Category: Speeches

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will respond to the findings of the report entitled Oilseed rape and neonicotinoids, by 38 Degrees, published in September 2015.

    George Eustice

    The report by 38 Degrees questions the need for neonicotinoids to protect oilseed rape and argues that no emergency authorisation for this use of neonicotinoids should be granted in 2016.

    Emergency authorisation is a procedure set out in law. All applications for emergency authorisation in the UK, including those for neonicotinoids, are decided according to the criteria in the legislation following an expert assessment of the scientific data. Two recent applications were assessed on that basis and were found not to meet the criteria for authorisation.

  • Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Nigel Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the travelling public of proposed reductions in spending on public transport in Ribble Valley.

    Andrew Jones

    It is for Lancashire County Council, as the transport authority for Ribble Valley, to decide how to allocate funding for public transport, in consultation with its districts and communities. The County Council has received £6.054m from the Integrated Transport Block for 2016/17. In addition, £1.86m of Bus Operators Services Grant (BSOG) has been provided to support bus services.

  • Lord Kilclooney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Kilclooney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2016-09-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the value of agricultural produce imported from the Republic of Ireland in the last year for which figures are available.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    In 2015, according to the latest HMRC data, the UK imported approximately £4 billion of goods relating to food, animal feed and drinks, as detailed in the table below:

    UK imports of food, feed and drink from Republic of Ireland, 2015.

    SITC

    Division

    Code

    Description

    £ million

    01

    Meat

    1 384

    02

    Dairy

    648

    03

    Fish

    38

    04

    Cereals

    285

    05

    Fruit and Veg

    250

    06

    Sugar

    41

    07

    Coffee, tea, etc.

    184

    08

    Animal feed

    188

    09

    Misc.

    653

    11

    Drink

    273

    22+S4

    Oils

    39

    Total

    3 983

    Defra’s aggregate ‘Food, Feed and Drink’ is composed of the following divisions from the Standard International Trade Classification:

    01 Meat: meat from cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, poultry, horses etc.

    02 Dairy: includes milk, milk products, and all types of eggs.

    03 Fish: All types of edible marine life excluding mammals.

    04 Cereals: includes rice, wheat, barley, oats, maize etc.

    05 Fruit and vegetables: includes fruit and vegetables, nuts (exc. groundnuts), juices, jams, marmalades etc.

    06 Sugar: includes sugar and sugar confectionery (exc. chocolate or cocoa), honey and liquorice.

    07 Coffee, tea, etc.: includes all types of coffee and tea, cocoa, chocolate and spices.

    08 Animal feed: includes hay, fodder, bran, sharps, and all types of pet or animal food.

    09 Miscellaneous: includes margarine, sauces, vinegar, soups, yeasts, cooked/stuffed pasta and baby food.

    11 Drink: includes alcoholic drinks of all kinds and natural or artificial waters.

    22+S4 Oils: includes animal/vegetable oils, fats and waxes; groundnuts (peanuts), soya beans and seeds.

    Source: HMRC

    © Crown copyright, 2016

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2016 to Question 43443, when his Department plans to publish its Quarterly Transparency Returns providing details of Ministerial meetings.

    Mr David Jones

    Details of Ministers’ meetings, gifts, hospitality and travel will be published on a quarterly basis as is standard practice.

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Ronnie Cowan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of proposed changes to feed-in tariffs on the solar industry in Scotland.

    Andrea Leadsom

    In addition to the impact assessment published alongside the FIT review, part of the purpose of the consultation process itself has been to gather views on the broader economic impact of the proposals. We are currently analysing feedback submitted during the consultation, which closed on 23rd October. We intend to publish a Government response in due course.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the personal fitness and health of police officers.

    Mike Penning

    The Winsor review of police officer and staff pay and conditions, which the Home Secretary commissioned, recommended in March 2012 that fitness testing should be introduced. Following consideration by the Police Advisory Board, mandatory fitness testing was implemented on 1 September 2014.

    The management of initiatives that support officers to improve fitness is a matter for individual police forces and the College of Policing has issued guidance in this area.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on a connection between worry and dementia.

    Jane Ellison

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had and continues to have discussions with a range of organisations about dementia including its signs and symptoms.

    Reducing the incidence of dementia, improving the treatment and care of people with dementia and improving dementia research, is a key priority for the Government. That is why in February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020 as a successor to the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2012-2015.

    Under the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020, we set an ambition for:

    – Improved public awareness and understanding of the factors, which increase the risk of developing dementia and how people can reduce their risk by living more healthily. This should include a new healthy ageing campaign and access to tools such as a personalised risk assessment calculator as part of the NHS Health Check.

    – Increased identification of effective ways in which people can reduce their personal risk of developing dementia, including cardio-vascular and cognitive strategies, and ways of encouraging these approaches to improve public health and wellbeing.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to assist people living in low-income households to improve energy-inefficient properties.

    Andrea Leadsom

    A reformed domestic supplier obligation (ECO) from April 2017, which will run for 5 years, will upgrade the energy efficiency of over 200,000 homes per year tackling the root cause of fuel poverty. Our extension of the Warm Home Discount to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per annum will also help vulnerable households with their energy bills.

    We intend to focus our efforts through ECO and the Warm Home Discount more effectively on the fuel poor, and will be consulting on our future approach in the spring.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the savings to the public purse of young carers supporting their families instead of the local authority doing so.

    Edward Timpson

    Young carers are this country’s unsung heroes, selflessly providing support for the people they love. Yet, for the most noble of reasons, they can often overlook their own needs. This government recognises the enormous contribution that young carers make and that’s why we are improving support for carers of all ages and developing a new cross-government carers strategy.

    No official assessment has been made of the savings to the public purse of young carers supporting their families.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel regarding the pre-dawn raid on the Students Council office and store of Alquds University 5 April.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have not raised this specific incident with the Government of Israel.