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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to speed up payments by public bodies and private concerns to small businesses; and what recent assessment he has made of average payment times.

    Matthew Hancock

    We announced further reforms to public procurement on 30 May to speed up payments by public bodies to small businesses. These include improvements to e-invoicing, procurement processes and greater powers for Ministers to investigate complaints raised by the Cabinet Office’s ‘mystery shopper scheme’.

    We have also announced new legislation that will require larger businesses to report on their payment performance and practices. Increasing transparency and driving openness is at the heart of building a more responsible payment culture that UK businesses need to thrive.

    Recent research suggests that UK businesses experience an average 17 day delay to payment of invoices. This is a reduction in the past two years but a figure that is still too high and is holding back investment and growth.

  • Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Maria Eagle – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the Flood Defence Repair Fund paid to the Environment Agency has been (a) allocated to the Environment Agency and (b) spent by the Environment Agency to repair flood defences to date.

    Dan Rogerson

    Defra has made available to the Environment Agency an additional £30 million in 2013/14 and up to £135 million in 2014/15, to respond to the winter floods and repair flood and coastal defences. The Environment Agency spent £31.2 million on repairs and emergency response between January and March 2014. This includes £26 million on asset repair costs, £1.5 million of which was paid to local authorities. The remaining £5.2 million was spent on other associated costs, such as incident management and emergency response. These are the latest figures available.

  • Mike Freer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mike Freer – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Middle East peace process of recent reports that Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said his organisation will not renounce violence or recognise Israel.

    Hugh Robertson

    Reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under a Palestinian Authority committed to peace with Israel is a necessary step towards resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a key element of a viable negotiated solution. We welcome the formation on 2 June of a new interim technocratic government for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We have made clear that our continued support to the new Palestinian government will rest on its commitment to the principle of non-violence, a negotiated two state solution, and an acceptance of all previous agreements and obligations, including Israel’s legitimate right to exist. We now look to the new government to demonstrate these commitments through its actions as well as its words.

  • 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 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what maintenance HMS Montrose will undergo before being assigned to the Fleet Ready Escort task; and whether such tasking after a long deployment is a regular occurrence.

    Mr Mark Francois

    HMS Montrose was previously deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean. She returned to the UK for a period of planned maintenance and post-deployment leave before conducting a short port visit in London and then participating in a NATO Exercise.

    Royal Navy ships are programmed in accordance with our operational requirements, but for security reasons we do not discuss specific future operational tasking.

  • Eric Joyce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Eric Joyce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eric Joyce on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any UK citizens would involuntarily lose resident citizenship as a result of Scottish independence.

    Karen Bradley

    In the event of a vote for independence, decisions about UK citizenship would
    rest with the UK Government; the basis for entitlement to Scottish citizenship
    would be for the government of an independent Scottish state to decide.

    The UK has historically been tolerant of plural nationalities, and therefore it
    is likely that it would be possible for an individual to hold both British and
    Scottish citizenship. However, under current rules British citizens living
    outside the UK cannot pass their British nationality on more than one
    generation. So, the children of British citizens living in an independent
    Scotland would be British citizens, but their children and subsequent
    generations would not be.

    The government of the continuing UK would also need to consider whether all
    British citizens living in Scotland could retain their British citizenship upon
    independence. This cannot be guaranteed and could be dependent on any residence
    requirements or proof of affinity to the continuing UK. It is not possible to
    predict now what the decision of a future government of the continuing UK might
    be in this area.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that patients with prostate cancer receive the highest quality treatment.

    Jane Ellison

    Newly updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on how best to diagnose and treat prostate cancer will help doctors to ensure that men are given information about the treatment options available and help in choosing the best option to suit them. The updated guidance also aims to reduce the uncertainty and variations in practice that remain in some areas of prostate cancer diagnosis and management.

    Since the original recommendations were published in 2008, a number of new treatments have been licensed for the management of hormone-relapsed metastatic prostate cancer. There is also more information now available on the best way to diagnose and identify the different stages of the disease in a hospital setting, as well as how best to manage the side effects of radical treatment. NHS England would expect providers to take account of best evidence and treatments in their delivery of services.

  • Dame Tessa Jowell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Dame Tessa Jowell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dame Tessa Jowell on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many funding applications were made by GPs for new premises in 2013; and how many of such applications have been approved by NHS England.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    NHS England has advised that information about the number of funding applications, the number of applications which have been approved and the number of applications which include a rent increase is not held centrally.

    However, NHS England has been collating all applications transferred from predecessor primary care trusts concerning funding for general practitioner (GP) practice premises, after which prioritisation decisions will be made for each of the application categories in the system.

    NHS England is working with clinical commissioning groups, health and wellbeing boards and other partners to develop a new strategy for premises and to support timely decisions on GP premises funding.

  • Alison McGovern – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Alison McGovern – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of applicants who have faced delays to their personal independence payment claim because of partial PA4 IT failures in the past 12 months.

    Mike Penning

    The requested data is not held by the Department.

  • Mike Weir – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Mike Weir – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Weir on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will publish the (a) scope, (b) date and (c) cost of contracts for public relations services commissioned by the Devolution Team in his Department from (i) Engine Partners and (ii) other public affairs and public relations consultancies since May 2011.

    Greg Clark

    The UK Government regularly commissions independent research to inform and evaluate major policy programmes. Cabinet Office has contracted Ipsos MORI for the purposes of providing market research in relation to the Scotland Analysis Programme. Two formal tenders for this research were issued in March and August 2013 respectively and, as with other tenders for Government contracts, these processes were managed by the Government Procurement Service (now part of the Crown Commercial Service).

    Cabinet Office has also contracted Engine Partners LLP for the purposes of providing communications support work in relation to the Scottish independence referendum. A formal tender for this work was issued in September 2013 and was managed by the Government Procurement Service.

    As part of the Government’s commitment to transparency in expenditure information relating to the costs of both sets of work is publicly available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data

    “

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 29 April 2014, Official Report, column 636W, on the Air Force, whether any such UK personnel are embedded or otherwise interact with the (a) 22nd, (b) 30th, (c) 867th and (d) 732nd Air Force Reconnaissance Squadrons.

    Mr Mark Francois

    732nd is an Operations Group which comprises four Reconnaissance Squadron’s – 17th, 22nd, 30th and 867th. No UK Remotely Piloted Air System personnel are embedded with, or interact with the 732nd Operations Group Squadrons.