The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what legal fees have been paid by his Department in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14; and for what purpose payment was made in each case.
Mr Francis Maude
My department publishes details of spend over £25,000 on gov.uk
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to ensure the continuing affordability of liquid petroleum gas and oil for those households which are not on mains gas supply.
Baroness Verma
Her Majesty’s Government is acutely aware of the difficulties people have experienced with the price of liquid petroleum gas and heating oil. The price of LPG and oil is influenced by a range of factors, including crude oil prices (the major factor), refinery capacity, stock levels, distribution costs and retail margins.
We believe that the consumer is best served by open competition between companies. The Office of Fair Trading studied the heating oil market in 2011 and found few competition concerns. Most areas of the UK are supplied by a variety of heating oil suppliers and there are low barriers to entry for new businesses who may want to compete. The OFT study also commented on the generally positive initial impact of the Competition Commission Orders from 2009 to make it easier for domestic bulk LPG consumers to switch supplier, and there is a statutory duty to keep under review the effectiveness of and compliance with these Orders.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy will chair a third Ministerial Roundtable meeting on heating oil and LPG supply on 21 May. The Roundtable brings together a wide range of interests including Government, regulators, advisory and charitable bodies, the fuel supply industry and others to work together to improve the security and affordability of off-grid fuel supply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2014-05-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in view of the terms of Botswana’s independence agreed by the United Kingdom in 1966, they will discuss with the government of Botswana its long-term plans for those Basarwa or Bushmen who wish to remain permanently in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
Baroness Warsi
The Government regularly discusses with the Government of Botswana the situation of the San (also known as the Basarwa or Bushmen). We have consistently encouraged the Government of Botswana to seek an inclusive, sustainable and negotiated solution. We will continue to do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on the inclusion of a bill on modernisation of the regulation of nurses and midwives in the Queen’s Speech.
Dr Daniel Poulter
We have not received representations on the inclusion of a bill on modernisation of the regulation of nurses and midwives. However, the Department has received representations on taking forward the Law Commission’s work from a number of organisations, including:
– professional regulatory bodies;
– patient safety groups;
– the Professional Standards Authority; and
– medical professional associations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Ministers had with the Iranian government on the imprisonment of (a) Rasoul Abdollahi, (b) Saeed Abedini, (c) Ebrahim Firozi, (d) Behmain Iranal, (e) Alireza Seyedin, (f) Maryam Naghash-Zargaran, (g) Farshid Fathi and (h) others imprisoned for their religious beliefs in Iran.
Hugh Robertson
We remain deeply concerned about the detention and treatment of all prisoners of conscience in Iran and the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have called publicly for the Iranian government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith. The UK’s non-resident Chargé d’Affaires raised the issue of freedom of religion with the Iranian authorities during his last visit to Iran on 12 March.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Sudan about the imprisonment of Meriam Ibrahim.
Mark Simmonds
I am appalled at the death sentence given to Meriam Ibrahim, and her continued imprisonment. Immediately following her trial, I issued a statement describing her conviction as barbaric and calling upon the Government of Sudan to respect the right to freedom of religion and international human rights laws as enshrined in its own constitution. The Chargé d’Affaires of the Sudanese Embassy in London was summoned to the Foreign Office on the 19 May at the request of Foreign Secretary. DFID Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Lynne Featherstone, reiterated our demand with the Sudanese Foreign Minister when she met him on 20 May. Our Embassy in Khartoum, that attended her trial, continues to press the Sudanese authorities for Meriam Ibrahim’s release, and is in close contact with the defence team.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain McKenzie on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she made of the humanitarian situation in Syria; and if she will make a statement.
Justine Greening
The humanitarian crisis in Syria has reached catastrophic proportions. The UN estimates that 9.3 million people are in dire need of humanitarian aid within Syria. At least 6.5 million people in Syria have been forced to flee their homes to other areas of the country and there are now over 2.8 million refugees in the region.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many tenants from elsewhere in the UK have taken advantage of Home Swap Direct to arrange exchanges to Scotland in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Kris Hopkins
Details of the number of moves that have taken placeunder the HomeSwap Direct Scheme from elsewhere in the United Kingdom to Scotland in each of the last three years are not held centrally.
HomeSwap Direct increases opportunities for social tenants who wish to find a new home by allowing tenants looking for a swap to see details of every possible property nationwide, no matter which mutual exchange website their landlord has chosen to subscribe to. The scheme has operated very successfully since its launch in October 2011 with tenants carrying out over 18 million searches of the property data held on HomeSwap Direct.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dominic Raab on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many reports on equality information and objectives each category of public authority has published under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 in each year since the regulations came into force; and what the cost of producing those reports was for each category of public authority in each such year.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The specific information requested is not collected or held centrally.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), an independent statutory body, is responsible for the enforcement, monitoring and assessment of how public bodies comply with the public sector Equality Duty (PSED) and specific duties. The EHRC has published two reports to date which look at the performance of public bodies in England under the PSED and specific duties:
• ‘Publishing equality information: Commitment, engagement and transparency’ was published in December 2012. This report looked at how public authorities had performed with regard to the first specific duty (publication of equality information). Data for this assessment was collected between February and April 2012 and covered 1,159 public authorities in England. The report indicated that about half of the public authorities reviewed were publishing equality information on their workforce and service users by April 2012. Many more (78%) were publishing information on either their staff or their service users.
• ‘Assessment of the publication of equality objectives by English public authorities’ was published in Autumn 2013. This report sets out the findings of an assessment of how public authorities in England are publishing equality objectives. Data for the assessment was collected between September and December 2012 and covered 2,010 public authorities.
These reports do not estimate the associated costs of producing and publishing equalities information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects Atos to appoint new agency staff to administer appeals on reassessment of eligibility for disability benefits.
Mike Penning
Appeals on the disability benefits are administered and heard by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. Atos has no role to play.