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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • 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, if his Department will carry out an independent qualitative assessment of the psychological and workplace stresses on the operators of remotely piloted air systems.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The Ministry of Defence currently has no plans to undertake an independent qualitative assessment of the psychological and workplace stresses on the operators of remotely piloted air systems.

    The health and wellbeing of all of our Armed Forces personnel is of the utmost importance. We are mindful of the pressure and stresses that service personnel may be subjected to when supporting enduring intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. These personnel are carefully monitored and where appropriate have access to the highest levels of military physical and mental health care. Looking after our people is one of the critical roles for our front-line commanders and they keenly focus on the well-being of their people.

  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what account he takes of local referendums on the desirability of specific sites being allocated to new housing.

    Nick Boles

    This Coalition Government have given communities radical new rights to plan for their areas, deliver the development they want and control their future. Over 1,000 communities have applied for a neighbourhood planning area to be designated, and neighbourhood plans are receiving overwhelming support through local referendums. So far we have had 17 successful referendums on neighbourhood plans.

    A neighbourhood plan (including any specific sites within it) which has been supported by the majority of those voting in a referendum can form the basis for decisions on development in the local area.

    A neighbourhood development order, if endorsed by a local referendum, can also grant permission for specified developments in a neighbourhood area.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much (a) military and (b) humanitarian aid the UK provided to the Libyan government in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013.

    Hugh Robertson

    Due to our accounting structures we are only able to provide exact spending figures for financial years rather than calendar years. In this time, the UK has provided military aid to Libya in the form of the defence portion of the tri-Departmental (MOD, FCO, DfID) Conflict Pool, and core defence funding for Defence Engagement activity. This has been:

    • 2010/11 – £3000
    • 2011/12 – £200,000
    • 2012/13 – £2,173,000
    • 2013/14 – £3,521,000

    This has formed part of a total of over £25m stabilisation assistance to the Libyan government through the Arab Partnership and Conflict Pool programme during the period 2011-2013.

    During the period 2011-13 the UK provided humanitarian aid to Libya for protection of civilians, assistance for survival and effective international humanitarian coordination, especially through the UN, broken down as follows:

    • 2011/12 – £7,843,227.40
    • 2012/13 – £304,100.37
    • 2013/14 – £0

    The UK no longer provides this type of humanitarian aid to Libya but instead is providing technical support for security, justice and rule of law capacity building, through the Arab partnership and Conflict Pool.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

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

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what training has been given to electoral registration officers in the implementation of fixed penalty notices for non-registration.

    Greg Clark

    From 10 June 2014, alongside the introduction of individual electoral registration (IER), Electoral Registration Officers in England and Wales will be able to impose civil penalty notices for failure to respond to a notice of requirement to register on the electoral register. In Scotland this will be from 19 September 2014 alongside the introduction of IER in Scotland, following the Scottish referendum.

    In conjunction with the Electoral Commission we intend to collect information on the number of civil penalties issued for failure to respond to an IER invitation through each local authority’s Electoral Management System.

    Local authority staff who are responsible for the delivery of electoral registration have been fully trained on IER processes, including a module on notices of requirement to register and on civil penalties.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people who are currently unemployed who have repeat episode depressions; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the use of mindfulness-based interventions in making people ready for work.

    Mike Penning

    We do not keep health data on those who are currently unemployed. However we know that at any one time one in six people has a mental health problem like anxiety or depression, and a further two in a hundred are affected by severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia.

    We are currently considering the design of the pilots to test the most promising interventions and evidence-based approaches put forward by RAND Europe and we will be implementing these pilots this year.

  • Michael Dugher – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Michael Dugher – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Prime Minister, how many members of staff of his Office worked on the review by the Cabinet Secretary of the release of correspondence between Ministers relating to prevention of extremism.

    Mr David Cameron

    The Cabinet Secretary will respond to the hon. Member on this matter shortly. I will place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

  • 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 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passport examining officers were employed by HM Passport Office in each year since 2010.

    James Brokenshire

    The table below shows the number of Her Majesty’s Passport Office full-time
    equivalents working within the passport operational Directorates.
    The formal record for workforce data is made on the last day of each calendar
    month. We have therefore provided the data as of 31 March of each year.
    (a) 2011- 2,586
    (b) 2012- 2,216
    (c) 2013- 2,389
    (d) 2014-2,593

    Due to the limitations of the HR management system used prior to Dec 2010, it
    is not possible to provide reliable management information below top level for
    any periods prior to that date.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to improve the habitat and increase the number of (a) hedgehogs and (b) owls.

    George Eustice

    Agri-environment schemes, such as Environmental Stewardship, are the principal means of improving habitats and the wider environment on farmland in England. Farmers receive funding to manage the cropped environment and provide additional habitats on their farms for birds and other wildlife. Under work to develop the implementation plan for Biodiversity 2020 (the Government’s strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services) Natural England has commissioned work to review all Section 41 species. This is to identify priorities for action and to determine what those actions should be. The hedgehog is being considered within this context by the Mammal Taxon Group, which comprises specialist organisations, led by Natural England.

    Activities of benefit to owls, currently funded by Environmental Stewardship, include the establishment of grassy margins and buffer strips, and the management of field corners. These can provide additional habitat for prey species such as small mammals. The restoration of traditional farm buildings can also provide both shelter and nesting sites along with the provision of nest boxes.

  • 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 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, column 178W, from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, on air pollution, for what reasons an assessment has not been made of the deaths caused by short-term exposures to elevated levels of air pollutants in the years since 2010.

    Jane Ellison

    Estimates of deaths attributable to long-term exposure to particulate air pollution in United Kingdom local authorities in 2010 were published by Public Health England in April 2014. The mortality burden for the UK was estimated as an effect equivalent to nearly 29,000 deaths.

    Public Health England does not routinely estimate the deaths associated with short-term exposure to elevated levels of air pollutants, as these effects are thought to overlap with the mortality effects of long-term exposure to air pollution. Long-term exposure to air pollution is understood to be a contributory factor to deaths from respiratory and, particularly, cardiovascular disease, for example, unlikely to be the sole cause of deaths of individuals. This means that it is likely that air pollution contributes a smaller amount to the deaths of a larger number of exposed individuals rather than being solely responsible for a number of deaths equivalent to the calculated figure of ‘attributable deaths’.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2014-06-10.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many homicide prosecutions the Crown Prosecution Service undertook in 2013 where there were (a) three defendants, (b) four defendants, (c) five defendants and (d) six or more defendants.

    Oliver Heald

    The Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain a central record of the number of defendants in its prosecutions. This information could only be obtained by examining all homicide files, which would incur a disproportionate cost.