The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who the Deputy Director for Transparency is in his Department.
Matthew Hancock
All deputy directors have a responsibility for transparency policies whichreflects the breadth and importance of the agenda. An organogram of the Cabinet Office is available here: https://data.gov.uk/organogram/cabinet-office
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many new athletics tracks have been built since August 2012.
David Evennett
According to Sport England’s Active Places Power database which maps community sports facilities in England, 15 new athletics tracks have been built in England since 2012. This data can be found at: www.activeplacespower.com
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Jenrick on 2016-03-07.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value is of sanctioned Iranian assets which have been released by the Government or any other entity within the UK since the conclusion of the Iranian agreement in May 2015.
Harriett Baldwin
Financial sanctions are implemented in the United Kingdom by HM Treasury. When assets are frozen they remain where they are held and are not seized or confiscated by the government or the Treasury. As such, the government does not hold frozen assets belonging to designated Iranian or other persons subject financial sanctions.
Every year the Treasury requests information from businesses on funds they hold that are frozen under financial sanctions legislation. The most recent data from September 2015 showed that there was approximately £728,450,000 of funds frozen under the Iran (non-proliferation) sanctions regime.
In July 2015 the EU/E3+3 and the Islamic Republic of Iran reached a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). On 16 January 2016 the initial sanctions relief provided for under the JCPoA came into effect. Part of this relief included the lifting of the asset freeze against certain individuals and entities with frozen balances of approximately £657,830,000. Therefore approximately £70,620,000 remains frozen.
The next phase of sanctions relief under the JCPoA is due on Transition Day in eight years’ time, or when the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded that all nuclear material in Iran remains in peaceful activities, whichever is earlier.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl Turner on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Attorney General, what procedures are in place to share information from the Serious Fraud Office’s dedicated reporting channel with other investigatory bodies and prosecuting authorities.
Jeremy Wright
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is an intelligence led agency and follows the National Intelligence Model (NIM) when sharing information with law enforcement partners.
Every report made to the SFO is assessed by a member of its Intelligence Unit in conjunction with other information available. The SFO passes information on to others when it has appropriate intelligence to share. This could be information from a single report, or a collated intelligence package.
The vast majority of reports made to the SFO are not matters which it can investigate, and are more appropriate for the police or other agencies. Action Fraud is the UK’s national fraud reporting centre. Individuals are asked to report matters directly to them so that Action Fraud can make best use of their information. They will also be given a crime report number for future reference.
The table below shows the minimum number of intelligence referrals made by the SFO to other agencies which are directly referable to reports made through the dedicated reporting channel(1) since these statistics have been recorded. It also shows the number of SFO investigations opened since 2012 where the initial report to the SFO came through its online reporting system.
|
Year |
Number of referrals |
SFO investigations that originated through online reporting system |
|
2012 |
Not recorded |
1 |
|
2013 |
Not recorded |
2 |
|
2014 |
144 |
3 |
|
2015 |
154 |
3 |
1. The SFO does not record statistical information about all types of referrals that it makes to other agencies that are directly referable to reports made through the dedicated reporting channel, so the total number may be higher.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government plans to become a founding donor of the Education cannot wait fund for education in emergencies, at its launch at the World Humanitarian Summit.
Mr Nick Hurd
The UK has played a leading role in the development of the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, which was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit on 23rd May. The UK has committed to provide £30million in support over two years to the new fund as a founding donor, which was announced by the International Development Secretary at the fund’s launch.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what purposes the income from fines levied on parents in England who take their children out of school in term time is allocated.
Nick Gibb
The sums received by local authorities from penalty notices issued to parents should be used for the purposes of issuing and enforcing such penalty notices, and prosecuting recipients who do not pay.
This is set out in Regulation 23 of the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) Regulations 2007, available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/1867/contents/made
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the planned expansion of Luton Airport from 10 million to 18 million passengers a year, they intend to include in the specification for the new Midland Main Line longer-distance passenger service a requirement that four trains per hour per direction should call at Luton Parkway in order to increase the percentage of air passengers arriving by rail.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The next East Midlands franchise is due to start in July 2018 and we are currently undertaking a process of information gathering to develop the high-level view of the franchise specification. We are due to begin a public consultation later this year to inform the specification. Until the views submitted through the public consultation are understood and further analysis is conducted on the options for the franchise, a firm decision cannot be taken at this stage. I would encourage the noble Lord to make his views known through the formal public consultation process when it opens.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Prime Minister, on what date he wrote to the Commander of the at-sea Trident nuclear submarine giving guidance on the use of Trident ballistic missiles after he assumed the office of Prime Minister in 2010; and on what date he sent a message superseding the message given to the at-sea Commander of Trident by Gordon Brown while he was Prime Minister.
Mr David Cameron
It has been the practice of successive Governments for the incoming Prime Minister to provide written instructions to the Commanders of our nuclear armed submarines.
The letters are one of the first actions carried out by the Prime Minister on assuming office and, given the security implications, it would be wholly inappropriate to comment further on the process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans his Department has to review its automotive strategy for growth and sustainability, published in July 2013; and if he will make a statement.
Anna Soubry
The Automotive Council will lead a review of the Automotive Industrial Strategy in the first half of 2016, to take stock of progress since its publication in July 2013 and to confirm future priorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to reduce the council tax referendum level from 2 per cent to take account of his policy on the social care precept; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Marcus Jones
My rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark) set out his proposed Council Tax Referendum principles for 2016-17 alongside the provisional local government finance settlement on 17 December 2015 [Official Report, Column 1722]. The full proposals are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-in-2016-to-2017. Final referendum principles for 2016-17 will be laid before the House for approval in due course.
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