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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Goudie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have ever considered using drones to monitor Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit border with the Republic of Ireland and the European Union; whether they have any plans to do so; and if not, whether they intend explicitly to rule it out.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangement pre-dates the EU and leaders in Ireland and the United Kingdom, including the Northern Ireland Executive have been unequivocal – all want to protect this arrangement.

    To date the use of drones has not been considered as a method of monitoring the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland post-Brexit. Indeed regulation in the UK does not permit the use of drones beyond line of sight . Discussions between the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister have underlined their desire to work together to find a creative and innovative solution and to maintain the closest possible relationship following the UK’s exit from the EU.

    We will continue the high level of collaboration with Ireland on the future of the CTA once the UK has left the EU, avoiding the imposition of fixed immigration controls and being clear that there will be no immediate changes to our practices surrounding the CTA.

  • Lord Harris of Haringey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Harris of Haringey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harris of Haringey on 2015-11-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each of the last three years, in how many instances people have been imprisoned for defaulting on payment of their council tax.

    Lord Faulks

    Data showing how many people were imprisoned for non-payment of council tax in 2012, 2013 and 2014 are presented in the table below:

    Year

    Total

    2012

    107

    2013

    108

    2014

    89

    Notes:

    These data are sourced from the Libra Management Information System (MIS). As such this data set is not subject to the same levels of quality assurance as national statistics

    In extracting this data only offences of complaint for council tax committal application have been included where the court hearing date occurred within each year reported (i.e. between 1 January and 31 December).

    It should also be noted that, although committals to prison are reported as occurring within a particular financial year, the non-payment of council tax itself may relate to a previous financial year or even a period covering more than one financial year.

    Committal to prison for non-payment of council tax can be challenged through a judicial review in the High Court. The table below shows the number of judicial reviews relating to imprisonment for non-payment of council tax in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and the outcomes.

    Year

    Number of Judicial Reviews

    Upheld

    Refused

    2012

    0

    0

    0

    2013

    0

    0

    0

    2014

    2

    0

    2

    Notes:

    These data were obtained from a manual check of judicial reviews carried out specifically to answer this question.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to incentivise the development of new drugs to treat TB.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    DFID has supported the development of new drug combinations to treat TB since 2005. Funding is provided to the TB Alliance, a product development partnership (PDP). PDPs bring together partners from the public, private and philanthropic sectors to develop new products in a way that de-links the cost of development from the final cost of product. The TB Alliance is currently testing a number of new drugs combinations to simplify and shorten TB treatment times and provide new treatment options for drug resistant TB.

    In addition we committed in our manifesto to lead a major new global programme to accelerate the development of vaccines and drugs to eliminate the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. In November the Chancellor announced the new £1 billion Ross Fund which will deliver on this commitment. The Ross Fund will target infectious diseases including malaria and tuberculosis, supporting work to develop, test and deliver a range of new products (including vaccines, drugs and diagnostics) to help combat these diseases in developing countries.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22791, what criteria are used by Work Coaches to assess a claimant’s financial capability.

    Priti Patel

    Work Coaches have the autonomy to tailor their discussions to meet the claimant’s needs and to determine the level of support and advice they require.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5909, HL5910 and HL5960) and 12 February (HL5909), what specific licence conditions have been required by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in accordance with its Code of Practice in order to resolve any potential or perceived conflict between the demand for sufficient numbers of zygotes to perform genome editing successfully and the usual practice of transferring embryos to the uterus following assessment of their potential to develop further after at least two to three days; what reasons the person responsible provided when requesting that reference to surplus embryos should be removed from the research project title; and whether they will now place in the Library of the House copies of the patient information and consent forms submitted to the HFEA by the person responsible in order to perform genome editing in human embryos by means of CRISPR-Cas9.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) publishes on its website the inspection report relating to a licence renewal application and the minutes of the Licence Committee’s decision. It does not publish other information associated with a licence application.

    The Licence Committee considering the application to which the noble Lord refers was satisfied that the requirements of General Directions 0008 were met, with the exception of evidence of ethics approval, which must be submitted to the HFEA before any licensed research can begin.

    The HFEA has advised that licence conditions R18-R27 and T97 address any potential conflict between the use of embryos in research and the use of embryos in the provision of treatment services. The person responsible did not give a reason on the application form for requesting that reference to surplus embryos should be removed from the research project title, nor are they required to do so. The removal of ‘surplus’ from the title does not reflect a change in the way embryos will be donated to the research.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department provides for local authorities to share best practice on children’s social work.

    Edward Timpson

    Supporting innovation and creating the right environment to drive excellence and radically transform the lives of children and their families are essential to delivering our vision for children’s social care between now and 2020.

    The Department’s £100 million Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme, established in 2013, supports 53 projects to develop, test and spread more effective ways of supporting children and families who need help from children’s social care services. The Department has invested around £7 million to evaluate the projects and these studies will provide findings for local authorities over the next year as well as making a significant contribution to establishing an evidence base for driving change.

    Supporting the sector to share best practice is at the heart of our What Works Centre (WWC) and Partners in Practice (PiP) initiatives. WWC will build an evidence base to show the best practice available to help social workers and other practitioners to better support children and families. PiPs represent a genuine partnership between national and local government to support long term improvement through exploring greater freedoms in the design and delivery of services; evidence about new structural models and innovations; and modelling best practice, sharing learning and supporting the wider sector.

    In addition, the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families provides support to the profession and offers independent expert advice to Ministers on social work reform.

    The Department also commissions research and evaluation studies that local authorities can draw on to inform and improve their practice. A recent example is the research review of Parents’ Capacity to Change (Ward et al 2014).

    All studies are published on the Department’s research pages on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/research#publications

    “

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

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

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department’s guidance for civil servants on acceptance of gifts or hospitality applies to special advisers.

    Matthew Hancock

    We publish details of gifts and hospitality received by the most senior civil servants on a quarterly basis.

    The rules for civil servants, including special advisers, on the acceptance of gifts and hospitality are set out in the Civil Service Code, Civil Service Management Code and departmental staff handbooks.

  • Ian Paisley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ian Paisley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what account he plans to take of the construction of C-Series planes by Bombardier in Northern Ireland in any decision on London City Airport accommodating C-Series or similar planes on its proposed new taxiway.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Ministers have a statutory role in the planning process with regard to transport related planning applications raised on appeal. It would therefore be seen as prejudicial, to comment on or discuss, matters relating to London City airport that are subject to a planning inquiry.

  • Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Baroness Royall of Blaisdon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2016-07-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to encourage young people to serve in their community through supporting full-time, long-term volunteering.

    Lord Ashton of Hyde

    Government is committed to ensuring young people, from all backgrounds, have the opportunity to engage in meaningful social action, creating a lifelong habit and developing skills for work. We support Step Up to Serve’s #iwill campaign which is backed by a wide coalition of organisations offering a range of opportunities including full-time volunteering. We have also committed to expanding National Citizen Service (NCS) to reach 360,000 places per year by 2020. Since 2011, over 200,000 have participated in NCS and delivered an estimated eight million volunteer hours. The Government’s pledge to the #iwill campaign is to continue to invest in youth social action and share evidence and best practice.

  • Lord Moonie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lord Moonie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to oblige electricity supply companies to forward feed-in tariff payments to small or domestic suppliers to a similar timescale as that which applies to small or domestic customers.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Payments to generators are based on generation meter readings and must be made at least quarterly. There is no restriction on FIT licensees making payments more frequently; generators may wish to consider this when choosing a FIT licensee or deciding to switch FIT licensees.