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Tag: 2014

  • Lord Wills – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Wills – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research they are planning to fund in West Africa into the persistence of the Ebola virus in survivors, and into post-Ebola syndrome.

    Baroness Verma

    DFID is making UK-funded treatment facilities and laboratories available for research into Ebola survivors and existing DFID-funded research may provide relevant evidence. For example the Anthropology Platform is conducting research into survivors, and the WHO vaccine trial in Guinea is following up participants for three months.

    To mitigate any risk of potential Ebola transmission, the UK is also helping the Government of Sierra Leone to assist survivors with access to healthcare, safe sex education and condoms, counselling and stigma reduction activities.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much was paid in (a) year-end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials of his Department in each of the last three years.

    Alun Cairns

    The total amount of (a) end year bonuses paid in each of the last three years, which relates to staff individual performance in the previous financial year, is shown below:

    Year

    Total Amount Paid in Bonuses (£)*

    2013

    19,400

    2014

    2,100

    2015

    2,400

    *Non-consolidated performance related pay is only paid to reward excellence, for example to recognise and incentivise those responsible for delivering high quality public services and savings to the taxpayer. These one-off payments are not pensionable. Since 2010-11, the Government has restricted awards for senior civil servants to the top 25% of performers (from 65% in previous years), saving around £15 million overall.

    (b) No in-year bonuses were paid in the period.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2015 to Question 12724, on the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, how much (a) funding and (b) staffing resource is currently dedicated to that group.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Since 2012, the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group has advised Ministers on issues including training for journalists to tackle the negative portrayal of Muslims in the media; encouraging increased reporting and recording of anti-Muslim incidents and online abuse; supporting social media workshops to build the capacity of community organisations to promote positive narratives; and facilitating a number of regional road shows to engage communities on integration and tackling anti-Muslim hatred. The group also worked on the issue of disaggregation of anti-Muslim hate crime, as is done with anti-semitic hate crime. Last month, my Rt Hon Friend, the Prime Minister announced that police forces in England and Wales would be required to disaggregate religion based hate crime data.

    The Working Group meets quarterly and uses this forum to advise Ministers on issues relating to anti-Muslim hatred rather than through official submissions.

    The independent members of the Working Group volunteer their own time to take part in the group and can claim basic travel expenses for the meetings. As part of a broader role, one official in the Department provides secretariat support to the group and officials from across Government Departments attend quarterly meetings.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make it her policy to ensure that no shale gas extraction is allowed in areas which supply the aquifers for drinking water to Hull and East Yorkshire.

    Andrea Leadsom

    In the UK, we have been successfully regulating for gas and oil drilling for over 50 years and have tough regulations in place to prevent water contamination.

    All hydraulic fracturing operations will require a groundwater activity permit. The Environment Agency will not grant a permit where the risks to groundwater are unacceptable. They have powers to impose conditions to ensure proper protection or to prohibit activities which they consider to pose unacceptable risks.

    The Infrastructure Act 2015 required the Government to specify protected groundwater source areas within which hydraulic fracturing cannot take place, which we did in draft regulations debated in the House on 27 October. They define these areas as being equivalent to Source Protection Zones 1, which applies to those areas close to drinking water sources where there is the greatest risk associated with groundwater contamination. This will reinforce the regulatory approach, as it is consistent with the approach taken by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales to control the risks from other groundwater activities.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when she last discussed with Ministerial colleagues in the Department for Energy and Climate Change the effect of climate change on global access to water and sanitation facilities.

    Grant Shapps

    Climate change is expected to reduce the availability of clean and safe water and sanitation facilities for the poorest and most vulnerable communities in the world. Through the International Climate Fund (ICF) the UK government is providing significant investment to help improve water security and support sustainable growth to reduce poverty. The ICF is jointly managed by DFID, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Ministers from these departments have regular discussions on the UK government’s strategic approach to tackling climate change and poverty reduction.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote the use of credit unions in the work of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

    Brandon Lewis

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for West Worcestershire (Ms Baldwin) on 2 November 2015, UIN 13524.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking to promote the use of credit unions in the work of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

    David Mundell

    I refer the hon Member to the answer given by my hon Friend, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Harriett Baldwin) on 2 November 2015.

  • Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lucy Powell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on how whole-school activities will be managed by the recently approved grammar school site in Kent and the existing grammar school that it will be annexed to.

    Edward Timpson

    The expansion proposal from the Weald of Kent confirms that the school intends to provide students with a range of opportunities across the curriculum, utilising facilities on both sites. Extra-curricular activities and assemblies will also be shared across both locations.

    The proposal confirms that the expanded school will have the same leadership, governance, and management arrangements as the existing academy. A single governing body, one headteacher, and one senior leadership team (SLT) with whole school responsibilities will ensure that the current ethos, standards, and quality of learning would be secured in the expanded school.

    In addition to the headteacher and SLT, heads of department will work across both sites. All new staff contracts will include a requirement that staff may be deployed across the school estate, and all staff will attend training sessions at both sites.

    The frequency of movement will be in line with delivery of the curriculum.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to tackle obesity.

    Jane Ellison

    We will put forward our plans to tackle obesity in our childhood obesity strategy in the new year.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions Ministers and officials from his Department had with the Insolvency Service on Redcar steelworks prior to the announcement of SSI entering administration.

    Anna Soubry

    I can confirm that Government agencies, including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Insolvency Service discussed the situation at Redcar prior to SSI’s entry into liquidation, given the parlous state of SSI’s finances and its huge losses.