The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-01-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the Royal Air Force Airbus A400M cost from development and approval to the end of 2015.
Mr Philip Dunne
Since being approved in 2000, the cost of the UK A400M Atlas acquisition programme to the end of 2015 has been £1,402 million.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times Russian military (a) aircraft and (b) ships have entered British territory in the last 12 months; what the average response time was for the armed forces on each of those occasions; and what the type and model was of the aircraft or ship on each of those occasions.
Penny Mordaunt
I can confirm that there have been no unauthorised incursions by Russian military aircraft into UK sovereign airspace in the last twelve months.
There have been three authorised Treaty inspection flights by Russian military An-30b aircraft in UK airspace under the auspices of the multi-national Open Skies Treaty. On each occasion the UK received advance notice of the aircraft’s arrival and it was hosted for the duration of its mission at RAF Brize Norton.
For information on Russian naval assets entering UK territorial waters I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 March 2015 by the previous Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mark Francois) to Question number 218391.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage supermarkets to redistribute surplus food to charities rather than disposing of surplus via anaerobic digestion or landfill.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
If surplus food cannot be prevented, the next best option is to ensure that it is redistributed for human consumption. Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and our voluntary agreements with the grocery sector, we have taken action to ensure that more surplus food is redistributed to people before being put to any other use. All major retailers now have arrangements in place to redistribute surplus food. Signatories to phase 3 of the Courtauld Commitment have reported a 74% increase in food redistribution between 2012 and the end of 2014, and we expect this to increase further.
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. WRAP has commissioned research 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 year. 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.
There will always be some unavoidable food waste. The Government’s Anaerobic Digestion Strategy is in place to reduce the amount of organic material going to landfill and drive the waste that is produced into energy recovery or recycling.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-04-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of progress in implementing the provisions regarding footpaths and bridleways contained in the Deregulation Act 2015.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We are continuing to work with the Stakeholder Working Group on both the secondary legislation and guidance necessary for implementation of the rights of way provisions in the Deregulation Act 2015. We expect the package of legislation and guidance to be commenced, all on the same date, later in the year. One of the sets of regulations we are introducing is subject to affirmative resolution and therefore first needs to be debated in both Houses. This has added to the timetable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many times the Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Group on Human Rights has met in each year since its formation; and how many of those meetings in each such year (a) he or his predecessor and (b) Minister of his Department attended.
Mr Philip Hammond
My Advisory Group on Human Rights has met 11 times since its formation in November 2010 – twice a year, with the exception of 2010, when it met only in December and 2014 when it met only in May. My predecessors or I have chaired every one of these meetings, with the exception of the most recent meeting in April 2016, when the meeting was chaired by the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Baroness of Anelay of St Johns.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on the electrification of the Leeds-Harrogate-York railway line.
Paul Maynard
Later this year the rail industry will present its initial advice to Government on investment needs for the national network in the next Control Period (2019-2024), drawing on the outputs of Network Rail’s long term planning process, including its review of the national electrification strategy. Taking account of this advice and other inputs – including from Transport for the North – the Government intends to articulate its emerging priorities for improvement to the national network during 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of removing the 50 per cent cap on religious selection in free schools on the ability of parents to get their children into a local school.
Caroline Dinenage
We want a diverse range of schools to give parents greater choice and drive up standards. The proposals set out in our consultation, ‘Schools that Work for Everyone’, aim to increase local capacity by enabling a wider group of providers to establish new schools. The proposal to remove the 50 per cent cap on religious selection in new free schools has, for some faith groups, been a barrier to setting up new schools. The removal of the cap and the establishment of new faith schools will add to the overall stock of places and should increase choice for parents.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of senior civil servants from her Department are from a lower socio-economic background.
Nick Gibb
The Department for Education does not collect or hold socio-economic data about members of its Senior Civil Service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-11-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK citizens there were over the age of 75 in each of the years between 1999 and 2015.
Lord Bridges of Headley
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) men and (b) women will not qualify for a pension under the new state pension rules.
Justin Tomlinson
Men or women who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016 will be eligible to receive the new State Pension and will do so as long as they have at least 10 qualifying years. Estimates of the number of pensioners in Great Britain who do not have 10 qualifying years will shortly be published in ‘Impact of New State Pension (nSP) on an Individual’s Pension Entitlement – Longer Term Effects of nSP’.