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  • Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Karl McCartney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what progress has been made on the Near Neighbours programme.

    Mrs Caroline Spelman

    The Church Commissioners welcome the Government’s recent announcement of a further £1.5 million for the Near Neighbours programme, which is administered by the Church Urban Fund. This third round of funding for Near Neighbours will help it build on its successful track record of delivering projects up and down the country to transform local areas by strengthening relationships between those of different religious and ethnic backgrounds on issues of shared concern.

    The Near Neighbours programme has offered small grants between £250 and £5,000, providing seed capital for local groups and organisations who are working to bring together neighbours, to develop relationships across diverse faiths and ethnicities in order to improve their communities. The Near Neighbours grants fund has so far awarded seed capital worth £3.66m to over 1,120 projects. These projects have impacted the lives of 941,000 people and 71% of projects have continued to run after the initial seed capital was spent. All Near Neighbours projects are designed to change hearts and minds by bringing together different communities within a neighbourhood so that they can work together on issues of shared concern and common values.

    More information on Near Neighbours can be found on its website at: https://www.cuf.org.uk/how-we-help/near-neighbours

    “

  • Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Michael Fabricant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to publicise the hygiene ratings of restaurants and other food outlets in England; and if she will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has responsibility for the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. Ratings are published on the FSA’s website (and are available via smart phone apps), and there is open access to the data so that others may use it. Food businesses are also given stickers and are encouraged to display these at their premises where consumers can easily see them.

  • Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robin Walker on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effect of the introduction of Flood Re on people seeking to access affordable flood insurance in areas of high flood risk.

    Rory Stewart

    Flood Re launched last month, and will ensure people will have access to affordable flood insurance. Flood Re will achieve this by providing reinsurance, with high risk customers having their policies ceded to Flood Re by their insurer. Flood insurance policies ceded to Flood Re have premiums and excesses within set limits based on Council Tax band.

    As of today, 29 insurers are using Flood Re and it remains important that consumers shop around to obtain the best price. A review of the Flood Re scheme will take place in 2019.

  • Roger Mullin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Roger Mullin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Mullin on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on farmers of the UK leaving the EU.

    Rory Stewart

    60% of our food and drink exports go to the EU; this is worth £11 billion to our economy. This is a vital income for UK farmers and fishermen. If we were to leave the EU, exporters would face crippling tariffs when selling their goods to Europe, such as up to 70% for beef products, which would cost around £240 million per year.

  • Neil Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Neil Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Carmichael on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of ISIL on migration flows in the Middle East.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The appalling violence that Daesh inflicts is a contributory factor to migration both within and from the Middle East. There are 13.5 million vulnerable and displaced people inside Syria, and over 4.8 million Syrian refugees in neighbouring counties. That is why the UK has pledged over £2.3 billion to Syria and the region, the largest ever UK response to a humanitarian crisis.

  • David Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    David Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Jones on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to assist humanitarian relief in Yemen.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Yemen is now one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. The UK is the fourth largest donor having more than doubled our commitment to £85m in 2015-16. We have so far helped more than 1.3m Yemenis, providing food, medical supplies, water and emergency shelter to those most in need.

  • Kevin Hollinrake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Kevin Hollinrake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Hollinrake on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the most vulnerable people in developing countries have access to adequate hygiene and sanitation.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    DFID is committed to reaching 60 million people with water and sanitation by 2020. We reached 62.9 million people between 2011 and 2015. Improving hygiene is central to our programming. We are the largest bilateral donor for basic water and sanitation in low-income countries.

  • Phillip Lee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Phillip Lee – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phillip Lee on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what measures she has put in place to improve ministerial oversight of aid programmes.

    Justine Greening

    I have introduced more stringent ministerial sign off controls and this is backed up by thorough monitoring and evaluation processes and management information to better identify underperforming programmes so they can be dealt with.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Attorney General, (a) how much funding he has allocated to and (b) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the CPS’s Proceeds of Crime Unit in each year since 2009.

    Jeremy Wright

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) allocated the following funding to its Proceeds of Crime Unit since 2009.

    2008/09 £ 2,556,535

    2009/10 £ 4,339,422

    2010/11 £ 7,311,688

    2011/12 £ 6,096,729

    2012/13 £ 5,967,226

    2013/14 £ 6,125,024

    2014/15 £ 8,378,651

    2015/16 £10,035,821

    The following average full-time equivalent staff in post for Proceeds of Crime Unit since 2009 were:-

    2008/09 41.9

    2009/10 60.0

    2010/11 73.1

    2011/12 65.1

    2012/13 77.3

    2013/14 77.7

    2014/15 124.4

    2015/16 140.4

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-04-27.

    To ask the Attorney General, (a) how much funding he has allocated to and (b) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the (i) Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and (ii) SFO’s Proceeds of Crime Division in each year since 2009.

    Jeremy Wright

    The information requested is contained in the following tables.

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    SFO gross budget

    £44.6m

    £41.3m

    £40.1m

    £43.7m

    £54m

    £59.4m

    £62.2m

    SFO Proceeds of Crime Division 2

    £0.920m

    £1.021m

    £1.571m

    £1.683m

    £1.931m

    £2.304m

    £2.674m

    Full time equivalent staff 3

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    SFO

    307

    305

    306

    292

    305

    4014

    393

    SFO Proceeds of Crime Division

    13

    17

    21

    20

    23.43

    32.71

    31.43
    1. The figures includes any blockbuster funding received in each year. They exclude capital expenditure, annually managed expenditure.
    2. The Proceeds of Crime figures include the budget for the current year and outturn for the previous years. They do not include £110k funding received from the Department for International Development in the financial years 2014-15 & 2015-16.
    3. This data covers FTE staff in post as at 31st March each year including fixed term contractors, but not agency staff. Complete records for staff in post in the Proceeds of Crime division before 2011-12 are not held centrally and the figures provided for these years are based on available data.
    4. This is a revised figure which corrects the number previously published in the SFO Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15.