The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of UK military staff posted to (a) Eurocorps and (b) other EU institutions.
Mr Julian Brazier
The UK is not a member of Eurocorps and has no military staff posted to it. The UK currently has 17 military staff posted in the EU institutions.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Food and Drink Federation on tackling obesity.
Nicola Blackwood
Details of all Ministerial meetings with external stakeholders are published quarterly in arrears on the GOV.UK website. The latest publication which covers meetings between January and March 2016 can be found at:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2016 to Question 46072, what plans he has to replace the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria after the UK leaves the EU.
Mark Garnier
I refer the hon. Member for Coventry South to the answer I gave on 19 September 2016 to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson), UIN 46058.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans for UK personnel to train at or otherwise attend the new General Atomics unmanned aircraft business park being built in North Dakota.
Penny Mordaunt
A number of options are being developed to meet the training demand for UK Reaper aircrew in the coming years. It is anticipated that initial training for some UK student aircrew will be conducted under contract by General Atomics at their North Dakota facility.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Question 18835, what alternative options will be available to single people claiming housing benefit who are under the age of 35 and are not able to afford a social tenancy from April 2018.
Justin Tomlinson
Discretionary Housing Payments will be available to help single people under 35 (claiming either housing benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit) if they need help transitioning to shared accommodation rate in April 2018.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of its policies on the automotive sector on the competitiveness of that sector.
Anna Soubry
The Government works closely with the automotive industry, in particular through the Automotive Council, on competitiveness issues affecting the sector. In November 2015, the Automotive Council published an assessment of the UK’s international competitiveness on their website. UK automotive sector productivity is the highest in Europe compared to other major European producers. Car production reached a 10-year high in 2015 at 1.59 million vehicles, with almost 80% of these exported to over 100 countries. In addition, the value of UK sourced components by vehicle manufacturers has increased from 36% in 2011 to 41% in 2015. The sector is at the forefront in the design and use of high quality Apprenticeships to ensure the skilled workforce required to support future growth.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to assist vulnerable Syrian minorities register with the UNHCR who have not done so due to fear of persecution.
Mr Desmond Swayne
At the "Supporting Syria and the Region London 2016" Conference on 4 February more than US$11 billion was pledged to support people in Syria and the region affected by the conflict. This is the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. The UK remains at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have doubled our commitment and have now pledged a total more than £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees. Any person claiming refugee status is able to avail themselves of UNHCR’s global protection mandate where UNHCR has a presence. They can directly approach UNHCR and register with them, or be referred to UNHCR by a third organisation, or UNHCR can ask them to register. The UK has allocated £115 million to UNHCR’s operations in Syria and the surrounding region, of which a proportion is used for registration.
Over time, many previously unregistered refugees have sought UNHCR’s assistance and protection services as their resources have dwindled and coping mechanisms become stretched. Some minority groups may not see a need to register either due to their own resources or due to reliance on community/social networks.
DFID continues to work with the UN and the international community to ensure all minorities’ rights are protected and our aid reaches those in greatest need.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative assessment he has made of the safety of railways in the UK and other European countries.
Claire Perry
The United Kingdom currently has the safest record of any major railway network in Europe. All European Union Member States collect statistics about their safety performance including, for example, accidents and consequences, accident precursors and technical information. This material is collated by the European Railway Agency in its Annual Safety Performance Reports which are published at www.era.europa.eu/Core-Activities/Safety/Safety-Performance/Pages/Safety-Performance-Report.aspx.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether there was any consultation with businesses in flood-risk areas before the decision was taken to cut funding to the Climate Ready programme delivered by the Environment Agency.
Rory Stewart
Defra has not consulted on the Climate Ready Support Service delivered by the Environment Agency. The Service was originally envisaged as a three year programme that was extended to a fourth year in March 2015. This enabled completion of the majority of National Adaptation Programme actions to which the Service was contributing. Indeed the first National Adaptation Programme sets out more than 370 actions to help the UK better prepare for climate change – we continue to deliver on these actions and make sure adaptation is integrated across government policy making.
The Environment Agency continues to play an important role in helping businesses adapt to climate change, in particular as part of its core role on flooding, coastal risks, water management, freshwater habitats, and as a statutory adviser in the land-use planning system. In addition, the EA will continue to provide advice to businesses and other organisations on using the UK climate projections and it will continue to contribute to a range of stakeholder groups. Over 70 online tools developed by the Climate Ready Support Service are available for use by businesses.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) mathematics and (b) physics teacher training places have been allocated in each available teacher training route for the 2016-17 school year; and how many of those places allocated have been filled.
Nick Gibb
There are no caps on the number of mathematics and physics trainees that universities, School Direct lead schools and school-centred initial teacher training providers can recruit. We changed the approach to ITT allocations for 2016/17 by not allocating places to individual organisations for postgraduate ITT courses.
We will publish the number of trainees starting courses in the 2016/17 academic year when we publish the ITT Census in November 2016.