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Tag: Bob Ainsworth

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of the ability of the National Security Council to foster collective decision-making across Government.

    Mr David Cameron

    The National Security Council is a sub-committee of the full Cabinet. It addresses all elements of national security strategy. It seeks to understand the context, risks and opportunities facing the country; debates policy options; decides courses of action; and monitors and evaluates their implementation. It brings together Ministers and experts on a weekly basis, fostering genuine discussion and collective decision-making on both strategic and operational issues. Regularity of meetings enables Ministers to build up knowledge of particularly complex matters over time and to take well-informed decisions. Specialised sub-committees ensure that appropriate attention is paid to the most complex and technical issues.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding his Department allocated to the Conflict Pool for South Asia in each of the last three years.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The Conflict Pool is funded from a Treasury settlement which is separate from and additional to departmental budgets and is administered jointly by the Ministry of Defence, the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for conflict prevention and mitigation work. Details of Conflict Pool allocations are provided to Parliament annually in a Written Ministerial Statement. Statements for financial years (FY) 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 are attached.

    A Statement giving details of Conflict Pool allocations for FY 2014-15 will be released to the House shortly.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the level of funding per head of the population for transport in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.

    Stephen Hammond

    The most recent data available for regional expenditure is the Country and regional analysis for 2013, published by HM Treasury.

    Table A.15 shows UK identifiable expenditure on services by function, country and region, per head, 2008-09 to 2012-13, of which: Transport

    The extract below gives identifiable expenditure per head for the West Midlands and England. Committed spend is not analysed at a lower level.

    2008-09

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    West Midlands

    283

    258

    218

    206

    202

    England

    317

    348

    317

    288

    267

    The Department for Transport is not the only public body responsible for transport and a large proportion of expenditure is covered by local government bodies.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it remains his policy to meet the NATO target of spending 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence; and what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with their NATO counterparts on this issue.

    Dr Andrew Murrison

    The UK is one of just four NATO nations to spend 2 per cent or more of gross domestic product on Defence. On current plans, defence spending will continue to meet the 2 per cent target for the current Spending Review period. Decisions on public spending after 2015-16 will be made in the next Spending Review.

    The question of Defence spending by European NATO partners is regularly discussed at NATO Defence Ministerial meetings.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made in re-basing those elements of the armed forces based in Germany; and what recent discussions he has had with German federal and regional authorities on the practical logistics involved in such a withdrawal.

    Dr Andrew Murrison

    Significant progress has been made on the withdrawal of British troops from Germany. Having closed Celle Station in 2012, the closures of the Rheindahlen Military Complex and Münster Station were completed in 2013, and Hameln Station will close by December 2014. The programme remains on track to deliver, enabling us to close and release Elmpt and Herford Stations by December 2015, followed by the closure of Hohne and Fallingbostel Stations before March 2016.

    We have already reduced our military numbers in Germany by 33% through the programme of preliminary moves and unit disbandments, and the first tranche of major unit moves and re-roling from Germany will occur in 2015. These moves will result in a reduction of up to 70% of troops by the end of 2015, exceeding the Strategic Defence and Security Review target of bringing back half of those personnel based in Germany by 2015. The remaining troops will relocate by 2019, as part of our intent to base the three high readiness Reaction Force Brigades on Salisbury Plain.

    The Secretary of State for Defence met with the German Defence Minister, Frau Dr Ursula von der Leyen, on 13 January to discuss a number of issues, including the withdrawal of our troops from Germany. More widely, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to liaise with the German authorities at a number of levels: through Ministers and officials in the UK: the Defence Attaché in the British Embassy in Berlin; and the General Officer Commanding British Forces Germany, other regional British Commanders and a network of in-country liaison officers. MOD officials are also liaising with their German counterparts to assist in finding alternative uses for the facilities that will be vacated by the British Forces.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what steps he is taking to increase social mobility in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England; and what measures his Department uses to assess the effectiveness of the Government’s social mobility strategy.

    Mr Nick Clegg

    The Government is committed to improving social mobility, as set out in our social mobility strategy, ‘Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers’, published in 2011. The strategy sets out a plan for improving social mobility across the whole country, incorporating polices such as early education for two year olds from lower income families, the Pupil Premium and the Youth Contract.

    To assess the progress of this strategy, the Government has committed to reporting regularly on a set of key indicators to track closely whether we are moving in the right direction on social mobility; I chair a group of key Ministers to oversee delivery of the strategy, and the Government has created a new Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.

    These indicators were last updated in November last year, and will be updated again shortly.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the future acquisition requirements for intelligence surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance systems.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Department assesses potential future acquisition requirements for intelligence surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) systems as part of the annual Capability Audit process, which considers current and future capability gaps, and the options to fill them. On recent operations the Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) mechanism has also been used to expedite the delivery of ISTAR equipment to fill such capability gaps in the short-term (such as the REAPER Remotely-Piloted Aerial System). As the MOD reorganises itself for broader contingent operations, the annual Capability Audit process will continue to assess which of these UOR equipments have broad utility and should continue to receive funding. In parallel, separate capability investigations are underway, predominantly in support of prospective consideration during the next Defence Review. This analysis includes the ongoing Air ISTAR Optimisation Review.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of school leavers in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England entered further education in each of the last four years.

    Matthew Hancock

    Destination Measures data, following key stage 4 and key stage 5, are published at local authority level for the years 2009/10 and 2010/11. Parliamentary constituency level data are published for 2010/11 only.

    The requested data, for the available years, are published in the Destination Measures statistical first release, here:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations

    “

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s recruitment targets are for its Joint Cyber Reserve Unit.

    Mr Mark Francois

    I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 March 2014, (Official Report, column 56W) to the hon. Member for Makerfield (Yvonne Fovargue).

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Kashmir; and what recent discussions he has had with his (a) Indian, (b) Pakistani and (c) US counterparts on this matter.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has spoken to each of his Indian, Pakistani and US counterparts in recent months about South Asia regional issues and relations between India and Pakistan. We recognise the importance of finding a lasting solution to the situation in Kashmir, but remain of the view it is not for third parties to prescribe one. We continue to follow developments in the region closely, and officials from our High Commissions in both New Delhi and Islamabad regularly discuss the situation in Kashmir with both governments and travel to the region, security situation permitting.