Category: Speeches

  • Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jamie Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2016-05-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to require supermarkets to donate food to food banks and other charities.

    Rory Stewart

    I am replying as the Minister with responsibility for food waste.

    The Government welcomes the redistribution of good quality surplus food to charities that can make sure it goes to people rather than going to waste.

    Based on our experience, a simple law or requirement obliging supermarkets to donate food would not fix the barriers to redistribution. We need to look at the bigger picture. Less than 10% of food wasted in the supply chain is from supermarkets, so we need the whole chain to work together.

    Facilitated and supported by government, all major retailers now have arrangements in place to redistribute surplus food. Action taken by retailers to redistribute surplus food includes:

    • Morrisons have announced that, from January 2016, any unsold safe food will go to redistribution organisations
    • Tesco are making use of an app which links supermarkets with redistribution organisations
    • Asda are working with FareShare to redistribute food

    Signatories to the voluntary Courtauld Commitment with industry have reported a 74% increase between 2012 and end 2014, and we expect it to increase further.

    We want to achieve more. Last year, the Secretary of State held a meeting with industry and redistribution organisations to take stock of progress on food redistribution. Outcomes from this include the recent publication of a Redistribution Framework to help facilitate closer working between potential donors and recipients of food surpluses. Research has been commissioned by WRAP to identify where and why waste and surpluses occur in the supply chain to inform further action to increase waste prevention and redistribution.

    Following the success of earlier agreements, WRAP launched The Courtauld Commitment 2025 in March. This is an ambitious new agreement that takes a whole food supply chain approach, and will build on the progress we have already made to prevent waste, including through the redistribution of surplus food.

  • Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with trade union officials on the job security of UK citizens employed by EU institutions.

    Mr David Lidington

    We are still a member of the European Union and there will be no immediate changes in the circumstances of British citizens elsewhere in the EU. EU institutions have communicated directly to British staff that they continue to have the same rights as other officials of the European Union.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-09-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made to bring together the work of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman with that of the Local Government Ombudsman.

    Baroness Mobarik

    In December 2015 the Government confirmed its intention to bring forward draft legislation to create a Public Service Ombudsman, encompassing the existing jurisdictions of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman. The intention remains to publish a draft Bill in this parliamentary session.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what programmes being taken forward by his Department are subject to Project Assessment Reviews instead of Gateway Reviews.

    Justin Tomlinson

    DWP Projects on the Government Major Project Portfolio (GMPP) follow the procedures outlined in the ‘HM Treasury and Cabinet Office, Major Project Approval and Assurance guidance’ introduced from April 2011. All DWP GMPP projects can therefore potentially have both Project Assessment Reviews and Gateway Reviews during their delivery lifecycle.

  • Peter Bone – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Bone – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the UK’s current trade deficit with the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    This data is publicly available and can be found on the ONS website in the ‘Balance of Payments, Quarter 2 (April to June) 2015’.

  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of illegal immigrants in residence in each constituent region and nation of the UK in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    Government estimates on the number of illegal migrants currently living in the UK by constituent region and nation are not available.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-02-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will discuss with the Director of Public Prosecutions the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to take Mark Pearson to trial for sexual assault, and the claim by the defence solicitor in that case that the CPS initially provided amended and misleading video evidence to the court.

    Lord Keen of Elie

    The CPS’s function is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for the criminal court to consider.

    The CPS assessment of any case is not in any sense a finding of, or implication of, any guilt or criminal conduct. It is not a finding of fact, as this can only be made by a court, but rather an assessment of whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction and, if so, whether the public interest lies in prosecuting.

    It is open to the defence in any crown court case to argue, after the prosecution has closed its case, that the evidence is too weak for the decision to be left to the jury. In this particular case the judge clearly considered that the decision was properly a matter for the jury.

  • Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2016-03-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they next plan to meet the Chief Executive of the Go-Ahead Group in order to discuss its Southeastern rail franchise and (1) health and safety, (2) passenger satisfaction, and (3) responsiveness to customer complaints.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Senior officials will continue to meet with the Chief Executive of the Go-Ahead group on a regular basis to discuss the performances of the franchises. The next meeting is on 21st March.

  • Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-04-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings or other communications took place between Cabinet Office officials and Mr Chris Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs relating to government funding of voluntary organisations in the twelve months prior to the announcement on 6 February of the new clause in grant agreements restricting the use of government grants for lobbying purposes.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The Institute of Economic Affairs’ written research into the misuse of government grants was acknowledged at the time that the clause was first introduced by the Department of Communities and Local Government before the last general election, and also by the Cabinet Office when it published its guidance on the new clause.

    Details of Cabinet Office Ministers’ meetings, and those of the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretaries, are centrally collated and routinely published in transparency returns available on the Gov.uk website.

    Information relating to the meetings and communications of Cabinet Office civil servants, including special advisers, is not routinely collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • 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 steps her Department is taking to ensure that ancillary services, including black start, are available to the national grid following the removal of coal-fired power stations from the system; and who will be responsible for providing those services.

    Andrea Leadsom

    National Grid ancillary services, including Black Start, are procured from generators that have the capability to meet the service requirements. National Grid assesses the suitability of different technologies from a Black Start perspective on an ongoing basis and any generator technology can be considered as a Black Start provider.

    As we drive forward our decarbonisation strategy, DECC is working with National Grid to ensure that the Black Start strategy remains resilient and cost effective. Part of this work includes National Grid assessing which new technologies may be suitable for Black Start in the future and engaging these providers to understand the feasibility of achieving this.

    National Grid is also investigating alternative approaches to the Black Start strategy and is taking forward the recommendations of two independent consultant reports commissioned in 2015. Both reports are available on the Energy Networks Associations’ website via the Smarter Networks Portal.

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