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Tag: 2015

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) Grade I listed buildings, (b) Grade II* listed buildings, (c) Grade II listed buildings and (d) scheduled monuments his Department owns; under which top level budget those buildings and monuments fall; and what plans he has for their disposal.

    Mark Lancaster

    Details of all Grade I listed buildings, Grade II* listed buildings, Grade II listed buildings and scheduled monuments the Department owns, including those which are located on sites that are currently in disposal are shown in the attached tables.

    Details of the top level budget for these Monuments and Buildings could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Melanie Onn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Melanie Onn on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual cost is of the veterans badge.

    Mark Lancaster

    The annual cost of Armed Forces Veterans’ Badges from November 2014 to October 2015 was £44,655.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to respond to its call for evidence on the cost of providing childcare published on 15 June 2015.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The call for evidence is part of the government review on the cost of providing childcare and is one of the sources of evidence that will inform its outcome. The review will inform decisions on funding for early years which will be made as part of the Spending Review on 25 November. The Department published the analysis of the responses to the call for evidence on GOV.UK on 8 October and the report is available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-bill-policy-statement

    “

  • Alan Whitehead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Whitehead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether carbon capture and storage plants that become operational with the assistance of support not provided by her Department will be eligible to receive contracts for difference.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Contracts for Difference may be awarded to generators who meet the requirements of eligibility set out in the Contracts for Difference (Definition of Eligible Generator) Regulations 2014. A generating station connected to a complete CCS system is an eligible technology under those Regulations. Contracts for Difference for CCS are awarded on direction of the Secretary of State and would be subject to the circumstances at the time, including factors such as the value for money and affordability of a project and competing demands on available budgets.

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

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will discuss with the Treasury the introduction of three-year funding plans for colleges to align with the period of the Spending Review.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    16-19 funding is based on the level of recruitment institutions delivered in the previous year. That means institutions’ funding keeps pace with changing student numbers with the minimum delay. The Government has no plans to change the 16-19 funding system.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what incentives her Department provides to farmers to increase bee habitats.

    George Eustice

    This is a devolved matter, so I can only answer for England. Defra has made £900 million available for the new Countryside Stewardship scheme, launched in July 2015. For the first time ever this includes a dedicated Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife package. We are pleased that over half of mid–tier applications for agreements contain this package of options. The package has been developed by Natural England working in close partnership with wildlife organisations, the farming community and national pollinator scientists. This ensures it is based upon the best available evidence.

    Countryside Stewardship plays a key role in supporting the National Pollinator Strategy, which demonstrates the Government’s commitment to improving the status of the country’s 1,500 or so pollinating insect species. This is a programme of collaborative action and cooperation that contains a wide range of specific actions to supporthabitats for bees on farmland. In November 2015 Defra published the implementation plan for the strategy, which highlights the progress made to date, including guidance and training to farmers on supporting pollinators from the Campaign for the Farmed Environment.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the cost per megawatt hour of electricity is from the (a) Hunterston B, (b) Heysham 1&2, (c) Torness, (d) Hatlepool, (e) Sizewell, (f) Dungeness B and (g) Hinkley Point C power stations.

    Andrea Leadsom

    As EDF own Hunterston B, Heysham 1 and 2, Torness, Hartlepool, Sizewell and Dungeness, the cost per megawatt hour is a matter for them. Under the proposed Contract for Difference for Hinkley Point C, the Strike Price (in 2012 figures) is £92.50/MWh fully indexed to the Consumer Price Index.If Sizewell C receives a CFD (or equivalent), or advances to first nuclear island concrete pour for the project, prior to the commissioning of the first reactor at Hinkley point C, the Strike Price for Hinkley Point C will be reduced to £89.50/MWh. This reduction is provided for on the assumption that EDF will be able to share ‘first of a kind’ costs of EPR reactors across Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C sites.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps UK embassies are taking to promote religious freedoms.

    Mr David Lidington

    Through our network of Embassies and High Commissions, the Government regularly urges governments across the world to protect the right of all individuals to practise their religion or belief free from persecution or discrimination.

    We promote this freedom bilaterally by raising individual cases with governments and by seeking to influence them to remove discriminatory legislation or practices. We also promote religious freedom in multilateral fora by working together with our international partners

    For example, in Burma, we have raised our deep concern at the rise of hate speech and religious intolerance with the Burmese authorities and will continue to do so, both publicly and in private. We have supported a number of projects, including developing relationships between Burmese youth and different religious communities, and arranging exchanges between activists on religious freedom in Burma and Indonesia. In Iraq, we are funding a project to prevent intolerance and violence towards religious communities by strengthening the ability of youth and civil society to advocate the right to freedom of religion or belief.

    Promoting freedom of religion or belief is a priority for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Programme. Since 2011, 35 projects have been funded in 12 countries.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2015 to Question 14485, whether he has made an assessment of whether aerial bombing of Hayden Hospital in Yemen could represent a breach in international humanitarian law.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Yemen by the Saudi Arabia-led Coalition – including in relation to an alleged airstrike against a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Sa’ada, which we take very seriously. I regularly review the situation with my own advisers and have discussed it on numerous occasions with my Saudi counterpart. Our judgement is that there is no evidence that IHL has been breached, but we shall continue to review the situation regularly. We have emphasised the importance of full compliance with IHL to the Saudi Government and other members of the military coalition. They have assured us of their commitment to comply with IHL. We continue to engage with them on those assurances and have offered advice and training to demonstrate best practice and to help ensure continued compliance with IHL. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL and international human rights law. We continue to urge all sides to the conflict to comply with IHL and to investigate incidents of alleged violations fully.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people of each gender had single-sided deafness in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    The information requested on the number of people with single-sided deafness is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number of patients admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of single-sided deafness in the last five years in England.

    Year

    2010 – 2011

    2011 – 2012

    2012 – 2013

    2013 – 2014

    2014 – 2015

    Male

    277

    286

    295

    336

    301

    Female

    299

    279

    310

    336

    332

    This data may include the same person being admitted to hospital on more than one occasion and the data excludes diagnoses that were made outside of secondary care.

    The Action Plan on Hearing Loss was jointly published in March 2015 by the Department and NHS England. It sets out the case for taking action on the rising prevalence and personal, social and economic costs of uncorrected hearing loss and the variation in access and quality of services experienced by people with hearing loss.

    Transfer devices are available through the NHS. NHS England is developing commissioning guidance on the provision of hearing loss services, as part of its commitments in the Action Plan on Hearing Loss. The guidance will support clinical commissioning groups when making local decisions and help improve equality of access and patient experience.