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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) acute and (b) non-acute beds there were in each London hospital in each year since 2010.

    Jane Ellison

    Information on bed availability and occupancy is published every quarter.

    The attached table shows the average daily number of available (a) general and acute and (b) maternity, mental health and learning disability beds that were open overnight and open day only and under the care of a consultant in London trusts in each quarter since 2010.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will raise with the UN the need for all member states to endorse the international campaign against female genital mutilation.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK has taken the lead internationally in supporting the African-led movement to end female genital mutilation. We lead by example, as the largest donor ever, investing £35m over 5 years in a programme in 17 countries. Last year we successfully worked with others to push for the inclusion of an indicator on female genital mutilation in the Global Goals that applies not only to some, but to all countries. We co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolutions on female genital mutilation in 2012 and 2014.

    In 2014, the Prime Minister co-hosted Girl Summit with UNICEF, which galvanised unprecedented international support. Girl Summit secured 500 signatories to a charter and over 170 commitments from governments, civil society and individuals. Increased funding was committed to the UN Joint Programmes on female genital mutilation and child, early and forced marriage. We continue to urge others to do more.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department has a health and well-being programme developed in partnership with trade union representatives, staff networks and the sports and social club.

    The Department signposts staff to sources of help and support, such as the employee assistance programme, occupational health provider and its own bank of mental health first-aiders.

    The content and impact of the programme is kept under review by a stakeholder group made up of representatives from the department and external partners, such as the Charity for Civil Servants and the Corporate Alliance Against Domestic Violence.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-03-22.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he used any international systems to inform the formulation of his proposals to introduce a lifetime ISA.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government is always mindful of international comparisons when developing tax policy. In the case of the Lifetime ISA, the Government will explore with the industry whether there should be the flexibility to borrow funds from the Lifetime ISA without incurring a charge if the borrowed funds are fully repaid; for example, some US retirement plans allow 50% to be borrowed up to a maximum of $50,000.

    Further details about how the Lifetime ISA will work will be announced when the government brings forward legislation to enact the Lifetime ISA in the autumn.

  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the UK aid budget will be allocated as (a) grants and (b) loans in 2016-17.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The information requested is not available for 2016-17.

  • Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans are in receipt of war disablement pension; and what steps his Department takes to notify recipients of changes in the level of that pension.

    Mr Julian Brazier

    As at 31 March 2015, there were 116,049 disablement pensioners in receipt of a War Pension administered by Veterans UK. Whenever there is a change in an individual’s rate of war pension, Veterans UK will write to inform them. For 2016, Veterans UK elected not to issue an annual uprating letter to individuals as there was no change to payment levels. Instead, an alternative communication plan was put in place utilising automated messages on the Veterans UK helpline, letters to Third sector organisations for publication, and articles in Veterans World magazine, the Armed Forces pension newsletter, social media and on the gov.uk website.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 May 2016 to Question 37474, how many full-time equivalent officials of his Department are responsible for any debt collection activity that the CMS system is undertaking to ensure that former Child Support Agency child maintenance arrears are received.

    Priti Patel

    Where CSA arrears are moved across to the CMS system we will actively pursue collection where the CSA clients fall within three specific scenarios. These include firstly where a re-application has been made to CMS relating to the same case; secondly where the CSA arrears were being paid in the last 3 months prior to being moved over to the CMS system; and finally where a client actively requests we collect them.

    Given this approach to the collection of these CSA arrears, they are collected through our business-as-usual processes within our Case Maintenance, Arrears and Enforcement Teams within CMS, where at June 2016 there were 3,256 full time equivalent staff.

  • Lord Hague of Richmond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Hague of Richmond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hague of Richmond on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government  what steps they have taken to secure a total ban on ivory sales, and what discussions they have had with other countries about implementing such a ban.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government has conducted informal discussions with representatives of the arts and antique sector on the scale of legal trade in ivory currently taking place. An accurate assessment is challenging as records for antiques may not necessarily record an item as containing ivory where this is only a small component of a larger item. Extrapolation from available data indicates that sales of items containing ivory may be worth in the order of several tens of millions of pounds per annum.

    TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring organisation, has recently published its report: “A Rapid Survey of the UK ivory market”. Although not an exact comparison with a survey conducted in 2004, TRAFFIC’s survey found the number of market stalls offering ivory for sale had declined by approximately two-thirds and the number of items offered for sale had halved. No new or raw ivory was seen in any of the physical market outlets or online platforms; only one ivory item seen for sale was reportedly from after the legal cut-off (1947) for antique ivory being sold without Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) documentation within the EU. Ivory is a key UK wildlife crime priority with an enforcement action plan in place to tackle risk. For example, UK Border Force through Operation Quiver has in particular successfully targeted ivory sent through postal systems.

    We are actively exploring options with interested parties and other Government Departments about how to implement the UK Government’s manifesto commitment to press for a total ban on ivory sales. The UK has successfully lobbied for the EU-wide adoption of the existing UK ban on trade in raw ivory tusks, which was agreed through European Council Conclusions on an EU Action Plan on Wildlife Trafficking adopted in June. Trade in such tusks presents the greatest risk of poached ivory entering the legal market. In addition, these conclusions urged EU Member States to consider further measures to put a halt to commercial trade in ivory from elephants.

    A substantial number of proposals on elephant and ivory related issues will be discussed at the Conference of Parties to CITES to be held in South Africa between 24 September and 5 October 2016. This will include discussions on the existing global ban on the trade in ivory, which the UK is committed to maintaining, and the role of domestic ivory markets in illegal trade. The UK is, and will continue to, play a full role in these discussions.

    In relation to the confirmation by the USA Government to limit commercial trade in African elephant ivory to items more than 100 years old, with some exemptions, the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs, Rory Stewart, discussed this issue with the USA Government during a trip earlier this year. In addition officials in Defra are in regular contact with their US counterparts and have discussed the US measures on a number of occasions.

    Finally on the Elephant Protection Initiative, this has grown from 5 to 14 members since the London Conference in February 2014. A Ministerial-level meeting of members to agree governance arrangements took place in Addis Ababa in September 2015. Range states have been supported to develop their National Elephant Action Plans and through these a number of priority conservation projects have been funded.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 2.2 of the High Speed Rail (Preparation) Act 2013 Expenditure Report, 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016, published by his Department in October 2016, if he will detail the reasons, other than the delay in completing the acquisition of large-scale commercial properties, for the £192.7 million underspend referred to in that report.

    Andrew Jones

    The £192.7m of the Land & Property (L&P) underspend shown in the High Speed Rail (Preparation) Act 2013 Expenditure Report for 1 April 2015 – 31 March 2016 was formed from two elements – strategic property acquisitions and compensation schemes, including providing discretionary assistance to home owners and small businesses.

    The majority of the total L&P underspend was caused by delays in completing non-compensation scheme acquisitions. These are generally acquisitions of commercial properties and it is hard to accurately estimate completion dates due to complexity of the deals.

    The other part of the L&P underspend was related to acquisitions resulting from the compensation schemes. The suite of schemes are demand led which means HS2 Ltd has very limited control over the timing of property purchases. Successful applicants to the schemes are allowed between one and three years after acceptance to decide on when they want their homes purchased.

  • Lord Marlesford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Marlesford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-10-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what circumstances they would consider using British military assets to prevent President Assad from using barrel bombs against civilians in Syria.

    Earl Howe

    We have repeatedly demanded that Assad ceases the use of barrel bombs and called on his allies, Russia and Iran, to apply pressure to that end. Ultimately, a negotiated political transition is the only way to end the conflict and alleviate Syria’s humanitarian crisis. Any decision to commit UK military assets in order to prevent Assad’s use of these indiscriminate weapons would be subject to appropriate legal consideration, close consultation with allies and the endorsement of the House of Commons.