Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of employment tribunal fees on the ability of individuals to bring forward discrimination claims.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Following public consultation, the government introduced fees in Employment Tribunals as a way of reducing the burden on the taxpayer and to encourage parties to seek alternative ways of resolving their disputes.

    In June of last year we announced the start of the post-implementation review of the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunals. This review will consider, so far as is possible, the impact the fees have had on those with protected characteristics and the types of case they bring.

    The review will report in due course.

  • 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 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether telephones with a direct connection to the universal credit helpline are available to use free of charge in every job centre.

    Priti Patel

    We no longer have customer access phones in Jobcentres. However, should a claimant need to use a telephone in connection with their claim or job search, they will be given access to a phone by their work coach.

  • Andrew Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on the provision of learning outside of the classroom.

    Nick Gibb

    Field trips and educational visits are important and have a key role to play in children’s education.

    It is for schools to use their professional judgement to decide how their activities deliver a broad and balanced curriculum and to plan lessons and use their budgets accordingly.

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

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) average and (b) maximum waiting time was for an electric wheelchair through NHS Wheelchair Services after being determined eligible to receive one in 2014-15.

    Alistair Burt

    No data is currently available in relation to waiting times for wheelchairs for 2014-15. A new national data collection has been introduced (from July 2015) to all clinical commissioning groups to allow for transparency and benchmarking their services. Data has so far been published for quarter 2 and quarter 3 2015/16. However, this is a new collection and does not yet provide an opportunity to draw national or regional comparisons.

    The new dataset is part of the work that NHS England is taking forward in partnership with service users, carers and others to lay the foundations for improvement across the country. A tariff for wheelchairs will enable commissioners to move away from simple contracts, and so increase efficiency and better align resources with service users’ needs; support and resources for clinical commissioning groups will help them improve their commissioning of wheelchair services.

  • Conor McGinn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Conor McGinn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many cases of child abuse and neglect were reported in (a) Merseyside and (b) St Helens in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013, (v) 2014 and (vi) 2015.

    Edward Timpson

    The information requested is not available. We do not collect the reason for referrals so cannot identify how many of these were due to abuse or neglect.

    Data on referrals is available by local authority and region in the annual statistical first release ‘Characteristics of children in need’’[1].

    Once a child has been referred and any relevant assessments have been carried out, we collect information on the primary needs of children in need of children’s social care services. In 2014/15, 66% of children in need in St Helens local authority had a primary need of abuse or neglect.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-children-in-need

  • 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 2016-06-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to maintain the normalisation of the Irish border in terms of the common travel area, and whether they plan to take steps to ensure that there will be no ethnic profiling of people crossing that border.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Prime Minister has reiterated the importance of continuing to engage with Ireland on how we can maintain the Common Travel Area (CTA). The CTA arrangement pre-dates the EU and we remain committed to it. The Government continues to work closely with Ireland to improve the security of the CTA. UK law enforcement agencies carry out intelligence-led checks on CTA routes to combat abuse – all of which is done within the law.

  • Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire after four years of operation.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The Government plans to publish a report on the fourth year of licensed badger control operations in parts of Somerset and Gloucestershire as it has done for the first three years. The Animal and Plant Health Agency continues to assess annually the incidence of tuberculosis in cattle in areas where badger control is licensed for the purposes of controlling the disease. The analysis after the first two years in Somerset and Gloucestershire is available on the gov.uk website.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Civil Service Commission was consulted on changes to the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, published in October 2015.

    Matthew Hancock

    The October 2015 version of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers was revised and published in accordance with the requirements of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the (a) location and (b) budget is for each agri-tech centre in each year from 2016-17 to 2020-21.

    Anna Soubry

    The planned budgets (2016/17 to 2020/21) and locations of the four Centres for Agricultural Innovation are:

    Centre for Crop Health and Protection (CHAP) – headquarters in York at the National AgriFood Innovation Campus in Sand Hutton

    16/17

    17/18

    18/19

    19/20

    20/21

    £m

    6.5

    4.3

    4.4

    0.0

    0.0

    Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock (CIEL) – headquarters in York at the National AgriFood Innovation Campus in Sand Hutton

    16/17

    17/18

    18/19

    19/20

    20/21

    £m

    8.6

    6.0

    4.5

    0.0

    0.0

    Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre (Agri-EPI) – hubs in Edinburgh, Harper Adams University (Shropshire) and Cranfield University (Bedfordshire)

    16/17

    17/18

    18/19

    19/20

    20/21

    £m

    5.3

    3.6

    3.0

    0.0

    0.0

    Centre for Agricultural Informatics (Agrimetrics) – headquarters in Harpenden (Hertfordshire) at Rothamsted Research

    16/17

    17/18

    18/19

    19/20

    20/21

    £m

    3.2

    2.9

    1.8

    0.0

    0.0

  • Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what contingency plans her Department has put in place in the event of one or more stakeholders in the Hinkley Point C project being unable to raise sufficient funding to complete development.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The funding of Hinkley Point C is a commercial matter for the parties involved. However, the agreements between EDF and CGN announced in October 2015 show the commitment of all sides to the project. EDF and CGN have confirmed major investment in Hinkley Point C and are working to rapidly conclude the detailed investment documentation.

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State expects to be in a position to take her final decision on the Contract for Difference and associated agreements for Hinkley Point C once the documentation relating to equity investment into the project is finalised.