The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to ensure that organic food producers are subsidised under the Common Agricultural Policy.
George Eustice
Organic farmers in England are eligible to claim Common Agricultural Policy support under the Basic Payments Scheme and are also eligible to apply for funding under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to contribute towards stabilising the security situation in Burundi.
James Duddridge
I have recently returned from a visit to Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi on 15, 16 and 17 December to contribute towards stabilising the security situation in Burundi. In my meeting with the Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, I encouraged him to take forward the proposed dialogue with renewed urgency. In my meeting with the Rwandan Foreign Minister, I underlined the need for constructive engagement to solve the Burundi crisis. I was clear with the Burundian Foreign Minister that President Nkurunziza must take up President Museveni’s offer of mediation and engage in talks with all parties. This follows a number of telephone calls I have made to the Burundian Foreign Minister following the inflammatory comments made by the President and President of the Senate. This engagement is the latest example of the lead role that the UK has played in building a single, consistent, international community response to the security situation in Burundi. In January we set up a group of key international partners, who have since worked together to develop a common strategy and encouraged President Nkurunziza to engage with the international community and respect the principles of the Arusha Agreement. In June the UK appointed a Special Envoy to the Great Lakes, Danae Dholakia, who is active in delivering our messages on Burundi. We have supported the East Africa Community in delivering a regional solution. And we have encouraged the African Union efforts to play a strong role in organising an inclusive dialogue outside of Burundi. This would do much to help to pave the way for delivery of a sustainable solution to the crisis. We continue to work with the African Union to mobilise the financial and political resources to support the mediation process. It was under the UK’s Presidency of the UN Security Council that Resolution 2248 was agreed. This Resolution demonstrates the unity of the international community in its approach to the crisis. We continue to work with our colleagues around the world on contingency options. In addition, the Department for International Development is providing £14.25 million to support the relief efforts for refugees fleeing to the region. The Department for International Development is further providing £3.9 million for the refugee response in Rwanda through the United Nations and non-governmental organisations. This has been used to fund refugee transport, medical care, shelters and food rations. Finally, the UK strongly supported a sanctions regime for Burundi. Four individuals have been listed so far. The European Union and African Union are giving consideration to further sanctions against individuals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-01-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the response made by human rights groups to figures released by the UK that it sold Saudi Arabia over £1 billion of weapons and air-to-air missiles between July and September 2015.
Lord Maude of Horsham
The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent export control regimes in the world. No licence would be issued if to do so would contravene the UK’s strict export control criteria. In this case a single licence accounted for 90% of the total value of potential exports authorised by the licences. This was for a long-term contract for the delivery of a new air-to-air munitions capability over a number of years [and is unconnected to current operations by the Royal Saudi Air Force in Yemen.
Licences granted in a given period do not equate to goods shipped The Department for Business (BIS) export licensing statistics only indicate the number and value of licences granted in a specified period, not the value of actual exports. Licences are usually valid for up to two years and the value of the licence therefore represents an estimate of future export value. As such, the value of licences granted in any one quarter will generally not be the same as the value of goods actually exported and does not provide an indication of goods shipped.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury on 2016-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many meetings took place between May 2015 and January 2016 inclusive, in which ministers from HM Treasury discussed the future of Channel 4.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
HM Treasury Ministers and officials have both regular discussions with colleagues and meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. It is not government practice to release details of routine officials’ discussions as to do so would be impracticable and potentially prejudice the effective conduct of public policy development. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available on the gov.uk website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Wolf of Dulwich on 2016-03-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the London cycle superhighways (1) under construction, and (2) proposed and out for consultation, are being built on red routes.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The London cycle superhighways are a matter for the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL). TfL have provided the following information:
|
Cycle superhighway Route |
Status |
Total Length |
Length on Transport for London |
% on Transport for London |
|
(miles) |
Road Network (“red routes”) (miles) |
Road Network (“red routes”) |
||
|
CS5i |
Complete |
0.87 |
0.87 |
100% |
|
CS1 |
Under Construction |
6.84 |
0.50 |
7% |
|
CS2U |
Under Construction |
2.86 |
2.86 |
100% |
|
CSNS Phase 1 |
Under Construction |
1.62 |
1.49 |
92% |
|
CSEW Phase 1 |
Under Construction |
7.02 |
2.55 |
36% |
|
CSNS Phase 2 |
Consultation |
1.68 |
0.56 |
33% |
|
CSEW Phase 2 |
Consultation |
4.53 |
4.04 |
89% |
|
CS11 Phase 1 |
Consultation |
4.47 |
0.37 |
8% |
|
Total |
N/A |
29.89 |
13.24 |
44% |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Ministry of Defence Police officers were deployed to support civilian police forces in each of the last six years.
Mark Lancaster
The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) do not have any designated police stations as defined by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.The MDP work collaboratively with Home Office forces, Police Scotland and Police Service Northern Ireland in locations where the force is deployed.
The MDP has regularly collaborated to provide support to national police operations. However the information requested will take time to collate and I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 12 May 2016 to Question 36796, when she expects to publish the updated country information and guidance on handling asylum claims made by Eritrean nationals.
James Brokenshire
We intend to publish revised country information and guidance on handling claims made by Eritrean nationals in the near future.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-07-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance the operator of Southern Rail services is given on the safe passenger loading capacity for Sussex Coastal services.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Transport safety is a key objective of the Government and the UK has one of the safest railways in Europe. Each operator is responsible for the safety of their staff, passengers and services. The Office of Rail and Road’s duty is to ensure that those responsible for keeping Britain’s railways safe for passengers, and providing a safe place for staff to work, do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to oblige electricity supply companies to forward feed-in tariff payments to small or domestic suppliers to a similar timescale as that which applies to small or domestic customers.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Payments to generators are based on generation meter readings and must be made at least quarterly. There is no restriction on FIT licensees making payments more frequently; generators may wish to consider this when choosing a FIT licensee or deciding to switch FIT licensees.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of depression among new mothers.
Alistair Burt
Reducing the incidence of depression among new mothers is a high priority for the Government.
The Mandate from the Government for the National Health Service includes an objective for NHS England to work with partner organisations to reduce the incidence and impact of postnatal depression through earlier diagnosis, and better intervention and support.
The NHS Mandate also includes an objective that every woman has a named midwife who is responsible for ensuring she has personalised care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and during the postnatal period. This will help clinicians to identify perinatal mental health problems as early as possible and to give women the support they need.
To help achieve this we have increased the number of midwives by over 1,800 and the number of health visitors by over 3,500 since May 2010. In addition, 6,400 midwifery students and an extra 1,000 health visitors are in training respectively.
We are also working to improve the provision of perinatal mental health services which is why it was announced in the March budget that the Government would invest an additional £75 million over the next five years, £15 million per year, to support women with mental ill health in the perinatal period. NHS England is leading a work programme to ensure that this extra money is spent in the right way, at the right time and in the right places. This work is being carried out collaboratively with partner organisations, including the Department and Public Health England, clinical experts and service users.
Health Education England (HEE) has committed to ensure that the right knowledge and training is available so that the NHS is skilled in how it looks after women’s mental as well as physical health. The HEE Mandate includes an objective that there will be specialist perinatal mental health staff available for every birthing unit by 2017. HEE is also committed to working with the medical royal colleges to support specific perinatal mental health training being incorporated into the syllabus for doctors in postgraduate training by 2017.
The Department has funded the Institute of Health Visitors which has trained over 600 perinatal mental health visitor champions to enable health visitors to identify and manage perinatal depression and other maternal mental health conditions.
The Department has also funded the Maternal Health Care Policy Research Unit to undertake a project to develop and pilot test a perinatal mental health indicator which would reflect the mental health care a woman receives at certain critical perinatal time-points; the antenatal booking, the early postnatal period, and approximately one year postnatally.
In line with the approach on other access and waiting time standards, NHS England appointed the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health to run expert engagement and produce implementation outputs, for example commissioning guidance and model pathways. An Expert Reference Group has been formed to oversee this work. NHS England plan to be able to make the recommendations of the group public as soon as possible.