Tag: 2015

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the contribution of 30 November 2015 by Lord Mendelsohn, in the House of Lords, Official Report, column 937, if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter referred to on the amendment concerning UK Government Investments Limited.

    Anna Soubry

    A copy of the letter to Lord Mendelsohn, dated 27 November, referred to during the debate on the Enterprise Bill on 30 November 2015, has been placed in the Libraries of the House. A previous letter to Lord Mendelsohn, dated 19 November, also on the subject of UK Government Investments, has also been placed in the Libraries of the House.

  • Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department is developing programmes to tackle the (a) interconnectivity of domestic abuse and disability and (b) interconnections between other vulnerable groups.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    My Department recognises that those with disabilities may be more at risk of experiencing violence, and our work to prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) takes into account issues of violence, including domestic abuse, against those with disabilities. We recognise the importance of considering disability in our programming, through for example the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (to which we contributed £2 million in 2015, a £6 million investment over 3 years), which has this year made a grant to a project focused specifically on access to justice of girls and women with disabilities who have experienced VAWG in Zimbabwe.

    DFID supports a comprehensive social inclusion approach to leaving no one behind and to understanding the interconnections between other vulnerable groups including people with disabilities, older people, youth, children, marginalised girls and women, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities, indigenous people, different faith groups, refugees and internally displaced persons and migrants. Many face multiple forms of discrimination and disadvantage with women and girls with disabilities particularly at risk as they live with double discrimination. DFID’s programming investments are based on an extensive poverty analysis at the country level which includes an assessment of the level of access, opportunity and influence of different geographic and social groups. DFID is currently engaging in a Bilateral and Multilateral Aid Review where country offices and partners are being asked to increase their work on ensuring we reach the most disadvantaged groups such as those experiencing multiple discrimination.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-01.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.143 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, if he will publish an impact assessment on his policy to lower motor insurance costs.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Ministry of Justice will launch a public consultation in the New Year on the details of the policy.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what average time her Department took to respond to freedom of information requests in each year since 2005.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on timeliness. These can be found at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.

    “

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance his Department gives to betting companies on the nature of their messages about responsible gambling required in their shop window advertising.

    Tracey Crouch

    Dedicating 20% of shop window advertising to responsible gambling messages is an industry-led initiative, introduced by the Senet Group last year.

    All gambling advertising must comply with the UK Advertising Codes. These Codes include a number of requirements, such as ensuring that advertising is not aimed at children or young people and that it does not leave vulnerable people open to exploitation or harm.

    More generally, the Gambling Commission’s Licence conditions and codes of practice (LCCP) require that all gambling advertising should be undertaken in a socially responsible manner.

  • Stuart McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Stuart McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart McDonald on 2015-11-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that funding is available to maintain work opportunities for researchers in the early stages of their careers.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Government recognises the importance of sustaining a vibrant research community across the UK. A key criterion for allocating the £4.6billion per year of research funding is “maintaining a substantial flow of new researchers and high level skills”. Research Councils support 10,000 researchers many of whom are in early research careers, as well as Doctoral Training Centres. National Academies also support early-career researchers with the potential to become leaders in their chosen fields.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many civil servants in her Department are in the redeployment pool.

    Nick Gibb

    There are nine civil servants in the redeployment pool.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-03.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 11489, if he will make available the minutes of the Data Steering Group.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Data Steering Group has been established, chaired by the National Statistician, John Pullinger, which brings together leading experts to advise government on the strategic direction of the new Government Data Programme. Notes of these meetings will be made available on the Government Data Programme blog page on GOV.UK in due course.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what projection she has made of a global temperature increases by (a) 2050 and (b) 2100 caused by greenhouse gas emissions trajectories (i) under current trends and (ii) if all Intended Nationally Determined Contributions are delivered; what the implications of such temperature rises are in the UK for (A) coastal towns and cities, (B) extreme weather events and (C) food security; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change and Defra have supported the AVOID Research Programme to project long-term climate change scenarios to understand how emissions reductions translate to global average surface temperature change. Based on a snapshot of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) pledged by 1 October 2015, with an assumed continuation of comparable global emissions reduction to the end of the century, this analysis projects:

    (a) (i) by 2050, with continued rise in global greenhouse gas emissions, warming of between 2.3˚C and 2.6 ˚C;

    (ii) by 2050, if all INDCs are delivered and continued, warming of 2˚C;

    (b) (i) by 2100, with continued rise in global greenhouse gas emissions, warming of between 4.2˚C and 5.2 ˚C;

    (ii) by 2100, if all Intended Nationally Determined Contributions are delivered and continued, warming of 3˚C.

    All of these estimates are temperature changes relative to pre-industrial global average surface temperature and best estimates of the climate’s sensitivity to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations.

    Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the Government has a statutory role to produce, on a five-yearly cycle, an assessment of the risks and opportunities for the UK arising from climate change. The first Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) was published in 2012. It included consideration of impacts on our coastlines, on the frequency and severity of extreme weather, and on our food production. The CCRA used the 2009 UK Climate Change Projections to assess risks under different emissions scenarios up to the 2100s.

    The National Adaptation Programme report which Defra published in July 2013 sets out how we are preparing for the impacts of climate change. This sets out more than 370 actions across key sectors involving government, business, councils, civil society and academia.

    Work is underway on the second CCRA, which will include an up-to-date review of evidence on the effects of climate change. The CCRA Government Report and the associated evidence report will be published in January 2017. These will inform the next National Adaptation Programme due around 2018.

    The Global Food Security programme recently launched a joint research council five-year £15 million research call on resilience of the food supply chain, in partnership with Defra and the Food Standards Agency.

  • Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-03.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how many households are likely to be negatively affected by the measures announced in the Summer Budget 2015.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government is committed to achieving a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare economy. That means more emphasis on support to working families on low incomes through reducing tax and increasing wages, than on topping up low wages through tax credits.

    The Chancellor is listening to concerns raised by colleagues and will announce in his Autumn Statement how he plans to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits and saving the money we need to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.