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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to ensure that military personnel based in Cyprus have the cost of flights for them and their family to return to the UK on leave fully covered by the allowances provided, even at peak travel times.

Mark Lancaster

The Get You Home (Overseas) allowance enables eligible Service personnel and any spouse, civil partner or dependent children to return to the UK by assisting towards the costs of return journeys to the UK or, in the case of non-British passport holders, to their country of domicile. Get You Home (Overseas) is calculated by the Ministry of Defence based upon an average of economy class airfares obtained from Expedia three times per year – summer, Christmas and Easter. The flight route used is from the overseas location to the UK and prices are sourced from the internet one month prior to the date selected as the date of travel. The current rate for Cyprus is £337 per person. Analysis by British Forces Cyprus for the peak summer period indicates that the allowance fully covers the cost of a routine economy flight.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to upgrade the (a) welfare services and (b) leisure facilities at the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus; and what the timetable is for each such upgrade.

Mark Lancaster

Within the military areas of the Sovereign Base Areas there are a variety of welfare and leisure facilities provided as part of the overall estate, ranging from swimming pools to bars and shopping facilities. The continued development of the Cyprus estate is being planned as part of Project Apollo, which will seek to ensure a sustainable future estate over the next 10-15 years. For those deployed on Operation SHADER in Cyprus, a deployed welfare package is available and includes Wi-Fi, social areas, gymnasium equipment and pre-paid telephone calls home. Leisure facilities are delivered as part of Soft Facilities Management contract with Sodexho, who in concert with the Ministry of Defence, provides many of the outlets for personnel to relax when off duty.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the response time of the Quick Reaction Force to an emergency in Jordan.

Penny Mordaunt

We have not made a formal estimate of the Quick Reaction Force’s (QRF) response time as the capability remains in development. The response time would vary according to the nature of the emergency. However, in recent exercises the QRF has been able to deploy independently from its barracks in Jordan within 24 hours.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus develop an emergency strategy for the supply of power and water to those Areas.

Mark Lancaster

The Sovereign Base Areas have contingency plans in place for the supply of water and power. The strategy for power is based on emergency back-up generators which support key facilities across the Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) and the intention is to increase this capacity to other areas. The SBA Administration is also working with the Cypriot authorities develop a 20MW commercial photo-voltaic power plant in the Western SBA to be linked to the national grid. For water, the Ministry of Defence has its own dam in the Western SBA, providing three months’ water supply and in the Eastern SBA obtains sufficient water capacity from reservoirs, boreholes and desalination plants.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has in place to provide accommodation for service personnel posted in Cyprus at short notice.

Mark Lancaster

British Forces Cyprus has available Service Family Accommodation and Single Living Accommodation that can be used for short notice posting of Service personnel. If the demand is in excess of that available at any one of the specific locations, temporary solutions would be adopted.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training his Department has given to the Cyprus National Guard in each of the last five years.

Penny Mordaunt

Details of training provided to the Cyprus National Guard personnel by British Forces Cyprus or wider UK Defence capabilities, incorporating joint training activities, are as follows:

May 2012 – Crisis response and joint Search and Rescue (SAR) training on Exercise ARGONAUT

May 2013 – Crisis response and joint SAR training on Exercise ARGONAUT

October 2013 – Public Order training with Sovereign Base Areas Police

May 2014 – Crisis response and joint SAR training on Exercise ARGONAUT

June 2014 – Joint SAR training with 84 Squadron RAF and the Republic of Cyprus SAR Squadron

October 2014 – Range administrative training

February 2015 – Small arms firing and range administrative training

May 2015 – Crisis response training and joint SAR training on Exercise ARGONAUT

July 2015 – Joint SAR training with 84 Sqn RAF and the Republic of Cyprus

November 2015 – Joint medical (clinical study) training

February 2016 – Joint Counter-Terrorism (CT) training on Exercise CHAMELEON

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that bank dividends are properly taxed.

Harriett Baldwin

Banks are taxed on their dividend receipts according to the same rules as other companies. We have robust anti-avoidance legislation in place to ensure that these rules are not abused, including the General Anti-Abuse Rule which was legislated in Finance Act 2013.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to encourage teenage girls to be involved in sport and other physical activity.

David Evennett

There are a number of excellent initiatives to encourage teenage girls to get active such as Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign, a nationwide campaign to get women and girls moving, regardless of shape, size and ability. It is already changing behaviours with 49% of women aged 14 to 40 who have seen the campaign reporting they had taken action as a result.

Sport England has also invested over £2million in Bury for a pilot called ‘I Will if You Will’. The programme, on which they worked closely with the local council, combined marketing techniques with sports sessions and exercise classes designed to overcome the hurdles that stop women taking part. Us Girls, funded by Sport England, also exists to increase and sustain young women’s participation in sport and physical activity in some of the nation’s most disadvantaged communities.

Girls Active, funded by Sport England, in partnership with This Girl Can and Women in Sport is a scheme to encourage teenage girls to take part in PE and sport and the School Games offer children of all abilities the chance to take part in competitive sport. In 2014/15, 177,630 children took part at level 3 of the School Games (the county festivals) and 51% of these participants were girls.

In December, DCMS published ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation‘, a new cross-departmental strategy for sport and physical activity. The strategy sets out government’s vision for a successful and active sporting nation and emphasises the importance of helping people in under-represented groups, including women and girls, to get active.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make it his policy to introduce a scheme to provide financial assistance for the start up of grassroots sports clubs.

David Evennett

Within England, there are already a number of schemes in place to support the establishment of grassroots sports clubs. Sport England’s Small Grants programme makes awards of between £300 and £10,000 to support sports clubs, local projects, and other not-for-profit organisations who want to get more people playing sport. Sport England will support the establishment of grassroots sports clubs through Small Grants, providing the organisation is a formally constituted, not-for-profit organisation or statutory body in England. Sport England also provides advice and guidance to support the setup of new sports clubs through its funding helpline and its Club Matters resource.

More information on devolved sport issues can be requested from the Devolved Administrations and their respective sports councils. For grassroots sport the respective sports councils for DAs are Sport Wales, sportscotland and Sport NI.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with broadband providers on rural broadband provision.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Superfast broadband is available to nearly 90 per cent of homes and businesses in the UK, including urban and rural areas, and we are on track to reach 95% by the end of 2017, as set out in our manifesto. In addition, the Prime Minister announced the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO). This will give people the legal right to request an affordable broadband connection no matter where they live.

I hold regular discussions with internet service providers on a wide range of issues. A number of communications infrastructure suppliers and service providers attended the recent not-spot summit on 3 February where the challenges for Government and industry for extending both superfast broadband and mobile coverage to all areas of the UK was discussed.