Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-11-09.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether their plans to introduce rules to stop local councils from taking boycott or divestment initiatives in relation to Israel are compatible with their guidance on overseas business risk in Israel recognising the illegality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    Cabinet office will shortly issue guidance that reminds public authorities of their international obligations when letting public contracts. Foreign policy is not a matter for local authorities. The guidance will make clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate and may be illegal, outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions that have been put in place by the Government.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to require newspapers and journals to publish on their websites what the questions asked, sample sizes and composition of people in terms of age, sex and ethnicity were for opinion polls cited in their publications.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Editors’ Code of Practice sets out the rules and standards to which the press can be held to account. The Code is administered by the Editors’ Code of Practice Committee and is evolving all the time to suit changing circumstances. Amendments to the Code can be suggested via the Committee’s website:http://www.editorscode.org.uk/.

    “

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which local authorities received funding from her Department’s air quality grant scheme in each year of the last 10 years.

    Rory Stewart

    Defra’s Air Quality Grant Funding Scheme apportions funds on a Financial Year basis. The list covers records of local authorities awarded funding in each of the years between 2006/7 and 2014/15 (9 years). The list excludes 2015/16 because a formal announcement of the winners is yet to be made. It is important to note that records only go back to 2006/7 as that was the first year of a grant-based scheme. Prior to that, similar schemes such as Supplementary Credit Approvals and Supported Capital Expenditure were in place when Local Air Quality Management LAQM (LAQM) started in 1997. Those schemes served a similar function to today’s grant, namely to support local authorities’ statutory duties as prescribed under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. The information will be placed in the library.

  • Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been subject to benefit sanctions in (a) Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency and (b) Wales in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the reasons for those sanctions were.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is available at:

    https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

    Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

    https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started—SuperWEB2.html

    “

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2016 to Question 26772, whether (a) legal costs and (b) compensatory payments resulting from investor state dispute settlement claims relating to the acts of local authorities would be passed onto those local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    If the UK were to lose a claim brought under the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism of a trade and investment treaty which relates to an act of a local authority, the Government would typically be responsible for legal costs incurred and compensatory payments awarded by the ISDS tribunal. However, the UK has a good record of creating the right environment for investors and treating them fairly – we have over 90 such agreements in place with other countries and there has never been a successful ISDS claim brought against the UK.

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

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of NHS funding was provided to GP surgeries in each of the last five years

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England has confirmed that the funding it invests in general practice will increase by an average of 4.5% each year from 2016/17 to 2020/21.

    The below table shows the proportion of spend on general practice for each of the last five years for which data is available. The figures for spend on general practice are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Investment in General Practice 2011-2015 report, which is the most comprehensive source of data on investment in general practice. The NHS Revenue Expenditure data is taken from the Department’s accounts.

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    NHS Revenue Expenditure under Clear Line of Sight Rules (£ billion)

    97.47

    100.27

    102.57

    106.5

    110.56

    Spend on general practice (£ billion)

    8.350

    8.397

    8.459

    8.766

    9.001

    Spend on General Practice as a proportion of total

    8.6%

    8.4%

    8.2%

    8.2%

    8.1%
  • Marie Rimmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Marie Rimmer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marie Rimmer on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the Government’s policy is on maintaining the net reallocation of business rate revenue to shire counties, districts and unitary authorities at broadly the present level in real terms following devolution of business rates.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The retention of business rates locally is an important part of our plan to take power out of Whitehall and return it to local government. This means we will no longer be taking local business rates income into Whitehall for redistribution as grant. All locally collected business rates will stay with local government.

    We have already been clear that we will retain redistribution within the system. We recognise that we will need to redistribute to ensure councils don’t lose out merely because they currently collect less in rates.

    The Government is currently working with the Local Government Association, and engaging directly with local authorities, to develop the detail of this change. This includes developing the mechanics of redistribution. As previously announced, we will consult later this year and implement this important change to the local government finance system by the end of this Parliament.

  • Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees currently housed in the refugee camp in Calais have immediate family members already resident in the UK; and what steps are being taken to reunite those families.

    James Brokenshire

    The French NGO France Terre d’Asile (FTDA) has carried out a survey of children in the camps in the Calais area, which identified, within the scope of the survey, 43 children with claimed family links to the UK. We are working closely with the French Government and FTDA to ensure that where family links are established, transfers take place efficiently under the Dublin Regulation.

    The transfer of cases deemed the responsibility of the UK on the basis of family unity provisions contained in the Dublin Regulation can take place relatively quickly and we have resources in place to facilitate this. An individual must first, however, claim asylum in France or another European state participating in the Regulation for the process to begin.

    Under the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK and France have committed to ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively. To assist the handling of such cases, the two Governments have established a permanent official contact group, agreed single points of contact within respective Dublin Units and we seconded an asylum expert to the French administration to facilitate the improvement of all stages of the process.

    The UK and France are running regular joint communication campaigns in northern France which inform unaccompanied children and others of their right to claim asylum in France and of the family reunion process.

  • Baroness Wolf of Dulwich – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Wolf of Dulwich – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Wolf of Dulwich on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many level 5 and level 6 Construction Industry Training Board Construction NVQ diplomas were awarded in (1) 2014, and (2) 2015.

    Lord Nash

    Final data for 2014/15 show that there were no Level 5 or Level 6 Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) NVQ diploma achievements in the construction, planning and the built environment sector subject area.

    Data reported so far for August to April of the 2015/16 academic year also show that there were no Level 5 or Level 6 CITB NVQ diploma achievements in the construction sector subject area. The data for 2015/16 are subject to change as further data returns relating to the period are received later in the year.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-10-21.

    To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, on how many days under the current Travel Office contract the ticket machines situated in the House have been unable to print hon. Members’ travel tickets.

    Tom Brake

    The Trainline ticket machine situated in the Parliamentary Travel Office has been unable to print tickets on six separate days since September 2014, the latest period being 17–19 October 2016. The machine is owned by Trainline but it is CTM’s responsibility to ensure that they report any faults so that they can be fixed quickly and efficiently.

    The ticket machine situated in the Members’ Centre in Portcullis House is maintained by IPSA and therefore the Commission does not hold records on the operation of that machine. However, officials are aware that the machine has been out of service since the beginning of September 2016.