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Tag: 2015

  • Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mike Kane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Kane on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for trends in the levels of extremism in Pakistan.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK and Pakistan share a commitment to defeating extremism. As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) has said, this is one of the greatest threats that we face. Extremist narratives underpin all acts of terrorism, whether the tragic events that took place in Paris last month, or the murder of 132 innocent children in Peshawar in 2014. That is why we strongly support Pakistan’s efforts to tackle terrorism and the extremism that sustains it. As in the UK, this requires effort in a number of areas, including investment in education, tackling poverty and confronting the extremist narrative.

    The Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy sets out our approach to tackling all forms of extremism in the UK. It recognises that the problem is a global one. We are therefore working with international partners, including Pakistan, to reinforce our efforts at home and to build a more robust international response to extremism. As part of this, we continuously assess the threat to the UK and our partners to inform our efforts to combat extremism wherever it emerges. We are also working with Pakistan to deepen our shared understanding of the issue and to develop and implement effective responses.

    Extremism is a complex and multi-faceted issue. In assessing the nature of extremism, Her Majesty’s Government captures a broad spectrum of internal and external source material, including working closely with academics, civil society groups and other governments.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the starter homes policy on access to (a) home ownership and (b) affordable rented accommodation in (i) London and the South East and (ii) England.

    Brandon Lewis

    Evidence shows that young first time buyers have been priced out of home ownership. Since the early 1990s, the proportion of under 40s who are homeowners in England has declined by over a third from 62% in 1993/4 to 39% in 2013/14. The Housing and Planning Bill will require local planning authorities to promote Starter Homes and ensure Starter Homes are included on all suitable, reasonably-sized developments in future.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Leader of the House, how many ministerial corrections have been issued in the current session of Parliament by each Department.

    Chris Grayling

    Information on the issuing of ministerial corrections is not collated centrally. However, the information in the table below was provided by Parliamentary Search on 15 December 2015. It should be noted that the information relates to ministerial corrections given in both Houses to answered questions or written statements, as well as corrections to oral answers and other contributions. The information does not contain those occasions when Ministers wish to make a correction in terms which would not comply with the criteria relating to written ministerial corrections and therefore do so by means of a written ministerial statement.

    Department

    Ministerial Corrections

    Attorney General’s Office

    1

    Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    8

    Cabinet Office

    6

    Department for Communities and Local Government

    1

    Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    8

    Department for Education

    8

    Department for Energy and Climate Change

    4

    Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    6

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    3

    Department of Health

    16

    Home Office

    10

    Department for International Development

    2

    Ministry of Defence

    7

    Ministry of Justice

    11

    Department for Transport

    6

    HM Treasury

    2

    Wales Office

    1

    Department for Work and Pensions

    4

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to (a) maintain and (b) increase real terms funding for marketing of domestic tourism after 2015.

    David Evennett

    The British Tourist Authority received a very positive Spending Review settlement, with a stable budget over the next four years for both Britain and England activity, an increase in overall GREAT funding and the new £40million Discover England Fund. The Fund will be administered by VisitEngland and will benefit both domestic and international tourism, making it easier for all visitors to book, access and enjoy our tourism offer.

    Following the floods caused by storms Desmond and Eva,, £1million has also been provided for a promotional campaign to encourage British families to take holidays in the North of England.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect reductions in public spending have had on the ability of fire and rescue services to respond to floods and other emergencies as a result of Storm Desmond.

    Mike Penning

    I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office.

    The Government has been in constant contact with local responders and over 22 Fire and Rescue Services have provided mutual aid to areas with support from others including the RNLI. The Government has activated the Bellwin Scheme, funding which supports local authorities in the costs associated with an emergency response.

  • Andrew Griffiths – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Griffiths – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Griffiths on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which (a) primary and (b) secondary schools had more than (i) five, (ii) seven and (c) 10 per cent of pupils defined as children in need in the most recent year for which figures are available; and how many such pupils there were at each of those schools.

    Edward Timpson

    The information requested is not available.

  • Vernon Coaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Vernon Coaker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vernon Coaker on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many sectarian attacks have been carried out by dissident republicans in 2015-16 to date.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    PSNI produce regular statistics on the security situation which are publicly available online. These do not specifically record ‘sectarian attacks’ by dissident republicans.

    Dissident republicans continue to represent a severe threat to national security. This year to date they have carried out 16 national security attacks in Northern Ireland.

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if her Department will bring forward plans to invest in energy storage, including pump storage hydro, to increase security of electricity supply.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department recognises the potential for storage to help us use energy more flexibly and decarbonise our energy system cost effectively, alongside interconnection and demand-side response (DSR). In light of this, more than £80m public sector controlled support has been committed to energy storage research, development and demonstration activities since 2012.

    Storage is also eligible to participate in the Capacity Market (CM). One pump hydro company has conditionally prequalified with a new project for the next round of auctions this year.

    The Department is investigating the potential barriers to the deployment of energy storage. We are carefully considering possible mitigating actions, focussing in the first instance on removing regulatory barriers to energy storage. We plan to conduct a consultation and call for evidence in the spring.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18873, which companies provided the agency workers to cover operational uniformed staff in each month; and how much was paid to those companies.

    Andrew Selous

    We only use temporary staff to fill business critical posts and essential frontline services where they can provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills that are not currently available in-house. We continue to examine our use of consultants and agency staff to find savings where possible. We have committed to reducing our back office and administrative budget by 50% by 2020.

    The company which provided the agency workers to cover operational uniformed costs in each month was Hays. £46,424,119 was paid to thembetween January 2014 and October 2015.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the cost of (a) completing the network of Marine Conservation Zones and (b) creating a blue belt around British Overseas Territories.

    George Eustice

    Responsibility for Marine Conservation Zones is devolved, the answer below relates to Marine Conservation Zones being established in the Secretary of State’s waters: English inshore waters (within 12 nautical miles) and the offshore waters (beyond 12 nautical miles) off England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

    We are designating Marine Conservation Zones in tranches; for each tranche costs are estimated in Impact Assessments accompanying their consultation and then designation. Equivalent annual costs to business for the first tranche were estimated upon their designation to be £0.5 million, with £1.7 million annual costs for the public sector. Equivalent annual costs to business for the second tranche estimated when they were consulted on were £0.18 million, with £1.924 million annual costs for the public sector, these estimates will be updated when this second tranche is designated. We have not yet estimated the costs for the third and final tranche, costs estimates will be provided when this tranche is consulted on.

    The Blue Belt of marine protection around the Overseas Territories will encompass a broad range of new and enhanced marine protection measures across different Territories.The British Indian Ocean Territory and South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands have already declared Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), with funded enforcement measures. For Pitcairn and Ascension Island, work is in hand to develop cost-effective monitoring and enforcement solutions for future MPAs. For the other Overseas Territories, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office is at an early stage of working with the Territories to scope what further marine protection measures are desirable and scientifically justified.Identifying any additional cost requirements to support this initiative is part of this scoping exercise.[1]

    [1] Information provided by Foreign and Commonwealth Office