Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding has been received from the European Social Fund via the National Offender Management Service Co-Financing Organisation to help set up and finance The Employers’ Forum for Reducing Re-offending.

    Andrew Selous

    Money received from the European Social Fund (ESF) by the NOMS Co-financing Programme is published in the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts. No ESF funding has been used to finance employer roadshows at Sudbury, Drake Hall and Wayland prisons. Neither has any ESF money been awarded direct to HM Young Offender Institutions Werrington, Feltham or Cookham Wood.

    It is a condition of any award of core ESF funding to the NOMS Co-financing programme that it has to be spent on front line services for offenders (excluding the administration budget. Because of this, a separate application was made under the Technical Assistance grant to fund, among other things, the setting up and running of the Employers’ Forum for Reducing Re-offending (EFRR). The aim of the Technical Assistance grant is to fund services that will support the objectives of the main programme – employability of offenders. The amount spent from the ESF Technical Assistance fund on the EFRR from 2010 to 2015 was £280,403.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-07-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of local sustainability and transformation plans on geographical variations in stroke care.

    George Freeman

    Health economies have come together to develop Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) for their footprints until 2020/21. As with the current arrangements for planning and delivery, there are layers of plans which can sit below STPs, with shared links and dependencies. STPs do not replace the existing system architecture or provide details on all individual clinical areas. Rather STPs act as an umbrella, holding underneath them a number of different specific plans to address key local issues. As such, for conditions such as Stroke, it is not expected that STPs will provide great levels of detail regarding all the Stroke related activity occurring across the Footprint.

    Visibility will be provided through other mechanisms such as audits. Stroke data is collected by the national audit from all trusts and reported at both trust and clinical commissioning group (CCG) level. The Royal College of Physicians which runs the audit has not done an analysis to compare services between rural and urban CCGs. However the data is available in the public domain for researchers should they wish to do so.

  • Baroness Hamwee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Hamwee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps, if any, they are taking to provide assistance to British citizens, particularly British children, in La Linière refugee camp outside Dunkirk.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Government is not aware of any British citizens, including children, residing in the La Linière migrant camp.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the merits of exempting operators of electricity storage from Balanced Services Use of System charges.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department and Ofgem are jointly considering the need to address the legislative status of storage, which has potential implications for the charging regime for storage. Ofgem have recently published “Making the electricity system more flexible and delivering the benefits for consumers”, in which they state, “While storage has been providing flexibility in other countries, and pumped storage has historically played a strong role in GB, the potential of battery and other forms of storage to smooth intermittent generation or contribute to local balancing has not yet been fully realised in the UK… We will therefore: undertake work with DECC to clarify the legal and commercial status of storage and explore whether changes to the regulatory and commercial framework are needed to enable its efficient use, seeking input on options from stakeholders. Where changes are needed, they will be informed by considering the interactions and implications of a new regulatory framework for storage on all segments of the market”:

    https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2015/09/flexibility_position_paper_final_0.pdf.

    “

  • Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Liz McInnes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz McInnes on 2015-12-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average response time to dwelling fires was for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.

    Mike Penning

    I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.

    Information on average response times to dwelling fires for each fire and rescue service and for each year is available in Table 3b of the Department’s Fire incidents response times: England publication at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-incidents-response-times-england-2014-to-2015

    “

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what contingency arrangements her Department has made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    I refer the Honourable Member to the answer provided by my Right Honourable Friend the Prime Minister on Thursday 14 January 2016 (UIN: 21952).

  • Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Jones of Cheltenham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take against landlords who fail to maintain their properties in a safe and fit state of repair.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Housing Health and Safety Rating System assesses the health and safety risks in all residential properties. Under the Housing Act 2004, following an Rating System inspection, if a local authority identifies a serious hazard they can take action, including issuing an Improvement Notice or a Hazard Awareness Notice. In extreme circumstances, the local authority may decide to make repairs themselves, or to prohibit that property from being rented out. Where a landlord fails to comply with a statutory notice, this is an offence, and they can be prosecuted by the local authority. From October 2015 we introduced protection for tenants from retaliatory eviction, where they have a legitimate complaint about the condition of the property.

    The Housing and Planning Bill will strengthen local authorities’ ability and incentives to tackle rogue landlords by introducing measures including:

    • A database of rogue landlords and property agents convicted of certain offences;
    • Banning orders for the most serious and prolific offenders;
    • Civil penalties of up to £30,000 as an alternative to prosecution;
    • Extension of Rent Repayment Orders to cover illegal eviction, breach of a banning order or failure to comply with a statutory notice;
    • A more stringent fit and proper person test for landlords of licensable properties such as Houses in Multiple Occupation.

    My Department also recently announced a further £5 million of funding across 48 local authorities to tackle the worst rogue landlords in their areas.

  • Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Warner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of paragraph 16 of the agreement between the Scottish and UK governments on the Scottish fiscal framework, whether there is any obligation on the Scottish Government (1) to spend all or a certain proportion of the money passed to them for NHS services under the Barnett formula on those services; or (2) to account to the Scottish Parliament for not doing so.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The mechanical application of the Barnett Formula ensures that the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly receive a population share of changes in UK government funding on the services for which they have devolved responsibility. In accordance with the principles of devolution and the devolution Acts themselves, it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding (from the block grant or taxes/borrowing) to public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and it is for the devolved legislatures to hold them to account. The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework does not alter this.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Joint Intelligence Committee has revised its estimate of the number of non-extremist opposition fighters in Syria since 2 December 2015.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    The JIC regularly assess the numbers involved in fighting in Syria and their loyalties. The JIC has concluded that non-extremist opposition numbers have held up despite recent pressure. Numbers in groups fighting Daesh are likely to have increased.

  • 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 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 12 May to Question 36842, on railways: franchises, whether the partnership referred to in that Answer has provided his Department with advice on mobilisation plans for franchises other than the Cross Country franchise since 1 November 2015.

    Claire Perry

    The Partnership reviewed the work undertaken by Directly Operated Railways (DOR) in connection with the Direct Awards programme as part of the initial phase of their contract between November and December 2015. This focused on the work done by DOR on the Cross Country Franchise but also included reviewing historic mobilisation plans prepared by DOR for other franchises.

    The partnership are not currently advising on any mobilisation plans other than that for the Cross Country Franchise.