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227687

registered interest
date	17/03/2015
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Energy Systems Catapult: South West
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the merits of siting the new Energy Systems Catapult project in Devon, Cornwall or Somerset.
tabling member constituency	Exeter
tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
uin	227988
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer // answer text <p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.</p> answering member constituency Tunbridge Wells answering member printed Greg Clark question first answered // answering member 1578 label Biography information for Greg Clark
tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

227700

registered interest
date	17/03/2015
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Post Offices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his Department's announcement of 27 November 2013 on Post Office branch modernisation, how many Post Offices have benefited to date from the dedicated fund to support smaller community branches.
tabling member constituency	Torridge and West Devon
tabling member printed	Mr Geoffrey Cox
uin	227769
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2015 answer text <p /> <p>Since the landmark £20 million Post Office Community Fund started accepting applications in June 2014 more than 340 Community post offices have applied for funding. More than 250 of these proposals have been approved to date and of these more than 85 have been completed, bringing significant benefits to communities, customers and subpostmasters across the UK. The fund remains open for applications and the Government encourages eligible branches to apply for investment.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 19/03/2015 16:28:38 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	1508 label Biography information for Sir Geoffrey Cox

227704

registered interest
date	17/03/2015
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of employees in his Department and the Office of the Prime Minister identify as (a) white or white British, (b) Asian or Asian British, (c) Black or Black British, (d) mixed or multiple ethnic group and (e) another ethnicity.
tabling member constituency	Ashfield
tabling member printed	Gloria De Piero
uin	227953
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2015 answer text <p>The Cabinet Office publishes diversity data on its website, including a breakdown of those who declare an ethnic minority background: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office/about/equality-and-diversity" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office/about/equality-and-diversity</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude question first answered 19/03/2015 15:41:31 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	3915 label Biography information for Gloria De Piero

227730

registered interest
date	17/03/2015
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	King Richard III
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, who has been invited to represent the Church of England at the service at Leicester Cathedral for the reburial of King Richard III.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Sir Hugh Bayley
uin	227784
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2015 answer text <p>The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd &amp; Rt Hon Justin Welby &amp; Mrs Welby will be representing the Church of England at the reburial service for King Richard III in Leicester Cathedral on the 26 March. The local diocese will be represented by the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens alongside other senior clergy from across the country, local dignitaries, ecumenical guests and representatives of other faiths.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Sir Tony Baldry question first answered 19/03/2015 12:48:20 answering member 93 label Biography information for Sir Tony Baldry
tabling member	385 label Biography information for Sir Hugh Bayley

227801

registered interest
date	17/03/2015
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which news applications staff in her Department are authorised to download and use on their work-provided phones and tablets.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	227825
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2015 answer text <p>Core Defra staff are not authorised to download and use any news applications on their work-provided phones and tablets.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Cornwall answering member printed Dan Rogerson question first answered 19/03/2015 15:25:14 answering member 1504 label Biography information for Dan Rogerson
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

227803

registered interest
date	17/03/2015
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of employees in her Department identify as (a) white or white British, (b) Asian or Asian British, (c) Black or Black British, (d) mixed or multiple ethnic group and (e) another ethnicity.
tabling member constituency	Ashfield
tabling member printed	Gloria De Piero
uin	227959
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2015 answer text <p>The table below shows the number and proportion of core Defra employees in each ethnicity category as at 28 February 2015. This includes people who have declared their ethnicity status only.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Ethnicity</p></td><td><p>White</p></td><td><p>Asian</p></td><td><p>Black</p></td><td><p>Mixed</p></td><td><p>Other</p></td><td><p>Total</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>No. of staff</p></td><td><p>1237</p></td><td><p>92</p></td><td><p>118</p></td><td><p>24</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>1478</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>%</p></td><td><p>83.7%</p></td><td><p>6.2%</p></td><td><p>8.0%</p></td><td><p>1.6%</p></td><td><p>0.5%</p></td><td><p>100%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency North Cornwall answering member printed Dan Rogerson question first answered 19/03/2015 15:28:02 answering member 1504 label Biography information for Dan Rogerson
tabling member	3915 label Biography information for Gloria De Piero

227907

registered interest
date	17/03/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to improve the efficiency of the asylum system.
tabling member constituency	Harrogate and Knaresborough
tabling member printed	Andrew Jones
uin	227768
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2015 answer text <p>The Home Office have a number of Asylum Improvement projects underway. We are reviewing asylum processes to provide a better experience for our customers such as moving administrative tasks from the asylum interview into the screening process or revising decision letters to make them more user-friendly for customers. <br><br>We are also implementing a number of pilot initiatives to modernise our case working processes including exploring the use of Summary Notes within our asylum interviews. At the same time we are looking to invest in technology to automatically obtain a transcript of an asylum interview. This should improve the efficiency of our interviewing process and reduce the need for our customers to have lengthy interviews regarding their claim whilst we are also looking to expand on the use of video conferencing equipment to build greater flexibility into the asylum case working process and to realise potential savings. We are seeking to digitalise our work where possible, removing the need for paper-based files so our work can be moved around the country to meet service demands. <br><br>We have also made improvements to our decision making processing times. We aim to decide all straightforward asylum claims within six months. We recognise that asylum cases are often complex and require our full and thorough consideration, meaning that some decisions will take longer than six months. Those cases that do take longer than six months are actively managed to ensure they are concluded as promptly as possible. <br><br>We have significantly improved our suite of guidance on considering asylum claims, including key instructions on asylum interviews and assessing credibility. We have streamlined processes by reducing the volume of paperwork required and cutting duplication in the asylum process, including improvements to the way in which decisions are explained to applicants in correspondence to make it easier to understand. These changes are designed to support caseworkers to improve decision quality and efficiency to ensure we grant protection where it is needed whilst refusing unfounded claims more quickly, whilst also ensuring a more customer focused approach.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 19/03/2015 16:22:27 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	3996 label Biography information for Andrew Jones

227908

registered interest
date	17/03/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Police: Pensions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the debate on police widows pensions of 25 February, Official Report, columns 126-133WH, what steps she is taking to ensure all police widowers receive life-long pensions.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	227749
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2015 answer text <p>The Chancellor announced in the Budget on 18 March that the Government will ensure that all widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers and firefighters who are killed on duty will no longer lose their survivor benefits if they remarry, cohabit, or form a civil partnership.</p><p>The Home Office and Department for Communities and Local Government will set out further details in due course.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 19/03/2015 15:56:33 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

227910

registered interest
date	17/03/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which news applications staff in her Department are authorised to download and use on their work-provided phones and tablets.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	227828
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2015 answer text <p>Home Office information technology policy precludes the downloading of unauthorised applications to Home Office-issued equipment and in most cases, such equipment is modified to prevent the downloading of any applications at all. A limited number of approved communications staff (such as press office) have access to social media or news sites via downloaded applications on mobile devices and while this is subject to standard rules governing appropriate use of Home Office technology, there are no restrictions on which news sites may be accessed in this manner.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Staffordshire Moorlands answering member printed Karen Bradley question first answered 19/03/2015 15:54:51 answering member 4110 label Biography information for Dame Karen Bradley
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

227729

registered interest
date	17/03/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Sanitary Products: VAT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will propose at an EU level (a) a review of the EU's classification of women's sanitary products as luxury items and (b) an end to the 5 per cent tax rate on such items.
tabling member constituency	Gosport
tabling member printed	Caroline Dinenage
uin	227738
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2015 answer text <p>Female sanitary products are not classified as luxury items. Indeed, a reduced rate of VAT of 5 per cent currently applies to female sanitary products. This has been in place since 2001 and is the lowest rate possible under EU law.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 19/03/2015 16:23:33 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage