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  • Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent estimate she has made of foreign direct investment in Northern Ireland.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    Northern Ireland remains one of the most successful regions in the UK for attracting foreign direct investment, attracting some 6% of inward FDI with around 3% of the UK population.

    The Northern Ireland Investment Conference, which the Prime Minister and I attended, held last year is continuing to bear fruit and I welcome the recent announcement that Convergys – with whose senior management the Prime Minister took time at the Conference to discuss the benefits of Northern Ireland as a cost-effective investment location – is setting up a customer service centre in Londonderry in collaboration with its client EE.

    This investment will bring 333 jobs to the city over the coming year and generate over £5million to the local economy annually.

    The recent announcements from Concentrix of its intention to reinvest in Northern Ireland and add a further 1,043 jobs to its existing work force of 800, and from EY (which also attended the Investment Conference) of a further investment leading to 486 more jobs, are welcome votes of confidence that Northern Ireland is an excellent place to invest and to grow a business.

    These two investments will inject some £38m in salaries into the Northern Ireland economy.

    It is particularly heartening that so many companies choose to reinvest after they have established a presence in Northern Ireland and seen for themselves the benefits it can offer as a cost competitive business environment together with its high quality and well educated workforce.

    The G8 Summit, which the PM brought to Co. Fermanagh in June 2013, also highlighted to the world the benefits of Northern Ireland as a place to visit and invest.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what international progress has been made towards establishing the Green Climate Fund ahead of the UN’s climate summit in Lima; and when she expects this fund to be ready for capitalisation.

    Lynne Featherstone

    The Green Climate Fund Board has agreed a list of eight operational policies needed to complete the design of the fund, with a view to taking decisions at the next Board meeting in May. The Board will also decide the next steps towards a contributions process, with a view to enabling pledges by the meeting in Lima.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to achieve agreement at the UN climate summit in September 2014 on the amount of finance that will be pledged to assist developing countries with their climate actions.

    Mark Simmonds

    The UK is actively engaged in discussions on preparations for the UN Secretary General’s climate summit in September 2014. We welcome this opportunity to further build international momentum to tackle climate change, and towards a new global, legally-binding climate agreement in 2015.

    The UK is committed to the goal of jointly mobilising USD 100 billion of climate finance per year by 2020 from a range of public, private and alternative sources, and encourages all countries to work on strategies for scaling up climate finance. The UK is also actively supporting the development of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which we hope will be ready for initial resource mobilisation in 2014. The UK’s International Climate Fund (£3.87 billion of UK public funds provided by the Department for International Development, Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, in 2011-16) already supports a range of adaptation, low carbon development and innovative finance projects to assist developing countries with their climate actions.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings he has had with (a) the Mayor of London and (b) officials from Transport for London within the last 24 months regarding the tolling of proposed river crossings east of Tower Bridge that are included within the Mayoral Transport Strategy; and how that will impact on traffic levels at the Dartford Crossing.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Secretary of State for Transport has regular meetings with the Mayor of London at which a range of London transport measures are discussed. Other Ministers also discuss various London transport issues and projects with senior officials from Transport for London.

    The Mayor of London wrote to the then Secretary of State for Transport on 1 June 2012 to request the designation of the proposed Silvertown tunnel as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. The Secretary of State responded on 26 June 2012 outlining her agreement to grant the request.

    On 16 July 2013, the Mayor of London wrote to me to respond to the Department’s consultation on the Lower Thames Crossing proposals.

    The Department’s review of options for a new Lower Thames Crossing included a sensitivity test to assess whether the proposed Silvertown Crossing scheme would be likely to impact on the forecast flows for the existing Dartford crossing, and any potential new crossing.　The conclusion of that test was that the effect was likely to be negligible. The review findings were published in May 2013 as part of consultation on the options.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings he has had with (a) the Mayor of London and (b) officials from Transport for London within the last 24 months regarding proposed river crossings east of Tower Bridge that are included within the Mayoral Transport Strategy; and how they impact on the options for the proposed Lower Thames Crossing.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Secretary of State for Transport has regular meetings with the Mayor of London at which a range of London transport measures are discussed. Other Ministers also discuss various London transport issues and projects with senior officials from Transport for London.

    The Mayor of London wrote to the then Secretary of State for Transport on 1 June 2012 to request the designation of the proposed Silvertown tunnel as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. The Secretary of State responded on 26 June 2012 outlining her agreement to grant the request.

    On 16 July 2013, the Mayor of London wrote to me to respond to the Department’s consultation on the Lower Thames Crossing proposals.

    The Department’s review of options for a new Lower Thames Crossing included a sensitivity test to assess whether the proposed Silvertown Crossing scheme would be likely to impact on the forecast flows for the existing Dartford crossing, and any potential new crossing.　The conclusion of that test was that the effect was likely to be negligible. The review findings were published in May 2013 as part of consultation on the options.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what written correspondence he has had with (a) the Mayor of London and (b) officials from Transport for London within the last 24 months regarding the tolling of proposed river crossings east of Tower Bridge that are included within the Mayoral Transport Strategy; and how that will impact on traffic levels at the Dartford Crossing.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Secretary of State for Transport has regular meetings with the Mayor of London at which a range of London transport measures are discussed. Other Ministers also discuss various London transport issues and projects with senior officials from Transport for London.

    The Mayor of London wrote to the then Secretary of State for Transport on 1 June 2012 to request the designation of the proposed Silvertown tunnel as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. The Secretary of State responded on 26 June 2012 outlining her agreement to grant the request.

    On 16 July 2013, the Mayor of London wrote to me to respond to the Department’s consultation on the Lower Thames Crossing proposals.

    The Department’s review of options for a new Lower Thames Crossing included a sensitivity test to assess whether the proposed Silvertown Crossing scheme would be likely to impact on the forecast flows for the existing Dartford crossing, and any potential new crossing.　The conclusion of that test was that the effect was likely to be negligible. The review findings were published in May 2013 as part of consultation on the options.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what written correspondence he has had with (a) the Mayor of London and (b) officials from Transport for London within the last 24 months regarding proposed river crossings east of Tower Bridge that are included within the Mayoral Transport Strategy; and how they impact on the options for the proposed Lower Thames Crossing.

    Stephen Hammond

    The Secretary of State for Transport has regular meetings with the Mayor of London at which a range of London transport measures are discussed. Other Ministers also discuss various London transport issues and projects with senior officials from Transport for London.

    The Mayor of London wrote to the then Secretary of State for Transport on 1 June 2012 to request the designation of the proposed Silvertown tunnel as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. The Secretary of State responded on 26 June 2012 outlining her agreement to grant the request.

    On 16 July 2013, the Mayor of London wrote to me to respond to the Department’s consultation on the Lower Thames Crossing proposals.

    The Department’s review of options for a new Lower Thames Crossing included a sensitivity test to assess whether the proposed Silvertown Crossing scheme would be likely to impact on the forecast flows for the existing Dartford crossing, and any potential new crossing.　The conclusion of that test was that the effect was likely to be negligible. The review findings were published in May 2013 as part of consultation on the options.

  • Sarah Champion – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sarah Champion – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether (a) his Department and (b) the Probation Service has experienced problems in accessing the Risk of Serious Recidivism Predictor Tool to date.

    Jeremy Wright

    We are carrying out extensive local testing of the key elements of the new Transforming Rehabilitation systems across a number of Probation Trusts. Findings are helping us to refine the associated tools and guidance. We have now completed testing of the new Risk of Serious Recidivism (RSR) tool, which will be used to inform the allocation of cases to new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) or the National Probation Service (NPS). Our testing with operational staff in Trusts indicates that the tool is straightforward to use, in line with our commitment to minimising bureaucracy for frontline staff.

    We have begun the roll out of the current version of the tool to all Trusts.

  • Sarah Champion – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sarah Champion – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of the 50 initial preferred bidders for probation services remain in the competition.

    Jeremy Wright

    We have a robust and diverse market. In mid December 2013, the bidders who passed the first stage of the competition to win the regional rehabilitation contracts were announced. That list included a mix of private and voluntary sector partnerships with more than 50 organisations represented. A list of the bidders who have been successful at this stage can be found at:

    https://www.justice.gov.uk/transforming-rehabilitation/competition

    The process to award Community Rehabilitation Company contracts is ongoing and the details of which bidders remain in the competition is commercially sensitive information. The contract winners for each Community Rehabilitation Company will be announced by the end of 2014.

    “

  • Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2014-05-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many police cautions were issued in Brigg and Goole constituency in each of the last five years.

    Damian Green

    Information on cautions is not held by parliamentary constituency