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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2012, Official Report, column 260W, on China: animal welfare, whether his Department has made representations to the Chinese government on standards of animal welfare in fur farms in China.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We have not made specific representations on animal welfare in fur farms. However the UK is supportive of international efforts to protect animal welfare. We hosted a high level international conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in London in February 2014 where the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt hon, Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) spoke to highlight the importance of action on this issue.

    Over 40 countries, including China participated in the conference, during which, we secured significant commitments, including on the ivory trade, on government procurement of wildlife products, and on treating international wildlife trafficking as a serious organised crime. We are following up with China and other participating countries on this issue.

    Following the conference, Chinese authorities have passed a new law making the consumption of rare wild animals an offence punishable by ten-years in prison.

  • Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what dates the Violence Against Women and Girls Inter-Ministerial Group has met since 1 February 2013.

    Norman Baker

    The Violence Against Women and Girls Inter-Ministerial Group has met on the following dates since 1 February 2013:

    6 February 2013
    4 June 2013
    11 December 2013
    11 February 2014

  • Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2013, Official Report, column 93W, on conditions of employment, how many people in his Department were employed on zero hours contracts in each of the last two years up to the most recent period for which records are available.

    Jeremy Wright

    Information on the number of staff employed on zero-hour contracts in the Ministry of Justice is set out in the table below. The figures refer to staff in Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunal Service and National Offender Management Service as these are the only parts of the Ministry where zero hours contracts have been used.

    Period

    Headcount

    01/04/10 – 31/03/11

    238

    (HMCTS)

    01/04/11 – 31/03/12

    218

    (HMCTS)

    01/04/12 – 31/03/13

    172

    (HMCTS)

    01/04/13 – 31/03/14

    153

    [146 HMCTS + 7 NOMS]

    The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is undertaking a review of zero hours policy and practice and in the light of this work Cabinet Office will ascertain whether any changes need to be made to UK procurement policy.

  • Gerry Sutcliffe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gerry Sutcliffe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerry Sutcliffe on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the level of potential loss of trade to independent high street opticians following the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s decision to award its vision testing contract to Specsavers.

    Stephen Hammond

    In the past, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) dealt with many individual opticians on an ad-hoc basis. Although the individual cost per optician was relatively low, the aggregated spend on the service meant that the contract had to be tendered via the Official Journal of the European Union process. This is in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2006.

    As part of the procurement process, the DVLA identified that 2,009 optical practices carried out vision testing services. The new contract means that independent practices are no longer required to carry out on average 20 assessments per year. This equates to around 10 hours of work.

  • Andrew Bridgen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Andrew Bridgen – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Bridgen on 2014-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that superfast broadband is available in remote areas of the UK.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    A new £10 million competitive fund opened on 21 March to market test innovative solutions to deliver superfast broadband services to the most difficult to reach remaining areas of the UK.

    The pilot projects will explore how to reach these areas; and we’ll use learning from the pilots to inform future government investment decisions

  • Toby Perkins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Toby Perkins – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) Official Receivers and (b) all Insolvency Service officials who will receive training leading to a (i) personal insolvency partial licence and (ii) corporate insolvency partial licence.

    Jenny Willott

    The legislation relating to official receivers and Insolvency Service technical staff, does not require study to hold an Insolvency Practitioners’ Licence and, as such, no staff will receive training that will lead to either a personal insolvency partial licence or a corporate insolvency partial licence.

    Under S399(1) of the Insolvency Act 1986 “………the official receiver, in relation to any bankruptcy, winding up, individual voluntary arrangement, debt relief order or application for such an orderis any person who by virtue of the following provisions ………….is authorised to act as the official receiver ………..” and S399(2) “The Secretary of State may ……. appoint persons to the office of official receiver ……………….”.

    All technical staff are required to study for, and pass, a bespoke accredited training programme at Qualifications & Credit Framework Level 3 and are required to undertake a minimum of 5 days Continuous Professional Development per year.

    Incidentally, over 50% of Official Receivers hold a professional qualification e.g. ACCA.

  • Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Graeme Morrice – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graeme Morrice on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

    Mr Francis Maude

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Leicester South on 2 April 2014 (Official Report) Column Ref: 721W.

  • David Lammy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    David Lammy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many libraries in Greater London have (a) closed and (b) reduced opening hours since May 2010.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The detail requested is not held centrally by this Department, however the Annual Report to Parliament published in January this year indicated our estimate of static library closures in England since the beginning of 2010, is around 90. While the number of public libraries has reduced there has been a notable growth in the number of libraries managed or run by the community. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) collect, annually, from the individual library authorities, public library statistics which contain information relating to the net figure of public libraries open in each year, as well as the number and type of libraries and the average hours of opening per week. This shows the number of library service points open 10+ hours per week in England (incl. mobiles) at 31 March 2013 was 3,181. However, CIPFA do not collect data on the number of library closures or those that have reduced their opening hours. Copies of CIPFA statistics are available in the libraries of both Houses.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many paintings, artefacts and other objects were lent from the collections of grant-in-aid funded national museums and galleries to regional museums and galleries in each year since 2010-11.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has collected and published the following data about the number of venues in the United Kingdom to which the sponsored national museums have lent objects from their collections.

    Number of UK loan venues

    Institution

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    British Museum

    178

    162

    169

    Imperial War Museum

    90

    376

    104

    National Gallery

    17

    35

    35

    National Maritime Museum

    71

    74

    81

    National Museums Liverpool

    193

    228

    239

    Science Museum Group 1

    164

    185

    240

    National Portrait Gallery

    133

    118

    118

    Natural History Museum

    182

    131

    32

    Royal Armouries

    107

    106

    120

    Sir John Soane’s Museum

    7

    3

    4

    Tate Gallery

    153

    147

    128

    Victoria and Albert Museum

    241

    262

    242

    Wallace Collection 2

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    1 From 2011-12, the total includes figures for the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, following its merger with the Science Museum Group.

    2 The Wallace Collection cannot lend items under terms of its bequest.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what research his Department has commissioned on a potential relationship between domestic abuse experienced by children and low educational attainment in later life.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The Department for Education has not commissioned research on the possible relationship between domestic abuse and a child’s subsequent educational attainment. Reports published earlier this year by the Early Intervention Foundation and by Coordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse highlighted the impact on children’s wellbeing of exposure to domestic abuse. Though these reports did not focus on later educational attainment, they illustrated potential disruption to children’s lives that is likely to affect their education. The Government is committed to safeguarding children from any form of abuse.