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  • Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make an assessment of the feasibility of using biomass conversion and energy generation to mitigate job losses from the closure of coal-fired power stations.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Reducing our reliance on coal generation is an important part of decarbonising the electricity system. The Capacity Market will ensure continued security of supply while the Contract for Difference scheme will support cost effective low carbon electricity; the new investment brought forward by both schemes will help create new jobs.

  • Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the closure of coal-fired power stations on (a) job losses and employment trends in the energy sector and (b) power generation; and what plans her Department has to mitigate those losses.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Coal is the most carbon intensive form of electricity generation and is not consistent with our decarbonisation plans, which is why the Secretary of State has announced an intention to consult on ending unabated coal generation by 2025.

    The Capacity Market is designed to bring forward the capacity we need as older plant such as coal come of the system. On 6 May 2016 we announced changes to the Capacity Market to buy more capacity and earlier; tighten the sanctions on those who fail to deliver on their obligations; and bolster energy security in the short–term by holding a new auction bringing forward the first Capacity Market delivery year to 2017/18.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support tree planting in towns.

    Rory Stewart

    The Government recognises the social and environmental benefits of urban trees. We will champion the Vision for a Resilient Urban Forest, developed by the Urban Forestry and Woodlands Advisory Committee Network. This Vision sets the direction and challenges local decision makers and communities to consider how they can better value, manage and expand the urban forest in their areas.

    Millions of schoolchildren across England, mostly in urban areas, will have the chance to plant trees in their communities as part of a Government-backed scheme to give free trees to schools in partnership with the Woodland Trust.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made on its target to plant 11 million trees by 2020.

    Rory Stewart

    The Forestry Commission publishes progress against the 11 million trees target quarterly. The latest report shows that over 640,000 trees have been planted towards meeting the 11 million target in 2015. This reflects the fact that we are at the opening stage of a new grant scheme. We are confident that more trees will be planted in the next phases of the scheme.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to his oral statement of 19 April 2016, Official Report, column 782, how much of the £10 million in support for Libya will be counted towards (a) the Official Development Assistance target of 0.7 per cent of GNI, (b) the NATO defence spending target of 2 per cent GNI and (c) jointly towards both targets.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    I can confirm that the vast majority of the £10 million allocated under the Conflict, Stability, and Security Fund (CSSF) for Libya in 2016/17 will qualify as Official Development Assistance (ODA). It is likely that some of the allocation for Libya – whether ODA or non ODA – will count towards the NATO defence spending target of 2 per cent of Gross National Income, but we would expect this to be small. It will not be possible to provide precise figures until the end of the financial year.

  • John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assistance his Department is offering to the non-ISIL Syrian opposition.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK has been a long standing supporter of the moderate opposition in Syria. We provide them with non-lethal equipment and political support. We have delivered over £4 million of life-saving equipment including communications, medical and logistics equipment. We have also provided equipment to protect against chemical weapons attacks – including 5,000 escape hoods, nerve agent pre-treatment tablets and CW detector papers.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK has released all the information it has in its possession relating to the death of Dag Hammarskjold to the Independent Panel of Experts.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The vast majority of UK material relevant to the death of Dag Hammarskjold has already been released to The National Archives at Kew, where it is accessible to the public. In response to a request from the UN Independent Panel established in 2015 to examine the value of new information related to the death of former UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) coordinated a search across all relevant UK Government departments. None of these departments identified any pertinent material. In addition, the FCO also reviewed again a small number of file extracts that had previously been withheld. The review concluded that, although these file extracts did not contain any substantive information likely to be of interest to the Panel, they should continue to be withheld under Section 3(4) of the UK Public Records Act, for security-related reasons. The FCO wrote to the Panel, assuring it that the redactions consist of short individual pieces of text and that the FCO had not retained whole documents or files. Our assessment continues to be that all the information of value to the Panel has already been released to The National Archives and that release of the redacted material would not provide anything of additional value for the Panel’s work.

  • John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Turkey.

    Mr David Lidington

    We share the concerns of the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the EU over freedom of the expression in Turkey, including the arrest and detention of a number of journalists. As a friend and ally we strongly encourage Turkey to continue work towards the full protection of all fundamental rights, especially in the areas of minority rights, freedom of religion and freedom of expression – and will continue to do so.

  • John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    John Redwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of freedom of expression in Turkey.

    Mr David Lidington

    We share the concerns of the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the EU over freedom of the expression in Turkey, including the arrest and detention of a number of journalists. As a friend and ally we strongly encourage Turkey to continue work towards the full protection of all fundamental rights, especially in the areas of minority rights, freedom of religion and freedom of expression – and will continue to do so.

  • Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to monitor the effectiveness of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency toolkit on the risks of valproate medicines in female patients in ensuring that female patients are better informed about the risks of taking valproate medicines during pregnancy.

    George Freeman

    Valproate is an effective treatment for epilepsy and bipolar disorder but should only be used in girls and women of childbearing potential if other treatments are ineffective or not tolerated. For some women there may be no other treatment option. Since it was authorised, valproate was known to have risks in pregnancy. Because of ongoing concerns about women’s awareness of the risks, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has worked with professional bodies, voluntary organisations and patient groups to develop a set of materials to aid communication between health professionals and women and girls.

    The valproate toolkit comprises booklets for healthcare professionals, a reminder card and a guide for women, a checklist for prescribers and clear package labelling carrying a prominent warning about use in pregnancy. It was widely disseminated on 8 February 2016 through a Central Alerting System (a web based cascade system for issuing alerts to the National Health Service) and the MHRA’s Drug Safety Update bulletin. Electronic copies of the toolkit are hosted on several websites including the Electronic Medicines Compendium. Letters and hard copies of the toolkit were sent by the marketing authorisation holder directly to general practitioners (GPs), pharmacists and relevant specialists. This included 400,000 patient cards, 81,000 patient guides and 22,000 healthcare professional booklets.

    In order to monitor the effectiveness of the valproate toolkit, the MHRA has sought feedback from all stakeholders and will continue to work with the Royal Colleges, professional bodies including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, patient groups and relevant charities to increase awareness of the toolkit among GPs, pharmacists and patients.This work will include exploring how clinical commissioning groups can help ensure the toolkit materials are being used.

    So far, the MHRA has worked with voluntary organisations and patient groups to produce online patient surveys to measure awareness of the risks among patients. Furthermore, MHRA is conducting a study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to track changes in prescribing of valproate to women and girls following the communications to healthcare professionals and patients on the risks of valproate in pregnancy. The marketing authorisation holder is conducting Europe-wide studies to measure the changes in patterns of prescribing and awareness of the healthcare professionals of the risks. The available data will be brought together in a regularly updated dashboard that will be used to track the impact of the communications on patient and professional awareness over time.

    The Government has great sympathy for those families who have been affected by the use of valproate in pregnancy. There is support available for families with children born with a disability. For many people this will involve an early intervention programme from health visitors and midwives, to help a child develop, as well as provide support to the family. This might include: speech and language therapy – to help with any problems communicating or feeding; physiotherapy – to help with any muscle weakness or movement difficulties, and individual home teaching programmes.

    Where a child has a special educational need the local authority must make support available to ensure the child had access to the same educational opportunities as a child without such a need. The Children and Families Act 2014 introduced a new statutory framework for local authorities and to work together to secure services for children and young people – up to the age of 25 – who have special educational needs or disability, across education, health and social care.

    The MHRA’s current priority is to work to ensure that women taking valproate are fully aware of the risks in pregnancy. Once this is achieved we will look into the history of the episode and see what lessons have been or could be usefully learnt by examining events.