Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has allocated to Kent County Council for local road maintenance for (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

    Andrew Jones

    This Government is providing both tools and funding to local highway authorities in England, outside London, to tackle the condition of our local road network. In the Spending Review 2015, the Government announced that we are allocating a total of £6.1 billion funding for local highways maintenance between now and 2021. This funding includes an additional £250 million between 2016 and 2021 for a potholes action fund to improve local roads, to promote innovation within the sector and to ensure that taxpayers get greater value for money.

    For Kent we are providing the following funding for local highways maintenance for the financial years 2015/16 and 2016/17:

    Funding Stream

    2015/16 £m

    2016/17 £m

    Highways Maintenance Block Needs Element

    27.277

    25.006

    Highways Maintenance Block Incentive Element

    1.377

    Pothole Action Fund

    1.473

    Total

    27.277

    27.856

    Further details of the funding we are providing to all local highway authorities in England outside London can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/6-billion-funding-to-tackle-potholes-and-improve-local-roads

    Local authorities are able to use revenue funding for maintaining their local highways and this is allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-04-27.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether sixth form colleges will be affected by VAT regulations if they convert to a 16 to 19 academy.

    Mr David Gauke

    Sixth form colleges that become academies will be subject to the same VAT rules as other academies.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will make an assessment of the effect of the withdrawal of funding from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills on the Government’s analysis of skills shortages in the North East.

    Nick Boles

    In the context of needing to make savings in non-participation budgets to allow the core adult skills participation budgets to be protected in cash terms, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has consulted the Devolved Administrations and other users of labour market information on future research priorities.

    Following these discussions, we have identified the significance of the Employer Skills Survey, the Employer Perspectives Survey and the LMI (Labour Market Information) for All Portal and decided that these products will be maintained. We are currently working with the Commission to transfer the management of these to BIS, and we will work users on how information from these surveys will be disseminated in the future including the provision of regional and local information.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of his Department’s staff have resigned in the last six months.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    Thirty eight UK-based staff have resigned from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in the last six months. Details are not held centrally for local staff.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether UK projects earmarked for EU funding in 2019-20 under the EU’s 2014-2020 budget cycle will continue to receive such funds should the UK formally leave the EU in 2019.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Treasury has provided a guarantee for multi-year funds that may carry over after exit where they meet UK priorities and value for money criteria.

    The Treasury has also guaranteed all direct, competitively bid projects between UK organisations and the European Commission signed before we leave the EU, and the current level of direct payments to farmers until 2020.

  • Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Falconer of Thoroton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 2015-11-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many hours on average each prisoner spent per week (1) in a cell, and (2) on purposeful activity, in (a) each prison, (b) each category of prison, and (c) the entire prison estate, in each year since 2010.

    Lord Faulks

    Time unlocked and purposeful activity were two of the National Offender Management Service’s performance indicators for prisons until 2011/2012. These indicators were discontinued from the start of 2012/13. However, the figures requested are provided for 2010/11 and 2011/12 in the tables below.

    Tables 1 and 2 cover time spent in cell. Average time in cell is measured per weekday and this information is provided by individual prison establishment, by prison category and across the prison estate. The figures for time in cell are derived from information collected on the average hours per weekday that prisoners are unlocked and using these to estimate hours spent locked in cell. It should be noted that time in cell includes time when prisoners are asleep. Time unlocked includes time where a prisoner is either out of their cell or where the cell door is unlocked allowing them to move freely in and out of the cell.

    Tables 3 and 4 show the reported average hours of purposeful activity per prisoner per week at establishment level, for each category of prison and across the prison estate

    These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

    Table 1: Time in Cell by Prison Establishment: Average Hours per Prisoner per Week Day

    Establishment Name

    2010-11

    2011-12

    Acklington

    15.5

    Albany

    Altcourse

    11.1

    12.6

    Ashfield

    14.0

    14.1

    Ashwell

    14.5

    Askham Grange

    8.0

    8.0

    Aylesbury

    16.8

    16.6

    Bedford

    14.3

    14.4

    Belmarsh

    15.9

    24.0

    Birmingham

    16.2

    16.1

    Blantyre House

    6.0

    6.0

    Blundeston

    14.0

    12.4

    Brinsford

    14.1

    24.0

    Bristol

    15.1

    15.7

    Brixton

    17.4

    17.4

    Bronzefield

    14.1

    14.1

    Buckley Hall

    15.2

    15.4

    Bullingdon

    16.1

    15.6

    Bullwood Hall

    10.3

    10.1

    Camp Hill

    Canterbury

    13.7

    13.3

    Cardiff

    15.9

    16.7

    Castington

    16.6

    Channings Wood

    15.3

    15.4

    Chelmsford

    14.7

    14.4

    Coldingley

    14.4

    14.6

    Cookham Wood

    15.2

    14.3

    Dartmoor

    13.6

    13.4

    Deerbolt

    17.5

    17.2

    Doncaster

    13.4

    11.6

    Dorchester

    18.2

    18.5

    Dovegate

    14.8

    14.3

    Dover

    11.4

    11.4

    Downview

    13.8

    14.2

    Drake Hall

    5.3

    6.5

    Durham

    16.1

    16.2

    East Sutton Park

    7.0

    7.0

    Eastwood Park

    13.1

    15.0

    Edmunds Hill

    10.2

    Elmley

    Erlestoke

    14.3

    14.4

    Everthorpe

    16.7

    16.7

    Exeter

    16.2

    15.9

    Featherstone

    13.1

    14.5

    Feltham

    16.3

    17.1

    Ford

    11.5

    11.5

    Forest Bank

    13.7

    13.7

    Foston Hall

    12.5

    14.5

    Frankland

    15.1

    14.9

    Full Sutton

    15.1

    15.0

    Garth

    15.1

    15.3

    Gartree

    15.2

    15.5

    Glen Parva

    16.4

    17.0

    Gloucester

    15.6

    16.1

    Grendon

    10.3

    10.3

    Guys Marsh

    13.6

    13.7

    Haslar

    12.0

    12.0

    Haverigg

    9.2

    9.7

    Hewell

    13.3

    13.0

    High Down

    16.2

    16.5

    Highpoint

    14.5

    13.3

    Hindley

    13.9

    13.7

    Hollesley Bay

    8.0

    8.0

    Holloway

    15.0

    15.0

    Holme House

    16.1

    15.4

    Hull

    16.0

    16.1

    Huntercombe

    13.5

    14.1

    Isis

    17.4

    Isle of Wight

    14.8

    14.5

    Kennet

    13.8

    13.7

    Kingston

    14.0

    14.3

    Kirkham

    9.2

    9.2

    Kirklevington

    5.0

    5.0

    Lancaster

    14.9

    Lancaster Farms

    16.3

    16.4

    Latchmere House

    0.0

    1.9

    Leeds

    16.2

    13.8

    Leicester

    16.5

    16.1

    Lewes

    15.3

    15.0

    Leyhill

    8.0

    8.0

    Lincoln

    17.0

    16.2

    Lindholme

    15.7

    15.9

    Littlehey

    16.3

    15.1

    Liverpool

    15.7

    15.8

    Long Lartin

    14.7

    15.7

    Low Newton

    13.4

    13.5

    Lowdham Grange

    13.2

    12.9

    Maidstone

    15.2

    15.0

    Manchester

    13.8

    13.4

    Moorland

    12.7

    11.8

    Morton Hall

    10.4

    24.0

    Mount

    13.1

    13.0

    New Hall

    14.8

    15.7

    North Sea Camp

    6.5

    6.5

    Northallerton

    15.7

    15.0

    Northumberland

    15.6

    Norwich

    15.2

    15.8

    Nottingham

    16.2

    16.2

    Onley

    14.8

    14.4

    Parc

    14.6

    14.9

    Parkhurst

    Pentonville

    16.3

    16.6

    Peterborough

    14.7

    14.8

    Portland

    15.1

    15.4

    Preston

    15.7

    15.7

    Ranby

    14.3

    14.6

    Reading

    15.1

    14.4

    Risley

    15.0

    15.0

    Rochester

    14.3

    14.0

    Rye Hill

    14.8

    14.3

    Send

    12.1

    12.1

    Sheppey Cluster

    15.0

    15.2

    Shepton Mallet

    14.6

    14.5

    Shrewsbury

    15.4

    15.4

    Stafford

    16.6

    16.4

    Standford Hill

    Stocken

    16.1

    16.5

    Stoke Heath

    16.2

    15.5

    Styal

    10.5

    11.5

    Sudbury

    5.0

    5.0

    Swaleside

    Swansea

    15.5

    15.4

    Swinfen Hall

    16.2

    17.8

    Thorn Cross

    9.0

    10.2

    UskPrescoed

    11.6

    11.4

    Verne

    9.0

    9.1

    Wakefield

    14.9

    14.8

    Wandsworth

    17.4

    16.7

    Warren Hill

    14.6

    15.2

    Wayland

    12.6

    11.7

    Wealstun

    16.5

    15.7

    Wellingborough

    14.2

    15.0

    Werrington

    14.3

    14.8

    Wetherby

    14.2

    14.4

    Whatton

    14.2

    13.6

    Whitemoor

    15.5

    15.2

    Winchester

    15.0

    16.5

    Wolds

    12.1

    12.0

    Woodhill

    15.0

    14.5

    Wormwood Scrubs

    16.8

    16.9

    Wymott

    15.5

    15.5

    National Total

    14.5

    14.5

    ‘-‘ Data not available

    Table 2: Time in Cell by Prison Category: Average Hours per Prisoner per Week Day

    Category

    2010-11

    2011-12

    Category B

    14.1

    13.9

    Category C

    14.2

    14.1

    Dispersal

    15

    15.1

    Female closed

    12.8

    13.6

    Female local

    13.5

    14.1

    Female open

    7.6

    7.6

    Male closed young offender

    15.8

    16.2

    Male juvenile

    14.3

    14.4

    Male local

    15.5

    15.4

    Male open

    8.1

    8.1

    Male open young offender

    9

    10.2

    Semi open

    6

    6.2

    Cluster

    14.5

    14.5

    National Total

    14.5

    14.5

    Note: In the above table prisons are categorised according to their predominant function, though some establishments will have more than one function.

    Table 3: Average number of hours per prisoner per week in purposeful activity by establishment

    Establishment name

    2010/11

    2011/12

    Acklington

    20.7

    Albany

    24.2

    24.6

    Altcourse

    35.2

    33.7

    Ashfield

    29.1

    26.7

    Ashwell

    29.1

    Askham Grange

    40.7

    40.0

    Aylesbury

    20.7

    21.9

    Bedford

    19.2

    18.5

    Belmarsh

    18.5

    18.4

    Birmingham

    21.3

    21.3

    Blantyre House

    52.1

    52.2

    Blundeston

    25.5

    24.6

    Brinsford

    28.0

    29.9

    Bristol

    25.2

    22.9

    Brixton

    17.5

    17.7

    Bronzefield

    26.6

    26.9

    Buckley Hall

    27.0

    26.5

    Bullingdon

    22.6

    20.9

    Bullwood Hall

    24.5

    24.0

    Bure

    21.2

    24.6

    Camp Hill

    22.4

    23.7

    Canterbury

    19.7

    21.6

    Cardiff

    22.6

    20.0

    Castington

    22.3

    Channings Wood

    24.0

    23.7

    Chelmsford

    25.8

    26.5

    Coldingley

    25.6

    25.7

    Cookham Wood

    23.6

    26.8

    Dartmoor

    24.1

    23.1

    Deerbolt

    21.2

    22.8

    Doncaster

    23.4

    22.1

    Dorchester

    17.7

    17.2

    Dovegate

    31.8

    33.3

    Dover

    Downview

    31.4

    28.5

    Drake Hall

    34.4

    36.0

    Durham

    16.9

    18.2

    East Sutton Park

    45.0

    45.3

    Eastwood Park

    21.5

    22.4

    Edmunds Hill

    24.8

    Elmley

    17.1

    17.5

    Erlestoke

    24.6

    24.8

    Everthorpe

    22.5

    22.7

    Exeter

    17.9

    18.9

    Featherstone

    26.4

    25.7

    Feltham

    22.2

    20.3

    Ford

    41.6

    41.8

    Forest Bank

    25.7

    25.3

    Foston Hall

    30.9

    29.7

    Frankland

    19.7

    20.8

    Full Sutton

    20.5

    21.1

    Garth

    25.9

    26.2

    Gartree

    26.4

    28.7

    Glen Parva

    20.7

    20.8

    Gloucester

    20.7

    19.5

    Grendon

    31.9

    33.7

    Guys Marsh

    24.7

    23.8

    Haslar

    Hatfield

    Haverigg

    27.6

    25.3

    Hewell

    25.6

    25.2

    High Down

    19.2

    18.6

    Highpoint

    25.1

    0.0

    Hindley

    30.9

    33.4

    Hollesley Bay

    43.1

    43.3

    Holloway

    23.1

    21.8

    Holme House

    18.9

    22.0

    Hull

    19.8

    19.6

    Huntercombe

    27.0

    28.4

    Kennet

    25.6

    25.7

    Kingston

    29.2

    27.3

    Kirkham

    47.1

    49.3

    Kirklevington

    53.0

    51.5

    Lancaster

    26.7

    Lancaster Farms

    26.9

    27.0

    Latchmere House

    56.5

    56.5

    Leeds

    18.6

    18.9

    Leicester

    18.8

    18.9

    Lewes

    23.0

    20.3

    Leyhill

    39.5

    40.0

    Lincoln

    19.3

    18.9

    Lindholme

    21.4

    21.5

    Littlehey

    20.6

    22.5

    Liverpool

    20.2

    20.8

    Long Lartin

    20.0

    21.4

    Low Newton

    23.8

    23.7

    Lowdham Grange

    27.3

    27.9

    Maidstone

    25.1

    25.9

    Manchester

    23.8

    24.7

    Moorland

    29.0

    31.1

    Morton Hall

    30.9

    0.0

    Mount

    24.4

    24.8

    New Hall

    27.2

    25.0

    North Sea Camp

    45.9

    43.1

    Northallerton

    23.7

    23.5

    Northumberland

    20.0

    Norwich

    24.8

    23.9

    Nottingham

    26.3

    27.0

    Onley

    25.4

    26.0

    Parc

    26.8

    26.8

    Parkhurst

    21.3

    22.9

    Pentonville

    18.1

    18.4

    Peterborough

    Portland

    27.6

    Preston

    20.7

    20.6

    Ranby

    23.9

    24.0

    Reading

    22.4

    22.5

    Risley

    27.1

    27.2

    Rochester

    22.0

    22.3

    Rye Hill

    27.9

    28.7

    Send

    30.6

    31.2

    Shepton Mallet

    23.2

    24.0

    Shrewsbury

    25.8

    27.1

    Stafford

    26.2

    26.6

    Standford Hill

    36.7

    40.1

    Stocken

    25.7

    24.8

    Stoke Heath

    25.6

    28.1

    Styal

    24.7

    23.1

    Sudbury

    43.6

    45.8

    Swaleside

    24.3

    26.6

    Swansea

    21.6

    20.4

    Swinfen Hall

    26.3

    23.8

    Thameside

    Thorn Cross

    45.3

    47.0

    UskPrescoed

    35.0

    33.7

    Verne

    26.7

    25.9

    Wakefield

    20.5

    21.2

    Wandsworth

    17.2

    17.6

    Warren Hill

    29.5

    28.5

    Wayland

    25.2

    25.8

    Wealstun

    20.4

    21.7

    Wellingborough

    26.8

    25.4

    Werrington

    30.8

    27.6

    Wetherby

    29.7

    27.5

    Whatton

    26.0

    25.2

    Whitemoor

    24.1

    25.5

    Winchester

    19.1

    18.0

    Wolds

    24.4

    24.1

    Woodhill

    21.2

    20.0

    Wormwood Scrubs

    17.2

    16.8

    Wymott

    25.7

    26.2

    National Total

    24.7

    24.9

    ‘-‘ Data not available

    Table 4: Average number of hours per prisoner per week in purposeful activity by prison category

    Category

    2010/11

    2011/12

    Category B

    27.1

    30.1

    Category C

    24.8

    25.2

    Dispersal

    20.7

    21.7

    Female closed

    30.9

    29.5

    Female local

    24.7

    23.8

    Female open

    42.5

    42.3

    Male closed young offender

    24.2

    24.0

    Male juvenile

    28.9

    27.5

    Male local

    21.4

    21.4

    Male open

    42.5

    44.2

    Male open young offender

    45.3

    47.0

    Semi open

    43.9

    45.6

    Cluster

    25.6

    24.7

    National Total

    24.7

    24.9

    Note: In the above table prisons are categorised according to their predominant function, though some establishments will have more than one function.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of (1) batteries, and (2) other waste electrical and electronic equipment, are recycled by (a) domestic households, (b) small and medium-sized commercial enterprises, (c) large commercial enterprises, (d) government departments, (e) local authorities, and (f) other public sector bodies.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government does not hold information in the form requested, but the overall collection and recycling rates for 2014 for these products and equipment expressed as a percentage of tonnage placed on the market is: –

    36% of portable batteries;

    37% of waste electrical and electronic equipment.

    Industrialand automotive batteries are subject to a landfill disposal ban. Accordingly, all such batteries have to be recycled.

  • Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Laird – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2016-01-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government who supervises and audits public funding of universities in the UK.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    Responsibility for higher education is devolved.

    The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has responsibility for oversight of the higher education sector in England.

    For Higher Education Institute’s that receive HEFCE funding, the individual HEI’s external auditor is required to provide a statement in their audit report that public funding has been used for the purposes for which it was provided. HEFCE also seeks a range of other accountability returns from each HEI and carries out periodic ‘HEFCE Assurance Reviews’ of all HEIs.

    Similar arrangements are in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. BIS is responsible for “alternative HE providers”, which includes some private universities, who are not in receipt of funding from HEFCE.

    Individual public bodies (such as Government Departments and Research Councils) are separately accountable for any public funding that they distribute.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether British military advisers have been present in control rooms of the Saudi-led coalition engaged in conflict in Yemen.

    Penny Mordaunt

    We have deployed a small number of military personnel serving as liaison officers in Saudi headquarters to provide insight into Saudi operations. They remain under UK command and control. These liaison officers are not involved in the targeting process – whether it be the selection, decision making or directing.

    British personnel are not involved in carrying out strikes, directing or conducting operations in Yemen or selecting targets and are not involved in the Saudi targeting decision-making process.

  • Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Oliver Dowden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that information relating to infertility and its treatment is available to those affected.

    Jane Ellison

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority have a statutory duty to publish information for patients and donors about fertility treatment and the clinics that it licenses. The Authority is currently reviewing the information published on its website following extensive research and is working with NHS Choices to make sure that all patients are directed to the right information at the right time.

    Individuals with fertility problems can discuss these issues with their general practitioners and ask to be referred to a fertility specialist to discuss the difficulties that they are having in conceiving and the options that are open to them.