Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Frank Field – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure access to CT scanning is more readily available to NHS patients.

    Jane Ellison

    All acute trusts have access to computerised tomography (CT) and NHS England is not aware of any patient access problems. The NHS England standards for seven day services support seven day access to CT. CT involves ionising radiation, so is a test that has to be justified and used in appropriate patient pathways.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the through life cost is for each of the 14 Voyager aircraft.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    We do not possess through life cost information for individual aircraft in the Voyager fleet. Under the Voyager PFI solution the MoD is not buying aircraft but a 27 year integrated Air Transport and Air to Air Refuelling service which is underpinned by the provision of 14 aircraft, the infrastructure, personnel, training and training school (including a full mission simulator), aircraft maintenance and engineering, spares, despatch and ground support. The outturn value of the contract is £10.5 billion over 27 years, excluding fuel and other associated usage costs.

  • John Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will conduct an assessment of the effect on carers of the implementation of the Welfare Reform Act 2012.

    Mike Penning

    The Universal Credit Impact Assessment was published in December 2012, full details of the report can be found here

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/welfare-reform-act-2012-impact-assessments

  • Richard Harrington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Harrington – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Harrington on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that (a) enhanced frequency and (b) restoration of late night trains are mandatory requirements in the specification for the tendering process of Abbey Line between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey station.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Department for Transport intends to negotiate a Direct Award for the West Midlands franchise to run from April 2016 to June 2017. We will work with the incumbent train operator, London Midland, to consider service enhancements and we will include the Watford Junction – St Albans route in our discussions. Any improvements will have to demonstrate both a positive business case and that they are affordable within the budget provided for the franchise.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gareth Thomas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of (a) the number of members of credit unions and (b) their total savings in each (i) region of the UK and (ii) London borough in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12, (C) 2012-13 and (D) 2013-14; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government does not hold information on the numbers of credit union members or their total savings or lending by region. The data is held by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) permanent and (b) agency staff were employed by the Passport Office in (i) 2012, (ii) 2013 and (iii) 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    Table A sets out the requested information in respect of how many telephone
    calls were received during the requested periods.

    Table B shows income received in fees for premium and fast track services.

    Table C provides information on the number of full time equivalent staff
    employed by HM passport Office on 31 December for each of the years from 2010 –
    2013.

    Table D sets out the number of first time passport applications and the number
    of passport renewals received during each month between January 2013 and May
    2014.

    In the period between 1 January and 31 May 2014, 31,188 straightforward
    passport applications processed by Her Majesty’s Passport Office were not
    processed within the 3-week target.

  • Michael McCann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Michael McCann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael McCann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much public interest lawyers have received in legal aid for cases against the Minstry of Defence in each of the last 10 years.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases against the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. Opponents are not systematically recorded against Legal Aid cases.

    The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past ten tears were:

    Financial Year

    Net Payments

    FY2003-2004

    £139,620.72

    FY2004-2005

    £158,282.52

    FY2005-2006

    £251,844.27

    FY2006-2007

    £299,667.99

    FY2007-2008

    £577,263.60

    FY2008-2009

    £628,527.75

    FY2009-2010

    £267,433.88

    FY2010-2011

    £439,268.02

    FY2011-2012

    £331,238.85

    FY2012-2013

    £50,633.27

    These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to recognise the service of members of the Royal Navy in patrolling operations to tackle piracy off the coast of Somalia.

    Anna Soubry

    The UK contribution to counter-piracy operations is held in the highest regard by our Coalition partners and by this Government, and it is right to pay tribute to all those involved in maintaining maritime security vital to the European and global economy.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to exempt people in receipt of attendance allowance from paying vehicle excise duty.

    Nicky Morgan

    Consistent with the approach taken by successive governments there are no plans to exempt Attend Allowance recipients from Vehicle Excise Duty. However, all taxes are kept under review as part of the annual Budget process.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much of the Government’s Business Rates Relief Fund for flooded businesses has been (a) allocated to local authorities and (b) received by businesses to date.

    Brandon Lewis

    As at 2 June 2014, 979 businesses were in receipt of a business rates relief from their local authority as a result of the impact of flooding. There are no set or advance allocations to councils. The fund works by councils retrospectively claiming back the cost of the business rate relief (in the same way, for example, as the Bellwin Scheme has always worked). 66 local authorities recently submitted claims for reimbursement; the deadline for applications was 26 May. Subject to data checking, we expect reimbursement payments in the region of £4 million to be made shortly.

    Further information on the available flood support schemes is available on the gov.uk website at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/flood-support-package-for-homeowners-and-businesses