Tag: Parliamentary Question

Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what metrics of performance he used to measure the performance of the Government’s Productivity Plan, entitled Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation, published in 2015.

Joseph Johnson

Ultimately, delivering robust productivity growth is the key outcome of the Productivity Plan. Productivity, measured as output per hour worked, grew by 1.3% in the third quarter of 2015 compared to a year earlier. In the latest Inflation Report, the Bank of England increased both its 2016 and 2017 forecasts of productivity growth by 0.25 percentage points.

In addition, many of the measures included in the Productivity Plan have their own individual delivery targets, such as the commitment to 3 million apprenticeships starts this Parliament.

The select committee on Business, Innovation and Skills’ report into the Productivity Plan, published on the 1 February 2016, made a number of recommendations including on the use of measures of success. The Government will respond to the Committee at the end of March 2016.

January 1, 2023
Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which (a) serving and (b) former Ministers in his Department have used the Freedom of Information Act to seek information from the Department since that Act was brought into force.

Matthew Hancock

Due to the nature of the way FOI requests are recorded it is unfortunately not possible to identify the number of requests from all former and existing Cabinet Office Ministers or honourable members except at disproportionate cost.

January 1, 2023
Corri Wilson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Corri Wilson on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he expects to answer Question 26017, tabled by the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock on 5 February 2016.

John Penrose

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 April 2016.

January 1, 2023
Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the statistical or other criteria are which her Department plans to apply in assessing which providers are to be given a multi-year allocation of initial teacher training places.

Nick Gibb

As set out in our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, we plan to introduce ‘Centres of Excellence’ in Initial Teacher Training which will receive multi-year allocations. We are currently engaging the sector and working to establish the criteria for determining which providers will be designated as a ‘Centre of Excellence’. At this stage, no firm decisions have been taken.

January 1, 2023
Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the retaking of Sirte on Daesh; and what steps his Department is taking to help restore stability to that city.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Daesh is losing in Libya, as they are in Iraq and Syria. I welcome the courage of the Libyan forces who have faced them and are fighting Daesh in Benghazi, in Sirte, and elsewhere. This is a clear signal to Daesh from the Libyan people: Daesh is not wanted in Libya, they are not welcome, and they will be defeated.

The conflict in Sirte is not over and fighting there is continuing. After months of conflict the humanitarian situation in Sirte is expected to be serious, as it is across Libya. In addition to the humanitarian aid the UK is already providing to Libya, the UK has contributed $1m and a UK stabilisation adviser to the UNDP Stabilisation Facility, an initiative of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), supported by UNDP and the international community. The Facility will support the Libyan GNA to restore critical infrastructure destroyed by conflict and improve basic service delivery. This is a facility for all Libya and will benefit municipalities in the East, West and South of the country.

January 1, 2023
Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 44023, on poultry: animal welfare, if she will make it her policy to extend the ban on unenriched battery cages for laying hens to quail egg production.

George Eustice

The welfare of quail raised for egg production, is protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which makes it an offence to fail to provide satisfactorily for welfare needs and by the general provisions of the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007. We have no current plans to introduce new legislation specifically to ban unenriched cages for egg laying quail.

Once we leave the EU, we have an opportunity to make sure all our policies are delivering for the UK, including for animal welfare.

January 1, 2023

Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department allocated for asbestos removal for schools in each year from 2010 to 2016.

Nick Gibb

The Education Funding Agency (EFA) does not hold a breakdown of funding information, in the format requested, in relation to the removal of asbestos or renovation of school buildings.

Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, the primary responsibility for managing asbestos lies with the person or persons responsible for the maintenance or repair of a building. For schools, this will be the local authority, school governors or academy trust.

The table below summarises the capital budgets from 2011-12 to 2016-17 that were provided for school maintenance, refurbishment and rebuilding, including where appropriate the removal and/or safe containment of asbestos-containing materials. As these works are covered by the capital funding programmes listed below, the Department does not allocate a separate budget for this purpose; and there are no plans to do so in future years.

The Department does not hold directly comparable allocation or expenditure data on prior years.

(All values £m)	2011-12 Budget	2012-13 Budget	2013-14 Budget	2014-15 Budget	2015-16 Budget	2016-17 Budget
School Condition Allocations (funding provided to local authorities and voluntary-aided schools)	1,054	861	749	699	690	661
Devolved Formula Capital (funding provided direct to schools)	185	162	149	138	134	130
Funding for academies, multi-academy trusts, state-funded special schools and other specialist providers for state-funded pupils (including DFC).	161	376	504	562	576	617
Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP) (delivered by central government)	0	0	90	603	999	1,050
Total	1,400	1,399	1,492	2,002	2,399	2,458

January 1, 2023

Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in receipt of universal credit receive help with mortgage costs.

Justin Tomlinson

The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit (UC) does not currently accept claims from owner occupiers. Once this claimant group starts claiming UC we expect that the numbers of any potential owner occupiers making a claim to be small.

January 1, 2023
Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support the Government has provided to video games development companies in Dundee since 2010.

Mr Edward Vaizey

In 2014 Government introduced video games tax relief to support UK games development, including eligible projects in Dundee. In addition, this Autumn, a 4-year £4 million UK Games Fund was launched. This fund, administered from Dundee and London, includes grants for young games development businesses around the UK, and there has been a strong response from Dundee games developers for calls for applications.

The Fund follows our earlier successful video games prototype fund, run by Abertay University in Dundee from 2010 – 2014, and our support for expansion of the university’s games lab which benefitted a number of Dundee games developers.

Dundee games developers are also able to access a range of other schemes including the Research and Development tax credit, the Tradeshow Access Programme and Government match-funding from the Skills Investment Fund which is managed by Creative Skillset.

January 1, 2023
Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people who applied to join the Army Reserve in 2015 had their applications withdrawn on medical grounds.

Mr Julian Brazier

Candidates applying to join the Army Reserve are assessed against the same medical eligibility standards as those joining the Regular Army. Candidates withdrawn on medical grounds may be rejected, deferred for set periods of time, or withdraw voluntarily citing medical reasons. The total number of candidates to the Army Reserve who had their applications withdrawn on medical grounds in 2015 is 7,920. This total has been rounded to the nearest 10 in accordance with Defence Statistics policy.

January 1, 2023