Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been issued to local authorities to make the required changes to their information technology services to remain connected to the gov.uk secure network.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The Public Services Network (PSN) is a new and trusted single network for government. Ninety-eight per cent of local authorities have already transitioned to PSN, with the remainder due to transfer before the end of summer.

    The Cabinet Office is supporting local authorities as they transition to PSN by providing guidance, project managers and information assurance specialists.

  • Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses in Warrington North constituency received funding from the Regional Growth Fund in each year since 2011-12; and how much each such business received.

    Michael Fallon

    No businesses in Warrington North have received project funding directly from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) but they can apply to regional and national RGF programmes for support.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Paul Blomfield – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of potential savings to the public purse from the Shared Services Connected Ltd venture.

    Mr Francis Maude

    There has been cross-party agreement on the need for Shared Services for a decade but until recently all too little was achieved.

    Independent Shared Service Centres will deliver a lower cost better quality of service, helping us to deliver a faster, smaller and more unified Civil Service.

    Shared Service Connected Limited will contribute to the savings deliveredto the taxpayer by the transformation of back office functions, which will total over £400m by 2015/16.

  • Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-06-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times HM Revenue and Customs has met with (a) the Ministry of Justice and (b) the Insolvency Service to discuss the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 reforms to insolvency litigation on creditors since 2012.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs regularly meet with other departments as a matter of course.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries were open at least five hours per week outside 9am to 5pm on weekdays in each of the years (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The detail requested is not held centrally by this Department and nor is it collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy as part of the annual public library statistics provided by individual library authorities.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the near cash projected spending on the Equipment Plan and Equipment Support Plan is for each year to 2018.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Projected spending on the Equipment Plan and Equipment Support Plan is detailed in the annual Defence Equipment Plan. The most recent edition was published on 12 February 2014.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279440/defence_equipment_plan_2013.pdf

  • Steve Baker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve Baker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Baker on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) feasibility and (b) cost to the public purse of enabling supply teachers to contribute to the teachers’ pension scheme.

    Mr David Laws

    Supply teachers are able to participate in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) where they are employed by an ‘accepted employer’. In the main, these are local authorities (LAs), academies and further education colleges. This includes supply teachers who are recruited by a supply agency but then employed directly, under a contract of employment, by the accepted employer. The LA, academy or further education college is responsible for meeting a number of obligations that fall to employers under the teachers’ pensions regulations, not least of which is to pay the employer contribution to the TPS.

    However, where supply teachers are self-employed or remain employed by the supply agency, and their services are provided under a ‘contract for services’, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS. This is because the Department for Education cannot mandate that private sector employers participate in the scheme.

    It is for LAs, academies and further education colleges to determine how supply teachers are employed – which can in turn enable access to the TPS under the current arrangements.

  • Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many meetings he has had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in the last 12 months.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I have regular meetings with the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser in my capacity as Foreign and Commonwealth Office Science Champion. However, as was the case under previous administrations, details of these internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people received funding through the Cancer Drugs Fund in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.

    Norman Lamb

    Prior to April 2013, information on the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority (SHA) and data on the number of patients who received funding in each constituency and city was not collected. Information on the number of patients funded in West Midlands SHA and England in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 is shown as follows:

    Number of patients funded in 2010-11

    Number of patients funded in 2011-12

    Number of patients funded in 2012-13

    Total number of patients funded since Oct 20101

    West Midlands SHA

    292

    1,658

    1,534

    3,484

    England

    2,780

    11,798

    15,456

    30,034

    1 Some individual patients may be double-counted where a patient has received more than one drug treatment through the Cancer Drugs Fund

    Source: Information provided to the Department by SHAs

    NHS England has had oversight of the Fund since April 2013 and publishes information on patient numbers routinely on its website at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/

    In 2013-14, 5,695 patients in the Midlands and East region and 19,282 patients in England received funding through the Fund. In addition, 28 individual cancer drugs fund request applications were approved by the Cancer Drugs Fund panel in the Midlands and East region with 278 applications approved nationally.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the TecSOS system for high risk victims of domestic abuse; and what plans she has to rollout the programme to other areas of the country.

    Norman Baker

    The report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) on the police
    response to domestic abuse, published in March 2014, clearly set out the
    importance of using new technology to help protect victims of domestic abuse.
    Whilst it is an operational matter for chief constables on procuring
    technology, we are aware that the TecSOS system is used by 16 police
    forces across England and Wales.

    Through the National Oversight Group, set-up and chaired by the Home Secretary
    to drive delivery against the HMIC recommendations, the Government is ensuring
    that best practice on the use of new technology, like TecSOS, is identified and
    shared so that the policing of domestic abuse is robust.

    As part of its commitment to support high risk victims of domestic abuse, the
    Government part-funds 144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisors and 54
    Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference co-ordinator posts. This funding
    amounts to £3.4 million per year.