Tag: Parliamentary Question

Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to prevent reductions in bonuses, shifts and bank holiday pay for employees before the implementation of the national living wage.

Nick Boles

The National Living Wage represents a significant step up for the lowest paid in society. On current forecasts, a full-time minimum wage worker will earn almost £4,200 more per year by 2020 compared to the current minimum wage. It is for individual businesses to decide exactly how to respond to the introduction of the National Living Wage, appropriate to their circumstances. But any changes to contractual pay should be discussed and agreed with workers in advance.

01/01/2023
Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of pupil premium on ensuring children who are classed as behind reach their expected grades at Key Stages 1 to 4.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Government is determined to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their full potential.

Information on the proportion of low achieving disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard at key stage 4 is available from the KS2-4 transition matrices for disadvantaged pupils[1] on RAISEonline. These show progression from sub-levels at key stage 2 to grades at key stage 4 for a range of subjects, for both disadvantaged and other pupils. Similar information is not published regularly for progression between other key stages.

In 2015 the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee reviewed the pupil premium and concluded that while it is too early to assess the full impact of the funding, there is evidence that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has started to narrow.

The Department for Education’s gap index provides a more accurate measure over time in light of changes to assessments. It shows that attainment has risen and the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed – by 7.1 per cent at key stage 2 and 6.6 per cent at key stage 4 since 2011, the year the pupil premium was introduced.

This means better prospects and a more prosperous life as an adult for this group of pupils. But we refuse to accept second best for any young person, which is why we are continuing the pupil premium at current rates for the duration of this parliament, providing funding to support schools to continue improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

[1] https://www.raiseonline.org/OpenDocument.aspx?document=381%20

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01/01/2023
Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for (a) Highways England to make a decision on the location of the new Lower Thames Crossing and (b) construction to begin on the new Lower Thames Crossing; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The public consultation closed on 24 March 2016 and the responses are currently being analysed. It is expected that a decision on the location and route will be made later this year following Highways England’s recommendation to the Department for Transport.

Subject to funding and planning approvals, we anticipate construction to start in 2020/2021.

01/01/2023
Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2016 to Question 39429, on NHS logos, what the cost to his Department has been of legal advice on the use of the NHS logo by the Vote Leave Campaign; and what plans he has to apply for injunctive proceedings related to the use of that logo.

George Freeman

To date, the Department has incurred costs of approximately £5,000 (exclusive of recoverable VAT) for advice from specialist intellectual property lawyers, regarding misuse of the NHS logo by Vote Leave. The Department’s lawyers have also done some work on the matter. Their costs are covered in a block fee, which is paid by the Department to the Government Legal Department on an annual basis.

Given the Vote Leave campaign has now finished, the Department has no current plans to apply for injunctive proceedings.

01/01/2023
Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she was aware of the Homeless World Cup taking place; and what discussions her Department has had with the organisers of that event.

Tracey Crouch

The Homeless World Cup is an excellent example of how sport can transform the lives of homeless people all over the country, and we particularly championed the role of Pride House in creating spaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people to engage with and celebrate the event.

As outlined in our Sport Strategy, the Government recognises the power of engaging in sport and wants to encourage more people from every background to regularly take part in sport.

01/01/2023
David Crausby – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Crausby on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for a spouse visa have been refused by UK Visas and Immigration only to be overturned by appeal to the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal in each of the last five years.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The information on appeals is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023
Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many certificates of travel with a validity of 12 months or less were granted to people with indefinite leave to remain in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire

Certificates of travel (COT) are normally issued for 5 years to individuals with indefinite leave to remain. COTs may be issued for a shorter duration where

• There are Security or criminality reasons to do so

• The applicant has lost or abused previous documents

• The COT is being issued solely to facilitate the applicant travelling to their country of nationality to obtain a national passport.

• There is an urgent short term need to travel, and the applicant’s embassy cannot process a passport application fast enough.

The table below shows the number of COT valid for 12 months or less where the applicant has ILR for each year since 2010.

This data only counts people who have submitted applications for ILR in country. It excludes people who have ILR on Asylum grounds. The data also excludes any people with an ILR grant which pre dates the Case Information Database.

Year Number of Cases

2010 50

2011 50

2012 15

2013 15

2014 35

01/01/2023
Lord Marlesford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-11-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in respect of each police force, they will give details of serving police officers who have been convicted of criminal offences and given custodial sentences during each of the last three years, giving in respect of each officer the name, rank, police force, nature of offence, date of conviction and sentence.

Lord Bates

The Home Office does not currently hold data centrally on police officers who have been convicted of criminal offences. However, as part of the continuing reforms to improve police integrity, the Home Office has introduced a new data collection via the Annual Data Requirement in 2015/16. This requires police forces to provide data to the Home Office on the number of misconduct cases and criminal investigations, as well as the outcomes of these. This data will not contain the names or details of specific officers involved, and will be collected and published at an aggregate level only. The publication date will be announced in advance on the gov.uk statistical release calendar: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements

As I mentioned during the oral question on this topic on 19 November 2015, there is a national “Disapproved Register” of officers struck-off from the police that is managed and maintained by the College of Policing, and available for use by vetting and anti-corruption officers. The College of Policing has begun to publish details of officers who have been added to the struck-off list following a public hearing: http://www.college.police.uk/News/College-news/Pages/Disapproved-Register-.aspx.

In the forthcoming Policing and Criminal Justice Bill, the Government will place this list on a statutory footing and require the College of Policing to maintain a published list of all officers who have been dismissed for Gross Misconduct.

01/01/2023

Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) the office of Rail and Road, (b) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, (c) the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, (d) the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, (e) the Vehicle Certification Agency, (f) the British Transport Police Authority, (g) Directly Operated Railways limited, (h) High Speed 2 Ltd; (i) Highways England, (j) Northern Lighthouse Board, (k) Transport Focus, (l) Trinity House, (m) Civil Aviation Authority and (n) the Airports Commission; how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Some of the information requested for the 14 organisations listed is not held by the Department and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

However, the number of press and public relations staff currently employed by the Department’s executive agencies is provided in the table below. None of the press and PR staff have a full-time equivalent salary exceeding £50,000.

Press and public relations staff (full-time equivalent )	1 December 2015
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency	4
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency	4
Maritime and Coastguard Agency	3.2
Vehicle Certification Agency	Nil
Total	11.2

The total of 11.2 full-time equivalent staff compares to an equivalent figure for these four executive agencies in 2009/10 (with DVSA previously being DSA and VOSA) of 15.5 full-time equivalent staff.

Information on non-pay expenditure on press and public relations services held by the Department for the most recent financial year available is provided in the table below.

Non-pay expenditure on press and public relations services	2014-15 £000s
Office of Rail and Road	108
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency	9
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency	42
Highways Agency	383
Maritime and Coastguard Agency	169
Vehicle Certification Agency	0
British Transport Police Authority	48
High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd	167
Transport Focus	47
Airport Commission	54

Overall communications expenditure by the Department’s executive agencies in 2014-15 (including salaries) was £19 million lower than in 2009-10. Across Government the government communications profession reduced communications spending by a total of £1 billion during the last Parliament.

01/01/2023

Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has had with NATO on tackling negative reporting on NATO and its member states from Russian media outlets.

Mr Julian Brazier

The UK works closely with NATO Allies to ensure there is close alignment in messaging and communications that demonstrates our joined up and credible alternative narrative to Russian misinformation. NATO communicates with a range of media outlets in the region to provide a balanced view of NATO aims and activities. However in Russia, state-controlled media outlets dominate the information environment and therefore crowd out independent voices.

01/01/2023