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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to carry out a post-implementation review of the local government standards framework in the Localism Act 2011.

    Brandon Lewis

    [Holding Reply: Thursday 12 June 2014]

    As stated in the impact assessment on the abolition of the Standards Board regime (published in January 2011), a post implementation review will be carried out three to five years after implementation of the policy which was in July 2012.

    My Department routinely receives representations about standards arrangements in local government, and indeed, on a whole range of local government issues. We will have regard to representations and comments when we undertake our post implementation review.

    However, Ministers are clear that the new provisions are a significant improvement on the old, discredited regime. The Localism Act has clarified predetermination rules allowing elected councillors to campaign and speak up on local issues. We have reversed the petty culture of malicious and unfounded complaints that wasted time and energy and undermined the good reputation of local government. We have increased transparency on councillors’ interests, and put in place criminal sanctions for the very rare instances of corruption. This is complemented by the role of political parties in ensuring good conduct, the law of libel, and the ultimate sanction: the ballot box.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ivan Lewis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which charitable projects based in Northern Ireland have benefited from the armed forces covenant (Libor) fund.

    Anna Soubry

    The importance of the covenant to the Government was highlighted by the decision of the Chancellor to transfer £35 million from fines levied on the banks for attempting to manipulate LIBOR to the Ministry of Defence for use in supporting the Armed Forces community. The fund has now closed and money has been allocated to some 97 projects.

    The Northern Irish Armed Forces community will benefit from a number of UK-wide projects which have been allocated over £16 million of LIBOR funding. In addition, we have provided £50,000 of funding to the UDR & Royal Irish Aftercare Service to set up a welfare support network and advisory service for veterans and their dependants in Northern Ireland.

  • Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the proportion of claimants of (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance on Help to Work who will enter employment within (i) six months and (ii) 12 months.

    Esther McVey

    The information requested is not available.

  • Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will revise the Government’s Responsibility Deal to include sugar in the list of ingredients that companies should work with caterers to reformulate in meals as part of the H4 pledge on Healthier Staff Restaurants.

    Jane Ellison

    There are 169 organisations currently signed up to the H4 pledge which includes a requirement for employers to work with caterers to reformulate recipes to ensure staff meals are lower in fat, salt and energy and do not contain artificial trans fats. There are currently no plans to include sugar in this list of ingredients. However, as part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, 11 catering companies have signed up to take a range of actions to help people consume fewer calories, including through reformulation to reduce sugar content.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of allegations of repressive measures taken towards civil society activists in China related to commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown; and whether the Government has made representations to the Chinese government on that matter.

    Mr William Hague

    We are concerned at reports of detentions in relation to the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident, and we raised our concerns about this with the Chinese authorities during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in London on 20 May 2014. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), also raised this issue with the Chinese authorities on 19 May and made a statement on 21 May. We also fully support the EU statement of 28 May calling for the release of all those imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their views.

    We were pleased to see that on 5 June the Chinese authorities released a number of those who had been arrested after attending an event to commemorate the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989.

  • Nic Dakin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nic Dakin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recruits under the age of 18 years at (a) enlistment and (b) the point of submitting their application to join the armed forces who stated in section 3 of AFCO Form 4 that they were unemployed, completed training and moved into trained strength in the most recent year for which figures are available.

    Anna Soubry

    This information is not held in the format requested.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent UK companies profiting from North Korean labour; and what steps he is taking to ensure that UK companies are compliant with international law on human trafficking, slavery and forced labour in their contracts in North Korea.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK is the first country to publish the Implementation Plan of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which states the Government’s expectation of business behaviour both in the UK and overseas. In October 2013, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills amended the Companies Act 2006 to introduce mandatory reporting requirements for all UK listed companies to publish information on human rights issues. At the EU level, the UK in April this year secured agreement to impose further reporting requirements on companies across Europe. In particular, all large listed and public interest undertakings will be required to disclose policies, outcomes and risks relating to areas such as respect for human rights and, if relevant, linked to their supply and subcontracting chain.

    Current trade between the UK and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is minimal and covered by an overarching provision that any activities should satisfy existing UN and EU sanctions. These refer to restriction in the export of goods and financial assistance, which may contribute to the development of the DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. There are currently no plans to introduce a general restriction on trade, as such a broad measure could adversely affect ordinary North Koreans.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andrew Stephenson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fixed penalty notices were issued to drivers of vehicles registered in another country that should have been but were not registered in the UK in each of the last five years.

    Stephen Hammond

    Failure to register a vehicle following the six-month exemption period is not an offence for which a fixed penalty notice can be issued. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency instead writes to keepers of these vehicles offering them an out of court settlement where it appears that an offence has been committed, so that the matter may be resolved without court proceedings. The table below shows the amount of these out of court settlement letters issued in the last five financial years.

    YEAR

    NUMBER OF OCS ISSUED

    09/10

    108

    10/11

    83

    11/12

    192

    12/13

    59

    13/14

    84

    Since April 2014, 237 out of court settlement letters have been issued.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kevin Brennan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his Statement of 9 June 2014, Official Report, column 269, on Birmingham schools, when Ministers of his Department were first made aware of allegations of extremism in schools in Birmingham.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education received the ‘Trojan Horse’ letter in December 2013. The Secretary of State has asked the Permanent Secretary to investigate how the Department dealt with warnings both since the formation of this Government in 2010 and before.

    Since receiving a copy of the Trojan Horse letter, the Department has been working closely with agencies such as Birmingham City Council, the police and Ofsted. Based on the Department’s evidence-gathering, the Secretary of State commissioned inspections by Ofsted and appointed Peter Clarke as Education Commissioner.

  • Robert Syms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Robert Syms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Syms on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the cost of abating all global warming projected to occur over the lifetime of Navitus Bay in sterling and in US dollars; and what intertemporal discount rate has been used in such calculations.

    Gregory Barker

    The Department does not undertake analysis or hold information of this nature relating to specific developments.