Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the comment by Peter Wilkinson, Director of Rail Passenger Services at his Department, of 22 February 2016, about future industrial relations between his Department and transport unions is accurate.

    Claire Perry

    The Department for Transport is committed to continuing to work constructively with the Transport Unions in the coming years to deliver the best possible transport services for all passengers, users and taxpayers.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by the Minister of State for the Department for International Development, Desmond Swayne, on 16 March (HC Deb, col 937), whether it is their position that no non-state party is capable of committing genocide under the 1949 United Nations Genocide Convention.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Under Article IV of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article III of the Convention shall be punished whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals. Any member of Daesh who has committed an act of genocide is therefore liable to prosecution. Individual criminal responsibility, rather than by organisations or groups, is determined by courts. The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor has set out some of the complicated issues involved in the ICC investigating Daesh in her press statement of 8 April 2015.

  • James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    James Cartlidge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cartlidge on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 23225, what progress his Department has made on bringing forward changes to secondary legislation that are necessary to implement the relevant provisions of the Pensions Act 2014.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Work on the changes needed to secondary legislation in relation to the Pension Protection Fund long service cap has begun. I am not, at this stage, able to say when these changes will be brought forward.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-06-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 6 June (HL Deb, col 627), whether they have the necessary power to pursue pension contribution payments from companies where the parent company is based in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, or Monaco.

    Baroness Altmann

    Each case will need to be considered on its own merits but the Pensions Regulator can use its anti-avoidance powers against targets that are based abroad. Section 303 of the Pensions Act 2004, governing the service of documents abroad, is intended to operate outside the UK jurisdiction The power to enforce any regulatory action against a non-UK company is likely to require the approval or cooperation of the relevant overseas authorities. By and large, these provisions should be enforceable in other EU and Commonwealth jurisdictions.

    The Pensions Regulator has demonstrated that it is prepared to use its anti-avoidance powers against targets that are based abroad, as was shown in its handling of the cases involving Sea Containers and the Lehman Brothers group and a complex investigation into the Carrington Wire Defined Benefit Pension Scheme resulted in a £8.5m settlement with two Russian companies.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people working for her Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    The table below shows the number of staff directly employed by the Department or its executive agencies who are paid less than the living wage (LW) as defined by the Living Wage Foundation, none of which are employed on zero hours contracts. This data is shown as at 31 March 2016.

    Number below living wage

    Headcount

    MoJ inc MoJ HQ, HMCTS, OPG, CICA and LAA.

    913

    22,539

    NOMS (including the National Probation Service)

    490

    45,909

    Information on contractors paid less than the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation as a LW could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with key health stakeholders on providing guidance for GPs on extending the length of appointment slots and increasing the number of appointments bookable for each GP each day.

    David Mowat

    General practitioners (GPs) are required to provide essential services to meet the reasonable needs of their patients within core hours. Length of appointment slots and number of bookable appointments is determined by individual GP practices. The Department has not had discussions with key health stakeholders on providing guidance for GPs on these matters.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the factors contributing to the reclassification of Atlantic puffins as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

    Rory Stewart

    The latest population trends indicate a recent decline in the population of UK puffins. This is thought to be due to a combination of factors, including climate change-related food shortages and inclement weather conditions during the breeding season.

    The UK is currently undertaking a review of the terrestrial and coastal network of UK Special Protection Areas (SPA), classified under the EU Wild Birds Directive. The review will inform the need for any further SPA provision for this species.

    The UK is also making good progress in identifying a number of SPAs in the marine environment to complete our network. These will be in addition to the existing 108 SPAs with marine components currently in place in the UK, which provide protection for just over 11,500km2 of seabird habitat.

    Additionally in England, Natural England has been involved in projects to eradicate mammalian predators on Lundy and the Isles of Scilly which should improve the nesting conditions for breeding puffins.

  • Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Ben Howlett – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2015-11-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department provides to support efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest from deforestation; and what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of that funding.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    DFID provides no bilateral aid to Brazil. As such, DFID does not provide any support to protect the Amazon rainforest from deforestation. DFID does provide support to stop deforestation in other developing countries, such as Indonesia, Liberia, and the Central Africa region, and this is a key priority for UK climate finance.

    DFID’s relationship with Brazil focuses on working together in partnership to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development in other developing countries.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a timetable for disclosure of Cabinet papers for the 1986-1988 period.

    Matthew Hancock

    Cabinet papers for the period 1986-1989 1988have already been transferred to the National Archives. Transparency is at the heart of this Government’s agenda and we are publishing unprecedented amounts of information.

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Attorney General, if he will estimate the costs attributed to the Department for Education by the Government Legal Department since 2010.

    Robert Buckland

    The Treasury Solicitor’s Department was renamed the Government Legal Department (GLD) on 1 April 2015. It is primarily funded through the fees it charges for its legal services. It provides Litigation, Employment, Commercial and Advisory legal services to the Department for Education (DfE). The fees charged to DfE for this work, including the cost of disbursements, are as follows:

    Financial year

    Fees (excluding VAT) £

    2010-11

    4,208,845

    2011-12

    4,499,546

    2012-13

    4,805,840

    2013-14

    4,409,976

    2014-15

    4,098,629

    Providing information on the costs attributed to cases relating to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 would incur disproportionate cost as it would involve a manual exercise to identify those historical cases that relate to FOI.