Tag: 2014

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government plans to take to deliver the commitments on nuclear security contained in paragraph 21 of the Hague Nuclear Security Summit Communiqué of the Nuclear Security Summit held in the Hague on 24 and 25 March 2014 to keep the national stockpile of separated plutonium to the minimum level.

    Michael Fallon

    The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has published strategies for the management of spent Magnox and Oxide fuel; it is from these spent fuels that plutonium is separated. These strategies are aligned with UK Government policy and their implementation is expected to see cessation of reprocessing in Magnox and THORP facilities during this decade.

    With respect to Magnox fuel, the intent is to reprocess all of it. Only a finite amount of Magnox fuel remains, which limits the amount of further separated plutonium that could be produced from reprocessing. Reprocessing is the only approved process for managing this metal fuel.

    With respect to Oxide Fuel management, an NDA paper sets out the strategy which is to complete the reprocessing contracts in THORP, as far as is reasonably practicable, and place the remaining fuel and any future arisings into interim storage pending disposal. The paper can be found at http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/Oxide-Fuels-Preferred-Options-June-2012.pdf

    Both these strategies see the amount of plutonium separated in the future being limited in line with national requirements.

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  • Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Priti Patel on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what programmes her Department operates to improve the criminal justice system of countries in receipt of overseas development assistance.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID currently funds security and justice work (i) through 26 bilateral programmes in 13 developing countries, (ii) through the tri-departmental Conflict Prevention Pool and (iii) through multilateral agencies and non-governmental organisations. Some of these programmes include work on criminal justice system reform.

  • Dr Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dr Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Julian Huppert on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what draft guidance on the instances where water cannon may be deployed has been (a) written and (b) consulted on.

    Damian Green

    The Home Secretary has now received the request to authorise water cannon for use by the police in England and Wales. She is considering this request and will announce her decision in due course and lay the relevant information in the House Library.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of children in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty in each region of the UK in the next three years.

    Esther McVey

    The Government does not produce forecasts of the number of children living in income poverty either locally or nationally. The number of children in poverty is dependent on a number of factors which cannot be reliably predicted.

    This Government does not believe it is possible to accurately project child poverty. We know that poverty projections are rarely accurate. For example, IFS projections in October 2011 suggested the number of children in relative poverty would fall by 100,000 in 2010/11, whereas in fact it fell by 300,000.

  • Sarah Teather – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Teather – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will announce the asylum support rates for 2014-15.

    James Brokenshire

    There are no immediate plans to change the support rates provided to destitute asylum seekers.

  • Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Knight – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason scientific experiments on cats are permitted.

    Norman Baker

    Cats, along with some other species, are given special protection by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and may only be used if no other species is suitable or it is not practicable to obtain animals of any other species that are suitable for the purposes of the relevant programme of work. It is my objective to minimise the use of cats as far as possible.

    Cats are primarily used in the development of veterinary medicines and techniques, and in neurological research. Much of the veterinary research is for the benefit of cats, for example in developing vaccines for feline diseases and improved diets for cats.

  • Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of a regional transport hub at Crewe on the proposal by Warrington Borough Council for an alternative route for the High Speed 2 line north of Crewe; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    HS2 Ltd will undertake work to consider proposals for a hub station at Crewe as part of the consideration of the responses to the Phase Two consultation. This closed on 31 January and all responses, including that from Warrington Borough Council, are currently being considered. No decisions have yet been taken on the route but we will make an announcement on this in the autumn.

  • Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Matthew Offord – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to speed up claims by asylum seekers.

    Karen Bradley

    Claims for asylum are increasing. In 2013 the number of asylum applications
    within the EU was the highest it has been since 2002. The UK has experienced an increase
    of 30% between 2010 and 2013 – with an 8% increase between 2012 and 2013 alone.

    We are committed to resolving these quickly, while continuing to improve
    the quality of our decision making, and we are making changes to our processes
    and management to make sure we do so.

  • Peter Aldous – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Peter Aldous – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Aldous on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions his Department has had (a) with Post Office Ltd and (b) other payment services providers on offering a wider range of payment outlets at which Post Office Card Account customers can access pensions and benefits.

    Steve Webb

    The Post Office Card Account can be accessed at any one of around 11,500 branches across the post office network.

    No discussions have taken place with Post Office Ltd or other payment services providers about offering a wider range of payment outlets and there are currently no plans to extend the number of outlets at which Post Office Card Account customers can access pensions and benefits.

  • Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alison Seabeck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Seabeck on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what new buildings his Department plans to provide for the use of the private sector partner taking over the Defence Support Group; and what the potential cost to the public purse is of such provision.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence does not intend to provide any new buildings as part of the sale of the Defence Support Group. But as part of our planned drawdown from Germany there will be a requirement to provide Controlled Humidity Environment storage facilities as part of Army 2020.