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Tag: 2015

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2015 to Question 2215, and with reference to the indicative timetable contained in his Department’s Level Crossing Reform Action Plan, whether he will issue a public consultation on the reform of legislation relating to level crossings in 2015.

    Claire Perry

    The Department continues to develop its response to the Law Commission’s recommendations on the reform of level crossing legislation.

    Initial discussions with stakeholders have raised a number of concerns which the Department will need to consider further.

    This is a highly complex area and we must ensure that any amendments to the legislative framework do not adversely impact on the UK’s position of having the best level crossing safety record in Europe.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what sustainability impact assessment was conducted of the measures in the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

    Michael Fallon

    It will be the responsibility of each Government department to carry out sustainability impact assessments as the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) is implemented, as included in section 7.4 of the SDSR.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Paul Monaghan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what regulations apply to the size and colours of printed information on benefits published by his Department to ensure access to that information for people with visual impairments.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department has the following documented standards for printed information:
    • Minimum type size of 10pt FS Me or 12pt Arial, based on recommended best practice from RNIB

    • The majority of publications are printed in black and white.

    • Where colour is used, we apply international standards for suitable contrast between text and background.

    • The Department provides staff guidance explaining how to commission large print, Braille or audio versions of publications in response to individual requests.

    • Publications can also be made available in electronic formats suitable for most computers equipped with screen reader software; or as Portable Document Format (PDF) files which have been optimised for the free-of-charge Adobe Reader built-in ‘Read out loud’ function.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Fox on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage zero carbon housing.

    James Wharton

    I refer my rt. Hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 23 October 2015, PQ 12627.

  • Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to new evidence suggesting that their current campaign to reduce salt intake could be too generalised.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The evidence base relating to dietary sodium intake was extensively reviewed in the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition’s (SACN) report ‘Salt and Health’, published in 2003. In reviewing the evidence, SACN noted that the greatest benefits were likely to be achieved by taking a population approach to reducing salt intakes rather than through individual targeted advice.

    The SACN continues to monitor average salt intakes through a programme of dietary survey work.

    New voluntary salt reduction targets have been developed for 76 specific food groups that contribute most to people’s salt intakes and major retailers, manufacturers and caterers are working to meet these targets by December 2017.

    The SACN has also reviewed the evidence around the impact of low sodium intakes. It found no basis for changing the existing recommendation for a target reduction in average salt intake to 6 grammes per day for the adult population, equivalent to 2.4 grammes per day of sodium.

    The SACN ‘Salt and Health’ report is attached and can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-salt-and-health-report

    “

  • Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Matthew Offord – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the likelihood of a possible deal to unify Cyprus.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government is a strong supporter of the UN-facilitated settlement process, and will do whatever we can to help. On 19 November the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge, visited Cyprus and met President Anastasiades and Mr Akinci, commending both for their courageous leadership and urging them to take the bold steps needed to secure a historic agreement. As the Secretary of State said last week, there now exists a ‘real opportunity’ to end four decades of division on the island.

  • Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to support more programmes or competitions for university students and recent graduates to encourage them to embrace entrepreneurship.

    Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

    This Government fully supports the promotion of entrepreneurship in higher education. In 2013/14, the Higher Education – Business and Community Interaction survey found that there were over 4,600 new graduate start-ups, up from 2,357 in 2009/10.

    The Government is championing closer collaboration between universities and business through the National Centre for Universities and Business which is supported by HEFCE, the Research Councils and Innovate UK. Higher Education Innovation Funding, delivered by HEFCE, also supports university collaboration with industry, the commercialisation of research, and promotes entrepreneurship, enterprise education and broader knowledge exchange.

  • Nick Hurd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Hurd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Hurd on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the direct and indirect cost to the UK economy of disability through blindness and visual disorders.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has not made a recent estimate of the direct and indirect cost to the United Kingdom economy of disability through blindness and visual disorders.

  • Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards are in place to ensure and monitor the security and wellbeing of individuals deported from the United Kingdom to potentially dangerous home countries.

    Lord Bates

    The Home Office does not routinely monitor the treatment of individuals once removed from the UK as they have been found not to need protection and therefore that they are not at real risk of harm. Each case is considered on its individual merits including, where relevant, the reasonableness of internal relocation.

    Returns are only undertaken when the Home Office and courts deem it is safe to do so.

  • Kit Malthouse – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kit Malthouse – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kit Malthouse on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK police forces have a dedicated unit dealing with the prosecution and identification of (a) sexual offences against children and (b) other online offences; and which UK police forces also hold specialist expertise in child protection and safeguarding.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual abuse including online child sexual exploitation is a top priority for this Government. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to safeguard children, collaborate across force boundaries, share intelligence and share best practice.

    The College of Policing and the National Policing lead have set the requirement on all forces to train all new and existing police staff including police officers, detectives and specialist investigators to respond to child sexual abuse.

    We are committed to supporting the police to tackle these horrendous crimes. We have made £1.7 million available to fund Operation Hydrant, which co-ordinates the handling of multiple non-recent child sexual abuse investigations specifically concerning institutions or persons of public prominence, and up to £1.5 million to support a new network of regional co-ordinators and analysts to oversee the implementation of the National Policing Plan for tackling child sexual exploitation.

    The Government will also continue to invest in law enforcement capabilities at the national, regional and local levels to ensure they have the capacity to deal with the increasing volume and sophistication of cyber-dependant crime and cyber-enabled fraud, including support for the Regional Organised Crime Units, who have a dedicated Cyber Crime Unit each. As the Chancellor also announced last week, spending on the UK’s cyber security programmes will be almost doubled over the next five years, with £1.9 billion funding.