UKPOL.CO.UK

Category: Speeches

  • Lord Chidgey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Chidgey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2015-11-30.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government in which countries the receipt of BBC World Service programmes via the internet has been blocked in each year from 1999 to 2014.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The BBC World Service has advised that blocks via the internet occurred in the following years:

    1999 to present – China (BBC Chinese)
    1999 to 2008 – China (BBC News – English)
    2010 – China (BBC News – English was again blocked in December 2010 for a number of days and then lifted)
    2014 – China (BBC News – English was again blocked in October 2014 for two weeks)
    2002 – Vietnam
    2004 – Uzbekistan
    2006 to present – Iran
    2013 to present – Sri Lanka
    2014 – Rwanda

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to honour the humanitarian commitments set out in paragraphs 17 and 18 of the 20 August 2015 Anglo-French agreement Managing Migratory Flows in Calais: Joint Ministerial Declaration on UK/French Co-operation.

    Lord Bates

    The UK Government is not providing funding to support the migrant camps in Dunkirk or Calais. Instead, and in line with the joint approach of the UK and France as set out in the Joint Declaration of 20 August, the UK has committed to providing £3.6 million (or €5 million) per year for two years to help provide support and facilities elsewhere in France. This is so that migrants can be helped to enter the French asylum system in a safe, systematic and humane manner. Additionally, the UK has provided £530,000 (€750,000) to fund a project to identify those in the camps at risk of trafficking and exploitation, to transfer them to places of safety and to provide them with appropriate support within the French system.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the quality of early years education.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards for the provision of learning, development and care for children from birth to age five, which all early years providers must follow. All three- and four-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours a week of quality early education, free of charge, to prepare them for school and improve their life chances. 94% of three- and 99% of four-year-olds are taking up the current free entitlement.

    The latest Early Years Foundation Stage Profile data reveal that an increasing proportion of children are achieving a good level of development at age five: 66% in 2015, compared to 52% in 2013. This is an impressive increase in the last two years.

    The quality of the workforce is key to the quality of early years provision and to the positive outcomes it delivers for children’s long term life chances. In group full day care settings, 87% of the workforce has a relevant qualification at level 3. Many of the workforce are qualified beyond level 3. Since 2007, over 16,000 individuals have achieved Early Years Professional Status and Early Years Teacher Status.

    We will continue to grow a high quality workforce to drive improvement across the sector through our Workforce Strategy. The strategy will consider how career progression in the sector can be improved to attract and retain quality staff and how effective continuing professional development can help settings to deliver the best quality provision they can.

    The government is committed to supporting parents with high childcare costs and is investing in childcare at record levels. By 2019-20 we will be spending more than £6 billion on early years and childcare. The Childcare Bill is delivering the government’s election manifesto commitment to giving families where parents are working an entitlement to 30 hours of free childcare for their three- and four-year-olds.

  • Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Dholakia – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Dholakia on 2016-02-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individuals within the total prison estate have commenced treatment for hepatitis C in 2015–16 to date, broken down by Operational Delivery Network area; and of those, how many commenced treatment while in prison but were released from prison before completion of treatment.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    People diagnosed with hepatitis C infection in prison may be treated in prison (through an ‘in-reach’ care programme) or as outpatients via specialist services in National Health Service acute trusts or via a ‘mixed model’. Data on patients treated while in prison or whose treatment is continued following release are held by specialist service providers locally within Operational Delivery Networks and are not currently available centrally.

  • Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Stephens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with multiple sclerosis claiming benefits whose claim (a) partly and (b) solely relates to that condition have had their benefits payments (i) reduced and (ii) ceased after medical reassessment undertaken on behalf of the Department due to that person being in remission from that condition.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not available.

  • Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will provide funding to support the work of the charity Open Doors in tackling the persecution of Christians around the world.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government values our close working relationship with a wide range of NGOs working on human rights issues, including Open Doors. Whilst we are not currently providing funding to Open Doors, it is open to them to apply to the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy for funding to implement specific projects overseas. The fund supports targeted projects which aim to tackle the root causes of human rights violations, strengthen institutions and governance, promote and protect human rights, and support democracy and the rule of law.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to ensure that staff in her Department receive religious literacy training.

    Sir Desmond Swayne

    In implementing DFID’s ‘Faith Partnership Principles Paper’, DFID has produced material for staff on the role played by faiths in the local, national and global cultural contexts, arranged for faith literacy training and facilitated staff to attend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office faith literacy training courses.

  • Mark Pawsey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Pawsey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pawsey on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the funding from the public purse was for child and adolescent mental health services in Coventry and Warwickshire in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Information is not available in the format requested. NHS England and local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Local authorities also commission some children and young people’s mental health services, as do schools.

    The Government is investing an additional £1.4 billion in an ambitious five year programme of system-wide transformation to improve children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. This comprises £150 million to develop evidence based community eating disorder services for children and young people, and £1.25 billion for improving children and young people’s mental health services and perinatal mental health services.

    Most of the additional funding is for local areas to invest in transforming services. Funding was subsequently provided by NHS England to CCGs, including the three Coventry and Warwickshire CCGs, in August 2015. Allocations for 2015-16 are set out in Annex 4 of the Local Transformation Planning Guidance:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/annex-4-transformation-plan-guidance-ccg.pdf

    “

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Development Consent Orders for energy projects his Department considered in each region in each year since 2009-10; and how many such Orders were (a) accepted and (b) rejected.

    Jesse Norman

    The attached table sets out the number of applications for new Development Consent Orders (“DCO”) for energy infrastructure projects which the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the former Department of Energy and Climate Change considered in each year since the Planning Act 2008 system for nationally significant infrastructure projects came into force on 1 March 2010. The year given is the year when the decision was made. The region given is the region in which the Planning Inspectorate classifies the project.

    The former Infrastructure Planning Commission made one decision to grant an energy infrastructure DCO before its abolition (2011 – East of England, not included in the table).

    One application was originally refused consent before being granted consent on redetermination. That is included as a grant of consent only in the table.

    The Department is currently considering one application for a DCO (not included in the attached table).

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the type approval regime is for (a) aircraft used at UK airports and (b) ships used at UK ports; and whether there are any emissions standard components to either of those regimes.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The certification of aircraft and aero-engines is primarily the responsibility of the certification authority for the state of manufacture. In Europe this is the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) who also have oversight of aircraft and engines certified in other regions that expect to be registered in the UK or any other European country.

    The certification requirement for Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx), Carbon Monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbon is based on operating the engine on a test bed at different thrust settings to simulate the landing and take-off phases of flight below 3000 feet. The visible smoke test identifies the worst case condition for smoke. A new standard for CO2 emissions from aircraft is being developed and is expected to assess the cruise emissions as this phase dominates total fuel burn. EASA certification Engineers would verify the fuel burn on tightly controlled test flights.

    Ships are primarily regulated through the United Nations International Maritime Organization and are subject to a range of technical and operational requirements set down in international law.

    Emissions from shipping are subject to controls under Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) and a related European regime with performance standards in place for both pollutant emissions and energy efficiency. Where these requirements refer to the type approval of specific equipment, an approval process is carried out against the agreed standard to ensure the equipment is fit for purpose. The type approval of equipment on ships is normally carried out by a certification authority on behalf of a State.