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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-04-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what procedures his Department puts in place when a person benefitting from diplomatic immunity commits a crime in the UK.

    James Duddridge

    In accordance with Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office expects all foreign diplomats and members of their families in the UK to abide by UK laws at all times. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office treats all allegations of criminal offences committed by those with diplomatic immunity seriously. We work closely with diplomatic missions in the UK and the police or other law enforcement agencies to ensure an appropriate response to all allegations. If an allegation requires further investigation, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will request a waiver of the diplomat’s immunity for the purpose of investigation by the police from the diplomatic mission concerned. Failure to provide a waiver may result in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office demanding the withdrawal of the diplomat.

    Further answers to recent questions about alleged criminal conduct by foreign diplomats based in the UK and waivers of immunity can be found in the Official Report (24113, 26534 and 26535).

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent progress his Department has made in replacing Linear Accelerators that are older than 10 years old; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    In order to provide the very best radiotherapy treatment to patients, NHS England has to urgently address the need to modernise radiotherapy machines. NHS England’s Radiotherapy Service Review will establish exactly what is needed, where and when, focussing on the highest priority replacements and upgrades to result in the greatest patient impact. The Review will produce a plan for a modern national radiotherapy network by September, with a revised radiotherapy service specification by the end of the year.

  • Baroness Featherstone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Baroness Featherstone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Featherstone on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to call in the decision by Northumberland County Council to approve plans for an opencast coal mine at Highthorn in the light of recent government commitments to phase out the use of coal.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    Members of the public and MPs have requested that this application is called in, and we are currently considering that request.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available for victims of sexual abuse under the age of 13.

    Sarah Newton

    The Government is committed to providing support for both victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. In 2016-17 we have made £7 million available to organisations working with victims and survivors of sexual abuse. £4.74 million has been provided to Police and Crime Commissioners to distribute to organisations working with victims and survivors locally. £600,000 was allocated directly from the Home Office to six organisations working with victims and survivors across the country.

    The Government is committed to transforming mental health services for children and young people, and £1.25 billion has been provided to support this. It is expected that by 2020 an extra 70,000 children and young people will be helped every year.

    On 13 September, I announced that £7.2 million had been provided by the Home Office to pilot two ‘Child Houses’ in London. The Houses will provide child-oriented multi-agency support for child victims under one roof. We are currently considering how, if the pilot is successful, we can make this model more widely available.

    The Government is continuing to work with local areas to ensure that children of any age who are victims, or at risk of, abuse, can receive the support they need in a timely fashion.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2015 to Question 19338, how the effect of the Equality Act 2010 on service provision in the NHS is monitored.

    Jane Ellison

    The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), a statutory body established under the Equality Act 2006, is the regulator of the public sector equality duty (PSED). The EHRC works with National Health Service bodies as public authorities to encourage, guide, monitor and regulate activity on the public sector equality duty, including the extent to which NHS service provision is meeting the requirements of the equality duty.

    NHS England hosts the Equality and Diversity Council (EDC) and thereby helps to support organisations to meet the PSED, through initiatives and levers such as the Equality Delivery System (EDS2) and the development of information standards to enable consistent monitoring of access, experience and outcomes from healthcare across protected groups. The EDC has also committed to develop workforce equality standards across the protected groups.

    The Care Quality Commission includes equality in its inspection regime and forthcoming waves of inspection will specifically include EDS2.

  • Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Tyrie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Tyrie on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether there are any police investigations into the involvement of the (a) UK intelligence and security agencies and (b) Government in the alleged rendition and torture of detainees.

    Mr John Hayes

    There are a number of ongoing police investigations in respect of allegations regarding HMG involvement in mistreatment of detainees held by other countries in the aftermath of 9/11. The details of these are a matter for the respective investigating police forces.

    In respect of information already in the public domain on specific investigations, I would direct my Rt Hon Friend to the joint Crown Prosecution Service/Metropolitan Police Service statement that was made on 12 January 2012. The full statement can be found here: http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/joint_statement_by_the_director_of_public_prosecutions_and_the_metropolitan_police_service/

  • Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Richard Arkless – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will seek a ban on the sale of puppies from retail outlets; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Under the Pet Animals Act 1951 local authorities can already apply conditions to individual pet shop licences. This includes, for example, restricting the species that can be sold. The power to apply conditions to an individual licence is in section 1(3) of the 1951 Act and is intended to help secure the welfare requirements set out in that section.

  • 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 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what annual fee his Department will pay to (a) Ernst and Young in the UK, (b) Arup and (c) Interfleet for their advice to him on fulfilling his duties under Section 30 of the Railways Act 1993; and for what period those companies are contracted to provide him such advice.

    Claire Perry

    Following a successful procurement competition using the new STAR (Specialist Technical Advice for Rail) Framework Agreement, the Department has appointed a partnership comprising Arup, SNC-Lavalin Transport Advisory (InterFleet), and EY to provide services to support the Secretary of State in connection with his duties under Section 30 of the Railways Act.

    The contract is for 2 years and commenced in November 2015. It has an optional extension of 12 months which is exercisable at the Department’s discretion. The fees payable to the partnership are capped at £616k (excluding VAT) for the two years of the contract. In addition to core contractual commitments, further fees are payable at agreed daily rates for other services which include, but are not limited to, the full mobilisation of a public sector train operator.

    Following the successful award of the East Coast franchise to Virgin East Coast last year, it was not a good use of taxpayers’ money to maintain DoR’s full corporate structure on a ‘just in case’ basis. We have scaled back Directly Operated Railways operations and brought it in-house with the Department for Transport.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-02-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money the EU provided, in the most recent year for which figures are available, for research, capital expenditure and revenue support for (1) the bus and coach industry, (2) railway passenger and freight-services, (3) the air industry, including runways, aircraft or equipment, (4) the shipping and ports industry, and (5) road schemes and the development of vehicle technology.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The EU budget has a number of programmes aimed at supporting the development of transport which can be at a regional, national or trans-national level.

    Given the complexity of the different mechanisms for delivering such funding the UK government does not maintain a central record of the total amount of money that the EU provides for research, capital expenditure and revenue support for transport.

    The main source of funding for transport infrastructure comes from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) which promotes the development of the different Trans- European Networks for Transport, Energy and Communications. Transport is the major element of the CEF budget with nearly €1.5 billion in commitments allocated to fund EU transport projects in 2016. The EU transport funding priorities are defined in the TEN-T regulation (EU 2013/1315) and focus on improving cross-border connections and developing sustainable and efficient transport infrastructure. Funding is awarded to projects through a competitive bidding process with projects having to meet specific criteria and demonstrate high EU added value. The attached tables have details of projects involving UK participation that have been awarded funding.

  • Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 75 of the Budget, how much of the £130 million announced for repairs of roads and bridges he plans will be spent in Calderdale; and when he expects Calderdale council to be in receipt of such funds.

    Andrew Jones

    From the total funding of £180 million the Department for Transport has made available to assist local highway authorities affected by this winter storms, including £130 million as announced in the Budget 2016, we have agreed to allocate a total of £25 million to Calderdale Council to help repair damage to the local highway infrastructure for which they are responsible. This includes the £5.5 million announced in January 2016 to help replace Elland Bridge.

    This funding is in addition to the funding of £‎20.5 million we are providing to the council for local highways maintenance funding to 2020/21.