Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will designate NHS Improvement as a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS Improvement is the operational name for an organisation that brings together Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority. It is a combination of the continuing statutory functions and legal powers vested in these organisations. Both these bodies are public authorities for the purposes of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, and so NHS Improvement will continue to be subject to FOI requirements.

  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of (a) regional development funds and (b) structural funds that the UK is due to receive in each year to 2020 under the current EU Multi-Annual Financial Framework.

    Anna Soubry

    The amounts allocated by year for each operational programme for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) in the UK for the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework is set out in table 1.6 of the United Kingdom’s Partnership Agreement with the European Commission which can be found on GOV.UK at ‘European Structural and Investment Funds: UK Partnership Agreement’. The table is attached. Each annual allocation needs to be spent within three years.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-06-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the study by Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business that gender diversity benefits do not materialise in organisations where internal competition is prevalent.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    We are grateful to Lord Taylor for raising this; officials are considering the findings within the wider evidence base on women in business. We know that supportive workplace cultures are an important factor in progressing female career development.

    Our voluntary initiative Think, Act, Report promotes gender equality at work and has created a vast community of best practice on maximising female talent in the workplace. 300 businesses representing organisations of all sizes and sectors across Britain are signed up to the principles it embodies; collectively they employ over 2.5 million people.

  • Lord Eames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Lord Eames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Eames on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultations they have had with the government of the Republic of Ireland on a special arrangement for the land border between the EU and the UK as a result of Brexit.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    There has been a range of engagement with the Irish Government, including a meeting between the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach in London on the 26 July and meetings between the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU and Irish Ministers in Dublin on 8 September. We have had a Common Travel Area between the UK and the Republic of Ireland many years before either country was a member of the European Union. There is a strong will in the UK Government, the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to preserve it, and it remains our intention to do so.

  • George Kerevan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    George Kerevan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Kerevan on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to secure a fair contribution from offshore digital betting operators to the 55th levy scheme.

    Tracey Crouch

    The statutory Horserace BettingLevy Scheme does not cover offshore digital betting operators, although some operators supplement the statutory scheme with voluntarycontributions.

  • Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-02.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken, in conjunction with the government of France, (1) to enable refugees now in France to come to Britain, such as for family re-union, and how many have come since 2013; (2) to assist those in irregular camps to apply for asylum in France; and (3) to register unaccompanied refugee children, wherever they may be; and what plans they have for further action.

    Lord Bates

    All migrants, including families and children, in Calais who wish to seek asylum should do so in France. We will consider any request made to us by the French asylum authorities to take responsibility for an asylum applicant in France because they have close family in the UK in accordance with the terms of the Dublin Regulation concerning the principle of family unity and the best interests of the child. If not claiming asylum, individual migrants in France, as in any other country, are entitled to apply under the Family Reunion provisions to join relatives in the UK by making the appropriate application. Statistics for transfers of asylum applicants from France to the UK on the basis of family ties since 2013 are not routinely recorded.

    The UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015 committed the UK to providing £3.6 million (or €5 million) per year for two years to help support a range of work to manage the migrant population in Calais, in particular to provide support and facilities elsewhere in France. This includes increasing the frequency of communications campaigns involving British officials speaking to migrants in Calais to inform migrants of the reality of life in the UK and of their rights to claim asylum in France.

    The French Government has opened up new places in its asylum system, away from Calais and migrants have started to voluntarily leave Calais to take up these places. Additionally, the UK has provided £530,000 (€750,000) to fund a project to identify those in the camps at risk of trafficking and exploitation, to transfer them briskly to places of safety; and to provide them with appropriate support within the French system.

    Unaccompanied migrant children who apply for asylum following arrival in the UK have their details recorded by the Home Office and are issued with an Application Registration Card. There are no plans for the UK to register the details of asylum seeking children in another country as this role will fall to the relevant authorities in that country.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to improve the time to respond to correspondence from hon. Members and Peers since the tabling of the statement on 3 June 2015, Handling Members’ Correspondence in 2014, HCWS11.

    Brandon Lewis

    I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 15 December 2015, PQ 19650.

    The reporting of performance of Government Departments in handling correspondence from hon. Members is co-ordinated by the Cabinet Office and published annually.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many ambulances waited more than 30 minutes to offload their patients in (a) England, (b) London and (c) each health trust area in London in each year from 2010 to 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    This information is not available in the format requested. NHS England collect winter daily situation reports which, up until the end of winter 2014/15, included data on ambulance handover delayed over 30 minutes. This is published at the following address:

    http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/winter-sitrep/

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many applications for consent have been determined by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency since 2010.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has given consent for five Oil Transfer Licences since 2010 and all remain extant.

    The MCA has made determination on 800 formal applications for Ship-to-Ship Transfers in the Southwold area since 1 January 2010. Of these, the MCA gave consent on 686 occasions, some of which were caveated; the MCA has refused 16 and the applicant or their clients have cancelled 98.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment has been undertaken of the effect on the earnings of people employed under the Experts by Experience programme of implementing the new Care Quality Commission contracts on 1 February 2016.

    Ben Gummer

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and adult social care in England. It is responsible for its own staffing requirements and decisions on contracts around the supplying of Experts by Experience for its inspections of providers. The CQC is not the employer of Experts by Experience and does not set rates of pay. The Experts by Experience service has been an outsourced service since its inception.

    The CQC has advised that contracts were awarded on the basis of a formal procurement that focused on quality and value for money. Whilst negotiating the new Experts by Experience contracts, the CQC worked closely with suppliers to ensure that there was minimum impact on the individual earnings of existing Experts by Experience as well as on the rates for newly appointed Experts by Experience.

    The CQC is aware of concerns amongst some Experts by Experience in relation to moving between organisations, including rates of pay, in order to continue participating in the work. However, the CQC’s decision to award these new contracts focussed on expanding the numbers of Experts by Experience involved in the CQC’s inspections, ensuring that the high quality contribution Experts by Experience have provided to date is maintained and delivering value for money.