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Tag: 2015

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made about the health and wellbeing of, and the prison conditions being experienced by, former President of the Maldives Mohammed Nasheed.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), has spoken directly with the Maldives Foreign Minister on a number of occasions regarding former President Nasheed and in August wrote to her expressing our concern about Mr Nasheed’s return to prison. On 10 November Mr Swire met for a second time Mrs Laila Ali, wife of former President Nasheed as well as Amal Clooney and Ben Emmerson QC from Mr Nasheed’s legal team. The meeting was an opportunity to discuss the situation in the Maldives as well as Mr Nasheed’s case, his health and wellbeing.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that friends and family of people who have died by suicide receive a copy of the publication Help is at Hand from Public Health England.

    Alistair Burt

    Help is at Hand is available on the ‘Support after Suicide’ website and to order on the Department’s orderline. Public Health England is working with the voluntary sector and local areas to make sure there is effective distribution.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the size of deposit needed to buy a starter home in London.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Starter Homes will be sold at a minimum of 80% of the full market price and offered to first time buyers under the age of 40. The discounted Starter Homes price will be capped at £450,000 in London.

    The cap is not an expectation of the going price for a Starter Home. Most first time buyers are not buying average-priced properties, but those at the lower quartile of values in an area. This is the first time buyers market that exists, and this is where we anticipate developers pricing starter homes

    Starter homes will reduce deposit requirements for first time buyers. The average price paid by a first time buyer in London in Q2 2015 was £376,000 (Office for National Statistics data). The discount achieved through the Starter Home initiative would reduce the price of such a property to £301,000 and also reduce the deposit.

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will discuss with her ministerial colleagues in other departments (a) reducing UK support for fossil fuels overseas and (b) ensuring that support for energy in developing countries is directed towards low-carbon technologies.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    My Department works closely with other government departments on UK energy policy overseas, including the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the Treasury, and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The UK Government has committed to end public funding for coal fired power plants, , except in rare circumstances, in the world’s poorest countries. This policy has been agreed with DECC and was announced at the Warsaw Climate Change conference in 2013.

    DFID will continue to support international initiatives to promote cleaner energy sources and other low carbon technologies. For example, the Energy Africa campaign will accelerate the expansion of the household solar market in Africa, helping to bring universal energy access to the continent. The International Climate Fund (ICF) managed by DECC and DFID also actively supports low-carbon technologies, and monitors this through Key Performance Indicators. The UK reports publicly on achievements through the ICF (see https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/463954/ICF_Results_Note_Final.pdf).

    “

  • Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Randerson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Randerson on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they still intend to publish their Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy in summer 2016.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Department for Transport is in the early stages of developing its first Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS) with the intention to publish by summer 2016 following a public consultation on the draft in spring 2016.

  • Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when he plans to publish the Government’s response to the report, The role and contribution of women in the Scottish economy, published in March 2015.

    David Mundell

    The Government will be responding to the recommendations in the report in due course, and discussions between Professor Sawers and the UK Government are continuing on this matter.

  • Lord Turnberg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Turnberg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Turnberg on 2015-11-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the situation of Iranian refugees in Camp Liberty.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We continue to engage with the Government of Iraq on the welfare of the residents of Camp Liberty. Our Embassy in Baghdad regularly raises this issue with the Government of Iraq and we support the UN calls for more to be done to protect residents, but remain of the view that the Iraqi government is responsible for security at the camp.

    Officials from our Embassy in Baghdad visited the camp on 28 April to assess living conditions, which the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq have judged to be well in excess of basic humanitarian standards. Trucks containing food, medicine and diesel fuel continue to routinely enter the camp.

  • Owen Thompson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Owen Thompson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Thompson on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to ensure that universal credit claimants are routinely asked if they require the alternative paying arrangement in order to protect vulnerable women and children from experiencing financial abuse.

    Priti Patel

    Work coaches already assess claimants’ situations on a case by case basis. At the initial interview, they discuss Personal Budgeting Support and asses the claimaint’s need for alternative payment arrangements (APA). The work coach maintains an on-going conversation with the claimant at subsequent interviews, to ensure they are happy with the arrangements.

    We have the facility to split payments to members of the household where necessary.

    Work coaches can signpost vulnerable claimants to further help and support where necessary.

  • Roger Mullin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Roger Mullin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Mullin on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the proportion of student loan outlay that will never be repaid by graduates (a) undertaking full-time higher education and (b) undertaking part-time higher education.

    Joseph Johnson

    Our estimate of the proportion of the value of English full time and part time loans which will not be repaid can be found in the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes South on 10 November 2015 to Question UIN 14357.

    “

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of green belt land in the Dorset County Council area has been redesignated in the last five years.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Department does not hold information centrally on the amount or type of land held by community land trusts.

    The Department’s annual Green Belt statistics monitor the amount of land designated as Green Belt in England and any changes to the designated area since the previous year. The statistics record the change by local planning authority.

    Of the local planning authorities for which information was requested, the following have made changes to the Green Belt in the last five years:

    East Dorset reduced the area of designated Green Belt in 2014-15 by 160 hectares to 16,720 hectares, a reduction of 1 per cent; and

    Purbeck increased the area of designated Green Belt in 2012-13 by 460 hectares to 8,200 hectares, an increase of 6 per cent.