Tag: 2016

  • Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Dawn Butler – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to support the G7 Initiative on Climate Risk Insurance; and what assessment her Department has made of progress towards the target of expanding insurance coverage to 400 million people by 2020.

    Rory Stewart

    DFID has a large and growing disaster risk finance and insurance portfolio, with up to £136m approved or invested to date. This includes our £100 million contribution to the Africa Risk Capacity, which aims to reach 150 million people by 2020. The G7 are setting up an expert group to develop indicators to measure progress against the ‘Insuresilience’ target, against which all G7 members, including the UK, will report progress.

  • Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tom Tugendhat – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Tugendhat on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Civil Aviation Authority’s review of impact of environmental landing charges published in 2013, if he will exercise his powers under the Civil Aviation Act 1982, Section 78, to direct airports to review their charges for night flights.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government has no current plans to use these powers. We have asked the Civil Aviation Authority to update its 2013 review of the impact of environmental landing charges at UK airports to consider the impact of changes since that date.

  • Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional steps her Department is taking to ensure that all victims of historic child abuse are encouraged to come forward with evidence which may result in the prosecution of offenders.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual abuse is a top priority for this government. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to safeguard children.

    We have provided £1.7 million to fund Operation Hydrant, which co-ordinates the handling of multiple non-recent child sexual abuse investigations specifically concerning institutions or persons of public prominence, and up to £1.5 million to support a new network of regional co-ordinators and analysts to improve the police response to child sexual exploitation.

    In addition, the Home Secretary has established an independent statutory inquiry into child sexual abuse. The Inquiry has the power to compel witnesses and call for evidence and any specific allegation will, where necessary, be referred by the Inquiry to the police for consideration for criminal investigation.

    No case of child abuse is ‘historic’ for victims and survivors. They must live with the consequences of their abuse each and every day of their lives.

  • Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Hoey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of political prisoners in Bahrain; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We do not hold such details. However, we regularly discuss human rights and reform with the Government of Bahrain – including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting which was most recently held in November 2015. If we have specific concerns around specific cases, we raise these with the Government of Bahrain.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to reply to the letter of 15 February 2016 from the Rt hon. Member for Birkenhead regarding free school meals.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Secretary of State has received the Rt hon. Member for Birkenhead’s letter of 15 February 2016 about free school meals and will respond shortly, and within the normal timeframe for correspondence.

  • Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Flick Drummond – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Flick Drummond on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of free wi-fi and improve bandwidth access for armed forces personnel in military bases overseas to remove the need for such personnel to pay individual monthly subscriptions for access to the internet.

    Penny Mordaunt

    In Cyprus we have recently funded a programme of work to have Wi-Fi installed in the Single Living Accommodation at RAF Akrotiri, Episkopi Garrison, Dhekelia Station and, more recently, Ayios Nikolaos. This demonstrates the value placed on overseas service and the efforts made to address perceived disadvantage. WiFi is also available to personnel at the other Permanent Joint Operating Bases (PJOBs) in Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, Diego Garcia and Ascension Island. However, this is provided by civilian contractors and the quality and cost to personnel varies across the sites.

    Furthermore, for personnel deployed on Operations overseas, connection to family and friends is recognised as beneficial to the well-being of deployed Service Personnel and is realised via a variety of methods including; phone, mail and internet provision. Some locations are harder to reach, including some parts of Africa. Therefore, wherever practicable, the best method of internet provision is considered based upon connectivity, cyber security, duration of operation and value for money. Subsequently, provision of internet for welfare communication is normally met at Public expense, noting that in some locations where the provision of internet is provided by coalition partners, the MOD pays for some provision, allowing personnel to ‘top up’ or buy a faster service at their own expense.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-04-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from Yemen claimed asylum in the UK in 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    There were 66 and 111 asylum applications from Yemeni nationals in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

    The Home Office publishes figures on asylum applications by nationality in the quarterly Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics, October to December 2015, is available from:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015.

  • Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Maria Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 50 of the White Paper, A BBC for the future: a broadcaster of distinction, published in May 2016, if he will publish details of the public appointments process for the chair, deputy chair and non-executive members from the four nations of the UK for the new BBC unitary board.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    As a result of the proposals set out in the White Paper the BBC, for the first time, will be responsible for appointing at least half of its own board members. This approach will enhance the independence of the BBC and its Board. For the public appointments to the new Unitary Board, these will be made in line with OCPA processes. With particular reference to the appointment of the four national representatives the Government’s intention is to follow the existing protocol of involving each of the devolved administrations in the process for the relevant representative.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess the level of charges by ferry companies to cross the Irish Sea.

    Mr John Hayes

    I have held no such recent discussions. The level of charges on ferries across the Irish Sea is a commercial matter for the companies concerned, subject to normal competition law.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Matthew Pennycook – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that Southeastern has access to sufficient rolling stock to enable it to alleviate capacity pressures across its London metro network.

    Paul Maynard

    The Department is exploring the provision of additional rolling stock to Southeastern, in order to lengthen services and increase capacity for passengers. This requires extensive commercial negotiations with Southeastern. We are continuing to work with Southeastern to develop the business case, and an announcement will be made in due course.