The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham on 2015-12-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for the official opening of the airport on St Helena.
Baroness Verma
The St Helena Government is responsible for planning the official opening of the airport on St Helena.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-01-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the legal opinion recently commissioned by Amnesty International and Saferworld, which claims that they are breaking the law by supplying arms to Saudi
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are aware of this legal opinion provided on instructions from certain non-governmental organisations. We are also aware of our legal obligations as regards the licensing of arms for export to Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent arms export control regimes in the world. All arms export licence applications are carefully assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking intoaccountall relevant information, to ensure compliance with our legal obligations, including under international law. A licence will not be issued, for any country, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria. This includes the export of arms to Saudi Arabia. The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-02-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 2 February (HL5483), when they next expect to review their national policy on development in Green Belt land in England.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
At the General Election this Government reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining the strong protection for the Green Belt set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework makes clear that most new building is inappropriate there, and that a Green Belt boundary may be altered only in exceptional circumstances, using the Local Plan process. We have no plans for a review of Green Belt policy. However, we are consulting on proposals to allow development on brownfield sites in Green Belt for starter homes, and for neighbourhood plans to be able to allocate Green Belt land for small starter home developments where locally approved.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current availability of school places.
Lord Nash
Local authorities are rising to the challenge of creating new school places where they are needed – 445,000 new places were added between 2010 and 2014, with many more delivered since then. This was supported by £5 billion of funding allocated to local authorities to create new places between 2011 and 2015.
Supporting local authorities in their responsibility to ensure sufficient school places in their area remains one of this Government’s top priorities. That is why we have committed to investing £23 billion in school buildings between now and 2021 to create a further 600,000 new places, open 500 new schools and address essential maintenance needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of Russian airstrikes on the number of non-extremist opposition fighters in Syria.
Penny Mordaunt
The Syrian regime, backed by Russian airstrikes, has put significant pressure on the non-extremist opposition, particularly in rural Damascus, Hama, Homs, Latakia and Aleppo. However, the Joint Intelligence Organisation has concluded that non-extremist opposition numbers have held up despite recent pressure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the annual budget is for food produced for her Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for her Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
There is no specific budget allocated for food produced within the Departmen; figures which detail the origin of food produced are not held by my department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that deaf young people who are reliant on communication support such as sign language interpreters are able to access the National Citizens Service.
Mr Rob Wilson
The Government is committed to ensuring that there is a place on National Citizen Service (NCS) for every young person who wants one. The Cabinet Office is working closely with NCS Trust, the independent organisation which delivers NCS, to ensure that NCS is accessible, including to those with physical and sensory disabilities.
Many NCS providers already reach out and offer support to those with disabilities, including deaf young people. The largest provider, The Challenge, has worked with the National Deaf Children’s Society, and adapted the programme for deaf young people, including providing dedicated support workers.
The NCS Trust is currently developing a detailed inclusion strategy to ensure that over the longer term there is consistent and high quality provision for young people with disabilities to take part in the programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the planned service life of the Offshore Patrol Vessels Tyne, Severn and Mersey when they were purchased for the Royal Navy in September 2012.
Earl Howe
When HMS TYNE, HMS SEVERN and HMS MERSEY were purchased in September 2012 they had a remaining service life of 11 years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the relationship between clean water and sanitation in schools and girls’ school attendance in developing countries; and if she will make a statement.
Grant Shapps
Clean water and adequate sanitation in schools ensure safe and hygienic environments for learning. The UK Government supports the view that providing toilets at schools for girls is necessary to provide privacy and dignity. There is some evidence that WASH interventions in schools do improve attendance by girls but much evidence points to other important factors as well.
In 2011, DFID published a systematic review of this issue. This determined that separate facilities for girls were likely to encourage their attendance at school, but insufficient alone to increase attendance and that there are many influential factors, including social and economic pressures on poor families. DFID therefore takes a holistic approach to this issue.
The UK played a key role in ensuring that the recently agreed Sustainable Development Goals include a dedicated goal on water which aims to ensure universal access to water and sanitation by 2030.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-12-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the role of carbon and storage in delivering the industrial 2050 decarbonation and energy efficiency roadmaps.
Andrea Leadsom
The provision of ring-fenced capital support for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) was judged against other Government funding priorities as part of the Spending Review. Government has not taken the Spending Review decision lightly. The Government continues to view CCS as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors. Neither CCS Competition project proposed to capture CO2 from energy intensive industries.
The detailed design and implementation of CCS policy changes have yet to be determined. The Industrial 2050 Decarbonisation and Energy Efficiency Roadmaps reports published in March 2015 identified a potential role for industrial CCS technologies in decarbonising the steel, oil refining, chemicals and cement sectors. DECC and BIS continue to engage with the energy intensive industries and academics to develop decarbonisation Action Plans by the end of 2016 as the second phase of this process.
The Government remains committed to working with energy intensive industries including those in the Northern Powerhouse area. DECC provided £1million funding to Tees Valley Unlimited as part of the 2013 City Deal agreement to undertake an Industrial CCS feasibility study based on the chemicals and steel industry in the Teesside cluster and we continue to support that work. The devolution deal for Tees Valley, published in October this year, also included a commitment to explore how it can continue to develop its industrial CCS proposals.