Tag: Parliamentary Question

Baroness Whitaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Whitaker on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether UK cluster bombs have been sold to the government of Saudi Arabia; and if so, when.

Earl Howe

The Governments of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed an agreement in August 1986 that covered the supply of BL-775 cluster munitions to the Royal Saudi Air Force. The last of these were supplied in early 1989. We are not aware of the sale of any other UK cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia.

01/01/2023
Peter Bottomley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bottomley on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the East Lancashire Hospitals Trust first checked the case notes of patient KM; and whether the medical director of that Trust wrote to Mr Agrawal to withdraw and to apologise for believing that the patient had died.

Mr Jeremy Hunt

This is an employer and employee matter between the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and Mr Aditya Agrawal respectively. The Department cannot comment on individual employment matters that are the responsibility of independent organisations, and that are subject to ongoing legal proceedings or on matters relating to individual clinical cases or other personal information. We understand that the cost to East Lancashire Trust of legal proceedings concerning Mr Agrawal is £296,848.42 to date, and that the Trust does not have insurance costs for legal awards in the event of the Trust or one of its employees being subject to legal action for defamation.

01/01/2023
Bridget Phillipson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the level of parental contributions required to fund extended school activities on participation of pupils pupils from low-income families in such activities.

Edward Timpson

We want to ensure that all young people get the best start in life, with the opportunity to receive the knowledge and skills, the right advice at the right time, and great, challenging life-shaping experiences that will ensure their future success. We know that effective schools personalise their support for disadvantaged pupils, which can include the use of extended school activities. Schools are free to use the funding they receive, including through the pupil premium, to offer these activities. We have committed to protecting the pupil premium at current rates for the duration of this Parliament, providing £2.5billion of additional funding this year alone to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

The Department for Education does not collect information on the amount of funding schools receive from parental contributions for extended school activities or how this affects levels of participation in such activities. It is for schools to set their charging and remission policy. Any charges for extended services cannot exceed the cost of the provision, and in setting their charging policy schools can determine the circumstances where they will remit or partially remit any charges.

01/01/2023
Jim Dowd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Dowd on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many students have enrolled at further education establishments in (a) London, (b) the London Borough of Lewisham, (c) the London Borough of Southwark and (d) the London Borough of Bromley in each of the last five years.

Nick Boles

Adult skills funding allocations to further education providers are published on the Skills Funding Agency website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-funding-allocations-to-training-providers-2015-to-2016

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-funding-allocations-to-training-providers-2014-to-2015

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-funding-allocations-to-training-providers-2005-to-2013

Funding to further education providers for learners aged 16-18 is provided by the Department for Education.

Information on the number of learners participating in English and maths courses by geography from 2005/06 onwards is published in a supplementary table (first link) to a Statistical First Release at the FE Data Library (second link). Information on the number of learners participating in further education and skills by geography from 2005/06 onwards is published in a second supplementary table (third link).

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/382085/englishandmaths-participation-by-geography-learner-demographics.xlsc

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fe-data-library

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/378262/feandskills-participation-by-geography-learner-demographics.xls

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01/01/2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to reduce net migration from Europe, other than seeking reform of provision of welfare for non-British EU citizens.

James Brokenshire

Free movement is an important principle of the EU but it is not an unqualified right and it must be grounded in the freedom to take up work in another Member State, to contribute to the economy and to integrate into society.

We have taken firm steps to restrict access to out of work benefits by EU jobseekers and we can remove them if they are not in a job within six months. We have removed access to Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for jobseekers and introduced a new test to check whether EU nationals who claim in-work benefits really have meaningful and effective employment here.

We have toughened the Habitual Residence Test, the gateway test which all migrants have to satisfy to access benefits, and we have introduced tougher checks for the payment of child benefit and child tax credit to EU nationals. To tackle abuse, we have introduced new powers so that EU nationals who don’t meet the requirements for residence are removed and banned from coming back for 12 months, unless they have a valid reason to be here (for example an immediate job start).

The Prime Minister set out in his speech on 10 November and in his letter to the President of the European Council the issues we are seeking to tackle through the EU reform negotiations to restore a sense of fairness to our immigration system and to reduce the current very high level of population flows from within the EU into the UK.

01/01/2023

Christian Matheson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees who were dismissed from employment by his Department or its executive agencies since 2010 were on long-term sickness absence at the time of their dismissal; and how many such employees had been diagnosed with a condition considered (a) incurable, and (b) terminal.

Justin Tomlinson

DWP has succeeded in reducing sickness absence from an annual average of 8.4 days per employee in December 2010 to 6.2 days per employee currently.

DWP’s Attendance Management policy is supportive of our people and we are committed to helping them maintain good health. We will support employees during periods of sickness absence as long as there is a realistic prospect they will return to work. However, where this is not the case, we need to take prompt action to manage the situation.

The following table provides a summary of number of employees dismissed while on long-term sickness absence.

Year	Headcount at end of year	Dismissals on Long Term Sick
2010	112,135	450
2011	101,331	439
2012	106,487	333
2013	99,343	423
2014	90,388	453
2015	84,429	421

DWP does not record whether an employee’s condition is diagnosed as incurable or terminal, so cannot provide this information.

01/01/2023

Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the living conditions of the Yazidi community in refugee camps in Iraq.

Mr Desmond Swayne

To date, the UK has committed £79.5 million to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. UK aid is reaching hundreds of thousands of people across Iraq, including the most vulnerable groups, such as Yezidis. All UK-funded aid is distributed on the basis of needs and in line with humanitarian principles which ensure that no-one is discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion or ethnicity . According to the International Organisation for Migration, the vast majority of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Iraq live in host communities, with around 10% of all Iraqi IDPs living in camps.

On a field visit to Dohuk in January 2016, DFID officials met with a number of displaced Iraqis, including Yezidis, and discussed their shelter needs and living conditions. This included members of the Yezidi community who were living in poor conditions in informal settlements. The DFID team were told that the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had undertaken to relocate these individuals to a camp with appropriate services and conditions. However, this offer had been declined by Yezidi heads of households because of a perception that the camps were too far from employment opportunities although it appeared that other members of the community held differing views about the suitability of the camps.

01/01/2023
Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department’s legal costs were in the Supreme Court cases UKSC 2016/0029 and UKSC 2016/0025.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government has incurred approximately £52,299 to date on legal costs in the joined cases of MA, A & Rutherford v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at the Supreme Court (UKSC 2014/0129, UKSC 2014/0139, UKSC 2016/0029 and UKSC 2016/0025). Due to the way in which the cases are billed, it is not possible to provide a separate figure for UKSC 2016/0029 and UKSC 2016/0025.

It should be noted that this figure includes VAT where this is payable (e.g. on Counsel’s fees) and disbursements but does not include costs attributable to the time spent by Government advisory lawyers, as time spent by such advisory lawyers is not recorded in a manner that allows it to be attributed to individual cases.

It should also be noted that this figure does not include all of Counsel’s fees incurred in relation to proceedings during February and March which have not yet been billed.

01/01/2023
Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34465, if his Department will take steps to allow web-users to include honours when completing Government online forms.

Justin Tomlinson

We only collect information that is relevant for an online service. As information on honours is not needed for a user to complete any of our online services we have no plans to collect this information.

01/01/2023
Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have raised the recent murder of Khurram Zaki, and his campaign work, with the government of Pakistan.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We condemn the murder of Khurram Zaki in Karachi on 7 May. As a journalist and human rights activist, Khurram Zaki campaigned against sectarian violence and religious extremism in Pakistan. His murder is a sad reminder of the hostile climate in which Pakistani campaigners and journalists operate.

Under its National Action Plan, the Government of Pakistan is taking steps to improve security by tackling terrorist and extremist elements. We continue to urge Pakistan to honour in practice all its human rights obligations and uphold the rule of law. During his visit to Pakistan in March, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the importance we attach to safeguarding the rights of all Pakistan citizens regardless of ethnicity, faith or political views.

01/01/2023