The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many complaints her Department has received regarding delays to the issuing of a passport in each of the last four years.
James Brokenshire
The table below shows the number of complaints related to delays in receiving a
passport.
|
Year |
Number of complaints relating to delays |
|
2010 |
1253 |
|
2011 |
1341 |
|
2012 |
1513 |
|
2013 |
1437 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department takes to (a) monitor how the grants awarded through the Sponsor Capacity Fund are used and (b) recoup grants from the Sponsor Capacity Fund where the recipients do not go on to sponsor any academies or use the money in an inappropriate way.
Mr Edward Timpson
Academy sponsors who receive the Sponsor Capacity Fund are required to sign a Grant Funding Agreement, agreeing to adhere to the terms and conditions of grant. They are required to submit an Annual Certification of Expenditure, signed by their auditors, and a final report detailing what has been achieved through use of the grant.
If they fail to comply with any of the conditions of grant, or are deemed to be in breach of it, they are required to return the grant to the Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which company designed and what the cost to the public purse was of production in 2009 of the plans for a young offender institute at Glen Parva.
Jeremy Wright
Interserve designed the 2009 plans for a Young Offender Institution at Glen Parva with their designers, HLM Architects.
The previous Government spent £5.6 million on developing the plans for a new Young Offender Institution at Glen Parva up to 2010. Although the Secure College pathfinder will be fundamentally different from a Young Offender’s Institution, we are making use of the previous work where relevant.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK Space Agency in promoting the UK space industry; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Willetts
The UK Space Agency (UKSA) was created in April 2011 to lead and foster the growing UK space sector. It does so through funding and delivery of civil space projects and downstream space related activities, developing space policy including advice to Ministers and regulating UK space activities to meet international obligations.
The UKSA formally tests its performance against such objectives in a number ways and includes amongst these a measure of its effectiveness in promoting the UK space industry. This is primarily through an independent bi-annual “Size and Health” survey of the UK industrial sector which assesses the growth of the UK space economy. The Agency also monitors contracts that flow back to UK industry from Agency-targeted subscriptions to the European Space Agency as well as monitoring where Agency-supported research and development work has positioned UK industry for success in future operational contracts. More recently the Agency has extended its role in actively supporting and promoting UK industrial exports of both satellite and emerging space-related data services.
All objective measures from these activities point to a growing success story for our space industry. Indeed it is one of our economy’s fastest growing sectors, with an average growth rate of almost 7.5%, and it has ambitions to increase its annual turnover to £40 billion by 2030. The role of the Agency in this development is significant and it has developed close relationships with industry.
The Size and Health survey due to be published in autumn 2014 is expected to show that the Space Economy has continued to grow between 2011 and 2013.
Its coordination of a business-driven industrial space policy has provided leadership for the UK industrial community (acknowledged by the UK space Innovation and Growth Strategy published in 2013) and this has been recognised by the Parliamentary Select Committee report into the UKSA which was published in October 2013.
The Agency serves as an effective platform to raise awareness of the successes of the UK space sector. BIS and Agency officials continue to evaluate its success in promoting that work using Government Communications Service best practice.
A further key measure of success is the increasing number of overseas space companies choosing to invest in the UK and so growing the UK’s wider space capability and economic development.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame M. Morris on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions his Department has had with B&K Universal Ltd, Yorkshire Evergreen or their associates relating to their planning application for a facility at Grimston, Yorkshire for the breeding of dogs and other animals for laboratory use in the last 12 months.
Mr David Willetts
UK Trade and Investment and BIS officials provided general planning advice to B&K Universal in the last year at the company’s request. BIS officials met with B&K’s parent company Marshall and signposted other sources of advice and information. Officials were also asked to provide advice on EU Directive 2010/63 and referred this query to the Home Office as the Department with responsibility for implementing the Directive in the UK.
The use of animals in scientific research remains a vital tool in improving our understanding of how biological systems work both in health and disease and in the development of new medicines and treatments vital for human health and for that of animals. It also underpins the success of the UK’s life science sector which has one of the strongest and most productive industries in the world.
The UK has a rigorous regulatory system which ensures that animal research and testing is carried out only where no practicable alternative exists, and under controls which keep suffering to the minimum.
The Government is committed to working to further reduce the use of animals in scientific research and in February 2013 published its delivery plan. This demonstrates our commitment to the “3Rs”: where possible to replace animal use, reduce the number of animals used and to refine the procedures involved so as to find additional ways to minimise suffering. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-to-reduce-the-use-of-animals-in-research-delivery-plan
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington on 2014-06-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 12 March (WA 375), in relation to the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR), how many work packages have to date involved general aviation.
Baroness Kramer
The SESAR Joint Undertaking is the EU public/private partnership which is responsible for managing the SESAR programme. The SESAR Joint Undertaking seeks to involve all affected stakeholders, including General Aviation, in the development of all work packages to ensure the technologies meet their needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2014-06-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by Lord Nash on 9 June (HL Deb, col 167), whether the investigation by the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education into the handling of the Trojan horse allegations in 2010 will be made public; and what is the timeframe for the report.
Lord Nash
The Secretary of State has asked the Permanent Secretary to conduct an internal review into how the Department for Education dealt with warnings in Birmingham since the formation of this Government in 2010, and before. The Permanent Secretary intends to present his findings to the Secretary of State later in the summer.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Corbyn on 2014-06-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote peace and reconciliation in the African Great Lakes region.
Mark Simmonds
Last week, I met with Ministers from the DRC and Rwanda, and with representatives of the UN, and urged all to seize the current opportunity to stabilise eastern DRC.
When I met President Kabila in February in Kinshasa, I discussed the importance of his government taking clear steps on stability and governance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish a new diversity strategy for the Civil Service.
Mr Francis Maude
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to her on Monday 16 June 2014 (Official Report) Column Ref: 434W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.
Anna Soubry
The information requested is shown in the tables below.
Proportion of Ministry of Defence Civil Servant disciplinary cases in which subject was White British
2009/10 84.7%
2010/11 83.7%
2011/12 82.3%
2012/13 76.8%
2013/14 78.1%
Proportion of Ministry of Defence Civil Servant conduct dismissal cases in which subject was White British.
2009/10 77.2%
2010/11 86.5%
2011/12 68.9%
2012/13 81.1%
2013/14 72.6%