Tag: 2014

  • Angela Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Angela Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recorded number of sea bass was discarded in the (a) Irish and (b) Celtic Sea by UK registered vessels in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    Under long standing Irish national measures to protect bass stocks their commercial fishing vessels are not permitted to land bass for sale, which means a degree of discarding of bass by-catch from mixed fishing activity will occur. We have no data available to us, however, on the level of such discards by Irish vessels.

    For UK vessels we have discard estimates for the last five years combined for the Irish and Celtic Seas. These relate to otter trawlers, netters and beam trawlers, based on the numbers of sampled trips (see table (b)). We do not sample hook and line boats although these report a sizeable fraction of bass landings in these areas, as survival rates for discarded bass from commercial rod-and line or hand-line boats (under 10 metre inshore vessels) are considered potentially relatively high.

    (a) Numbers (thousands) and weight (tonnes) landed and discarded for sampled fleets (otter, nets, beam) in Irish and Celtic Seas, raised to fleet landings for each gear, based on at-sea observer sampling by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).

    Number ‘000s

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    Mean

    Landed

    48

    36

    29

    39

    30

    36

    Discarded

    8

    9

    10

    10

    4

    8

    % discarded

    14

    20

    25

    21

    11

    18

    Tonnes

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    Mean

    Landed

    107

    58

    71

    94

    80

    82

    Discarded

    3

    3

    4

    6

    2

    3

    % discarded

    3

    5

    5

    6

    2

    4

    (b) Number of trips sampled, Irish and Celtic Seas

    No. trips sampled

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    Total

    Beam trawls

    1

    1

    2

    Netters

    4

    4

    16

    12

    10

    46

    Otter trawls

    23

    20

    21

    21

    12

    97

    Grand Total

    28

    24

    38

    33

    22

    145

  • Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of human rights in North Korea; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We remain deeply concerned by the UN Commission of Inquiry’s findings of widespread and systematic state sanctioned human rights violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). We have seen no evidence to suggest the human rights situation has improved since the Commission published its report in February 2014.

    On 22 December, following a request by the UK and others, the UN Security Council formally recognised the human rights situation in the DPRK as a potential threat to international peace and security and held a first discussion of this new agenda item. During this meeting the UK repeated its serious concern at the human rights situation in the DPRK and its belief that if the DPRK will not hold human rights violators to account, then the international community must be ready to do so.

    We also reitarated that the DPRK authorities bear primary responsibility for protecting human rights in DPRK and expressed our regret that the DPRK had withdrawn the offers of engagement made ahead of the UN General Assembly Third Committee resolution in November 2014.

  • David Ruffley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Ruffley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ruffley on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions her Department has used police cells to hold immigrants in each police force area in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk in each year since 2004.

    James Brokenshire

    The information requested is not routinely collected and could be provided only by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate cost.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what circumstances a foreign criminal serving a prison sentence for an offence committed outside the UK could serve their sentence in the UK.

    Andrew Selous

    International prisoner transfer arrangements may enable non-nationals to apply to transfer to their state of normal residence or to the state to which they have close ties. There is no requirement on a state to accept the transfer of a non-national resident. Since 2010, no such transfers have taken place to England and Wales. Prisoner transfer is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the relevant Minister in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.

    The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country convicted of each offence in the violence offence group from April 2013 to March 2014 are in the attached table 1.

    The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country, convicted of each offence type from 1 October 2013 to 31 March 2014 are at the attached table 2. Prison receptions data for April to June 2014 is not available by offence group due to problems with data quality. Figures for this period will be published in due course subject to the result of ongoing investigations. Prison receptions data for July to September 2014 is currently not available and is due to be published on 29 January 2015.

    The number of foreign national offenders in our prisons has reduced since 2010, compared to that number doubling between 1997 – 2010.

  • Tom Clarke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tom Clarke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Clarke on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of claimants of personal independence payments waited more than 16 weeks for a face-to-face assessment by each provider since the introduction of that payment.

    Mr Mark Harper

    I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave on the 12 January 2015 to Question UIN 220004.

    “

  • The Earl of Shrewsbury – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The Earl of Shrewsbury – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Shrewsbury on 2015-01-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Environment Agency intends to publish a Waste Crime Report for 2013–14; and if so, when that report will be published.

    Lord De Mauley

    The Environment Agency is currently finalising its plans to publish waste crime and other data for 2013-14.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-01-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Office of Rail Regulation.

    Baroness Kramer

    The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) is independent of Government and is accountable to Parliament. The Secretary of State appoints the Chair and other board members and Ministers and Department for Transport officials meet regularly with ORR to discuss a wide range of issues including regulatory matters and railway performance.

  • Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Tyler – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tyler on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to enable Pensioner Bonds to be taken out by an eligible pensioner in the name of a grandchild.

    Lord Deighton

    There are no plans to enable eligible pensioners to take out the bonds in the name of a grandchild. These new market-leading savings bonds and are designed to help support those who rely on their savings in retirement. Low interest rates have played an important part in stimulating the recovery. But there are those – especially pensioners – who rely on a reasonable rate of interest on their savings.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the infrastructure of the East Coast Main Line has sufficient capacity to enable the Virgin/Stagecoach consortium to deliver both faster and more frequent trains under the InterCity East Coast franchise.

    Baroness Kramer

    The enhanced infrastructure, provided by Government’s Rail Investment Strategy for Control Period 5 (2014-2019) and as part of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP), and new trains, provided by IEP, will allow Virgin Trains East Coast to deliver improvements to the East Coast train service. In addition to this any decision on the allocation of further capacity made available by these enhancements will be taken by the Office of Rail Regulation.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-01-14.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 16 December 2014 (WA 291), how many F35B aircraft will be in the squadron available at Initial Operating Capability for use on HMS Queen Elizabeth.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    The front line squadron at Initial Operating Capability in 2020 will be equipped with a minimum of nine F-35B aircraft, which could be supplemented from other assets from across the fleet if required.