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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Martyn Day – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment the Prime Minister has made of the potential effect of the investor state dispute settlement clause of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on public services managed by the Scottish government.

    Anna Soubry

    The inclusion of investment protections and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) should not affect how public services are provided in Scotland or the rest of the UK. Investment protection seeks to protect businesses and individuals who have made investments overseas from unfair or discriminatory treatment and ISDS is about providing an independent legal means to resolve disputes which have arisen under the treaty. The proposals cannot force governments to open markets or privatise public services.

    The UK has bilateral investment agreements with over 90 countries which contain ISDS provisions and there has never been a successful claim brought against the UK.

  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for which future franchises his Department plans to specify driver-only operation.

    Claire Perry

    Staffing levels are generally a matter for railway operators, as we believe that they are best placed to determine how to meet the needs of their passengers. However, the Department may consider on a case-by-case basis whether, exceptionally, to invite proposals involving driver-only or driver-controlled operation when it holds competitions for future franchises.

  • Lord Watson of Invergowrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Watson of Invergowrie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Watson of Invergowrie on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what modelling they have done to establish the scale of gains and losses that are likely to result from the introduction of the National Funding Formula for schools.

    Lord Nash

    On 7 March, we published our first consultation on a national funding formula for schools and high needs. It outlined the principles of the funding system and the funding factors that we believe should define the formula.

    The detailed design of the national funding formula – and therefore its impact on local authorities and schools – will only be finalised once we have had the opportunity to thoroughly consider all responses to our first consultation, which closed on 17 April. We intend to set out those proposals and the impacts of the proposed formula on local authorities and schools in a second stage consultation later this year. We are thinking carefully about how the transition to new funding levels can be managed and will set out further detail on this in the second consultation.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport of 4 May 2016, Official Report, column 286, stating that the Government intends to commence sections 165 and 167 of the Equality Act 2010 in 2016, if he will also impose a statutory requirement on the driver of a private hire vehicle to accept and assist a wheelchair user and not to charge extra for providing such assistance.

    Andrew Jones

    The Government intends to commence sections 165 and 167 of the Equality Act 2010 this year, and impose this requirement upon both Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle drivers.

  • John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department’s purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure UK suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent from the public purse on the Act FAST campaign in each year since that campaign began.

    David Mowat

    Public Health England (PHE) took over all the public health campaigns formerly run by the Department on 1 April 2013, including Act FAST.

    The funding allocated to the Act FAST media spend is as follows:

    2013-14: £870,000

    2014-15: £850,000

    2015-16: £930,000

    Marketing spend is defined for this purpose as advertising spend covering only the media costs (inclusive of agency commission). These figures do not include recruitment/classified advertising costs and ad hoc spend under £10,000. All figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000.

    2016-17 media spend figures are not available as the expenditure has not yet been committed.

    All PHE spend over £25,000, including on public health campaigns, is published routinely and available on gov.uk:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/phe-spend-over-25000

    “

  • Karl McCartney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Karl McCartney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that refugees can be settled in Europe without making dangerous journeys by boat.

    James Brokenshire

    The UK operates several national resettlement schemes which resettle refugees directly from the regions. The Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme has been expanded and will now resettle 20, 000 Syrians. These schemes provide refugees with a direct and safe route to the UK, rather than risking the hazardous journey to Europe. Resettlement is an important part of any well managed asylum system and we encourage other EU countries to resettle those most in need.

  • David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of whether clinical commissioning groups are fully prepared to assume active commissioning of tier 4 obesity from April 2016.

    George Freeman

    NHS England is supporting the transfer of commissioning responsibilities for obesity surgery services to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to ensure that they are fully prepared to assume the role.

    They will provide technical and operational guidance to commissioners, including undertaking an evaluation of Tier 3 and Tier 4 interfaces within regions to assist CCGs. This guidance is in development.

    NHS England is also supporting CCGs through national and local collaborative meetings on commissioning.

  • Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-01-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the legal responsibilities of those parents who choose to teach their children at home.

    Lord Nash

    Parents of a child of compulsory school age must comply with the duty in section 7 of the Education Act 1996 to cause the child to receive efficient full-time education suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs the child may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise. They can meet this duty by electing to educate at home, which is referred to in the Act as education ‘otherwise than at school’.

    Local authorities do not have a general responsibility to monitor the education provided by parents, for the purposes of ensuring that parents are meeting their responsibilities. An authority has a duty under s.436A of the Education Act 1996 to make arrangements to establish the identities of children who are not receiving a suitable education. However, the fact that a child is educated at home does not necessarily mean that the child is not receiving a suitable education.

    Should it appear that the child is not receiving suitable education, the local authority has a duty under s.437(1) of the Education Act 1996 to serve a notice requiring the parent to satisfy the authority that the child is indeed receiving a suitable education. If the parent is unable to satisfy the authority, and the authority considers it expedient for the child to attend school, then the local authority must issue a school attendance order.

    These matters are set out in guidance issued by the Department for Education to local authorities.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the independent costings of linking High Speed 2 to the Northern Powerhouse Rail work for both Manchester and Sheffield city centre station locations.

    Andrew Jones

    Since the publication of the March 2015 Northern Transport Strategy, the government and Transport for the North have undertaken significant work to understand what the capability of the rail infrastructure – between and within cities – would need to be to deliver the Northern Powerhouse Rail vision.

    Network Rail and HS2 Ltd. are currently working to establish the scale of investment required. We expect to have an understanding of the relative scale of costs by autumn 2016.