on the Bost Agri-Business and Airfield projects in Afghanistan.

    Justine Greening

    The Bost industrial business park proposal was originally approved by officials in 2009 at a time when Ministers did not approve spend under £40m. In 2012 it became clear that the project could no longer be completed within the original timeframe and in good order. To avoid wasting taxpayers’ money I decided that UK funding for the project should be cancelled. The completed park designs have been handed over to the Afghan authorities to enable them to pursue the project over a revised time frame. DFID’s work on Bost Airfield was completed in November 2013.

    The following consultancy groups were paid directly by DFID on the Bost Airfield and Business Park programme:

    Coffey International

    Crown Agents

    Mott Macdonald

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people with cases before (a) civil and (b) criminal courts received legal aid in (i) England and (ii) York in each year since 1995.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The amount spent on (a) civil and (b) criminal legal aid in (i) cash (i.e. net of operating receipts) and (ii) real terms in each of the last 20 years was provided by way of a written response on 18 June 2013 to the hon. Member for York Central’s Parliamentary Question 160682.

    The Legal Aid Agency does not record the number of people who receive legal aid. Instead it records the number of ‘acts of assistance’. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person. As the categorisation of legal aid has changed over the last 20 years, acts of assistance relating to representation in court cannot be accurately compared over time. The total acts of assistance relating to civil and criminal cases from 1995 onwards were provided by way of a written response on 18 June 2013 to the hon. Member for York Central’s Parliamentary Question 160683.

    With regard to the breakdowns requested for England and York, to extract the information requested from the Legal Aid Agency’s IT Systems would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much capital funding the Government allocated to (a) York College, (b) Askham Bryan College, (c) the University of York and (d) York St John University in each year since 1995-96.

    Mr David Willetts

    The capital funding allocated by this Department and its predecessor departments to York College, the University of York and the University of York St John in each year between 1992 and 2000 is not readily available. However, the capital allocations for each of the institutions named since 2000/01 is in the attached table.

  • David Mowat – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    David Mowat – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mowat on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of applicants from the Borough of Warrington passed their driving test in each year since 2007.

    Stephen Hammond

    The information requested is in the table below.

    Year

    Candidates

    Passed

    % Passed

    2007

    15,799

    7,734

    49%

    2008

    15,530

    7,727

    50%

    2009

    13,359

    6,675

    50%

    2010

    13,340

    6,584

    49%

    2011

    13,130

    6,533

    50%

    2012

    12,125

    6,332

    52%

    2013

    12,200

    6,433

    53%

    Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency systems do not hold specific data for the Borough of Warrington. The data in the table above reflects the number of practical test candidates who registered a WA postcode at the time of booking the test.