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Tag: 2015

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to extend the BBFC’s voluntary pilot project for the rating of online music videos to other online platforms, UK music labels and publishers and non-UK music labels; and what plans he has to review the voluntary nature of that scheme.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Independent evaluation of the pilot shows that 78% of parents value age ratings for online music videos and 86% of parents would choose online channels with clear age ratings for their children’s viewing. We were pleased therefore to announce recently that the industry and the BBFC were putting their online music videos ratings scheme on a permanent footing and extending it to include videos produced in the UK by independent labels, as well as by major UK labels.

    We welcome this voluntary action by industry and will now be looking at how the lessons learned in the UK could help international partners adopt a similar approach.Government is committed to working with labels and platforms towards seeing age rating on all online music videos.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to assist disadvantaged children by the provision of free school meals.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The government recognises the benefits of providing a healthy school meal to the most disadvantaged children. Children in England who receive, or whose parents receive, specified benefits[1] are entitled to receive free school meals. Free meals were also extended to disadvantaged students in further education institutions from September 2014.

    Since 1 September 2014, state-funded schools in England have been required by law to provide free lunches to all pupils in reception, year one or year two.

    The provision of universal infant free school meals was a commitment in the Conservative Party Manifesto.

    [1] Income Support (IS); Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (IBJSA); an income-related employment and support allowance; support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; Child Tax Credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit) with an annual income, as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), that does not exceed £16,190; the guarantee element of State Pension Credit; or Universal Credit. Where a parent is entitled to Working Tax Credit run-on – the payment someone receives for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit -their children are entitled to free school meals.

  • David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) free schools and (b) academies have been affected by the 50 per cent cap on faith-based admissions on oversubscribed schools in each of the last five years.

    Edward Timpson

    The government is committed to ensuring that faith designated free schools and new academies provide additional places not just for pupils of their own faith but for pupils from other faiths or no faith. It is for individual schools to decide whether or not to adopt faith based admission arrangements.Those that do may give priority when oversubscribed to a maximum of 50% of applicants with reference to their faith. The department does not collect data on schools that are oversubscribed or on religious diversity in those schools that adopt faith based admission arrangements.

    The number of free schools and new provision academies with a religious character opening between September 2010 and October 2015 by academic year is detailed in the table below.

    Numbers of free schools and new provision academies with a religious character opening between September 2010 and October 2015 by academic year

    Academic year of opening

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    Total

    Free Schools and New Provision Academies

    0

    7

    12

    22

    15

    12

    68

    “

  • Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Vicky Foxcroft – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of reducing the Feed in Tariff on the ability of the UK to meet its renewable energy targets.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We are on track to exceed our target of generating more than 30% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

    The Feed-in Tariff has been extremely successful in deploying renewable energy sources. We have already exceeded our 2020/21 projections for wind, hydro, and anaerobic digestion under the scheme and, even with the action proposed in the consultation, we will be within the range of our solar projections.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on jobs and income in the solar power industry of the recent change in policy on subsidies for that industry.

    Andrea Leadsom

    BIS’s report “The Size and Performance of the UK Low Carbon Economy” estimated that in 2013 there were over 34,000 jobs in the UK solar sector.

    Our consultation on the feed-in tariff review reflects the need to balance sector support whilst keeping bills down for consumers.

    We strongly welcome evidence from the sector during this review consultation, which ends on 23 October.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with UKAS on extending the current regulations on greyhounds to cover trainers’ kennels.

    George Eustice

    Defra plans to consult on the initial findings of the Review of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 this autumn. The Greyhound Forum and members of the Forum have contributed to the initial findings exercise and, as part of the initial stages of the Review.

    Defra officials have also had discussions with UKAS.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of banning raised laying cages for breeding pheasants and partridges; and if she will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Recent Defra funded research into the use of cages for gamebirds showed that enrichment and space allowance, in the forms provided, had little impact on the welfare of caged pheasants. However, egg production and quality and most measures of pheasant welfare were improved in cages compared to floor pens. For the partridges, the behavioural results indicated that enrichment might be positive for welfare and was probably a more valuable modification than increasing the size of an otherwise barren cage. However, the research also concluded that there might be penalties from parasitism and reduced egg production if enrichment is offered at a conventional space allowance. The published research can be found:

    http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=17541&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=aw1303&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description

    We intend to discuss the findings of the research with industry and welfare organisations as part of next year’s review of the “Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes”.

    “

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Georgian countertpart on freedom of expression and freedom of the media in that country.

    Mr David Lidington

    We raise human rights concerns with Georgian Ministers and officials, including freedom of expression and freedom of the media, at every appropriate opportunity.

    We are closely monitoring the recent and ongoing court case involving the Rustavi 2 television company and continue to encourage Georgia to abide by the rule of law and due process in relation to all legal cases. We also impress the importance of creating a positive environment for media and civil society organisations working in Georgia.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Through the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) over 95,000 people have now been able to buy materials to repair homes that were damaged during the conflict. However, we are concerned that none of the homes destroyed have been rebuilt yet. We therefore welcome the June 2015 agreement between the Israeli and the Palestinian authorities on the Residential Stream of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism to support the reconstruction of homes that were completely destroyed. DFID is providing £700,000 to the Materials Monitoring Unit which monitors the import, storage, supply and use of construction materials into Gaza under the GRM. The UK is also calling on all donors to disburse pledges made at the October 2014 Cairo Gaza Reconstruction Conference without delay.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contingency plans he has prepared to ease pressures on A&E services during winter 2015-16.

    Jane Ellison

    This year winter planning has been integrated into the overall planning process for the National Health Service with winter monies put into clinical commissioning group baseline funding. As part of planning for the winter, each local system has been asked to implement eight high impact interventions to improve patient flow, the key driver of performance.

    To support the systems under the most pressure, the Emergency Care Improvement Programme will provide intensive expert support over winter to drive improvements in performance.