UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-07-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 36 of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, how many members of staff are employed in his Department’s commercial specialist team designed to act as the single sponsor for aspects of the defence nuclear enterprise.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) new Director General Nuclear organisation was established on 1 April this year. The acting Director General was appointed in May and we expect to make a permanent appointment by the end of the year. The MOD Head Office staff working on different aspects of nuclear-related matters have transferred into the new organisation and additional recruitment to strengthen and deepen the capabilities of the team is also taking place. At present, the new organisation has around 120 staff and it is envisaged that this will rise to about 175 staff over the course of the next year.

  • Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will assess the merits of increasing the penalty charged to developers who regularly build without planning permission.

    Gavin Barwell

    Legislative changes which came into effect in March 2015 mean that both the magistrates’ and the crown court can already impose an unlimited fine on conviction for the most serious enforcement related offences – non compliance with enforcement notices, temporary stop notices and stop notices and for giving false or misleading response to a planning contravention notice. In determining the amount of the fine, the courts are required to “have regard to any financial benefit which has accrued or appears likely to accrue to him in consequence of the offence”.

    In addition, where a local planning authority achieves a successful conviction for failure to comply with an enforcement notice, they can apply for a Confiscation Order, under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, to recover the financial benefit obtained through unauthorised development.

    We believe these penalties remain appropriate and have no plans to amend them at this time.

  • Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of changes to the work allowance in universal credit announced in the Summer Budget 2015 on incentives to work.

    Priti Patel

    Universal Credit will have a powerful positive effect on labour market participation. We expect 300,000 more people to be in work as a result of the introduction of Universal Credit, and around 75% of the households that gain under Universal Credit are in the bottom 40% of the income distribution.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her policy is on the future of the Warm Home scheme; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government announced in the Spending Review on 25 November 2015 that the Warm Home Discount scheme would be extended to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per year, rising with inflation, to help households who are at risk of fuel poverty with their energy bills.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-01-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to prepare for the outcome of the EU referendum.

    Priti Patel

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for Britain and secure our future. The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU.

  • Bill Wiggin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Bill Wiggin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many copies of the Agra-Europe report on Brexit her Department has.

    George Eustice

    My Department is aware of Agra Europe’s recent report but has not purchased any copies.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2016 to Question 25153, on which Type 45 Destroyers all 16 recommendations of the Independent Power and Propulsion System Performance Review have been implemented in full; when he expects the implementation of all 16 recommendations to be completed across the class; and if he will publish the recommendations made by the review.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Fourteen of the recommendations involved a modification to the Power and Propulsion system and all fourteen have been completed across all six ships in the class.

    The remaining two recommendations, involving changes to existing training procedures and documentation, have also been adopted. As these two recommendations are administrative in nature, they do not require physical modification of the ships.

    With regard to the request to publish the recommendations made by the Independent Power and Propulsion System Performance Review, dated March 2011, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Douglas Chapman) to question 25234 on 8 February 2016.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any of their projects in Cameroon, Nigeria or South Africa protect young girls from breast ironing.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government is concerned about the harmful practice of breast ironing in some Commonwealth and other African countries. Whilst there is little data on the number of girls suffering from this abuse, we have, for example, worked with the government and religious leaders in Cameroon on campaigns to raise awareness and to support community-led efforts to end breast ironing.

    The Government condemns violence against women and girls in all its forms and places gender equality at the heart of our bilateral development programming. In Nigeria we are investing over £40 million to change harmful social norms towards women and girls, and to protect women and girls against violence. I raised these issues with the Government of Nigeria during my visit to the country in February. Baroness Verma, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for International Development (DfID), discussed gender-based violence in South Africa in October 2015, including DfID’s support to the re-establishment of South Africa’s Sexual Offences Courts and its work with the African Prosecutor’s Association on research into preventing violence against women.

    The manifestations of violence against women and girls may change but it is critical to address the structural causes of violence, including harmful beliefs and attitudes. We shall continue to work through diplomatic and development channels to engage with governments and local communities in Africa and beyond, to support the rights of women and girls, including ending harmful practices which constitute violence.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-04-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current average waiting time is for the completion of pre-employment checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service involving (a) Cleveland Police and (b) the Metropolitan Police Service.

    Karen Bradley

    Performance data for the Disclosure and Barring Service for March 2016 indicates that average processing time for DBS applications was 14.8 days. Certificates dispatched to applicants by the DBS in March 2016 involving (a) Cleveland Police and (b) the Metropolitan Police Service took an average of (a) 24 days and (b) 122 days.

    Protecting the public is a priority for this Government and it is important that checks undertaken are thorough; a proportion of the applications received by the DBS must be referred to one or more police forces as part of the enhanced disclosure process. In the vast majority of cases these checks are completed within target. The DBS is working closely with the small number of forces, including the MPS, whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. The performance of police disclosure units is an operational issue for individual police forces and the MPS has established a Gold Group to oversee the recovery plan which they have in place to reduce the time taken. I have made clear to the MPS that its current delays must be addressed as a matter of priority and I continue to maintain close oversight of the progress being made.

  • FALSE – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    FALSE – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by FALSE on 2016-05-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultations have taken place between the Home Office and other relevant government agencies with reference to the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting communiqué in which Heads recalled the importance to the people of the Commonwealth for legitimate and temporary reasons in order to benefit from stronger economic

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Home Office regularly consults with other Government departments and agencies about all aspects of the UK immigration system including with regard to those visiting the UK from the Commonwealth.

    The UK continues to contribute to the Commonwealth Secretariat led group looking at the movement of Commonwealth citizens and how that can be improved taking due regard to the requirement in the Communiqué that the actions should “not conflict with national legislation and international obligations.”