Tag: Parliamentary Question

Liz Kendall – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Kendall on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people of each gender work in his Department.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The table below provides headcount figures for permanent staff in the Department for Transport including its Executive Agencies at 31 December 2015:

DfT Organisation	Men	Women	Total
DfT Centre	1,248	774	2,022
DVLA	2,416	3,722	6,138
DVSA	3,172	1,300	4,472
MCA	681	347	1,028
VCA	112	43	155
TOTAL	7,629	6,186	13,815

Note that in 2009/10 58.7% of the total DfT staff were male compared to 55.2% as at 31 December 2015.

01/01/2023

Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to answer Question 24306 from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield, tabled on 26 January 2016 for answer on 29 January 2016.

Nick Boles

I replied to the hon Member on 3 February.

“

01/01/2023
Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to reduce overcrowding on the prison estate in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous

As the Secretary of State has said, the prison estate is overcrowded and out of date. That’s why we have announced that we will close down aging and ineffective prisons, replacing them with new facilities fit for the modern world.

We are investing £1.3 billion to reform and modernise the prison estate to make it more efficient, safer and focused on supporting prisoner rehabilitation. In our new prisons we will design out those features that facilitate bullying, drug-taking and violence.

We are also constructing a modern 2,106 place prison, HMP Berwyn, in North Wales, that will be opened in 2017 and are building two new house-blocks at existing prison sites Stocken and Rye Hill.

We remain committed to ensuring that there are enough places for offenders sentenced to custody by the courts and making sure that these places are safe, decent and secure.

01/01/2023
Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-04-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects to agree a budget settlement for the apprenticeship levy for the devolved nations of the UK.

Greg Hands

We have committed to ensuring that the Devolved Administrations each receive a fair share of the levy. Discussions with the Devolved Administrations are ongoing and good progress is being made.

01/01/2023
Helen Goodman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answers of 7 April 2014 to Questions 194734 to 194737, who the 12 bidders were for Brompton Road underground station.

Mark Lancaster

The names of the 12 bidders cannot be released as to do so would prejudice commercial interests.

01/01/2023
Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total expenditure from the public purse was for the social fund funeral payments scheme in 2015-16; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes

During 2015-16 in Scotland there were around 5500 applications for Funeral Expenses Payments and around 3700 awards granted.

In 2015-16 across Great Britain £40,025,000 was paid out in Funeral Expenses Payments and repayments totalled £183,000. These figures are given on page 12 of the Social Fund Account 2015-16 (linked to below)

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/535981/social-fund-account-2015-16.pdf

“

01/01/2023
Damian Collins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Damian Collins on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the expression of interest made to his Department by Shepway District Council on proposals for a garden town development near Otterpool in Kent.

Gavin Barwell

We plan to respond in the next three weeks.

01/01/2023
Stewart Jackson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-11-03.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the efficacy of removing the current policy of absent votes on demand in favour of the previous absent votes criteria for the purpose of preventing electoral fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Gary Streeter

In January 2014, the Electoral Commission published its review of electoral fraud in the UK, which followed research and wide public consultation on a number of proposals for reducing absent voting vulnerabilities, including reversing the current availability of postal voting on demand without a reason or attestation in Great Britain.

While some respondents to the Commission’s consultation supported restricting the availability of postal voting on demand to address the risk of electoral fraud, others expressed concern that it would reduce convenience and could mean that some electors would be unable to vote. Respondents also suggested that restricting the availability of postal voting on demand would be disproportionate to the number and scale of proven cases of postal voting fraud.

The Commission’s review concluded that restricting the availability of postal voting would remove the freedom for electors to choose a convenient and, for the vast majority, secure, method of voting and on balance did not support changing the availability of postal voting in Great Britain. At the May 2015 UK Parliamentary general election postal votes were issued to around 7.6 million electors in Great Britain, representing nearly 17% of the total electorate. At present, the Commission is aware of 22 cases of alleged electoral fraud at the May 2015 polls involving postal votes. The Commission continues to monitor data about cases of alleged postal voting fraud, and will keep its assessment of the impact of restricting the availability of postal voting under review in light of any new evidence which becomes available.

The Commission’s review also considered whether there was a case for further restricting the availability of proxy voting by requiring all proxy applications to be attested; limiting proxy voting to a smaller range of categories of need, such as special category electors; or imposing further limits on the number of electors for whom an individual could be appointed to act as a proxy. Respondents to the Commission’s consultation expressed concern that such restrictions could have an impact on voter participation, especially for disabled voters or those outside the country at the time of the election for whom proxy voting might be the only way in which they are able to vote. On balance, the Commission did not support placing further restrictions on the availability of proxy voting.

01/01/2023
Baroness Redfern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Redfern on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures University Technical Colleges are taking to increase choices for students, especially with regard to strengthening academic study with practical learning.

Lord Nash

University Technical Colleges (UTCs) specialise in subjects that need modern, technical, industry-standard equipment, such as engineering and digital technologies. Pupils integrate academic study with practical learning, studying core GCSEs within a high-quality technical and professional curriculum. UTCs work with local and national employers and higher education institutions to design and deliver a curriculum that, through technical projects and work experience, will provide pupils with the skills employers demand for their industries. The importance of involving employers in education is a key part of the government’s recently announced plans for ground-breaking reforms to technical and professional education.

01/01/2023
Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any North Korean assets are held in the UK; and what steps they are taking to freeze assets they suspect to be linked to weapons proliferation, smuggling, money laundering, or human rights abuses in North Korea.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

HM Treasury has, since 2007 implemented European Union sanctions against individuals and entities identified as linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear programmes.

The result of these sanctions is that financial institutions are required to freeze funds and economic resources of persons, entities and bodies engaged in or providing support for North Korea’s nuclear-related, other weapons of mass destruction-related or ballistic missile-related programmes. Any assets in the UK which are owned, held or controlled by any of the 70 listed individuals and entities identified as linked to North Korea’s nuclear programmes are frozen. HM Government works to ensure that these measures are robustly implemented, including by looking to uncover assets which may be hidden behind complex company structures.

01/01/2023