Tag: 2015

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-09-16.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to bring forward legislation to regulate (a) digital currencies, (b) crowdfunding and (c) peer-to-peer lending.

    Harriett Baldwin

    At the March Budget, the Government said it would consult on how to regulate digital currency exchanges in the new Parliament.

    Operating a P2P platform has been an activity regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) since 2014. Crowdfunding is also a Regulated Activity and is subject to FCA rules.

  • MiDavies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    MiDavies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by MiDavies on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of new houses was built on brownfield land between May 2010 and May 2015.

    Brandon Lewis

    Statistics for 2013/14 were published in August 2015. These statistics showed that in 2013/14, 60 per cent of new residential addresses, including conversions to residential use, were created on previously developed land.

    The figures in the 2013/14 publication are the first in the new series and so are not directly comparable to the previous Land Use Change Statistics which last published data covering the year 2011.

    The Land Use Change Statistics provide the Department’s official source for estimating the proportion of new residential development on previously developed land (brownfield). They were historically collected from 1985 to 2011. The previous data collection was expensive to run. By switching to an innovative new methodology the Department has made significant savings whilst providing a statistical series more suitable for detailed statistical and spatial analysis than before.

    Historical Land Use Change statistics are available on the Department’s website https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/land-use-change-statistics#archived-publications

    “

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

    Douglas Chapman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost is to the public purse of the contract to purchase the ASRAAM missiles from MBDA (UK) Ltd; and how many such missiles will be purchased as part of that contract.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The ASRAAM contract awarded to MBDA(UK) Limited is worth some £300 million (excluding VAT) and covers the development, qualification and manufacture of operational, telemetry, and training missiles. I am withholding details of the number of missiles ordered as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our Armed Forces and allies.

  • Stephen Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Stephen Phillips – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent illegal trade in ivory products.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK has played a leading role in galvanising international action to combat the illegal wildlife trade, including the illegal trade in ivory. We hosted the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in February 2014 and actively supported the Government of Botswana in its hosting of a follow-up Conference in Kasane in March 2015. The UK has also supported the Elephant Protection Initiative, of which nine African elephant range states are now members and which is designed to help them to secure and maintain healthy elephant populations.

    The UK is committed to maintaining the current global ban on any new international trade in ivory, established under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). In addition, the UK does not permit trade in raw ivory tusks of any age and we are pressing for this approach to be taken across the whole of the European Union.

    We have committed £13 million to support projects around the world to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. These projects seek to reduce demand, strengthen law enforcement and develop sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by illegal wildlife trade, principally through Defra’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. A second round of the Challenge Fund was launched on 5 August.

  • George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    George Howarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the average annual cost to the NHS of the effects of sight loss; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has made no recent estimate of the number of people with sight loss, the likely number who will have sight loss in the future, or of the costs in treating sight loss and eye health issues.

    Information on the number of patients who are blind or have sight loss is not collected centrally. However information is available on the number of people who are registered by local authorities as blind or partially sighted. At March 2014, the number of people on the register of blind people was 143,000 and on the register of partially sighted people 147,700.

    Registration as blind or partially sighted is voluntary so the numbers registered are likely to be an underestimate of the total number of people living with sight loss. Research funded by the Royal National Institute of Blind People, published in 20091, estimated there were almost 2 million people in the United Kingdom living with sight loss and that this number would double to 4 million by 2050.

    Information is collected centrally and published on NHS expenditure on `problems of vision’ across both primary and secondary care. In the latest year for which data has been published2 for both primary and secondary care, 2012/13, primary care trust expenditure was £2.3 billion. The Department expects NHS England to commission services for eye health to meet any increased demand, as it would in any other area of healthcare. The ‘Five Year Forward View’3 sets out the vision for how services may be organised going forward.

    1 http://www.rnib.org.uk/sites/default/files/FSUK_Report.pdf

    2 http://www.england.nhs.uk/resources/resources-for-ccgs/prog-budgeting/

    3 http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/5yfv-web.pdf

    “

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to make the register of deaths of UK residents available online.

    Richard Harrington

    Under present legislation, the register of deaths in England and Wales contains details of all deaths which have taken place there, regardless of whether the deceased was a UK resident. Similar arrangements are in place in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Civil registration is a devolved matter.

    In England and Wales, information from the register of deaths is made available in the form of a certificate, on payment of the appropriate fee. Currently, there are no plans to change this process.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the fine levels for offences related to section 168 of the Equality Act 2010.

    Andrew Selous

    The figures do not suggest that courts are finding their sentencing powers inadequate.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-09-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the noise impact of the Future Airspace Strategy on Windsor constituency.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government has not made such an assessment.

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) led Future Airspace Strategy provides a framework for how the UK’s airspace should be managed in the future. It is a CAA requirement that any proposer of an airspace change should consult with their local communities on how the implementation of the strategy will affect them.

  • Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Randerson on 10 February (HL4725) relating to invitations to a briefing on 3 February about Northern Ireland, if such invitations were delivered why Lord Laird did not receive such communication; and why Lord Maginnis of Drumglass was invited only when he complained to the Northern Ireland Office; and whether they will supply a complete answer to the original question and list those Members of the House of Lords who were invited and explain why the question was not answered in full.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    Invitations to the briefing for Peers on 3 February were delivered to the House of Lords by a Northern Ireland Office official on 23rd January.

    Invitations were issued to the following Peers, including Lord Laird and Lord Maginnis of Drumglass:

    The Lord Alderdice

    Rt Rev the Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells

    The Lord Bew

    The Baroness Blood MBE

    Rt Hon the Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville CH

    The Viscount Brookeborough DL

    The Lord Browne of Belmont

    Rt Hon the Lord Browne of Ladyton

    Rt Hon the Lord Carswell

    Rt Hon the Lord Cope of Berkeley

    The Baroness Crawley

    The Lord Dubs

    Rt Rev the Lord Eames OM

    The Lord Empey

    The Lord Feldman of Frognal

    The Lord German OBE

    The Lord Glentoran CBE DL

    The Baroness Harris of Richmond DL

    The Lord Hay of Ballyore

    The Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill

    The Lord Hylton

    Rt Hon the Lord Kilclooney

    The Lord King of Bridgwater

    The Lord Laird

    The Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC

    The Lord Lexden

    The Lord Lyell DL

    The Lord Maginnis of Drumglass

    The Lord McAvoy

    Rt Hon the Lord Mawhinney

    Rt Hon the Lord Mayhew of Twysden QC DL

    The Lord Morrow

    The Baroness O’Cathain OBE

    The Baroness O’Loan DBE

    The Baroness O’Neill of Bengarve CBE FBA

    The Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale

    General the Lord Ramsbotham GCB CBE

    Rt Hon the Lord Reid of Cardowan

    The Lord Rogan

    Rt Hon the Baroness Royall of Blaisdon

    The Lord Shutt of Greetland

    Rt Hon the Baroness Smith of Basildon

    Professor the Lord Smith of Clifton

    Rt Hon the Lord Tebbit CH

    The Lord Temple-Morris

    Rt Hon the Lord Trimble

    The Lord Willis of Knaresborough

    The list has been compiled of Peers known to be from Northern Ireland or who have shown an interest in its affairs, primarily through Parliamentary business or correspondence.

    Any Peers not included on this list who have an interest in Northern Ireland Affairs are invited to contact the Northern Ireland Office to be added to future invitations.

  • Lord Patten – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Patten – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 26 January (HL4088), whether every prisoner identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm is automatically under the care planning system of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork process.

    Lord Faulks

    All Prisons must have procedures in place to identify, manage and support prisoners who are at risk of suicide or self-harm harm and to reduce that risk.

    National policy requires that any prisoner identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm must be managed and supported using the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process. ACCT is a multi-disciplinary process, and each prisoner subject to it is managed by a team composed of a range of staff drawn from the prison and other organisations, such as healthcare and education providers.