Category: Speeches

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of its ability to (a) forecast and (b) mitigate the impact of extreme weather events on the UK; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    The Flood Forecasting Centre – jointly operated by the Environment Agency and Met Office – combines world class science, knowledge and experience on meteorology and hydrology to forecast flood risk. The daily assessment of risk enables extra time for emergency responders to prepare.

    The Government has recently announced funding for a £97m supercomputer that will cement the UK’s position as a world leader in weather and climate prediction. In addition to this, the Environment Agency operates a flood forecasting and warning service for over 3000 local communities at risk from both rivers and the sea. Advice is provided by phone and text to over 1.1m home and business owners when their property is at risk.

    Further investment to improve timely and accurate information to the public is underway. A £6m programme of improvements to weather radar will be completed this year and live data on river levels from across England was made available on the Government’s website earlier this year.

    Climate change is factored into all the modelling work that the Environment Agency does, but in light of this extreme weather we must look at that modelling and ensure it is fit for purpose for future decisions.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether a distinction is made by the Government between Commonwealth Realm Orders and decorations where Her Majesty the Queen is Sovereign of the Order and an order where the Governor General as Her Majesty the Queen’s representative is the Head of the Order; whether there is a reciprocal recognition policy in place between each of the Commonwealth Realms concerning titular honours; and whether there has been any change in his Department’s rules on that policy in the last two years.

    James Duddridge

    The recognition of foreign honours is a matter for the Royal Prerogative and is governed by convention. The convention has not changed in the last two years. My Department does not set rules or regulations for these matters.

    The main distinction between Orders of which Her Majesty The Queen is Sovereign and those where The Queen is not Sovereign is that The Queen approves and appoints recipients of all awards in the former and the recipients can apply to receive their awards at an investiture in the UK.

    There is no reciprocal recognition policy in place between each of the Realms concerning honours and associated titles. Whether a title associated with an honour awarded by one Realm is recognised in a second Realm is a matter for the second Realm.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many civil servants were loaned or seconded from the (a) Department for International Development to the Ministry of Defence, (b) Ministry of Defence to the Department for International Development, (c) Department for International Development to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (d) Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Department for International Development, (e) Department for International Development to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, (f) Department of Energy and Climate Change to the Department for International Development, (g) Cabinet Office to the Department for International Development and (h) Department for International Development to the Cabinet Office in each of the last six years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The data below shows the numbers of civil servants on loan or secondment during each of the periods indicated. Civil servants may have been on loan or secondment for part or all of the periods indicated. Some civil servants may have been on secondment/loan for more than one year. DFID HR system does not hold historical loan/secondment data, this information has therefore been manually collated.

    1. DFID to MoD

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 0

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 0

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 1

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 0

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 1

    2. MoD to DFID

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 0

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 1

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 1

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 2

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 2

    3. DFID to FCO

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 9

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 14

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 16

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 32

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 52

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 44

    4. FCO to DFID

    1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

    1/1/2012-31/12/2012 3

    1/1/2013-31/12/2013 11

    1/1/2014-31/12/2014 17

    1/1/2015-31/12/2015 19

    1/1/2016-31/12/2016 12

    1. DFID to DECC

    1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

    1/1/2012-31/12/2012 0

    1/1/2013-31/12/2013 0

    1/1/2014-31/12/2014 0

    1/1/2015-31/12/2015 0

    1/1/2016-31/12/2016 0

    1. DECC to DFID

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 2

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 3

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 5

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 8

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 3

    2. CABINET OFFICE TO DFID

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 0

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 1

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 1

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 2

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 3

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 3

    3. DFID TO CABINET OFFICE

      1/1/2011-31/12/2011 1

      1/1/2012-31/12/2012 2

      1/1/2013-31/12/2013 3

      1/1/2014-31/12/2014 3

      1/1/2015-31/12/2015 3

      1/1/2016-31/12/2016 2

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-03-01.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Government’s memorandum submitted to the Lords Secondary Legislation Committee on 28 January, how many of the 800,000 tax credit claimants with a reduced award to an income rise above the new level of disregard are in receipt of child tax credit.

    Damian Hinds

    From April 2016, the income rise disregard – the amount by which a tax credit claimant’s income can increase within a year before their tax credit award is adjusted – will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,500.

    The only people who will be affected by this will be those who see an increase in their in-year income by more than £2,500. There will be no net cash losers because their income will have increased.

    In the subsequent tax year, a claimant’s tax credits award will be calculated in the usual way, using their full annual income for the previous year to determine their tax credit entitlement. This means that after the change in the tax year, whether the claimant’s increase in income was above or below the disregard level, their tax credit award for the following year will be adjusted to what it would have been had no disregard existed.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2016 to Question 31014, whether her Department has (a) paid and (b) been issued with any fines for not meeting the aim of achieving good status for all water bodies by December 2015.

    Rory Stewart

    The Department has not been issued with any fines relating to any aspect of its implementation of the Water Framework Directive.

    The exemptions referred to in my reply to PQ 31014 are:

    • Article 4(4) provides for extensions of the deadline to 2021 or 2027 for reasons of disproportionate cost or technical feasibility;

    • Article 4(5) provides for setting of less stringent objectives where it would be disproportionately expensive or technically infeasible to achieve good status due to natural conditions or the effects of essential human activity;

    • Article 4(6) allows for temporary deterioration due to natural causes such as extreme floods or prolonged drought; and

    • Article 4(7) allows for deterioration from high status to good status and failure to achieve good status to allow for new sustainable development activities.

    The application of each of the exemptions is subject to conditions set out in the above provision.

    River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) provide the framework for protecting and improving the water environment. Updated plans covering the period 2016 to 2021 were published by the Environment Agency (EA) on 18 February.

    The Plans for England confirm over £3 billion investment in the water environment by 2021, leading to improvements in at least 680 water bodies by 2021, including an overall target to enhance at least 8,000km of fresh waters by 2021. The EA is currently working with Defra to profile the delivery of this target over the six years that the RBMP covers, and is also working with partners to explore opportunities to deliver more.

    The EA coordinates action by water companies, farmers, local groups, businesses and councils to achieve the targets set out in the Plans. These actions include reducing pollution from sewage treatment works, managing water abstraction, opening up rivers to salmon and other fish species, and improving the physical habitat.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-05-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the North Korean authorities about the treatment of British journalists and the continued breach of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights pertaining to the free flow of information, and restrictions on freedom of speech in that country.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We made immediate representations to the North Korean authorities when we were informed of the detention of a BBC journalist in Pyongyang. Our Embassy in Pyongyang provided consular assistance prior to the journalist’s departure. As part of our policy of critical engagement with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea we consistently raise human rights issues, such as freedom of speech and freedom of expression, directly with the regime and in international fora.

  • Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the budgeted expenditure is in (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18 on facility improvements at Barrow-in-Furness to support the Trident renewal programme.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The infrastructure and facilities investments being made at the Barrow-in-Furness and Faslane sites are for all our submarines not just the Successor programme. I am withholding internal Ministry of Defence forecasts on future programme expenditure as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice on-going commercial negotiations.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the South Korean government on the dog meat trade.

    Alok Sharma

    I spoke to the Republic of Korea (ROK) Ambassador on 12 September, ahead of a Westminster Hall Debate on the dog meat trade in ROK, to raise the issue of the dog meat trade and highlight the strength of feeling among the British public and Parliamentarians on this issue. As I stated in the Westminster Hall Debate, there is evidence that attitudes among the ROK public towards the dog meat trade and animal welfare are changing. We hope to encourage that change. The British Ambassador in RoK most recently raised the dog meat trade directly in Seoul on 1 September, highlighting our concerns about the treatment and welfare of animals. The UK has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and the British Government will continue to promote animal welfare with our international partners.

    I have included a copy of the transcript of the 12 September Westminster Hall Debate with this answer.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress has been made by the Emerging Industry Action Group.

    Anna Soubry

    The Emerging Industry Action Group for the sharing economy held its first meeting on 12th November 2015. Businesses from across the sector have agreed to participate in the group and attended the meeting to set out their views on the key challenges and opportunities for both businesses and the Government in making the UK one of the best places to start and grow a sharing economy business.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2015 to Question 18326, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the territory held by Daesh and affiliated groups across Libya; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are extremely concerned about the growing threat from extremist groups in Libya, including Daesh and groups affiliated with it. These groups pose a threat to the stability of Libya and the region, and potentially to the UK and our interests and citizens overseas. We are working closely with international partners to deepen our understanding of Daesh’s presence in Libya, including in Sirte, and to develop a comprehensive approach to defeat it. This includes working closely with Libya’s neighbours to enhance their ability to protect themselves from terrorists in Libya. We are supporting UN-led efforts to establish a Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya, which will be crucial in the long term to tackling the Daesh threat present in that country and across the region.