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  • Lord Judd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Judd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following their policy of prioritising survivors of sexual violence for their Syrian refugee resettlement programme, what similar action they are taking in respect of the situation of Yazidi women and girls.

    Lord Bates

    The Government is deeply concerned about the crises in Syria and Iraq and the suffering and hardship they are causing for millions of people, particularly those who have endured appalling violence, persecution and abuse. We are committed to helping those in need and have so far provided £39.5 million to help the 2.2 million displaced Iraqis, many of whom were victims of ISIL’s persecution. These funds provide food, shelter, water and medical care to thousands of vulnerable families.

    Tackling violence against women and girls is a priority for the Government. The action we are taking includes providing funding to support the UN Population Fund in the coordination and information management of the international response to support victims of sexual and gender based violence. The UK has also specifically committed funding to help establish community outreach teams that are providing psychosocial support and referrals to appropriate services for survivors of sexual and gender based violence.

    We will continue to be actively involved in the region and will closely monitor developments but we have no current plans to expand the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme, or implement a similar scheme specifically for Iraq.

  • Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222435, what the name and date was of the agreement pursuant to which five personnel from Squadron 329 are on loan service to US Forces.

    Mr Mark Francois

    UK loan service (LS) personnel assisting the United States Air Force are covered by the terms of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (1949), the US-UK Chapeau agreement (1993), the US-UK Provision of medical support agreement (2014), and US-UK discussions to determine working-level arrangements. LS personnel are subject to UK Service regulations; they are administered and receive pay and allowances from the UK.

  • Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Hunt of Chesterton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, as a contribution to establishing future targets and implementation plans for the reduction of carbon emissions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015, what policies are being proposed by the United Kingdom delegations to the United Nations specialised agencies responsible for climate change mitigation, including United Nations Habitat, the United Nations Environmental Programme, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Maritime Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

    Baroness Verma

    We recognise the UNFCCC as the only place where a legally binding international agreement could be delivered at the scale necessary to meet the challenge of climate change, given its universal coverage and legitimacy. As such, we are working with countries to intensify domestic preparations for the new deal and want as many as possible to put forward contributions to the UNFCCC by the first quarter of 2015, which set out how they are going to achieve their commitments on post-2020 mitigation. Alongside this we are working closely with UN institutions and relevant international agencies to assess how different international actors can best support an ambitious deal in Paris.

  • Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222435, what the (a) rank, (b) function and (c) location is of the five personnel from the UK Reaper Force on loan service to US Forces.

    Mr Mark Francois

    There are four Flight Lieutenant Instructors at 49th Operations Group, Holloman Air Force Base. There is also one Flight Lieutenant at 53rd Test and Evaluation Group, Creech Air Force Base in a test and evaluation role. None of the five personnel on loan are conducting operational mission flying.

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to his Department was of providing phase two training for the regular Army band at Kneller Hall in 2013-14.

    Anna Soubry

    The requested detail for Financial Year 2013-14 is provided below:

    Number of personnel who

    completed Phase Two training

    Cost of providing Phase

    Two training

    Royal Marines School

    of Music (Portsmouth)

    22

    Information is not held

    centrally and could be

    provided only at

    disproportionate cost

    Royal Military School of Music (Army, Kneller Hall)

    66

    £2.8 million (approx)

    No personnel undertook phase two training with the RAF Music Services. The RAF recruits are fully trained musicians who undertake a rigorous audition process and are only admitted once their playing ability is proven.

  • Baroness Byford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Byford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy information technology system, farmers who are prevented from completing their applications for payments by 15 May will be subject to penalties for late submission.

    Lord De Mauley

    Under article 13 of EU regulation 809/2014, Member States must require claims to be made by no later than 15 May, and this is the deadline adopted in the UK. Late claims submitted within the next 25 days are subject to a penalty of 1% of the claim for each working day’s delay. Claims already submitted by 15 May can be adjusted after that in some circumstances. We expect that the Rural Payments system, and our provision of support to those who may face any difficulty in applying online, will ensure that all farmers have every opportunity to claim their direct payments by 15 May. There are force majeure provisions for those that fail to submit on time which can apply in limited circumstances.

    The Secretary of State is also seeking to make such penalties more proportionate in future.

  • Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tom Watson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which post or team in his Department is responsible for the application of remotely piloted aircraft systems.

    Mr Mark Francois

    There is no one person or team responsible for the application or deployment of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). The decision to deploy RPAS is taken by Ministers following advice provided by senior personnel, both military and civilian, across the Department.

  • Baroness Byford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Baroness Byford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the earliest date on which farmers in England will be able to submit their applications for the basic payment scheme for 2015.

    Lord De Mauley

    For 2015 there will not be an application window in the traditional sense. Customers will start to build their Basic Payment Scheme application from the moment they register on the Rural Payment Service. As of 22 February, 49,642 businesses have registered.

    Since January, customers have been able to register, check and confirm personal, business and land details, and give permission for others to act on their behalf. Customers also update and amend their land information such as adding features and land cover. Customers will be able to confirm entitlements and eligibility from March 2015, and can complete and submit their claims from April until 15 May 2015.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Douglas Carswell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officers of the rank of inspector and above at AWE Burghfield are currently under investigation.

    Anna Soubry

    No officer of the rank of Inspector or above stationed at AWE Burghfield is currently under investigation.

  • Baroness Byford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Baroness Byford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Pensions, Steve Webb MP, on 21 May 2012 (HC Deb, col 506W), how many of the targeted 700,000 Post Office card accounts have been migrated to mainstream bank accounts and how many Post Office account users have refused to give up their Post Office account.

    Lord Freud

    For reasons of financial inclusion the Post Office Ltd (POL) were financially incentivised to migrate 700,000 users of Post Office card accounts to mainstream bank accounts over the life of the current contract. As part of this contract Government is not responsible to pay for the upkeep of these 700,000 accounts. Through the life of the contract to date, customer volumes have reduced by approximately 1.1m, achieving a saving for the Government on these accounts. The extent to which POL has achieved this reduction through attrition or migration is a matter for POL.