The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many of his Department’s 24 vacant Deputy Director posts have been filled.
Mr David Jones
The Department for Exiting the EU now has over 200 staff in London, plus the expertise of over 120 officials in Brussels, and we are still growing rapidly. We are not in a position to give a final total nor a breakdown by directorate as recruitment is ongoing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-19.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consultation HM Revenue and Customs conducted with its staff based in Yorkshire prior to its decision to locate its regional hub in Leeds.
Mr David Gauke
On 12 November, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the next stage of its ten-year modernisation programme. As part of that, the department demonstrated its long-term commitment to Yorkshire and the Humber by setting out that it would establish a Regional Centre in Leeds.
A number of factors were considered by HMRC when deciding where to locate its new Regional Centres. In addition to cost, it considered local and national transport links, the local labour market, supply of future workforce and the retention of current staff and skills.
HMRC modelled the impact of locating the Regional Centre for Yorkshire and the Humber in both Bradford and Leeds. For both scenarios, it took into account the potential loss of jobs for staff expected to be outside of reasonable daily travel (defined as approximately 1 hour from home to work, though dependent on individual circumstances).
HMRC first shared its transformation plans with its employees 18 months ago. Since then has held more than 2,000 events across the UK, setting out how and why it is changing. The department is committed to continuing to support all of its employees who are affected by these changes.
Staff in Yorkshire attended a number of face-to-face events, providing feedback on the potential location of the regional centre. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their personal circumstances in one-to-one meetings with their manager.
This transformation programme will ultimately enable HMRC to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer. It will generate estate savings of £100 million a year by 2025.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger on 2015-12-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any of those staff at the Department for International Development involved in small business grant funding have hands-on experience of business development.
Baroness Verma
DFID employs cadres of sector-specific technical experts in a range of disciplines in order to provide intellectual and professional rigour to underpin our poverty reduction work. DFID has a cadre of over 80 private sector development advisers who lead our work to support private sector growth, including small business grant funding. Over 80% of private sector development advisers have worked in the private sector, bringing to DFID a first-hand understanding of business development.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pendry on 2016-01-28.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent of evidence and support, nationally and internationally, for a sugar tax as an element of tackling obesity, and why they do not support such a tax.
Lord Prior of Brampton
As part of its review to identify possible actions to reduce sugar intakes and inform the Government’s thinking on sugar, Public Health England considered the current evidence around fiscal measures such as a tax on sugary foods and drinks. We are considering this alongside other evidence as we develop our childhood obesity strategy which will be launched shortly. It will look at everything, including sugar, that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will also set out what more can be done by all sides.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to reduce the number of fires caused by an electrical source of ignition in domestic dwellings.
Mike Penning
The Department’s Fire Kills campaign, run in close partnership with fire and rescue authorities in England, promotes a range of domestic fire safety messages, including on electrical fire safety, to ensure householders take appropriate action to prevent accidental fires and understand how best they can protect themselves and their families.
Fire Kills and Electrical Safety First have a longstanding and close partnership to promote electrical fire safety messages, including through the annual Electrical Fire Safety Week, which runs in November each year.
The campaign also supports the Register My Appliance initiative, run by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Electrical Appliances. This is designed to improve recall rates and ensure a greater number of faulty products can be traced and either repaired or removed from homes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate the House of Commons Commission has made of the number of senior House officials who will potentially fall under the provisions of the 4th EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849.
Tom Brake
The Commission has made no estimate of the numbers, if any, of senior House officials who might be held to fall within the definition of “politically exposed persons” for the purposes of the 4th EU Money Laundering Directive, nor would there be any reason for it to do so. Several senior House officials will themselves be aware of the provisions of the Directive as a result of their parliamentary work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Green of Deddington on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of (1) the effect of immigration, and (2) the effect of immigration from the EU, on the UK’s GDP per head in the last 10 years.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
No such estimate has been made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the London Power Tunnels Project is (a) on schedule for completion in 2018 and (b) within budget.
Andrea Leadsom
National Grid has said that:
The London Power Tunnels Project is on schedule for completion in 2018 with all significant work completed in 2017 a year ahead of the original programme.
The London Power Tunnels Project is currently within budget.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) who holds responsibility for training magistrates and (b) how many magistrates have received training on the use of (i) slavery and trafficking risk orders and (ii) slavery and trafficking prevention orders.
Mr Shailesh Vara
Judicial training is the responsibility of the Lord Chief Justice and is exercised through the Judicial College.
To fulfil their judicial decision making responsibilities magistrates, their legal advisers and District Judges (Magistrates’ Courts) receive comprehensive induction and continuation training in across the jurisdictions, which includes new legislation.
It is not however possible to identify where magistrates have received standalone or direct training on the use of slavery and trafficking risk orders or slavery and trafficking prevention orders.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jopling on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Leader of the House what explanation she has received from the Department for Education concerning its failure to answer by 9 September two Questions for Written Answer that were asked on 19 July (HL1338) and 21 July (HL1440).
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park):
I regularly stress to departments the importance of giving timely answers to Questions for Written Answer. My office immediately approach departments who have not responded to questions after 10 working days, and remain in contact with them until the questions are answered. This process has been followed in both of the cases to which the noble Lord refers.
In the case of the Ministry of Justice question, I am informed that the delay related the process of transferring it to the right department for response. After discussion it was transferred to the Cabinet Office, who will provide a substantive answer by close of play this week. As regards the Department for Education questions, I am informed that the delay related to gathering complex data spanning a long period and the need to obtain clearance from across government. Both of the questions concerned have now been answered.
Regarding timely replies more generally, I have recently written to the three departments with the greatest proportion of late responses in the last session and I regularly set out the House’s expectations as they apply to QWAs to my frontbench team. Notwithstanding the cases referenced above, I am pleased to say that the proportion of on-time responses from the Ministry of Justice rose from 74% of questions in 2014-15 to 87% in 2015-16; while the Department for Education answered well over 90% of questions on time in both sessions.