Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2015 to Question 5604, when he expects to provide a full response to the Law Commission’s report on a statutory definition of plying for hire for the taxi and private hire industry.

    Andrew Jones

    In its comprehensive review of taxi and private hire legislation, the Law Commission considered creating a statutory definition of plying for hire. However, after careful consideration the Law Commission recommended an alternative approach that would make it unlawful for anyone other than a local taxi driver to accept a hiring ‘there and then’.

    The Government is currently considering all the recommendations in the Law Commission’s report. The Government will formally respond to the Law Commission and announce its intentions once this scrutiny is completed.

  • Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Austin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-12-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints were rejected by the Financial Ombudsman Service on grounds of jurisdiction in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The issues raised are a matter for the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) who are operationally independent from Government.

    The questions have been passed on to the FOS. The FOS will reply directly to the Honorable Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Jo Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jo Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the trade supplement for a RAF weapon technician is no longer grouped with aircraft engineering trades under Armed Forces Pay Reform.

    Penny Mordaunt

    For Other Ranks, the Ministry of Defence uses a long-standing and rigorous process of Job Evaluation (JE) to determine the pay treatment of each trade. In the current binary pay model which consists of High and Low Pay Bands, JE evidence assigns the role of the RAF Weapon Technician to the High Pay Band. In the new pay system, with its four supplements and greater flexibility, the same JE evidence assigns the Weapon Technician to Supplement 2, while other trades in the RAF’s Trade Group 1 (TG1) (Aircraft Engineering) are assigned to Supplement 3. This does not mean there has been a reduction in the Weapon Technician’s technical status or intrinsic value. It reflects the fact that the other trades in TG1 continue to score higher in the JE process and therefore continue to be treated differently in pay terms.

    No-one will take a pay cut on transition to the new model and Service personnel will continue to be eligible for any Government approved pay award. Incremental progressions will also continue to be a feature of the new pay model, though rationalised.

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to improve security at the Akrotiri and Dhekelia RAF Sovereign Base Areas; and how much his Department has spent on securing those areas in each of the last 10 years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    There are robust and established measures in place to provide effective security to the Akrotiri and Dhekelia Sovereign Base Areas, both of which have undergone various upgrades during the past 10 years. I cannot comment in detail on the security arrangements, the cost of them, and any specific changes to them over the last ten years, but they include physical improvements and intelligence driven countermeasures. All measures are kept under constant review.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to deliver hyper-speed broadband coverage in urban areas.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As announced at the 2016 Budget, the Government intends to support the development of the ultrafast market by establishing, in partnership with the private sector, a new broadband investment fund to support the growth of alternative network developers by providing greater access to finance. Ofcom also recently announced its strategy to promote large-scale roll-out of new ultrafast broadband networks as part of its Digital Communications Review. The Government is committed to ensuring that ultrafast broadband should be available to nearly all UK premises, as soon as practicable. We are proposing to take action in a number of areas which will help support existing commercial investment plans and encourage the ultrafast market to develop further, including reforming the Electronic Communications Code, the statutory framework governing rights of access to private land; implementing the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive to help reduce the cost of rolling out high speed broadband; reviewing the effectiveness of the fixed planning changes introduced in England in 2013 to determine whether they should be made permanent; and encouraging and supporting innovative approaches in street works which can lower the cost and speed up deployment of faster broadband.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants were employed at each location by UK Shared Business Service Ltd in the last year for which figures are available.

    Joseph Johnson

    UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) employees are public servants and not civil servants.

    UK SBS operates from three locations and the number of people employed at each location is:

    Swindon 472

    Newport 45

    Billingham 27

    In addition, 12 employees work remotely.

  • Ian Paisley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Ian Paisley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Paisley on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on the Common Travel Area of the UK voting to leave the EU.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    If the UK voted to leave the EU, it is not clear that the Common Travel Area could continue to operate with the UK outside the EU, and Ireland inside, in the same way that it did before both countries joined the EU.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what facilities are available for (a) lactating mothers and (b) the changing of babies in her Department.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    DFID has 2 HQ buildings in the UK, 22 Whitehall and Abercrombie House, East Kilbride. Both offices have a nursing mothers room and are equipped with baby changing facilities and fridges to allow the storage of baby milk.

  • Baroness Hollins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Hollins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hollins on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the introduction of the new funding system for supported housing, what guarantees they plan to give that guidelines for local authorities will be sufficiently robust to ensure that there are no trade-offs between different groups in need of supported housing.

    Lord Freud

    The Secretary of State announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 15 September 2016 that a formal consultation document will be published shortly. This consultation will consult on appropriate safeguards to ensure that funding continues to support vulnerable groups and promotes the supply of supported housing.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedures his Department follows when a jobcentre client requests a food bank voucher for the fourth time in any given year.

    Priti Patel

    The Department for Work and Pensions does not issue food bank vouchers.

    Jobcentre Plus holds details of local organisations to which its staff can signpost claimants experiencing financial difficulty.