The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-06-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s key performance indicators are for decisions that require mandatory reconsideration.
Esther McVey
There is no statutory time limit. We deliberately do not have one because each case will be considered on its merits.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with their NATO counterparts on the establishment of a NATO-wide cyber capability.
Dr Andrew Murrison
NATO-wide Cyber Defence is provided by NATO’s Computer Incident Response Capability (NCIRC) which delivers centralised protection for many NATO sites. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) has recently undertaken a major upgrade of NCIRC’s capability with enhancements delivered in monitoring of core networks on NATO sites on a 24/7 basis. NCIA will continue to manage the upgrade of NCIRC’s capability to best protect NATO owned systems from the evolving threat.
Progress enhancing the NATO Cyber Defence was most recently discussed at Ministerial level, at the February NATO Defence Ministerial and will be discussed again at the June Defence Ministerial as the Alliance prepares for the WALES Summit in September. The UK continues to pay a central role in moving this issue forward across a whole range of activities such as incentivising national cyber defence capability development to develop Alliance-wide cyber defence capability, information sharing and exchanging best practice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Julian Huppert on Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
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Hugh Robertson
We are not aware of any recent action taken by the US against Bangladesh.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2014-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to his oral contribution of 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 908, on energy price freeze, what the evidential basis is for the statement that there is a pipeline of £187 billion of investment in the electricity sector.
Michael Fallon
The latest National Infrastructure Pipeline data published by HM Treasury in December 2013, in support of the National Infrastructure Plan 2013. This shows that total combined investment for electricity generation, transmission & distribution, when aggregated from 2013/14 onwards in real terms, is £187.4bn:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Lisa Nandy on Transport.
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Stephen Hammond
Open access operators have helped to provide innovative services for passengers and grow new rail markets – often generating excellent passenger satisfaction scores. The additional competitive pressure generated by open access operators can also help improve the experience of passengers of franchised services.
These beneficial impacts must be balanced against the potential to abstract passenger revenue from franchised operators. This abstraction primarily manifests itself as a cost to Government in the form of diminished value of the franchises when they are tendered.
To mitigate this problem, the Office of Rail Regulation ("ORR") applies the "not primarily abstractive test", which aims to ensure that applicants for open access routes will generate at least 30 pence of new revenue for every £1 of existing revenue abstracted from franchised operators. The ORR considers that if the open access operator generates any less new revenue, the benefits of their operation would not outweigh the costs. Our policy is to support the application of the not primarily abstractive test when open access applications are assessed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2014-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the grant per property was for new affordable housing under the National Affordable Housing Programme, by region, in each year since the inception of the Programme.
Kris Hopkins
Average grant allocated per property for the National Affordable Housing Programme, which operated from 2008-09 to 2010-11, broken down by Homes and Communities Agency operating area, is set out below.
|
Operating area |
2008/09 |
2009/10 |
2010/11 |
|
East and South East |
£42,692 |
£45,165 |
£39,793 |
|
London |
£83,376 |
£89,381 |
£72,092 |
|
Midlands |
£40,961 |
£40,005 |
£41,942 |
|
North East, Yorkshire and the Humber |
£39,392 |
£37,113 |
£42,744 |
|
North West |
£44,519 |
£42,060 |
£44,484 |
|
South and South West |
£45,284 |
£49,430 |
£47,273 |
Source: Homes and Communities Agency
Since 2011, the new Affordable Rent model allows for new affordable housing to be delivered with a lower grant cost to taxpayers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Dame Diana Johnson on Work and Pensions.
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Mike Penning
The information you have requested is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effects of amending the Furniture and Furnishing (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 on the number of house fires.
Michael Fallon
BIS is currently exploring options for a revised match test in the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. It will not have a material effect on the fire safety of UK domestic upholstered furniture, but could lead to a small overall decrease in house fires as it will include currently unregulated materials in products which can contribute to the ignitability of furniture. The test will also reduce the levels of flame retardant chemicals in UK furniture. These contribute to smoke toxicity when burned and can have adverse effects on human health and the environment when they break down into constituent parts. These changes should bring savings to the industry of £30-50 million a year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Alex Cunningham on Health.
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Jane Ellison
Regulations for making it an offence to smoke in private vehicles carrying children are being drafted at present.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-04-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much in income tax relief was added to the personal pensions of higher rate taxpayers in 2013-14.
Mr David Gauke
Figures for 2013-14 are not yet available.
The latest available estimates (from 2011-12) of the number of people receiving income tax deductions for their personal pension contributions and the value of deductions by different income levels can be found in Table 3.8 at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/276037/tables3-1_3-11.pdf
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