The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many miles of river and waterway bank the Environment Agency (a) strengthened and (b) raised in the last 12 months.
Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency is responsible for over 22,600 miles of main river. Strengthening and raising of rivers and waterways is part of the Environment Agency’s ongoing capital programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many miles of river and waterway bank the Environment Agency has weeded in the last 12 months.
Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency is responsible for 22,600 miles of main river and carries out conveyance work which includes aquatic weed management. This activity is carried out on a risk based approach which is dependent on local circumstances and associated flood risk.
In 2014/15the Environment Agency allocated around £45 million on conveyance work to control aquatic weed in rivers, dredging rivers and removing shoals and silt, clearing screens and removing obstructions from rivers so that water can flow freely along the channel.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will issue clear guidance that buzzard control licences should be granted to gamekeepers or organisations whenever the criteria for applications for such licences are met.
Rory Stewart
Licences to control buzzards are issued by Natural England on the Secretary of State’s behalf in accordance with the Government’s policy on wildlife management. Following the recent McMorn judgment in the High Court, which quashed a licencing decision taken in 2014 relating to buzzards, Natural England is revising the guidance on dealing with these types of application and once completed, the guidance will be publicly available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bernard Jenkin on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department are working on matters related to (a) European policy, (b) the future of Europe, (c) reform of the EU, (d) the renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU, (e) the EU referendum and (f) the consequences of the EU referendum; how many full-time equivalent staff are working on such matters; what the (i) staff and (ii) other cost of such work is; what proportion of that work is undertaken by such staff on (A) communications, (B) strategy and (C) policy; whether her Department has established any specific unit or units to deal with those matters; to whom such (1) staff and (2) units report; whether her Department has issued guidelines to staff on those matters; and if she will make a statement.
George Eustice
The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain, to ensure we get a better deal for Britain and secure our future. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe, including the renegotiation and referendum.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bernard Jenkin on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many staff in her Department are working on matters related to (a) European policy, (b) the future of Europe, (c) reform of the EU, (d) the renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU, (e) the EU referendum and (f) the consequences of the EU referendum; how many full-time equivalent staff are working on such matters; what the (i) staff and (ii) other cost of such work is; what proportion of that work is undertaken by such staff on (A) communications, (B) strategy and (C) policy; whether her Department has established any specific unit or units to deal with those matters; to whom such (1) staff and (2) units report; whether her Department has issued guidelines to staff on those matters; and if she will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for our country and secure our future. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe, including the renegotiation and referendum.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the pupil-teacher ratio in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools has been in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.
Nick Gibb
The information requested is published in table 17a in the statistical first release ‘School Workforce in England, November 2014’ and is available from the following web link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on religious education as a compulsory part of the school curriculum.
Nick Gibb
The government firmly believes in the importance of religious education (RE).
RE is a compulsory subject for all pupils up to the age of 18 in state funded schools. For schools without a religious character, the RE curriculum needs to reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are, in the main, Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Norwegian Ministry of Defence on NATO maritime strategy.
Mr Julian Brazier
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I have attended NATO Defence Ministerials which have discussed the NATO Maritime Strategy and posture alongside my counter-parts from NATO including Norway. |
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what risk assessment his Department has made of the Autonomous Logistics Information System during testing for the F35B Lightning II fighter.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Autonomous Logistics Information System is part of the ground based information system and is not fitted on board the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft. Both the Autonomous Logistics Information System and the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft have been subject to a comprehensive independent programme of penetration testing.
Risk assessments of the Autonomous Logistics Information System and its interfaces with the F-35B Lightning II fighter are conducted continuously throughout the test programme. All classified data transmissions to and from the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft are fully encrypted.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on delivery of the Future Reserves 2020 programme; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Julian Brazier
Our programme to grow the Reserve forces remains on track. We have made a number of improvements to ensure we reach our target strength of 35,000 trained volunteer reservists by 31 March 2019. Central to this is an improved offer, which includes better training, better equipment, improved remuneration and an improved experience for reservists.
We have also widened the opportunity for reservists to contribute on operations and established a new relationship with employers as well as improving the support available to employers when a reservist employee is mobilised. These actions are in addition to improving capacity and flow in the recruiting process and our marketing campaigns.
As a result, more reservists are joining either as new entrants to the military or with prior experience either in the Regulars or in the Reserves. 8,660 joined the FR20 Volunteer Reserve in the 12 months to 1 November 2015, a 56% rise on the equivalent period a year earlier, and the trained strength has risen to 26,290, ahead of target.