The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many staff in his Department receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.
David Mundell
No staff in the Scotland Office receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance or (c) subsidised health insurance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the safety of aircraft flying over heavily populated areas of West London, in the light of the laser attacks on aircraft pilots and the possible expansion of Heathrow Airport.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK aviation industry has an excellent safety record and safety is monitored continuously by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as safety regulator. The safety of the public is the first consideration in any decision-making process.
The CAA has conducted extensive assessments of the risks to aircraft of laser attacks. The CAA Mandatory Occurrence Reports (MORs) provide statistical data on the frequency and geographical location of attacks on UK aircraft. In addition, the data provides details of the rate of reported attacks in relation to the number of aircraft movements at all UK airports including London Heathrow.
The assessments are supplemented with further enhanced statistical analysis of the MORs by Imperial College London.
The Government is actively working to draw together a plan to tackle the issues around the sale and misuse of lasers, and to ensure the safety of consumers and aircraft.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-04-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the access to fundamental rights of the Rohingya in Burma, and of adherence to international law in Burma, including during Burmese Army attacks on Shan and Kachin states.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We remain deeply concerned at the lack of fundamental human rights affecting the Rohingya in Rakhine State. It is also clear that violations and abuses continue to occur in conflict affected areas of Kachin and Northern Shan. The recent increase in fighting there is a setback to the gains made in the peace process during 2015. We call on all parties to stop fighting and engage in dialogue towards a truly nationwide ceasefire and a lasting political solution.
Addressing the problems of Rakhine, particularly the desperate situation of the Rohingya community, and reinvigorating the peace process are two of the most urgent and serious challenges facing the new government. We will continue to support and encourage the National League for Democracy-led government in making progress on these.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans the Government has to become a founding donor to the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies.
Mr Nick Hurd
The UK has played a leading role in the development of the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, which was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit on 23rd May. The UK has committed to provide £30million in support over two years to the new fund as a founding donor, which was announced by the International Development Secretary at the fund’s launch.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support regional school commissioners are expected to provide to organisations in their area wishing to become an academy sponsor.
Edward Timpson
Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) have an important role to play in encouraging and supporting high performing schools to extend their influence by growing Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) and recruiting new sponsors to their region. The RSCs support schools and other organisations to become sponsors and grow effectively by offering practical one-to-one advice and facilitating supportive networks between MATs. They are also able to commission additional support for trusts where that is required, for example, from local Teaching School Alliances.
As set out in our White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere, in the future MAT support will be system-led, and there will be a role for larger and more experienced trusts in supporting growing trusts as they develop. The Department is taking a number of steps to support MATs with leadership and governance, including:
a MAT CEO development programme;
redesigning a National Professional Qualification in leadership; and
funding the academy ambassadors programme that has resulted in over 240 experienced business leaders providing support to MATs by joining trust boards as non-executives.
We are committing funding for 5 years to provide long term stability to help many more volunteers find a school or MAT that is looking for someone with their skills.
The Government has allocated £300 million that will be available to support schools to convert and, in particular, support sponsors to turn around failing schools. A further £300 million will be available to support strong and effective multi-academy trusts to grow and improve.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 19 September (HL1473), who are the members of HS2 Ltd.’s Conflict of Interest Panel; which cases of potential conflict of interest they have considered in the last year; what was their decision in each case; and whether they intend to publish this information every six months in the future.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
It is not possible to provide the names of HS2 Ltd’s Conflict of Interest Panel Members, nor details of specific cases which have been heard as we do not consider doing so would be consistent with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). Unfair disclosure of personal data is a breach of the First Data Protection Principles under the DPA.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-01-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that teachers are paid a fair wage and receive appropriate training and support in countries hosting Syrian refugees in the vicinity of that country.
Mr Desmond Swayne
At the Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region being held in London on 4th February, we want the international community to agree a new goal that all Syrian refugee children and affected host country children are in education – formal school or non-formal – by the end of 2016/17. Equally, for inside Syria, it is our aim to increase access to good quality schooling or other learning opportunities such as self-learning and non-formal education. In neighbouring countries we will also increase access to vocational or skills training and higher education for children and youth.
At the Conference our ambition is that international donors, governments from countries in the region hosting refugees, non-governmental organisations and the private sector come together to agree a set of reciprocal financial and policy commitments. The UK and co-hosts are working with donors and other partners to secure increased funding for education under the UN-led appeals for 2016 and longer term, multi-year education funding commitments to ensure sustainability. We are also working with refugee hosting governments in particular to agree the policy commitments necessary to turn increased funding into delivery on the ground.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce details of the new Access Fund.
Mr Robert Goodwill
On 15 February 2016, we announced that the new Access fund would be launched later in 2016 for delivery in 2017/18, and would be preceded by a £20m Sustainable Travel Transition Year for 2016/17.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-03-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make further supplies of British arms and ammunition to Saudi Arabia conditional on the ending of attacks on civilians in Yemen.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The British Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application. A licence will not be issued for any country, including Saudi Arabia, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria.
The conflict in Yemen is being monitored closely, and relevant information gathered from that monitoring is taken into account as part of the careful risk assessment for the licensing of exports to Saudi Arabia. The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the annual cost is of rent, rates and maintenance for his Department’s office at (a) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield and (b) 1 Victoria Street, London.
Joseph Johnson
The annual cost of rent, rates and maintenance at St Paul’s Place, Sheffield is £891,694 and at 1 Victoria Street, London is £21,363,694.