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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in relation to suppression of the marking of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations by the government of China.

    Baroness Warsi

    We are concerned at reports of detentions in relation to the 25th anniversary of Tiananmen Square and raised our concerns about this with the Chinese authorities during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue on 20 May. The Minister of State, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), raised this issue with the Chinese authorities on 19 May and made a statement on this issue 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 arrested after attending an event to commemorate the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Berkeley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the first Contracts for Difference auction to take place; when they expect the Offtaker of Last Resort to be operational; whether those dates have changed from the dates given to Parliament during the passage of the Energy Act 2013; and if so, why.

    Baroness Verma

    The policy design of the Offtaker of Last Resort (OLR) is at an advanced stage, and the detail of the proposals has been recently consulted on. We are on track to deliver the final policy and introduce enabling regulations ahead of first allocation of Contracts for Difference (CfD) expected in October 2014, with regulations on schedule to be in place when the first CfDs are signed towards the end of 2014 or in early 2015. Consequently, CfD applicants will have a high degree of clarity about the arrangements for OLR, in advance of the first auctions. This is consistent with the commitments about the timing of the OLR given to Parliament during the passage of the Energy Act 2013.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2014-06-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the logbook loans industry.

    Lord Deighton

    The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, including logbook lenders, by transferring responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.

    The Government is very concerned about evidence of consumer detriment in the logbook loan sector, as highlighted in the FCA’s recent research paper.

    The FCA has identified logbook lenders as a higher risk industry, and as such they will be in the first phase of firms to require full authorisation. Logbook loan providers are also required to meet the FCA’s binding rules, and the FCA has said that it “won’t hesitate to take action” if they do not put their customers first.

    In addition, the Government has asked the Law Commission to look at how to bring the highly complex legislation underpinning logbook loans up to date.

  • The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Coventry on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government for how many projects they provided funding under the Human Rights and Democracy Programme in 2013 for work associated with freedom of religion and belief.

    Baroness Warsi

    In the 2013-14 financial year the Human Rights and Democracy Programme (HRDP) received 218 proposals for funding. Seventeen of these proposals were for work associated with Freedom of Religion and Belief (FORB), representing 7.8% of proposals received. Six projects were ultimately funded, to the value of £214,029. This represents 3.3% of the total resource available.

    The programme is keen to see more good quality project bids on this theme in future bidding rounds, and have actively encouraged more quality bids for the 2014-15 financial year.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the cost of the special administration process in relation to Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust.

    Earl Howe

    The appointment of Trust Special Administrators (TSAs) to Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in April 2013 was made by Monitor. The TSAs’ final proposals were accepted by Monitor in January 2014, and by the Secretary of State in February 2014.

    In an announcement on 13 March 2014, Monitor stated that the costs of the process to date had been £7,250,000, with an additional £250,000 incurred by the team of administrators in expenses.

    Following the Secretary of State’s acceptance of the proposals, the TSAs have remained in post to continue with the day to day management of the Trust and to work on implementing the proposals.

    In the announcement Monitor anticipated that the overall cost of the TSA contract for the lifetime of the project would be between £12 million and £15 million.

    Monitor’s announcement can be found on its website at:

    www.gov.uk/government/news/mid-staffs-monitor-announces-next-steps

  • Lord Addington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Addington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Addington on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how personal histories of recognised special educational needs will be taken into account when making assessments of eligibility for the Disabled Students’ Allowance.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    There are no proposed changes to the current process of assessment. All applicants for the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) will undertake a study needs assessment and independent study needs assessors will provide recommendations, giving due regard to personal histories of recognised special educational needs, where these have been provided. The support and strategies recommended by assessment centres will be provided by a combination of reasonable adjustments by Higher Education Institutions and DSAs.

  • Lord Quirk – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Quirk – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Quirk on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have observed any correlation between bad behaviour in schools and the absence of a specified dress code for (1) pupils, and (2) teachers.

    Lord Nash

    The Government does not have any evidence of any correlation between bad behaviour in schools and the absence of a specified dress code for pupils and teachers.

    The Department for Education has issued advice that strongly encourages schools to have a uniform, as it can play a valuable role in contributing to the ethos of a school and setting an appropriate tone. However, it is for the governing body of a school (or the academy trust in the case of academies and free schools) to decide whether there should be a uniform policy and other rules on appearance. This flows from the duties placed upon all governing bodies by statute to ensure that school policies promote good behaviour and discipline among the pupil body.

    Dress codes for teachers are a matter for employers to determine, whether that is the governing body, academy trust or local authority. As part of the general terms and conditions of employment agreed with employees we would expect schools to consider an appropriate dress code, relevant to the individual setting, taking into account the requirements of the post.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, on how many occasions and relating to which locations proposals for overground cables between onshore windfarms and the connecting sub-station have been rejected in each of the last 10 years.

    Michael Fallon

    The Department has not rejected any applications for overhead line connections to onshore windfarms in the past 10 years in England and Wales.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions British passport holders were questioned on return to the UK in regard to problems with their child’s name on documentation in the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force does not record the occasions when British parents have been
    questioned about their child’s name on their return to the United Kingdom.

  • Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much core grant was provided to fund Victim Support services in the (a) Crown Court Witness Service and (b) Magistrates’ Court Witness Service in North Yorkshire in each year since 2004-05.

    Damian Green

    The Ministry of Justice provides a core grant of £38m to Victim Support of which £12m is used to fund the provision of emotional and practical support for witnesses at criminal courts who wish to receive this service.

    The Ministry of Justice does not routinely collect data on how this funding is distributed by Victim Support.