Tag: Parliamentary Question

Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many letters his Department received from hon. Members and Peers in each month in 2015; and how many such letters received a substantive response within 10 working days.

Brandon Lewis

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 15 December 2015, PQ 19650.

The reporting of performance of Government Departments in handling correspondence from hon. Members is co-ordinated by the Cabinet Office and published annually.

01/01/2023

Gavin Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gavin Robinson on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children aged up to three years old were taken into care in the last five years; and what assessment she has made of the reasons why those children were taken into care.

Edward Timpson

The number of children aged 0-3 years, that started to be looked after in the last five years ending 31 March, and the main reason why they entered care, is shown in the table below. This information is for England only.

Category of need	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Abuse or neglect	6,880	7,350	7,430	7,380	7,270
Child’s disability	50	50	60	50	50
Parents illness or disability	520	550	480	500	460
Family in acute stress	690	710	740	740	670
Family dysfunction	1,460	1,560	1,710	1,840	1,730
Socially unacceptable behaviour	50	40	70	70	60
Low income	20	20	10	20	20
Absent parenting	260	210	190	150	160
Total number of looked after children aged 0-3 years, in England	9,910	10,500	10,690	10,740	10,420

Source: SSDA903

Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Only the first occasion on which a child was taken into care in the year has been counted.

01/01/2023

Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government plans to take to mitigate the costs of and time taken for International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) applications related to the UK spaceport in order to facilitate investment and involvement from the US; and what steps the Government is taking to work with the US to ensure that ITAR is applied in a way that precludes a need for multiple applications to be made for discrete systems and single vehicle types.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The 2014 Government Spaceplane Review provided the groundwork for enabling spaceplane operations from the UK, including identifying key criteria for locating a UK spaceport, and identifying potential locations based on these. The Government tested the conclusions of this review through consultation and published its response in March 2015. This confirmed Campbeltown, Glasgow Prestwick and Stornoway in Scotland, Llanbedr Airfield in Wales and Newquay in England as potential spaceport locations.

Further information on the Spaceplane review and the Government consultation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/spaceport-locations-and-criteria

Commercial spaceflight is a complex, international, and evolving market. The Government is considering a range of options on next steps that would best deliver our ambition of a spaceport, and the supporting regulatory environment for spaceflight, within this Parliament.

The Government is in discussion with the US Government on ITAR-related issues. However, ITAR applications are not a factor at this stage for potential spaceport locations but may become so if a US spaceplane operator seeks to operate from the UK.

01/01/2023
Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 30272, what account he has made of the effect on economic growth of the recent reduction in fuel duty.

Damian Hinds

The Government took into account a wide number of factors when considering the impact of freezing fuel duty at Budget 2016, including the impact on growth. HMRC/HM Treasury analysis published in 2014 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-of-the-dynamic-effects-of-fuel-duty-reductions

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01/01/2023
Alan Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government is making to the UN on incorporating a human rights mandate into the renewal of the UN peacekeeping force in Western Sahara.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are not advocating that the United Nations Security Council pursue the incorporation of human rights monitoring as part of the MINURSO mandate. The international community monitors human rights through other means; there was a technical visit by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in April 2015, a visit by the UN’s Independent Expert on Human Rights in January 2016 and there is an upcoming visit of the Special Rapporteur on Torture.

01/01/2023
Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that those non-UK citizens who are not eligible to vote are not able to vote in the EU referendum.

John Penrose

The EU referendum will be overseen by the Chief Counting Officer, chair of the Electoral Commission, who is responsible for making sure the referendum is held in accordance with the legislation governing the conduct of the poll. The Electoral Commission has issued a statement setting out the actions that have been taken to address an issue with elections software used by a number of local authorities in England and Wales that meant that some non-eligible EU citizens had mistakenly received poll cards and, in some instances, postal votes. The Commission explains that the software provider has resolved the issue and none of the affected electors will be shown as eligible on the electoral registers to be used at polling stations on the 23 June. Any incorrectly issued postal votes will be cancelled.

01/01/2023
Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer given by the then Prime Minister, on 29 June 2016, Official Report, column 1294, when his Department will confirm details of the additional compensation to be offered to Southern Rail passengers following the recent strikes and disruption to the regular timetable.

Paul Maynard

The Department is currently reviewing compensation options and a decision will be made in due course. Govia Thameslink Railway already offers passengers Delay Repay, one of the most generous compensation schemes in Europe, and customers can claim for disruption against Southern’s permanent timetable.

Looking forward, we have just confirmed that the provisions of the Consumer Rights Act will apply to the rail industry in full from October 2016.

We will set out further plans shortly.

01/01/2023
Grant Shapps – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grant Shapps on 2016-10-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will ensure that at least half of the Board of HS2 Ltd are business professionals with exclusively private sector experience.

Andrew Jones

The HS2 Ltd Board contains a balance of public and private sector experience. The members are well qualified to provide the appropriate challenge and guidance to the HS2 Programme and include those with major project, construction and rail expertise. Ministerial appointments, extensions and exemptions to the HS2 Ltd Board, come under the remit of the Office for Commissioner for Public Appointments.

01/01/2023

Natalie McGarry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he he has made of the proportion of Government expenditure on pension credit which falls within the carer addition element of that credit in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) Glasgow and (d) Glasgow East constituency in the 2015-16 financial year.

Justin Tomlinson

Forecasts of expenditure as a result of the carer addition element of Pension Credit for 2015/16 are not available. However, estimates of the outturn expenditure (as a result of the carer addition element of Pension Credit) in 2014/15 are shown in the table below.

Tables show expenditure for Great Britain, not the UK, as expenditure in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of Northern Ireland Executive.

Pension Credit expenditure as a result of the carer addition, 2014/15	£, million	…as a percentage of total pension credit expenditure in that area
Great Britain	£364.7	5.5%
Scotland	£39.6	6.7%
Glasgow (City)	£6.4	5.9%
Glasgow East (constituency)	£1.8	9.4%

01/01/2023

Lord Rana – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rana on 2015-12-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action the new Commonwealth counter-extremism unit will take to tackle extremism.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are committed to tackling extremism and radicalisation. A number of Commonwealth countries face significant challenges. The Commonwealth Secretariat has done some work in this area but additional capacity is required to coordinate the sharing of expertise and support efforts to counter the causes of radicalisation. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), announced UK funding of £5m over 5 years to establish a Counter-Extremism and Counter Radicalisation Unit in the Commonwealth Secretariat. Setting up a new unit recognises that Commonwealth countries must work together to counter extremist ideologies and build their counter extremism capabilities. The unit will:

•Provide technical assistance to governments developing counter-extremism strategies.

•Mobilise Commonwealth civil society networks to counter radicalisation through targeted counter-narratives and strategic communication training.

•Enable Commonwealth members to meet their international counter extremism obligations. There is a demand from Commonwealth countries for support in implementing international counter extremism obligations (e.g. in relation to UNSCR 2178.).

We will work closely with the Commonwealth Secretariat, Commonwealth members and key stakeholders to ensure that UK funding supports the work of countries across the Commonwealth to tackle the threat of extremism.

01/01/2023