Peter Bedford MP: written questions
584 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Armed Forces: Young PeopleMinistry of DefenceTabled 18 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14894More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Education to recruit young people into the armed forces.
Answer: Cross-Departmental engagement is at the heart of delivering our mission-based Government, particularly where more support can be offered to enhance the delivery of Gatsby Benchmarks which serve as a framework for world-class careers provision in education...
Answered 25 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordDeportation: AlbaniaHome OfficeTabled 18 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14893More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Albanian nationals have been deported in 2024; and whether any individuals deported in 2024 have since re-entered the UK.
Answer: Available statistics on the returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) and their nationality are published on a quarterly basis in the Returns Detailed Datasets, which are available at: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.u...
Answered 26 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordRecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14892More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish guidance on the simpler recycling scheme for local authorities.
Answer: The Government recently confirmed its commitment to delivering the Collection and Packaging Reforms to the announced timelines, including Simpler Recycling, subject to spending review outcomes. Ministers are reviewing the final detail of the Simpler Recyc...
Answered 22 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordCivil ServiceCabinet OfficeTabled 13 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14255More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has for civil service (a) headcount levels and (b) budgets for the next five years.
Answer: This government is committed to ensuring departments consider overall value for money in resourcing decisions.To this end it has introduced a 2% target for reduction to administration budgets in financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26 and a stop to all non-es...
Answered 27 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordApprentices: Employers' Contributions and Minimum WageDepartment for EducationTabled 11 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13670More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to (a) employer national insurance contributions and (b) the level of the minimum wage on the number of (i) apprenticeship starts for young
Answer: To repair public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance.The government recognises the need to protect the smallest emplo...
Answered 19 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordOffenders: Foreign NationalsMinistry of JusticeTabled 8 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13320More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of offenders sentenced to a term of imprisonment were foreign born in (a) 2022, (b) 2023 and (c) 2024.
Answer: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody, but it is not possible to identify an offender’s nationality at this point from the centrally collated court data. This information may be held on cou...
Answered 14 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordNHS: ProcurementDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13319More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for the future of NHS procurement frameworks.
Answer: As one of the interventions in the Strategic Framework for NHS Commercial and a workstream in the Commercial Efficiencies Optimisation Programme, NHS England launched an Accredited Framework Host programme in late 2023.The ambition is to drive efficiency ...
Answered 14 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordSentencingMinistry of JusticeTabled 30 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 901072More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of sentencing guidelines.
Answer: The independent Sentencing Council is responsible for the development of sentencing guidelines. The Council regularly evaluates the guidelines to ensure they are operating as intended.The Government is responsible for sentencing law, and last month we hav...
Answered 5 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordHorses: Animal WelfareDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 21 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 10239More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals on prohibiting the practice of tethering horses by (a) roadsides and (b) on (i) common and (ii) waste grounds.
Answer: Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act), it is an offence to cause any animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for its welfare. The 2006 Act is backed up by the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybr...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPet Travel Scheme: DogsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7692More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs travelled to the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme via (a) sea, (b) tunnel and (c) air in (i) 2023 and (ii) 2024.
Answer: Means of TransportJanuary – December 2023January – August 2024Air14,19610,904Sea98,09081,603Tunnel176,423142,142Total288,709234,649 The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checker...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordDogs: ImportsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7691More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were imported under the Balai Directive in each month of (a) 2023 and (b) 2024 to date; and from which country did those dogs originate.
Answer: Please see attached Balai data for the number of dogs imported each month in 2023 and 2024. The EU data may include animals that have originated from a non-EU country but have travelled through an EU Border Control Post (BCP). The database records the EU ...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: StandardsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 7 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7690More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of arrangements for standards enforcement in local government.
Answer: The Government is actively considering options to strengthen the standards regime for local government and provide councils with more effective means to address serious misconduct by elected members. We want to give local leaders the tools they need to es...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordReligion: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7345More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to review the opt outs for the teaching of religious education in secondary schools.
Answer: The government has launched an independent review of Curriculum and Assessment and will also consider any changes it wishes to make to support the aim of delivering a rich and broad curriculum for every child whilst the review is conducted.The Curriculum ...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCivil Servants: PayCabinet OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7344More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what was the total salary cost of the civil service in each year between 2010 and 2024.
Answer: The Cabinet Office does not hold actual outturn salary cost information for all Civil Service departments and organisations since 2010. However, estimated nominal Civil Service salary costs have previously been calculated for the years 2010 to 2024. These...
Answered 16 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCivil ServantsCabinet OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7343More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what was the full-time equivalent headcount of the civil service in each year between 2010 and 2024.
Answer: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 4 October 2024 is attached.
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBus Services: ConcessionsDepartment for TransportTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7342More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many pensioners qualify for free bus passes.
Answer: Concessionary travel is a devolved policy area, and legislation and assessment of eligibility with regarding concessionary travel in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the appropriate devolved administration. In England, the English Nati...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordLifelong Learning EntitlementDepartment for EducationTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7341More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.
Answer: At present, the department is working to ensure that our approach to lifelong learning will be as effective as possible and will enable people to gain the skills they need to support their careers.The government recognises that lifelong learning is a core...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordGrowth and Skills LevyDepartment for EducationTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7340More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the growth and skills levy is available to people of all (a) ages and (b) levels.
Answer: The department’s reformed growth and skills levy will deliver greater flexibility for employers and learners and is aligned with the government’s industrial strategy, both of which will create routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, such as ...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPrescriptions: PensionersDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7339More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of pensioners qualify for free prescriptions.
Answer: The number of identified patients aged 60 years old or over who received a prescription that was recorded as exempt from the single item prescription charge in England in 2023/24 was 13.6 million.
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCouncil Tax: Single PeopleMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7338More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of people qualify for the single-person household council tax discount.
Answer: The latest available data for October 2023 shows there were approximately 8.6 million households in receipt of a single person discount, this represents approximately a third of all households liable for council tax in England. This data is available here...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPalestinians: TeachersForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7337More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent of the involvement of teachers working in schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency with Hamas; and whether any UK funding of th
Answer: We were appalled by the allegations that United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) staff were involved in the 7 October attacks against Israel. The Secretary-General and the Commissioner General of UNRWA took t...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordIsrael: PalestiniansForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7336More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his polices of reports that UNRWA staff members were named as Hamas operatives planning attacks against Israel from the A
Answer: We were appalled by the allegations that United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) staff were involved in the 7 October attacks against Israel. The Secretary-General and the Commissioner General of UNRWA took t...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordEnvironment Agency: PowersDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5777More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the enforcement powers of the Environment Agency.
Answer: The Environment Agency (EA) publishes an annual Review of Activities Regulated by the EA setting out, details of enforcement action taken. The most recent of these reports was published in March this year and sets out statistics demonstrating the effectiv...
Answered 7 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPrivate Education: VATAttorney GeneralTabled 2 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 3924More
Question: To ask the Solicitor General, whether he has made an assessment of the compatibility of the introduction of VAT on independent school fees with the Government's obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answer: Paragraph 2.13 of the Ministerial Code states: ‘the fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised and the content of their advice must not be disclosed outside Government without their authority’. This is known as the Law Officers’ Conventio...
Answered 10 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Rented HousingMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3634More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase the supply of social rented homes.
Answer: The Government is committed to the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. Our aspiration is to ensure that, in the first full financial year of this Parliament (2025-26), the number of Social Rent homes is rising rather t...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament record
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