Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has (a) guidelines and (b) a template contract for the leasing of government property to mobile telephone operators for the purposes of erecting masts.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Government Property Unit have developed guidelines and a standardised commercial agreement for Departments to make it easier for mobile telephone operatorsto erect masts on Government buildings. Government Property Unit also provided a London Rate Card for use by Departments and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) that sets out indicative rents for a range of locations. The Government Property Unit have also issued further technical guidance for Departments’ Estates.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claimants whose asylum claim had been refused but who could not be legally deported because their destination country was deemed unsafe were admitted to prison in each year between 2006-07 and 2009-10.

    James Brokenshire

    We carefully consider all asylum claims on their individual merits and provide protection for those who need it, in accordance with our international obligations. No one who is at risk of serious harm in their country is expected to return there, but we do expect those who do not need our protection to return home voluntarily. Neither the Home Office nor the Ministry of Justice holds data on the number of failed asylum seekers who are admitted to prison as the information is not captured in that way.

  • Guto Bebb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Guto Bebb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Guto Bebb on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his Department’s policy to accept data protection forms relating to queries arising from hon. Members’ casework by email.

    Justin Tomlinson

    DWP current email policy states “this policy does not change existing rules on communications with Members of Parliament (MPs) and when responding to customer complaints (handled by the Independent Case Examiner) where the MP or complainant has requested a response by email”.

    A Member is the data controller for all personal data handled by their own office and must be registered with the Information Commissioners Office in accordance with the following guidance.

    http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/advice-for-members-offices.pdf

  • The Lord Bishop of Leeds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Leeds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Leeds on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to establishing new consular premises in Iraqi Kurdistan.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government is committed to delivering a permanent, fit-for-purpose Consulate General platform in Erbil at the earliest opportunity.

    Significant changes to the security situation in Iraq have necessitated that we review our requirements and plans for the Consulate General platform in order to ensure that we are able to meet our political, security, prosperity and humanitarian objectives, both now and in the future. We continue to offer an uninterrupted service from our current Consulate General platform and continue to explore options for the acquisition of appropriate office accommodation for the future.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what role he plans that further education providers and colleges will have in the governance and delivery of the Institute of Apprenticeships.

    Nick Boles

    The Board of the Institute will be comprised primarily of employers, business leaders and their representatives to ensure that employers continue to drive apprenticeship quality at the highest level. The Institute will also be able to draw on the expertise of education providers, colleges and others in the exercise of its functions.

  • Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Manzoor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Manzoor on 2016-06-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many civil servants involved in the delivery of Universal Credit have left the Department for Works and Pensions in each of the last five years; how large is the team working on Universal Credit delivery; and how many people involved in the delivery team when it was originally created remain within the department.

    Lord Freud

    Universal Credit rollout started in April 2013. At the same time the Universal Credit Directorate was established within Operations, to deliver Universal Credit with 80 paid employees.

    AT 31st March 2016, the Universal Credit Directorate consisted of 4,295 paid employees.

    The numbers of Universal Credit Directorate employees who have left DWP since April 2013 are as follows:

    Leaving Period

    Number of Employees who left DWP

    April 2013 to March 2014

    5

    April 2014 to March 2015

    46

    April 2015 to March 2016

    357

    Of the original 80 employees who were part of Universal Credit Directorate in April 2013, 67 are still employed by DWP.

  • Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of retrospective planning applications to local councils in (a) Devon and (b) the UK in the last five years.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Department does not collect the data requested.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the incidence of cyber-fraud and to advise the public of the level of care they should take in transferring money online.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Government launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce earlier this year. This partnership between government, law enforcement and the financial sector is working in new innovative ways to deliver a more effective response to fraud. The Taskforce is looking at new ways to ensure individuals have the tools and knowledge to protect themselves from fraudsters, including when transferring money online.

    A Joint Fraud Taskforce partner, Financial Fraud Action UK, recently launched a nation-wide fraud prevention campaign ‘Take 5’ which advises that individuals take five minutes to consider what they are being asked to do, especially if being pressured to take an unusual course of action such as transferring funds to an unknown individual. The Taskforce is also working closely with the financial sector to look at how fraud can be designed out of systems such as internet banking, to stop individuals transferring money to a potential fraudster.

    The Government’s Cyber Aware campaign aims to help small business and individuals protect themselves from cyber criminals by adopting simple secure online behaviours such as having a strong password and always downloading the latest software updates. Cyber Aware works with a range of public and private sector partners to embed cyber security advice into a range of every day touch points, including Get Safe Online, whose remit is to help individuals and small businesses safeguard themselves against fraud and other online data threats.

    The Government is also encouraging all businesses which rely on the Internet to adopt the Cyber Essentials scheme to protect themselves against the most common Internet threats. We know the vast majority of cyber attacks exploit basic weaknesses in IT software and systems. Cyber Essentials shows organisations how to address those basics and get a good level of online security in place which all organisations operating online should aim for as a minimum.

  • Lord Foulkes of Cumnock – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Foulkes of Cumnock – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees whether any staff of the House of Lords are paid less than the recommended Living Wage for London, and if so, how many and in which departments they work.

    Lord Laming

    The House of Lords Administration was accredited as a London Living Wage employer in November 2013. We have kept in line with changes to the Living Wage since. No staff employed by the House Administration are paid below the London Living Wage.

  • Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-12-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents his Department has recorded of drones operating over prison estates in the last year for which figures are available; what steps his Department took following each such incident; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Selous

    If an incident involving a drone occurs, prisons will invoke appropriate contingency plans and will work alongside the police and CPS to ensure those responsible are caught. NOMS are exploring research options with the Home Office Centre for Applied Science and Technology (CAST) on detection and mitigation technology for drones.

    There were 30 reported drone related incidents between 1 December 2014 and 30 November 2015. This includes drone finds and drone sightings by prison staff in and around public and private prisons in England and Wales.

    Individual prisons will invoke the appropriate contingency plan relevant to the circumstances of the incident involving a drone. This includes, for example, working with the police and CPS to ensure those responsible for an incident involving a drone are caught and, if appropriate, prosecuted.

    These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.