UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Karl Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to introduce independent oversight of the Service Police.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Service Police are already subject to independent oversight by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabularies and their reports are placed in the public domain. We also remain committed to the introduction of independent oversight of complaints made against the Service Police and work continues in order to identify the most appropriate means of achieving that.

  • Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Karen Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Buck on 2015-10-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of households in receipt of tax credits in each of the last five tax years for which figures are available had not made a claim in the preceding tax year.

    Damian Hinds

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

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel regarding the use of skunk water on children, homes, and streets, in the Qitoun neighbourhood of Hebron in November.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While we have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli government, our Ambassador in Tel Aviv regularly raises UK concerns over the use of force by Israeli security authorities, most recently with the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 28 October. We continue to stress the need for proportionality and proper accountability.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of onshore oil and gas (a) licence blocks and (b) wells with permission to be drilled are in areas with high or medium flood risk; what the Government’s policy is on permitting fracking in areas of flood risk; what assessment she has made of the effect of flooding on the risks of water contamination associated with shale gas extraction; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    Prior to the launch of the 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) was undertaken for all areas offered for licensing applications, which addressed flood risk. The award of a Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) does not itself give any permission for operations to begin. Before a licensee can commence any operations they must apply for and be granted a number of further permissions and consents for each specific site within a PEDL area. These include planning permission and environmental permits from the Environment Agency.

    Flood risk will be considered on a case by case basis where relevant as part of the consideration through the planning system of proposals for onshore oil and gas development, including development involving hydraulic fracturing. National planning policy is clearthat inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding shouldbe avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk. Where development is necessary, it should be made safe without increasing flood risk elsewhere. The policy is also clear that development should not contribute to, or be adversely affected by, unacceptable levels of water pollution.

    Flood risk is also taken into account by the Environment Agency before any environmental permits are issued to drill for oil and gas. If a company wishes to carry out works in, over, under or near a main river, flood defence or a sea defence, they must apply to the Environment Agency for consent. To carry out work on watercourses which are not regulated by the Agency, a company will need to apply to the relevant regulatory body responsible for that particular watercourse.

  • George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he will announce the level of grant funding available to Police and Crime Commissioners; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    I wrote to Police and Crime Commissioners on 22 January 2016 to confirm their victims’ services commissioning grants for 2016-17. We have protected the total budget for victims’ services. PCCs allocations have been held at the 2015-16 level of £63.15m. PCCs will also be allocated an additional £4.7m to support victims of child sexual abuse.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry of Justices (MoJ) Wellbeing strategy seeks to help foster a culture that promotes physical and mental wellbeing for all staff and to make the management of health and wellbeing part of our daily routine.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Bank of England on utilising the University College London RSCoin proposal as an alternative to Western Union, CHAPS, BACS and the Faster Payment Service.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Digital currencies, and the distributed ledger technology that underpins them, have the potential to bring innovative services and products to UK customers and firms – particularly in areas like international transfers.

    The Chancellor announced in March 2015 that the Government will bring digital currency exchange firms into regulation in the UK to help the legitimate industry flourish, and to create a hostile environment for illicit actors. We will publish proposals on this regulatory regime in due course.

    As outlined in Deputy Governor, Ben Broadbent’s recent speech, the Bank of England is also exploring this emerging sector and the implications it could have for monetary and financial stability as part of its broader research agenda.

    Separately, academics at University College London’s (UCL) digital currency research centre have also been looking at how the distributed ledger technology that underpins digital currencies could be harnessed by central banks. The Government is encouraged to see this research from one of the UK’s world-leading universities. However, this a theoretical paper by an independent institution, separate from the Bank of England’s work and from Government policy.

    It is the Government’s ambition to foster the growth of legitimate digital currency firms as part of the wider FinTech ecosystem here in the UK. As part of this, the Government will consider the wider implications of a growing digital currencies sector for the financial services sector and the economy as a whole. Some parts of Government are also looking at how the benefits of distributed ledger technology can be harnessed to deliver greater innovation. However, the Government and the Bank of England do not currently have any plans to introduce a centrally issued digital currency.

    The UK has been rated as having the world’s leading FinTech ecosystem in a recent global benchmarking exercise and attracted c. £524mn in investment in 2015.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2016 to Question 31313, on immigration controls: EU nationals, whether any of the people refused entry have subsequently been permitted to enter the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    This information is not held centrally.

  • Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mike Kane – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the findings of the Government’s Human Rights and Democracy Report 2015, published on 21 April 2016, on her Department’s country guidance on people from Eritrea seeking asylum in the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    We are currently updating our September 2015 country information and guidance on handling asylum claims made by Eritrean nationals.

    The revised guidance will be based on an assessment of a range of sources including the Foreign Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Report 2015 as well as recent publications by Amnesty International and the findings of a Home Office fact finding mission to Eritrea undertaken in February 2016.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that computer coding is taught to children from an early stage in their education.

    Nick Gibb

    Demand for high-level skills in computing will only grow in the years ahead and will be crucial to supporting a successful economy. It is essential that we have a generation of pupils who have the knowledge and understanding they need to become active creators of digital technology, and not just passive consumers of it. We want them to have a deeper understanding of how digital technologies work and be able to write computer programs.

    Since 2014, computing has been part of the National Curriculum at all four key stages. This replaced the outdated Information and Communications Technology (ICT) programme of study. The computing curriculum focuses on teaching children how computers work, the basics of programming, and encourages them to design computer programs to address real world problems. This includes introducing coding to primary pupils. At primary school, pupils are being taught what algorithms are, how to design and write programs to accomplish specific goals using sequencing, selection and repetition and how to apply logical reasoning to detect and correct errors.