Category: Speeches

  • 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 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 18 October 2016 to Questions 47623 and 47624, for what reasons officials of his Department met with the Administrator of Norfolk Island when the governance and administration of that island is a matter for Australia.

    Alok Sharma

    Pursuant to the Answer to Question 49602, officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office met the Administrator of Norfolk Island to discuss , in the context of both countries’ relations with small island communities, our relationship with the Overseas Territories. The United Kingdom and Australia are close partners and Ministers and officials from both countries regularly discuss a wide range of issues.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which power plants are due to come offline in March 2016; and what plans she has to ensure peak energy demands are met after those plants come offline.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The following plants have announced that they will no longer be connected to the Transmission Grid from April 2016:

    • Eggborough;
    • Ferrybridge;
    • Longannet.

    These withdrawals have been announced over the past year. It is possible that they may still be available for winter 16/17 if they choose to bid, and are successful, in National Grid’s Supplemental Balancing Reserve. It should also be noted that these withdrawals are partly offset by new or increased thermal generation during 2016 from Wilton and Keadby CCGT plants. A large amount of renewable generation is also due to enter the market in 2016.

    Our priority is to ensure that British families and business have access to secure affordable energy supplies that they can rely on and we are taking prudent steps to manage the margins in winter 2016/17. Since 2014 National Grid have had the ability to procure a Contingency Balancing Reserve (CBR), which consists of the Supplemental Balancing Reserve (SBR), where existing power stations stand by ready to generate additional electricity and the Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR) where companies bid for contracts with National Grid to receive payments in return for reducing their electricity usage times of peak demand should National Grid so require. National Grid and Ofgem agree that we should retain the ability to procure CBR for the next two winters. Government supports this position and we expect confirmation later this month following an Ofgem consultation. Beyond winter 2017/18, the Capacity Market will take over as the long term solution for security of supply.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what financial support her Department has provided to (a) the Convention on Migratory Species and (b) the Preventing Poisoning Working Group of the Convention on Migratory Species in the last five years; and what her policy is on continuing financial support to these organisations.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK has paid £1,261,317 in subscriptions to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) between 2011 and 2015.

    The UK provided £25,000 towards the Preventing Poisoning Working Group in 2012.

    With the Spending Review concluded, Defra is now looking at what this settlement means in terms of the detailed allocation of its budgets, including the future funding of the CMS.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has estimated the cost to the agricultural and horticultural industry in West Lancashire of flooding in December 2015.

    George Eustice

    In 2014 the value of agricultural and horticultural output for the north-west of England was £1.96 billion and gross value added (contribution to economy) was £0.82 billion. In 2013, there were 12,198 commercial agricultural holdings in the north west region. The total farmed area on these holdings was approximately 909,000 hectares and the agricultural labour force was made up of almost 32,000 people, 0.94% of the workforce in the region.

    Within West Lancashire in 2013 there were 406 commercial agricultural holdings. The total farmed area on these holdings was approximately 23,000 hectares and the agricultural labour force was made up of almost 2,300 people.

    Although farmers in West Lancashire are still uncovering the full extent of the damage caused by the recent flooding, we understand some arable producers have been badly affected. Under the Farm Recovery Fund these farmers will be able to receive funding towards the cost of restoring their agricultural land to the state it was in before it was flooded. Applications for this funding should be submitted by 1 April 2016.

  • Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what funding his Department has allocated to the Flexible Support Fund for each year of the present Parliament.

    Priti Patel

    The allocation for FSF for 2015/16 is £69.0m. The allocation for FSF for the rest of this parliament has not been agreed.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted or commissioned on the length of time taken by doctors to adjust to day shifts after night shifts; and whether his Department has formed a policy on the minimum and maximum number of consecutive night shifts doctors should work.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department has not directly commissioned such research. A number of previously published papers and studies on shift working informed negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA). The limits on working hours in the new contract were agreed in discussions with the BMA and include a maximum of four consecutive night shifts and a minimum of 48 hours rest after three or four consecutive night shifts. We have also agreed to review the operation of the contract with the BMA to identify whether we can move further on night working.

  • The Lord Bishop of Leeds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Leeds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Leeds on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Iraq on resolving the budget impasse with the Kurdish Regional Government.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We regularly raise the importance of securing a new budget agreement between Baghdad and Erbil with senior representatives of the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

    During his visit to Iraq in March the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the issue with both Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani.

    The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), underlined the importance of a new agreement with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani in Iraq in December 2015.

    Officials at our Embassy in Baghdad and our Consulate General in Erbil continue to highlight the benefits of a united Iraq and the benefits to both sides of agreeing a new oil sharing and budget arrangement.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of dairy products procured for her Department was sourced from Northern Irish producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    Figures which detail the origin of dairy products are not held by my Department.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data or other information on the deployment of tasers in mental health settings was provided by Chief Constable David Shaw’s review of taser use.

    Mike Penning

    Data is not recorded centrally on the number of times the police have deployed Taser devices on psychiatric wards. A Taser record is completed by police officers each time a Taser is used. However, this record does not currently show the detailed geographical or type of location.

    Police Use of Taser statistics are published by the Home Office and most recently on 28 April 2016. These provide a snapshot of Taser use.

    We have been very clear that the public need greater transparency and that is why the Home Secretary asked Chief Constable David Shaw to lead an in-depth review of the publication of Taser data and other use of force by police officers.

    The review recommended that the police record and publish the ethnicity, age, location and outcome of all serious use of force by police officers, including physical restraint and Taser. Pathfinder forces started to collect this data from April this year, and it is anticipated that the collection will form part of the 2017-18 Home Office Annual Data Return.

    A copy of Chief Constable David Shaw’s review will be placed in the House library. The review contained no data on the number of times the police have used Taser in mental health settings.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much funding is given annually by the UK to assist refugee projects in the Middle East.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Department for International Development is providing support to refugees in a number of countries in the Middle East including in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Yemen and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In financial year 2015/16 our support totalled more than £204 million.