Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's data on expenditure over £500 for September 2023, what the purpose of the hospitality event held at The Botanist, Sheffield on 14 September 2023 was; how much was spent on alcoholic beverages; and how many people attended that event.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The purpose of the event was to bring national government and local authority communication directors together to improve joint working, and complied with departmental hospitality guidance.
The event was booked for 24 people with a set menu that included a single complimentary drink. The venue was secured free of charge.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Huawei legal notices issued, published on 13 October 2022, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of that decision.
Answered by John Whittingdale
No public funding has been issued to telecoms operators to support the implementation of the legal notices issued in respect of Huawei.
The Impact Assessment published alongside the Telecommunications (Security) Bill estimated that the costs of monitoring compliance with the national security power, under which the legal notices were issued, would be between £7 million and £11.7 million over the period 2020-2029. This includes between £1.7 million and £2.8 million for the Department, and between £5.4 million and £8.9 million for Ofcom.
Last year, Ofcom was awarded £21m in additional funding to be spent over the subsequent three years (22/23, 23/24 and 24/25) to reflect its additional responsibilities under the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021. The funding is ring-fenced for telecoms security. The majority of the funding is to support Ofcom’s compliance and enforcement of the Telecommunications (Security Measures) Regulations 2022 and Telecommunications Security Code of Practice 2022, but it also includes resources required to respond to any monitoring directions issued by DSIT in relation to designated vendor directions.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to transaction 127-DG - Delivery-65121 and 126-DG - Delivery-500 in the Home Office Procurement card spend over £500, March 2023 transparency release, whether the spend included alcoholic products.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Yes, alcoholic products were purchased in line with the Home Office Gifts & Hospitality Guidance.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many tank shells were fired on training exercises in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Heappey
Below is a chart showing the number of shells and shots fired from tanks on training exercises each year since financial year 2014-15 until year to date.
Financial Year | SHELLS FIRED | SHOTS FIRED |
2014-15 | 6,742 | 5,904 |
2015-16 | 11,422 | 10,429 |
2016-17 | 4,313 | 5,509 |
2017-18 | 9,860 | 6,650 |
2018-19 | 10,206 | 7,632 |
2019-20 | 11,038 | 10,807 |
2020-21 | 700 | 4,766 |
2021-22 | 3,581 | 8,818 |
2022-23 | 2,635 | 6,162 |
2023-24 year to date | 3,201 | 1,966 |
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average number of (a) flying and (b) simulator hours was per RAF pilot in each of the last six years.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) average age of a prison van and (b) oldest prison van in use by His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service is as of 27 November 2023.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The average age of a prison van is 9 years old.
The oldest prison van is 16 years old.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel lived in substitute service single accommodation on average in each year since 2015.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The table below shows the total numbers of Service personnel living in Substitute Service Single Accommodation (SSSA) each year since 2015.
Year | Number of Service Personnel in SSSA |
2015 | 4,165 |
2016 | 3,983 |
2017 | 3,970 |
2018 | 3,745 |
2019 | 3,870 |
2020 | 3,820 |
2021 | 3,633 |
2022 | 3,596 |
2023 (up to 28 Nov) | 3,951 |
There has been a 30% increase in SSSA applications in 2023. This is due to single Service Personnel being decanted from Single Living Accommodation as improvement and upgrade works take place a number of large Unit moves that have occurred this year.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the prison population was on remand on average in each year since 2015.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The proportion of the prison population that was on remand in each year since 2015 can be calculated from the figures for the total remand population and those for the total prison population (males and females) that are set out in Table A1.1 of the latest published Offender Management Statistics Quarterly - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1173712/Population_30June2023_Annual.ods.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of (a) single level beds and (b) bunkbeds in use in the prison estate.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
All beds used across the prison estate are required to comply with quality standards. Any issues are addressed by Property Services in His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service.
The quality standards take account of specific needs relating to use in the prison estate, including health and safety considerations that are additional to those for commercially available beds.
Where beds are already in situ, prison staff report identified faults for rectification or replacement using the facilities management reporting system.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the spend by the Border Force on the (a) upkeep, (b) care and (c) maintenance of border security dogs was in each year since 2015.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Border Force does not hold the spend on the upkeep, care and maintenance of border security dogs in each year since 2015 in an easily accessible format.
Home Office overall annual reports and accounts are available on the www.gov.uk website, which includes Border Force.