Author: admin

  • Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the functions are of the North East Rural Growth Network; and how much financial support it received from her Department in the last financial year.

    George Eustice

    Pilot Rural Growth Networks were set up in 2012 to test out approaches to tackling the barriers to economic growth experienced in rural areas.

    Defra provided funding of £3,201,290 in the financial year 2012/13 to support the pilot Rural Growth Network in the North East for three years.

    The North East Local Enterprise Partnership has provided £1.75 million of Growth Deal funding in 2015/16 to enable the North East Rural Growth Network to continue to provide grants to rural businesses and support economic infrastructure projects.

  • Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Nicholas Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what commercial freedoms she proposes to offer to Northumberland National Park.

    Rory Stewart

    National Park Authorities are engaging with devolution proposals and we believe that with their current powers, National Park Authorities are already well equipped to be a vital part of devolution deals across the country. The North East Combined Authority has set out proposals for a devolution deal designed to drive economic growth and bring jobs and investment to the North East. As part of considering this, we will be discussing with the National Park Authority what we could do for them that might help them in terms of commercial freedoms.

  • Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will take into account the implications her decision will have on proposals for further lagoons in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel when negotiating a contract for difference and strike price for the proposed tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government is currently in the first phase of a Contract for Difference negotiation with the developer of the proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project. This process of due diligence will enable us to gain a better understanding of the potential of a tidal lagoon programme in the UK.

    Any proposals for further tidal lagoons would need to be considered separately by the relevant consenting authorities and would require assessments to be undertaken that consider the impacts of both an individual project and multiple projects on a cumulative basis.

  • Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many freshwater rod licence sales there have been for (a) junior anglers aged 12 to 16 years and (b) adult anglers in the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    The number of annual and short term (one day or eight day) rod licences sold to junior anglers (aged 12-16 years inclusive) and adult anglers in each of the last five years are shown in the table below.

    Year

    Junior

    Adult

    Coarse & Trout

    Salmon

    Total

    Coarse & Trout

    Salmon

    Total

    2010/11

    110738

    2742

    113480

    1228580

    25742

    1254322

    2011/12

    103347

    3030

    106377

    1230155

    26094

    1256249

    2012/13

    82978

    2675

    85653

    1119920

    25015

    1144935

    2013/14

    71713

    2257

    73970

    1145897

    24430

    1170327

    2014/15

    61411

    1915

    63326

    1123046

    23706

    1146752

    “

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has received from his Israeli counterpart on the recent violence in that region; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    As I said in my statement of 13 October, the UK Government remains extremely concerned by the violence that we have seen across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories so far this month. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) also made a statement on 9 October condemning the violence.

    Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to the Israeli government, urging them to de-escalate the tensions.

    On 16 October, the Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser spoke to Israel’s National Security Adviser and reiterated the need for both sides to do everything in their power to calm the situation. On 19 October, the Director of the Middle East and North Africa Directorate in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office spoke to the Israeli Chargé D’Affaires to London, including about the recent violence.

    Our Embassy in Tel Aviv receives regular updates from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On 19 October, our Ambassador to Tel Aviv raised our concerns on the recent violence with the Israeli Cabinet Secretary. Most recently, our Defence Attaché to Tel Aviv received a briefing from the Israeli Defence Forces on 21 October on the number of attacks they have so recorded in this latest outbreak of violence.

  • Guto Bebb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Guto Bebb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Guto Bebb on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the involvement of Palestinian terror groups in the recent violence in Israel and the West Bank.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    While it appears that the majority of the attacks seen in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in recent weeks have been carried out by individuals, without direct organisation from political or terrorist groups, we have seen media reports of Palestinian terrorist groups claiming responsibility for some recent attacks, praising attacks, and appearing to incite further violence. We condemn all the terrorist attacks, as I made clear in the House on 20 October, and in my statement on 13 October.

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the whereabouts of Sombath Somphone who disappeared in Laos in December 2012; and what representations his Department has made to the Laos government on Mr Somphone.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We remain very concerned as to the whereabouts of Mr Sombath Somphone. We regularly raise his disappearance with the Lao government. Laos underwent its second UN Universal Periodic Review under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council, earlier this year. The United Kingdom’s recommendation calling on the Lao government to conduct a thorough, transparent and impartial investigation into Mr Somphone’s disappearance was formally accepted by the Lao government. On 11 September, 1000 days since Mr Somphone’s disappearance, I wrote to the Lao Ambassador to the United Kingdom, to urge the Lao government to rapidly proceed with conducting an investigation. Next month, at the EU-Laos Human Rights Dialogue in Vientiane, the United Kingdom, along with our EU partners, will highlight the lack of progress in the investigation into Mr Somphone’s disappearance.

  • Harriet Harman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Harriet Harman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Harriet Harman on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Indonesian counterpart regarding the detention of Rebecca Prosser.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    In consultation with Ms Prosser’s legal team and advisors, the case has been raised at senior level on ten separate occasions. I personally raised it with the Indonesian Foreign Minister in September at the UN General Assembly and it was last raised on 9 October by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Director General Economic & Consular with the Indonesian Director General of Protocol and Consular Affairs. We plan to raise the case again on 29 October during a meeting in London with the representatives of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  • Byron Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Byron Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Byron Davies on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Palestinian Authority in response to reports of incitement to violence against Israel.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We deplore all incitement to violence and have urged the leadership of both the Palestinian and Israeli authorities to avoid engaging in or encouraging the type of action and language which will make it more difficult to achieve a peaceful negotiated solution to the conflict. We continue to support the reinstatement of the Tripartite Committee as the appropriate channel to deal with allegations of incitement from either side. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) also raised the importance of calming tensions when he spoke to President Abbas on 9 October.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will express concern about the effect the one-child policy has had on the prevalence of forced abortions, infanticide and involuntary sterilisation in China to President Xi Jinping during his visit to the UK.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We pay close attention to the human rights situation in China. The Government is committed to engaging with China on the issue and Ministers will continue to raise concerns with their counterparts. Discussions during the State Visit will be broad and cover issues where we agree and where we disagree.

    The Government’s policy on population and sexual and reproductive health and rights is about providing women and girls with a voice, choice and control. We do not condone coercion or support sex-selective abortion. We provide core funding to the United Nations Population Fund who do work in China; they work to promote and uphold the principles of free and informed choice and to challenge the gender norms that de-value girls.