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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the political and security situation in Yemen since the recent airstrikes by the Saudi Military; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Saudi Arabia and the Coalition have played a crucial role in reversing the military advance of the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Saleh. Coalition and Government of Yemen military gains must now be used to drive forward the political process. We welcome the reports of calming along the Saudi/Yemen border and prisoner releases. A political solution is the best way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and end the conflict. We are working closely with the UN to encourage parties to meet again and engage in good faith, without preconditions, and to respect future ceasefires.

  • Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Andy McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what legislation or regulations the establishment and functions of the Rail North and the Rail North Board are based.

    Andrew Jones

    The Association of Rail North Partner Authorities was established as a local government association under section 143 of the Local Government Act 1972 to discuss and consult as to their common interests on rail matters.

    The powers to establish and join Rail North Ltd are in the case of combined authorities their well-being power under section 102A (linked to section 99) of the Local Transport Act 2008 and/or their functional power of competence under section 113A of the Local Democracy, Economic Development Act 2009 (inserted by section 13 of the Localism Act 2011). In the case of county councils and unitary authorities the relevant power is their general power of competence under section 1 of the Localism Act 2011.

  • Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many claims made under the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme are still outstanding; and when all the those claims will be settled.

    George Eustice

    The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) estimates that as of 5 June 2016, 86,521 (99%) claimants have received a payment on their 2015 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claim. Of these, 82,460 have received a claim payment; 3,936 bridging payments; and 125 a manual hardship payment. There are a number of claims where processing has been completed successfully but they have not resulted in a payment for reasons such as the claim being under minimum claim size, or the Agency awaiting information on probate cases.

    The RPA will continue to make top up payments throughout the remainder of the payment window up to the end of June 2016.

    While the payment window runs between December and June, the RPA expects to make 90% of payments on eligible claims by the end of December this year and all remaining payments as promptly as possible. As of 5 June the RPA had received 86,581 applications for BPS 2016.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-07-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will take steps to ensure that all heated tobacco-based products are subject to the same excise rates.

    Jane Ellison

    As announced at Budget 2016, the government will consult on the duty treatment of heated tobacco products later this year.

    Heated tobacco products are a recent innovation in the tobacco market and are not directly captured by current legislation, though the tobacco they contain is subject to excise duty under current legislation.

  • Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Mark Prisk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Prisk on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the application of band E energy efficiency standards on the amount of industrial and commercial property available for UK businesses.

    Jesse Norman

    The private rented sector Energy Performance Certificate band E minimum energy efficiency standard was established in the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015.

    The Impact Assessment published alongside the 2015 Regulations estimated that, as of 2014, approximately 200,000 non-domestic private rented sector properties in England and Wales had an energy performance rating below E, representing approximately 18% of the total non-domestic rental stock. The Department does not anticipate that the application of the regulations will have any effect on the availability of this property for UK businesses.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many appeals by claimants in the work related activity group of employment and support allowance whose primary medical condition is a mental health condition have resulted in subsequent placement in the support group of employment and support allowance in each quarter since 2013.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The information as requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-11-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he or officials of his Department have had with Dr Salim Munayer and Musalah on prospects for reconciliation between Israel and Palestine; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not had discussions specifically with Dr Salim Munayer and Musaleh on prospects for reconciliation between Israel and Palestine. However we fund several projects through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund which aim to foster reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis. For example, we support the Peres Centre project to train Palestinian doctors in Israeli hospitals. This not only provides advanced training but also creates people to people relations.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2015-12-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 15 December (HL3615), in respect of each retention instrument, what were the reasons for deciding not to transfer records to the National Archives, and what was the subject matter of each instrument.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    As set out in the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended), public records selected for permanent preservation are transferred toThe National Archives or an approved place of deposit no later than 20 years after creation, unless an department is authorised to keep them for longer. Such decisions are undertakenwithadvice from the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives.

    The Access to Public Records Manual published by the National Archives sets out the seven broad grounds for retention, which is attached.

    Retention instruments can cover multiple applicationsby departments to retain records and the number of applications covered by Lord Chancellor’s Instruments 111-119 ranges from 37 to 253, which were submitted by between 8 and 15 departments.

    The grounds provided by departments that were given permission to retain records under Instruments 111, 113, 114 and 119 are 1,2,4 and 6. Records under Instruments 112, 115, 117 and 118 were retained on grounds 1, 4 and 6 and records under Instrument 116 were retained on grounds 4 and 6. Each of the Instruments therefore covers documents retained on grounds of national security, as well as other administrative reasons.

    There is a strong public interest in not releasing information which could undermine the safeguarding of national security.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 21839, what steps he is taking to ensure that engagement with the National Bowel Screening Programme continues to increase; and what (a) national and (b) local targets his Department has for such engagement.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England, commissioners of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, closely monitor the coverage rates for bowel cancer screening in all eligible age groups and is committed to increasing uptake and reducing variation across England. Local NHS England commissioners analyse coverage rates within their area and seek to improve uptake by sharing best practice.

    The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes in July last year, and recognised the importance of early diagnosis and screening. The taskforce recommended an ambition that 75% of people participate in bowel screening by 2020. To facilitate this change, they recommended a change to a new test, the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) which is an easier to use test than the current Faecal Occult Blood (FOB) test and improves uptake. On 15 January 2016 the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) announced the recommendations it made at its 19 November 2015 meeting. The UK NSC has recommended that FIT be used as the primary test for bowel cancer instead of the currently used FOB test. Ministers are now considering the UK NSC’s recommendation.

    Information on the average cost to the National Health Service of a colonoscopy performed following a positive screening test for bowel cancer is not held centrally. Information is available in the following table and is from reference costs, which are the average unit costs to NHS trusts and foundation trusts of providing defined services to patients. Reference costs for acute care are published by healthcare resource group (HRG), which are standard groupings of similar treatments that use similar resources.

    Estimated average unit cost of a diagnostic colonoscopy reported by NHS trusts and foundation trusts, 2014-15

    Procedure

    Average unit cost

    Diagnostic colonoscopy, 19 years and over

    £519

    Diagnostic colonoscopy with biopsy, 19 years and over

    £604

    Source: Reference costs, Department of Health

    Note:

    The unit costs shown are the average of costs reported across a range of settings including elective inpatient, non-elective inpatient, day case and regular day and night attenders.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total cost to Network Rail was of acquiring the ownership of freight sites under Project Mountfield; and what overall revenue received by Network Rail from those sites in 2014-15.

    Claire Perry

    This was a commercial matter for Network Rail. I understand that the total cost to Network Rail of acquiring the ownership of freight sites under Project Mountfield was £220 million.

    The overall revenue figure for 2014/15 was £5.2 million which represents a 5 month period – November to March – given the transfer of sites occurred in October 2014.

    Network Rail is forecasting this to grow to £16 million per annum by 2017 alongside realising significant operational efficiencies.