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  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to enable environmental health officers to assess excessive noise in a neighbourhood on a daily basis.

    Rory Stewart

    Local authorities have a range of powers available to them to assess excessive noise from residential and commercial properties. These are set out in various pieces of legislation, including the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Noise Act 1996.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures are in place for environmental health officers to arrange a second observation of excessive noise in a property where a household frequently changes occupancy.

    Rory Stewart

    Local authorities have a range of powers available to them to assess excessive noise from residential properties through various pieces of legislation. It is for local authorities to decide how best to apply the powers available to them.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of naval vessels and aircraft routinely conduct monitoring and reporting of maritime activity (a) in the presence of vessels engaged in fishing and (b) otherwise when they are operating in or transiting through the Exclusive Economic Zone of British Overseas Territories.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Ministry of Defence supports the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in combatting illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing through a support agreement between the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and the Royal Navy (RN), whereby naval assets conduct fishery protection activities. The RN and MMO work closely to maximise the effectiveness of these fishery protection activities within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the UK.

    RN and Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessels also conduct maritime security operations at all times while at sea, this includes monitoring and reporting maritime activity to relevant UK authorities. Reporting of fishing and other maritime activity to local UK authorities in Overseas Territories and the relevant authorities of other nations is routinely undertaken whenever a RN or RFA vessel is operating in the vicinity of UK Overseas Territories.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Lord Heseltine’s report, Tees Valley: Opportunity unlimited, published on 7 June 2016, what assessment her Department has made of the feasibility of a University Technical College or Institute of Technology in the Tees Valley area.

    Nick Boles

    Lord Heseltine’s report recommends that, following the Tees Valley Post-16 Area Review, universities and local employers should consider whether technical based education provision in the form of either a University Technical College (UTC) or Institute of Technology (IoT) may help to address skill gaps and contribute to meeting the future needs of business.

    The Government is committed to establishing a UTC or technical academy within reach of every city. As with other new academies, proposals to establish new UTCs and technical academies are submitted to the Department twice a year. The Department for Education would consider any proposals from the Tees Valley area as it would from elsewhere. The strongest applications that demonstrate a clear need and demand for their chosen specialisms in their local area are approved to develop their plans further.

    The Baker Dearing Educational Trust is funded by the Department to support applicant groups and can be contacted to discuss future UTC proposals. The process for establishing IoTs has not started yet, so no assessment has been made regarding the feasibility of an Institute in the Tees Valley area.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to publish the findings from areas piloting 30 hours of free childcare.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We are currently commissioning the evaluation of early implementation of 30 hours free childcare. An invitation to tender was published in May 2016 with a view to awarding the contract to a successful bidder by the end of June 2016.

    The evaluation will focus on generating learning that can be used by Early Implementers and all local councils ahead of national implementation in September 2017.

  • Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many local authority children’s services departments have been visited by the Chief Social Worker for Children since she took up that post.

    Edward Timpson

    Since her appointment, the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families, Isabelle Trowler, has visited 50 local authorities.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department has taken to support the Teesside Carbon Capture Storage Collective since the announcement of the reduction in government funds in that sector.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change continues to work closely with Teesside, including through providing funding to the Collective for further work on how Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), carbon usage, hydrogen production and other technologies could reduce carbon emissions from industrial processes.

    This support follows £1m previously awarded to Teesside as part of the 2013 Tees Valley City Deal, to undertake engineering and commercial studies into the scope for industrial CCS for the Tees Valley industrial cluster, and the October 2015 Tees Valley Devolution Deal, which committed DECC to work with Tees Valley to explore how it can continue to develop its industrial CCS proposals.

    Lord Heseltine’s recent report “Tees Valley: Opportunity Unlimited” welcomed the support that the Government is continuing to provide on industrial CCS in the Tees Valley area.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Government aid to the fishing sector on St Helena supports pole and line fishing methods.

    James Duddridge

    UK Government support has helped the St Helena Fisheries Cooperation become a member of the International Pole and Line Foundation and the Earth Island Institute’s Dolphin Safe Tuna Monitoring Programme.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent progress has been made on establishing a fully-protected marine reserve in the waters of Ascension Island.

    James Duddridge

    Ascension Island Government currently maintains a closed area of approximately 220,000 square kilometres to commercial fishing. Working with a coalition of academic institutions, scientists and non-governmental organisations, the Island Government is currently developing a scientific roadmap to determine the location of the final Marine Protected Area ahead of formal designation. Scientific research is underway to assist in this process and once collected and analysed will inform the final designation, which is on track to occur within the next few years.

  • Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Zac Goldsmith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether all government vessels are checked by rodent detection dogs before visiting locations where rodents have been eradicated in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

    James Duddridge

    The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands operates a wide range of peer-reviewed rodent detection and mitigation measures which seek to prevent rodents from entering the Territory. It works closely with those organisations with a footprint on South Georgia to ensure best practice guidelines are implemented. At present these measures do not include the use of a rodent detection dog, although the feasibility of this is under active consideration with relevant stakeholders as part of wider discussions to continually improve biosecurity.