Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Karl Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2015-10-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what weighting was given to the (a) disciplinary records of and (b) number of signatures of ongoing complaints against bidders in the procurement process for legal aid duty solicitor contracts.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    13 temporary staff were employed through the Brook Street Agency and a Crown Commercial Services Recruitment framework and were selected by the Legal Aid Agency and interviewed by permanent members of staff to ensure their suitability. These individuals made up 19% of the overall assessment team. In addition contracts were entered into with legal practices to provide additional resource.

    The key criteria for employment were analytical skills and the ability to conduct a qualitative assessment. A legal or procurement background was considered an advantage but not essential, given that they would be supervised by permanent staff from the Legal Aid Agency.

    The procurement was undertaken in line with the Public Contract Regulations and applicant organisations were required to pass a number of stages of assessment in order to be considered suitable to hold a duty provider contract. The criteria against which organisations were assessed is set out in the Information For Applicants which govern this procurement process.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Seema Malhotra – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the document Fixing the Foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation, Cm 9098, what the evidential basis is for funding to UK Collaboration for Research in Infrastructure and Cities increasing productivity.

    Joseph Johnson

    As discussed in the “Fixing the foundations” document, long term investment in economic infrastructure is key to raising productivity[1].

    The aim of the UK Collaboratorium for Research in Infrastructure & Cities (UKCRIC) is to coordinate research in UK cities and promote collaboration between disciplines and across sectors, boosting industrial engagement and helping to develop future infrastructure.

    [1] HM Treasury (2015) “Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation” https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443898/Productivity_Plan_web.pdf

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 2.50 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, to which claimants the announcement of an extension of job search conditionality relates.

    Priti Patel

    By 2020 Universal Credit (UC) will extend support to over a million more claimants than under Jobseeker’s Allowance. The majority of people in this group are not in work and currently have no employment support available. A small proportion of the group may be earning very small amounts – less than the Administrative Earnings Threshold – and will benefit from the out of work support.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of electricity in the UK was generated by UK coal-fired power stations in 2015.

    Andrea Leadsom

    DECC will publish finalised energy market statistics including figures for electricity generation in 2015 later this year. However, provisional figures [1] show that coal accounted for 22% of UK electricity supplied over Q1 – Q3 in 2015 compared to 28% in the same period in 2014.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487838/Electricity.pdf

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  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 2 of Delivering the Forward View: NHS Planning Guidance, published in December 2015, how much of the £8.4 billion real terms increase in NHS funding by 2020-21 is allocated to mental health; whether that figure includes funding for children and young people’s mental health announced before the 2015 General Election; and under which of his Department’s budget headings that funding has been allocated.

    Alistair Burt

    Regarding the £8.4 billion real terms increase in funding, NHS England (NHSE) does not stipulate a specific spend level for commissioning bodies, this is to be determined by national policy directives like parity of esteem and specific local needs based assessment. At a commissioning stream level, NHSE has set a principal commitment to achieving mental health parity of esteem. Through its assurance process NHSE will hold individual commissioners to account for increasing spend on mental health in line with their increase in allocations, taking account of the additional mental health funding that has been received.

    The difference between the 2015/16 funding for children’s and young people’s mental health in NHSE baseline and subsequent increase in funding over the five-year period from 2016-17 to 2020-21 is included in the £8.4 billion growth in the Mandate.

    The Department allocates funding to NHS England as set out in the government’s mandate to NHSE and accompanying financial directions. The mandate to NHSE for 2016-17 and accompanying directions are both available at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-mandate-2016-to-2017

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  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to collect statistics on the number of children home schooled in each unitary and county council authority area.

    Edward Timpson

    At present, local authorities (LAs) are not required to collect this data.

  • Baroness Berridge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Baroness Berridge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Berridge on 2016-04-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Yazidis have been given asylum in the UK under (1) the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme, (2) the Gateway Protection Programme, and (3) the Mandate Refugee Scheme, in the last six months.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We continue to work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to identify appropriate cases that they deem in need of resettlement for the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, the Gateway Protection Programme and the Mandate Refugee Scheme.

    Statistics on arrivals under each of these schemes are published in the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

    The next set of statistics will be in the quarterly release on 26 May 2016 and will cover the period January – March 2016. We do not publish a breakdown of these statistics by religion or ethnicity.

  • Yvonne Fovargue – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Yvonne Fovargue – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the dangers of purchasing counterfeit electrical goods.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Intellectual Property Office does not undertake any awareness raising activities that specifically highlight the dangers of purchasing counterfeit electrical goods.

    The Intellectual Property Office works with partners including trading standards, Border Force and industry on a range of initiatives to tackle IP crime. . These initiatives include outreach campaigns aimed at consumers and workplaces, as well as enforcement action and support for businesses. They are not however focused on counterfeit electrical goods in isolation.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-07-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has undertaken an impact assessment on the cumulative effect of introducing a general sugar tax in addition to the soft drinks industry levy.

    Jane Ellison

    The Soft Drinks Industry Levy is a bold step towards tackling childhood obesity. It is a signal to the food and drink industry that the Government is willing to take action to help cut sugar intakes.

    Public health experts have widely identified sugar-sweetened soft drinks as a specific, major factor in childhood obesity. There are no current plans to extend the levy to other foods or drinks, or introduce a general sugar tax.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to highlight the potential benefits of a military career to young people from deprived areas.

    Mark Lancaster

    Our Armed Forces welcomes people from all backgrounds. There is a role in the Services for people regardless of their gender, race, ethnic origin or religious belief. No account is taken of sexual orientation or social background. The Armed Forces has a strict code of conduct to make sure that everyone is treated fairly. As a major employer we are working to create a more inclusive working environment in which people are able to reach their full potential.

    The Armed Forces has an extensive programme of engagement with schools and educational establishments, including deprived areas. However, the Armed Forces does not recruit in schools and only visits educational establishments when specifically invited to do so.