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Tag: 2015

  • Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Angus Brendan MacNeil – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2015 to Question 220134, whether the 90 per cent 4G geographical coverage will cover the Outer Hebrides.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The agreement announced on 18 December 2014 will improve coverage throughout the UK, and we expect the Scottish Islands will see one of the greatest improvements of any area. Under the agreement each mobile network operator (MNO) will provide voice and text coverage to at least 90% of the UK landmass by 2017, and we understand that data coverage will improve in many areas. This will lock in £5bn of investment in UK mobile infrastructure, halving partial not-spots and cutting complete not-spots by two-thirds. The MNOs have now made the agreed coverage obligations legally binding, by requesting that Ofcom vary their spectrum licences on a voluntary basis.

  • Julian Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Julian Lewis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Lewis on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to retain on the site of the Sea Mounting Centre at Marchwood (a) 73 Training Squadron, (b) Royal Fleet Auxiliary Centre, (c) REME workshops, (d) Motor Transport Department, (e) Mexeflote Storage and Maintenance Facility, (f) Hardstanding for container and vehicle storage and (g) Blast Shields for incoming munitions.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Marchwood transaction has been structured as a leasehold and concession to balance the Ministry of Defence (MOD)’s objectives of ensuring continued sea mounting operational capability against increased commercialisation of the port. To this end, the MOD has committed to move facilities that are not essential to these services, off the main Port area over a three to five year ‘transitional’ period, from the start of the concession.

    After this transition only MOD facilities associated with its maritime capability will remain on site: The Mexeflote Storage and Maintenance Facility and the Shipyard Workshop with 73 Training Squadron’s Maritime Store.

    By complying with the military’s storage requirements, the new Marchwood Port Operator will provide sufficient hardstanding for all military inward and outward cargo under both routine and contingent operations.

    The Sea Mounting Centre will continue to retain the ability to store and load ammunition for the military throughout the concession.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that non-English-speaking road users can read road signs.

    Baroness Kramer

    Local authorities have a duty to ensure that their traffic signs and road markings comply with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) or are otherwise specially authorised by the Secretary of State. To provide consistency for road safety and efficient traffic management, TSRGD specifies that signs used on roads in Great Britain are in English. The Welsh Language Act 1993, however, allows for both Welsh and English to be used on traffic signs placed in Wales and the responsibility for specifying such bilingual signs is a devolved matter.

    The UK traffic signing system uses largely symbolic signing for warning and regulatory signs without the use of worded plates to explain the symbols. This means that many signs are fully understandable by drivers even if those drivers do not speak English.

  • 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.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start Centres there are in Preston; and how many child care places each such centre offers.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Department does not hold this data at constituency level.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what communications he has had with the European Commission in respect of his plans to hold a departmental golden share in the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.

    Matthew Hancock

    DECC officials had initial discussions with the Commission on the possibility of a special (or ‘golden’) share for the Hinkley Point C project. Any arrangement will be designed to be fully compliant with existing EU legislation.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on ratification of the EU-Central America Association Agreement; when he expects the UK to ratify the agreement; and when the two remaining pillars will be applied.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We strongly support the EU-Central American Association Agreement, which was signed in 2012. The Agreement supports our policy objectives for Central America via three important pillars of political dialogue, development cooperation and trade. We believe that these are the right tools to support economic growth, democracy and political stability in Central America and the UK has supported the Agreement’s progress through its negotiation, signature and conclusion stages.

    The trade pillar of the Association Agreement has been provisionally applied since 2013. The two remaining pillars will be applied as soon as the remaining EU Member States ratify. I have not had any recent discussions with my EU counterparts on this issue. However, I have recently discussed the Agreement with a number of Ambassadors to the UK from Central American countries and have had the occasion to discuss it while visiting the region – most recently on my visits to Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama last year. The preparatory work prior to ratification is ongoing. The next stage will be to seek parliamentary approval for a draft Order in Council that will specify the Association Agreement as an EU treaty. I expect a draft Order to be laid early in the next Parliament.

  • Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222493, what records NHS England keeps of the medicines that are paid for by the industry rebate payments through the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.

    George Freeman

    The Mandate for 2015-16 has set a firm NHS England budget for 2015-16, which is £3 billion (3%) higher than its budget for 2014-15. This increase takes into account a number of things, including additional funding for the National Health Service announced in the Autumn Statement and the fact that the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) payment in 2015-16 is now forecast to be higher than originally expected.

    All the PPRS payments go back into spending on improving patients’ health and care and it will be up to NHS England how they split that overall budget between clinical commissioning groups, specialised commissioning etc. Following normal Government accounting rules, there is no separately identified ring-fenced funding stream associated with the PPRS payment. Accordingly, it would not be possible to identify what or how many medicines are paid for by PPRS payments.

    The Government believes that NHS commissioners and providers are best placed to decide how to allocate their budgets to deliver improvements in the outcomes for patients. The PPRS includes a number of commitments for improving patient outcomes and for improving patient access to clinically and cost effective medicines.

  • Julian Huppert – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julian Huppert – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Huppert on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to explore the possibility of resettling Syrians to the UK via private sponsorship from individual British citizens who have expressed interest in offering accommodation to Syrians in need; and what discussions she has had with the Local Government Association on ways in which local authorities can indicate their interest in resettling Syrians in their communities.

    James Brokenshire

    We have not considered a private sponsorship model for the resettlement of Syrians through the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme. We do not believe this is appropriate given the vulnerabilities of those arriving in the UK as we need to ensure that the correct level of support and accommodation is in place before they arrive in the UK.

    After launching the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme last January, the Home Secretary wrote to the Chairman of the Local Government Association on 11 February 2014 encouraging local authority participation and the contents of this letter have been cascaded across local authorities. As the scheme has progressed, we have continued to engage closely with local authorities who have expressed an interest in participation.

    Following the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) pledging conference in Geneva on 9 December 2014, a number of additional local authorities have also expressed an interest, and we are in discussions with them. We are grateful to the local authorities who are supporting the scheme, and we remain confident that we can continue to meet the needs of arrivals in the UK under the scheme as planned. We expect the scheme to help several hundred Syrians over three years, and we welcome further offers of support from local authorities as the scheme progresses.

  • Gerry Sutcliffe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Gerry Sutcliffe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerry Sutcliffe on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the availability of front-of-house staff within the Courts Service to assist with the completion of official documents.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service administrative staff provide help to courts and tribunals users directly at court buildings and hearing centres. Help is also provided by staff at call centres and through guidance provided on-line. While HMCTS staff cannot provide any legal advice, they are able to provide general help on procedure, including, where appropriate, guidance on the completion of court documents. Depending on the circumstances staff will also signpost users to appropriate advice agencies for this purpose. Through its budgeting and workforce planning processes HMCTS endeavours to ensure all activities are resourced to meet the demands of the service.

    Where a party appears unrepresented in the Magistrates’ Court, the Legal Adviser has a general duty to assist and this includes providing assistance with the completion of court forms.