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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the existence of links between the Taliban and Islamic State movements in Afghanistan and the abusive exploitation of extractive resources.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We assess that the Afghan Taliban leadership opposes Daesh’s presence in Afghanistan, where there has been reported fighting between the two groups. Our judgement is that the Taliban generate funding via illegal exploitation of Afghanistan’s natural resources, for example marble, talcum and lapis lazuli, and through extortion of payments from legal mining operations, but we have seen no evidence to suggest that Daesh is currently engaged in these activities.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many stroke survivors are in (a) receipt of employment and support allowance and (b) the work-related activity group.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract with Serco for the region of North West England, how many faults were reported or identified from Compass inspections for each contractual pay period in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and how many such faults were not resolved within the agreed contractual timescales.

    James Brokenshire

    Providers are contractually required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation to comply with the Housing Act 2004 and the Decent Homes Standard. Providers are monitored closely to ensure accommodation meets these standards and the contracts include measures to ensure any issues are quickly addressed. These performance standards are defined in the contract and are managed using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including those which measure whether an individual property is compliant with contractual obligations following an inspection and also the number of service users effected if a fault is not repaired within the contract timescales.

    The Home Office does not centrally record the number of individual faults reported or identified during accommodation inspections, or the number of individual faults not resolved within the agreed timescales. The requested information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will require NHS England to set out commissioning responsibilities for mental healthcare.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England has a five-year strategy – the Mental Health “Five Year Forward View” to improve mental health outcomes across the National Health Service, for people of all ages. The Forward View explains how national bodies will work together between now and 2021 to help people have good mental health and make sure they can access evidence-based treatment rapidly when they need it.

    In relation to commissioning, NHS England has direct commissioning responsibility for a number of specialised mental health services – as set out in regulations. These services include: adult secure in-patient services; in-patient services for children and adolescents; in-patient perinatal services; gender identity services; specialist in-patient services for people who have a mental health illness and are deaf; in- patient services for patients who have eating disorders and some specialist personality disorder in-patient services.

    The Mental Health Taskforce report – published in February, recommended that NHS England should ensure that by April 2017 population-based budgets are in place, which give clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) or other local partners the opportunity to collaboratively commission the majority of specialised services across the life course.

    CCGs are responsible for commissioning all other mental health services for both adults and children; working with partners such as local authorities, where appropriate.

  • Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Margaret Ferrier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2016-06-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training is provided to officials of his Department working on his Department’s Saudi Armed Forces Programme and the Saudi Arabia National Guard Communications Project on responding to whistleblowers from the private sector.

    Michael Fallon

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Philip Dunne) to the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Cat Smith) on 5 November 2015 to Question 13794.

    “

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-09-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether technical capacity for the launching of cluster munitions was provided with any UK-manufactured (a) aircraft and (b) unmanned aerial device exported to Saudi Arabia in the last 15 years.

    Sir Michael Fallon

    No.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 11489, if he will make available the minutes of the Data Steering Group.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Data Steering Group has been established, chaired by the National Statistician, John Pullinger, which brings together leading experts to advise government on the strategic direction of the new Government Data Programme. Notes of these meetings will be made available on the Government Data Programme blog page on GOV.UK in due course.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what projection she has made of a global temperature increases by (a) 2050 and (b) 2100 caused by greenhouse gas emissions trajectories (i) under current trends and (ii) if all Intended Nationally Determined Contributions are delivered; what the implications of such temperature rises are in the UK for (A) coastal towns and cities, (B) extreme weather events and (C) food security; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change and Defra have supported the AVOID Research Programme to project long-term climate change scenarios to understand how emissions reductions translate to global average surface temperature change. Based on a snapshot of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) pledged by 1 October 2015, with an assumed continuation of comparable global emissions reduction to the end of the century, this analysis projects:

    (a) (i) by 2050, with continued rise in global greenhouse gas emissions, warming of between 2.3˚C and 2.6 ˚C;

    (ii) by 2050, if all INDCs are delivered and continued, warming of 2˚C;

    (b) (i) by 2100, with continued rise in global greenhouse gas emissions, warming of between 4.2˚C and 5.2 ˚C;

    (ii) by 2100, if all Intended Nationally Determined Contributions are delivered and continued, warming of 3˚C.

    All of these estimates are temperature changes relative to pre-industrial global average surface temperature and best estimates of the climate’s sensitivity to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations.

    Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the Government has a statutory role to produce, on a five-yearly cycle, an assessment of the risks and opportunities for the UK arising from climate change. The first Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) was published in 2012. It included consideration of impacts on our coastlines, on the frequency and severity of extreme weather, and on our food production. The CCRA used the 2009 UK Climate Change Projections to assess risks under different emissions scenarios up to the 2100s.

    The National Adaptation Programme report which Defra published in July 2013 sets out how we are preparing for the impacts of climate change. This sets out more than 370 actions across key sectors involving government, business, councils, civil society and academia.

    Work is underway on the second CCRA, which will include an up-to-date review of evidence on the effects of climate change. The CCRA Government Report and the associated evidence report will be published in January 2017. These will inform the next National Adaptation Programme due around 2018.

    The Global Food Security programme recently launched a joint research council five-year £15 million research call on resilience of the food supply chain, in partnership with Defra and the Food Standards Agency.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the Carbon Price Floor tax on energy intensive industries.

    Damian Hinds

    The government recognises that the increased cost of electricity in the UK, as a result of the Carbon Price Floor (CPF), has an impact on the competitiveness of energy intensive industries that operate in international markets. This is why the most energy intensive industries are compensated for up to 85% of the indirect costs of the Carbon Price Floor – this is greatest amount currently allowed under EU law.

  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2016-02-01.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Google operating systems are used by HM Revenue and Customs; and when use of those systems commenced.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) uses two Google operating systems.

    HMRC uses the Android Operating system in a small number of mobile phone handsets, equating to less than 4% of its mobile phone estate. This Operating System was first used in 2012 in a small number of handsets, before being rolled out more widely in 2014.

    HMRC also uses the Google Chrome Operating System in our video conference units. The Department started using this operating system for its video conferencing facilities in March 2014.