The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2016-02-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take following their consultation on the EBacc.
Lord Nash
The consultation closed on 29 January. We are currently considering the responses and plan to publish the government response in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage consumers to buy local produce.
George Eustice
The Great British Food Campaign celebrates the best of the UK’s food and drink, focusing particularly on our unique Protected Food Name products such as Traditionally Farmed Gloucestershire Old Spots Pork and Fenland Celery. Through Great British Food we aim to encourage consumers to think more carefully about the provenance of the food that they eat and to consider choosing innovative British produce as part of a balanced healthy diet.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her Department’s definition is of abated coal-fired electricity generation; and if she will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
Any new coal plant must demonstrate carbon capture and storage on at least 300 MW of its proposed generating capacity and comply with the Emissions Performance Standard. The Department will be launching a consultation on closing unabated coal-fired power stations and will ask for views on what measures might be suitable for existing coal.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2016-05-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 12 February (HL5949), based on the UNHCR assessment of the number and needs of unaccompanied children in conflict regions, what is their estimate of (1) the number, and (2) the needs, of unaccompanied children from Sudan and South Sudan.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government is not in a position to comment on the number or needs of unaccompanied children in particular countries. All asylum seeking children who arrive in the UK and are unaccompanied are referred to a local authority. Those local authorities hold responsibility for assessing their needs and providing services based on the outcome of the assessment.
The Government is clear about our moral responsibility to assist those who are suffering as a result of conflict and recognises that those fleeing persecution have a legal entitlement to protection. We worked with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to design and launch the ‘Children at Risk’ resettlement scheme. On the UNHCR’s recommendation, the scheme will not target unaccompanied children alone, but will be extended to all ‘Children at Risk’ as defined by the UNHCR who are in the Middle East and North Africa. We have committed to resettling several hundred individuals in the first year with a view to resettling up to 3,000 individuals over the lifetime of this Parliament, the majority of whom will be children.
As stated above, we cannot comment on the number of children in other countries. However, figures on asylum applications for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) in the UK are published quarterly by the Home Office in the Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics October to December 2015, is available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015.
There were 142 applications for asylum from UASCs, excluding dependants, for nationals of Sudan during 2015. No such applications were received from nationals of South Sudan in 2015. UNHCR have published statistics on estimated numbers of children in countries, including South Sudan. These can be found at: http://data.unhcr.org/SouthSudan/regional.php.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department’s distributed ledger technology benefits payments trial, whether restrictions are placed on where benefit recipients can spend their benefits payments; whether benefit recipients’ spending will be tracked; what information is given to benefit recipients taking part in that trial about the potential risks to their privacy; what incentives are provided to benefit recipients to take part in that trial; what data analysis is being carried out as part of that trial and how that analysis complies with Government guidelines on conducting data science projects; and when his Department plans to publish the privacy impact assessment on that trial.
Damian Hinds
The DWP works continuously with industry partners to identify and test new innovations that could save taxpayer money, safeguard information and better protect payments to customers.
The DWP is undertaking some small scale research involving blockchain technology which is expected to last 3-6 months with the results available in the last quarter of 2016. It uses a private permissioned distributed ledger to allow participants to store their transactions, including payments from DWP. Those transactions can then be viewed securely on a mobile application so that they can, if they wish, monitor and allocate their spending into categories, check their available balance and plan future spending. There are currently about 12 people in the trial which we expect to increase to around 24 people by the close.
The participants in the trial have complete control over their data and how it is used; the government does not receive or see any of that data. The DWP takes privacy and security extremely seriously and this will form part of the learning from the trial.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mc Nally on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will commit the UK to voting in support of the closure of domestic ivory markets at forthcoming international conferences.
Dr Thérèse Coffey
At the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that took place from 24 September to 5 October, proposals on the closure of domestic ivory markets where they contribute to poaching or illegal trade were agreed by all Parties by consensus. The UK supported this outcome, negotiating on the basis of a common EU and Member State position.
The agreement at CITES should form a strong basis for a global position on this important issue, which the UK will continue to support. It will not be revisited in the CITES context before the next Conference of Parties, which will take place in 2019. The UK will continue to comply with our EU treaty obligations, including our duty of sincere cooperation, until we formally leave the EU.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their policy to suspend existing arms export licences, and to refuse new ones, if a country is believed to be committing violations of international law during an armed conflict.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
All export licence applications are carefully assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application. A licence will not be issued for any country if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the Criteria
We keep all licences under review in the light of changing circumstances in countries of destination for UK arms exports.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the other sources of local government income cited in the first bullet point of paragraph 2.123 on page 100 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The other sources of local government income referred to in paragraph 2.123 includes business rates and council tax, both of which are forecast to increase over the course of the spending period. It is based on the English local authority current expenditure in supplementary fiscal table 2.31 to the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook publication (November 2015), excluding grants from central government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-01-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from (a) providers of supported housing and (b) organisations representing people with disabilities on the effect of a cap on housing benefit on the provision of supported housing.
Greg Hands
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2016-02-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, under the provisions of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, a claimant receiving Employment and Support Allowance prior to April 2017 who had to re-apply after April 2017 due to a change in their condition would have their benefit reduced to the level of Jobseeker’s Allowance if they were found to be entitled to the work-related activity component.
Lord Freud
The changes as introduced to the House of Commons on 9th July 2015 would mean that existing claimants, whether in the work-related activity group or the support group, who undergo a work capability assessment after April 2017 and are placed in, or remain in, the work-related activity group, will continue to receive the work-related activity component.