The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Leader of the House, how many times he has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.
Chris Grayling
I have not visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to hold urgent discussions with her French counterparts on border controls at Dover and other British ports.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Home Secretary met with her French counterpart, Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, on Tuesday 30 August.
The two nations committed to a number of specific steps, including:
Further securing the ports and tunnel in the region – Britain has already provided around £85 million to reinforce security;
Addressing humanitarian challenges in Calais, where around 7,000 migrants are now gathered – including 5,000 without housing;
Continuing to work together to return illegal migrants in Calais who are not in need of protection;
Bringing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK when in their best interest.
A joint statement from both governments after talks reaffirmed the commitment to working together to strengthen the security of our shared border, and to preserve the vital economic link supported by the juxtaposed controls in Calais.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2016-10-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 19 October (HL2257), how much has been spent by departments other than the Department for Transport.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
There has been no further expenditure made by any other ministerial department into the Competition and Markets Authority inquiry regarding the overlap between Arriva buses and Arriva Trains.
As an independent non-ministerial department, the CMA is responsible for merger inquiries. In this role, it has spent approximately £480k (including staff time, legal fees and consulting fees) investigating the acquisition of the Northern rail franchise by Arriva Rail North Ltd. It is not possible to establish what proportion of this figure was spent on the assessment of the overlap between Arriva Buses and Arriva Trains.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Oates on 2015-11-05.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current food security situation in Ethiopia.
Baroness Verma
We are extremely concerned about the impact of the current drought on the food security situation in Ethiopia. A joint Government of Ethiopia and UN assessment is underway and we are in touch with our UN and Non-Governmental Organisation partners on the ground to determine the extent of need.
In October, the Government of Ethiopia announced that about 8.2 million people are in need of emergency food aid, up from the 4.5 million estimated in August. The number of severely malnourished children under five years old admitted to therapeutic feeding programmes this year has increased notably.
Britain has acted quickly and decisively by providing emergency support for 2.6 million people. This includes food aid for 2.1 million people for a month. The Government of Ethiopia has also committed its largest ever response to a drought. The international community will need to work hard with the Government of Ethiopia to prevent the crisis from worsening in the coming months.
DFID is at the forefront of resilience work to reduce the impact of crises in developing countries. In Ethiopia, DFID’s Productive Safety Nets Programme (PSNP) has helped turn desert land into land that can be farmed again.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to provide to internet service providers detailed information relating to the broadband Universal Services Obligation announced by the Prime Minister on 7 November 2015.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government’s Universal Service Commitment will allow universal access to speeds of at least 2 Megabits per second through the option of satellite broadband connections by the end of 2015.
In addition, an £8 million Market Test Pilot fund is piloting a number of technologies and funding models, including satellite solutions. The results of these pilots will help inform future policy to extend superfast broadband coverage beyond 95%. Avanti, a broadband provider using satellite technology, is currently operational in Dumfries and Galloway and providing superfast coverage.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-01-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of Tornado aircraft fully modified and available for operations in relation to the total air fleet.
Earl Howe
As of 13 January 2016, 48 Tornado aircraft are held in the Forward Available Fleet. This includes aircraft that are held at readiness for contingent operations alongside those deployed on operations
I am withholding the exact number of Tornado aircraft that are available for operations on the grounds of safeguarding national security.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the grants available for children’s hospices will continue to be paid to them through NHS England.
Ben Gummer
NHS England is responsible for the annual grant to children’s hospices and for determining how it will be allocated each year. The palliative care currency is designed to provide a basis for local commissioning discussions, by clearly identifying the costs of care. The currency is being tested by NHS England locally, to ensure it makes sense to commissioners and providers, and the results will be published later in the year. The intention is that there will be an appropriate transition to local commissioning of children’s hospices, but they have pledged to continue the grant until a sustainable alternative means of local funding is in effect.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord MacKenzie of Culkein on 2016-02-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessments they have carried out on the future of resilient position, navigation and timing systems and the vulnerability of the global navigation satellite system to intentional and unintentional jamming.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The Government recognises the strengths and limitations of global navigation satellite systems such as GPS and Galileo, and the importance of the position, navigation and timing services that they provide.
The issue of the vulnerability of satellite based navigation systems has been addressed in the National Space Security Policy, which notes that the signals received from satellite navigation systems are inherently weak. The policy recognises that a proportionate approach is needed to ensure that space infrastructures are resilient to threats, including for instance the use of alternative or fall-back methods of providing the necessary services in the event of an interruption.
Responsibility for determining alternative methods will rest largely with owners and operators of space services or with infrastructure owners and operators, with oversight provided by lead Government departments. UK industry has well recognised capability in developing systems that identify and mitigate intentional and unintentional interference to GNSS.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2016 to Question 21634, when he plans to deposit in the Library information on the end of year budget surplus or deficit for each further education college in London in each financial year since 2010-11.
Nick Boles
I apologise to the Rt Hon Member for the delay. The information will be deposited shortly with the most recent figures available included.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-04-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders were (a) remanded in custody and (b) released on court bail after being charged with an offence of (i) common assault, (ii) actual bodily harm, (iii) grievous bodily harm and (iv) assault in the latest year for which information is available.
Mike Penning
It has not proven possible to respond to these questions within the timeframe available before prorogation.