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  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she has held with the Chief Electoral Officer on steps to ensure that the count of the Northern Ireland Assembly elections in May 2016 is carried out efficiently and is not subject to undue delays.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Northern Ireland Office is in regular contact with the Chief Electoral Officer. I am confident that he is taking all necessary steps to ensure the Northern Ireland Assembly elections, including the count, are delivered as efficiently as possible. Single Transferable Vote counts by their nature take longer than those in “first past the post” elections, and the Chief Electoral Officer’s primary consideration has to be the accuracy of the count. However, he has put in place a number of measures to improve the speed of the count, including testing for count staff and modifications to the process for verifying ballot papers.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many officials in each government department have responsibility for progress towards the sustainable development goals.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK is committed to achieving the Global Goals; this is why we continue to maintain ourcommitmentto spending 0.7% of GNI onoverseas development aid, and why we focus this aid on helping the poorest and most vulnerable people globally. Policy officials across departments – and in particular in DFID – have responsibility for this.

  • David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Prime Minister, if he will take steps to ensure that the private office telephone numbers of all Government Ministers are made available to hon. Members.

    Mr David Cameron

    The Cabinet Office publication, the List of Ministerial Responsibilities, includes contact details for all Ministers. Copies are provided to all Members upon publication and are available in the Vote Office and the Libraries of both Houses. It is also available on gov.uk.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2016 to Question 21704, whether spending by the EU on campaigning during the referendum campaign will be subject to those spending limit rules.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    As international governmental bodies, the spending limits set out in the European Union Referendum Act 2015 do not apply to EU institutions.

    The Electoral Commission has made clear its view that all EU institutions should nevertheless adhere to the same restrictions on the publication of promotional material that apply to governments and publicly funded bodies across the UK in the 28 days before polling day for the referendum. In addition, EU institutions should not, for example, undertake any paid-for advertising activity during the whole referendum period.

    The Minister for Europe has deposited in the library of the House of Commons a copy of correspondence with the Director General of the European Commission which says that the European Commission will not take an active part in the referendum and the related campaigns.

    Once the rules for the EU referendum have been commenced, referendum campaigners are only able to lawfully accept donations over £500 from certain ‘permissible’ sources. The permissibility rules provide that funding can only be accepted by referendum campaigners from certain sources connected to the UK, and, in the case of the EU referendum, Gibraltar. There are also rules and offences related to using permissible donors as agents to circumvent the rules.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the scenarios and charges in the Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 2008 were last reviewed to ascertain whether they should be updated.

    Mike Penning

    The current scenarios and charging regime in the Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicle Regulations dates from 2008, when a table of varying rates for different prescribed scenarios replaced the previous flat rate charge in place since 1989. The Government keeps these scenarios and charges under regular review. Currently, there are no plans to change this.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to carry out (a) a full health impact assessment for each of the airport expansion proposals under review and (b) an assessment of the effect on different sections of society of each such proposal.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    An appraisal of the impacts on people, including health impacts and the impact on different sections of society, for each of the short-listed schemes will be carried out as part of the work on preparing the building blocks for an Airports National Policy Statement. The Airports Commission has already made its own assessment of these impacts and we are considering these carefully.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what account the Government’s forthcoming review of the night noise regulations for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports will take of the WHO Europe’s recommendation that noise at night should not exceed 40 dB Leq.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The WHO’s 2009 Night Noise Guidelines for Europe do not refer solely to noise from aviation, but are based on the Lnight,outside indicator which measures the average noise that individuals are exposed to over all nights of a year – including from all transport sources and non transport sources such as industry and the neighbourhood.

    One of the environmental objectives of the current night flight restrictions is to limit and where possible reduce the number of people significantly affected by aircraft noise at night. This is based on the measure of the area and number of people within the 6.5 hour night quota period contours, and in particular the 55dB LAeq contour. This is the threshold also used in the WHO Night Noise Guidelines for Europe. This is also consistent with the Government’s overall policy on aviation noise to avoid significant adverse impacts.

    The Government’s proposals for the night flight restrictions from October 2017 will continue to take account of the latest evidence on the health impacts of night flights.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the aircraft noise attitudes survey carried out by Ipsos Mori on his behalf; and how he plans to use the findings of that survey to inform aircraft noise policy.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is currently analysing the results of the survey carried out by IPSOS Mori to produce a report, which will be independently peer reviewed. The Government hopes to publish a report later this year on the findings.

    The report along with other relevant robust evidence will be used to inform the Government in setting out its aviation noise policy.

  • Johnny Mercer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Johnny Mercer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Johnny Mercer on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to make the rail line through Dawlish more resilient before the next Network Rail Control Period in 2019.

    Claire Perry

    Network Rail iscurrently implementing a £31million package of schemes to improve the resilience of the Great Western route through the Thames Valley and the West of England.

    Network Rail is also progressing an Exeter to Newton Abbot geo-environmental study exploring options for providing a more resilient rail route for the future. The work will produce a short-list of options for further strengthening of the existing railway from Control period 6 (2019-2024) and beyond.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 5 November 2015, Official Report, column 1834, what steps he has taken to exploit the opportunities arising from future international services at Stratford International Station, once Crossrail arrives at that station.

    Claire Perry

    Crossrail services will serve Stratford domestic station, rather than the Stratford International station which is operated by HS1 Ltd. The Department for Transport has no powers to specify that an international operator – whether current or future – must stop at Stratford International station.

    It is possible that an international operator may be able to produce a positive business case for using Stratford International station with the arrival of Crossrail. If this is the case, that operator would need to discuss their proposal with, amongst others, HS1 Ltd.