The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on who took the decision to request the use of a helicopter to winch passengers off the bus in Dailley, Ayrshire, during the floods of December 2015.
Rory Stewart
These decisions would have been taken by the Scottish Government, as flooding is a devolved matter.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 February 2016 to Question 26169, on social security benefits: disqualification, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that safeguards to prevent the accrual of sanctions are effective.
Priti Patel
The sanctions regime has a range of safeguards for claimants, including ensuring all requirements placed on claimants are reasonable, taking into account individual capability and circumstances, such as health conditions, disability and caring responsibilities.
A further safeguard exists so that sanctions at the same level do not increase in duration when the claimant accrues 2 or more within a two week period. This ensures claimants cannot accrue lengthy sanctions within a short period in between meetings with their work coach. We keep the sanctions process under constant review and use research analysis and insight to improve the clarity of all our products and policies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marcus Fysh on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the contribution of farmers and landowners to supporting bees and pollinators.
George Eustice
Farmers and other land managers make a vital contribution to supporting pollinators through management and creation of beneficial habitat features. This is reflected in Defra’s National Pollinator Strategy implementation plan.
Well over one thousand applications for the new Countryside Stewardship Scheme, which funds environmentally beneficial land management, contained the Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package. As part of our monitoring and evaluation programme, we will assess the effectiveness of the Scheme in supporting bees and other pollinators.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liz Saville Roberts on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many magistrates have (a) resigned or (b) given notice to resign to HM Courts and Tribunals Service since February 2016; and how many magistrates resigned or gave notice to resign in equivalent periods in 2014 and 2015.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The numbers of magistrates who resigned between 1 February and 20 May this year and each of the two preceding years are shown below:
2016: 223
2015: 360
2014: 305
The Judicial Office is notified of resignations, and processes them, on a rolling basis. The figure for 2016 does not, therefore, include any resignations which have been received locally by bench chairmen or advisory committees, but not yet communicated to the Judicial Office. That information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2016-07-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Oral Answer of 4 July 2016 to Question 905617, on Mindfulness in Schools, when she plans to publish the results of the national survey.
Edward Timpson
The survey will provide the first nationally representative assessment of activities carried out by schools and colleges to support their pupils’ and students’ mental health and development of character traits.
The fieldwork for the survey has now begun and the Department expects to publish the results early in 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-09-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 40083, what assessment his Department has made of the feasibility of the British military conducting and supporting air drops of humanitarian aid in Syria.
Mike Penning
The Ministry of Defence shares the view of the Department for International Development that aid delivered by road, by trusted humanitarian partners who can ensure it gets to those who need it most, remains the best way of getting help to affected populations. The UK has been clear that the use of air drops to deliver aid is high risk and should only be considered as a last resort when all other means have failed, and if it is an effective way of getting humanitarian supplies to people. Air drops require certain conditions to be met for successful delivery that are unlikely to be present on the ground in most of Syria including clear drop zones, safe access for the intended recipients, and co-ordination with authorities on the ground to oversee distribution.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Scottish Government and (b) Scottish FA on strengthening security at Scottish stadiums and sporting events.
David Mundell
Protective security postures for public events are coordinated across the United Kingdom by the UK National Counter-Terrorism Policing Headquarters; the Police Service of Scotland forms part of the national counter-terrorism police network. The UK National Counter-Terrorism Policing Headquarters is providing guidance to ground safety staff for sports stadia across the UK. The Home Office is also in regular contact with the Scottish Government on counter-terrorism measures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2015-12-16.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will release details of each weapons release over Syria so that they can be correlated against any reports of civilian casualties.
Earl Howe
As at 18 December 2015, the UK had released 21 weapons against targets in Syria since the vote on airstrikes. There have been no reports of civilian casualties as a result.
The weapons have all been Paveway IV guided bombs from RAF Tornado GR4 and Typhoon aircraft. The UK released six Paveway IV on 2 December, one on 3 December, eight on 4 December and six on 6 December. These have all been against targets in the Daesh-controlled Omar oilfield in eastern Syria.
We will not release the exact location and timing of each strike as this could compromise our operational capabilities. All UK airstrikes are conducted in accordance with Rules of Engagement and International Humanitarian Law. Targets are selected with the utmost care; the risks of collateral damage or civilian casualties are assessed and mitigated based on intelligence and the use of precision guided weapons.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what government funding is available to pay farmers to allow parts of their land to flood to avoid flooding elsewhere.
Rory Stewart
If land is flooded as part of a deliberate and managed scheme to avoid flooding elsewhere the authority responsible would need to buy a right to flood or make a similar binding agreement with the landowner. The prices paid for that agreement would be subject to negotiation between the authority and the landowner and take into consideration such matters as any loss of value caused by flooding and debris in fields
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boateng on 2016-02-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the level of representation facilitated by the British Embassy Liaison Office in Bujumbura in the light of recent events in Burundi; and what consideration they have given, if any, to the upgrading of its status to that of a full diplomatic post.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The current security situation in Burundi has made it difficult for our locally engaged staff to provide the level of political representation that they have done in the past. We have responded by increasing the frequency of visits by diplomatic staff, within the security constraints. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), considered upgrading the level of diplomatic representation in December 2015, and he decided to recruit a full time Burundi coordinator based at our Embassy Liaison Office in Bujumbura. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is in the process of appointing this officer.