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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the public domain the complete set of submissions that were made to the Boundary Commission’s review of parliamentary constituency boundaries in the previous Parliament.

    John Penrose

    This is a matter for the independent Boundary Commissions.

    All the representations that the Boundary Commissions for Scotland and Northern Ireland received at the boundary review in the previous Parliament are available on their websites, and the representations that the Boundary Commission for Wales received on its initial proposals and during the secondary consultation period at that review are available on its website. The Boundary Commission for England makes available on its website the representations received for the review ongoing at the time only.

  • Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mary Glindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) received from the Government in the last three years; for what reasons that funding is provided; against what criteria the decision to fund that organisation was made; and what obligations the ETI places on its member companies with respect to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    In the last three years the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) has received £1.2m in funding from DFID, through a Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA). PPA funding supports ETI to improve working conditions for poor and vulnerable people, this includes workers in top tier farms and factories, as well as those in the lower tiers of supply chains (such as women homeworkers, smallholders and migrant workers) who are harder to reach and more vulnerable to exploitation. PPA funding is not tied to specific initiatives or interventions but ETI are expected to meet objectives set out in a robust performance framework, agreed between DFID and ETI.

    PPA funding was based on competitive selection and open to organisations who were regarded as leaders in their field and who could deliver on DFID’s objectives. Organisations were selected following a rigorous assessment and quality assurance process.

    Freedom of Association and collective bargaining is a component of the ETI Base Code and therefore every ETI member commits to taking action to support this right.

  • Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35403, on High Speed 2 railway line: Eddisbury, for what reasons no intrusive geological surveys have been carried out at this stage; when HS2 Ltd commissioned from a mining engineer, in consultation with the Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation Board, a study of the historical subsidence effects and ongoing extractive processes in relation to salt; on what date HS2 Ltd received or will receive that report; and when he expects to receive the conclusions of the re-review of the usefulness of satellite interferometry to evaluate historical ground movement across Cheshire.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    HS2 will negotiate access to land with landowners to undertake geological surveys as a part of the Hybrid Bill process following the decision of the route as done on Phase 1 and Phase 2a. It would not be appropriate to intrude on landowners where there is no confirmation of the route.

    Both the study and the re-review will be used to support technical decisions contributing to a route announcement scheduled for later in 2016.

  • Alan Mak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Alan Mak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Mak on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that school standards in England match those of the best international competitors.

    Nick Gibb

    In 2014 we introduced a new, ambitious national curriculum to match the best education systems in the world. We are also reforming GCSEs, A Levels and primary school assessment to represent a new gold standard which enables students to compete with their peers in the world’s best school systems. From summer 2017 the standard of a GCSE “good pass” will be in line with the average performance in high-performing countries.

  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-09-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the Junior Doctors’ Committee of the British Medical Association has (a) left negotiations already in progress and (b) refused written requests to return to negotiations on the proposed junior doctors’ contract since any negotiations on that proposed contract began.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The British Medical Association (BMA) Junior Doctors Committee walked away from negotiations twice. The first time was after almost a year of negotiations on 16 October 2014. The second time was on 4 January 2016 during negotiations following an agreement at ACAS.

    Ministers wrote to the BMA on a number of occasions – four of these letters, between July and November 2015, were explicit requests to enter negotiations. The BMA refused on each occasion.

  • Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of claims management companies on the number of unmeritorious claims brought forward in clinical negligence cases.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department is working closely with stakeholders to develop the proposal to introduce fixed recoverable costs. We have undertaken a pre-consultation exercise with a number of key stakeholders, including representatives of claimant lawyers, and are planning an open public consultation shortly. We welcome views on the proposal from all sectors.

    The consultation documentation, including the Impact Assessment, will be published in early 2016 subject to relevant Committee clearances. We are working upon the assumption that there is nothing about Fixed Recoverable Costs regime which will alter the percentage of unmeritorious claims.

    Any scheme proposed will include consideration of the right incentives to support a fairer and quicker process that provides the improvements to the system whilst maintaining access to justice.

    The NHS Litigation Authority reported in their annual report for 2014/15 that it resolves over 4,000 clinical negligence cases annually for no payment of damages and in 2014/15 it saved over £1.2 billion for the National Health Service in rejecting claims which had no merit.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Natalie McGarry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of poverty and inequalities on entrepreneurialism and economic growth.

    Anna Soubry

    Economic growth is the best way to reduce poverty. We are providing opportunity and training for all, so that everyone can secure their own economic future. That might be through setting up their own business and Government has so far backed over 33,500 Start-Up Loans, worth over £180m. There are a record 5.3 million small businesses in the UK.The Mone Review, led by entrepreneur Michelle Mone, is bringing forward recommendations for how best to support entrepreneurship in disadvantaged communities.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK’s arrangements with French authorities for processing reimbursement claims from UK citizens for state-funded health treatment received in France.

    Justin Tomlinson

    European Union Regulations on the coordination of social security systems include provisions on how citizens may obtain healthcare in other EEA states. These are longstanding legislative arrangements which include the use of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), as well as how the resulting bills are settled between states. The European Commission and the member states are jointly responsible for assessing the effectiveness of the regulations on an on-going basis and where necessary the Commission will recommend any proposed changes for consideration and agreement with the member states.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Defence Procurement on 24 November 2015, Official Report, column 1254, in what ways his Department plans to exercise oversight of the Successor submarine programme.

    Greg Hands

    The Successor delivery organisation that was announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review will be overseen by the Ministry of Defence. As with any major programme of this scale an appropriate scrutiny process is in place.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2016 to Question 26827, what the job titles are of those people in receipt of subsidised health insurance.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The individuals are Commercial Specialists, who transferred into HM Treasury from Partnerships UK under a TUPE arrangement.