Tag: 2016

  • Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to refuse the applications to use neonicotinoid pesticides on British fields this year.

    George Eustice

    The Government has received two applications for emergency authorisation of neonicotinoid seed treatments for use on oilseed rape during 2016. These applications are currently being assessed according to the normal rules, which allow for limited and controlled use of a pesticide on an exceptional basis in emergency situations to control a danger which cannot be contained by any other reasonable means.

    The decision on whether or not to grant the authorisations will be made on the basis of an examination, by the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides, the Health and Safety Executive and Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser, of the technical and scientific information submitted by the applicant.

  • Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-06-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which bodies have made representations to the Government on the inclusion of administration costs, travel and wages in the funding for the Digital Apprenticeship System; and what proportion of bodies making such representations were in favour of the Government’s proposals.

    Nick Boles

    My officials have been engaging employers throughout the policy development to gain their insight and advice. As part of the formal consultation last year, over 700 responses were received from employers. Opinions were evenly split as to whether levy funding should only be used to pay for the direct costs of apprenticeship training and assessment. Further information is available in the published Government response.

  • Lord Porter of Spalding – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Porter of Spalding – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Porter of Spalding on 2016-09-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of extending the council tax referendum provisions introduced by the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 to include levying bodies such as Internal Drainage Boards on (1) the ability of local authorities to raise revenue through council tax or the delivery of their statutory functions, and (2) the ability of Internal Drainage Boards to deliver flood defence and land drainage activities.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The referendum threshold is not a cap – councils can set any council tax increase they like provided they obtain the consent of their local electorate in a referendum. Including levying bodies in the council tax referendum legislation increases the transparency and accountability of public bodies for their tax-raising and spending decisions. Local authorities and their levying bodies had shown that they can work together to cut costs and improve services, and this measure placed all local authorities on a common footing when setting council tax.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-10-21.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the human rights situation in Somalia.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government set out an assessment of the human rights situation in Somalia in the UK statement to the UN’s Human Rights Council’s 33rd Session on 28 September 2016. In summary, Somalia has committed to upholding human rights, but implementation has been slow. Some progress has been made but overall the human rights situation in Somalia remains severe

    We will urge the Federal Government of Somalia to uphold human rights and respect its international obligations. Key human rights legislation should be implemented swiftly and effectively.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of Greater Manchester City Deal procurement contracts have been given to SMEs in the Greater Manchester area.

    James Wharton

    The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect this data on contracts awarded by local authorities.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of social enterprises in delivering high quality healthcare services.

    Ben Gummer

    It is a statutory obligation that decisions on healthcare provision should be taken independently by local commissioners. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) must decide how to use their resources in a way which is evidence based, clinically-led and cost-effective in order to provide high-quality healthcare for people in their area. CCGs must also balance both short-term need and long-term transformation in line with the NHS Five Year Forward View’s (5YFV) objectives.

    Where a social enterprise provides a regulated activity, under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, it will have to register with the CQC and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall. Following inspection of individual social enterprise providers, the CQC will publish a report on its website.

    The Government firmly believes that providers from all sectors, including social enterprises, play an important role in providing high quality, safe and efficient care to patients, as well as helping to realise the ambitions set out in the NHS 5YFV. That is why, working in partnership with Public Health England, NHS England and representatives from the voluntary sector, the Department is in the final stages of a review looking at partnerships and investment in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. The final report of the review is expected to be published in the spring.

  • Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-02-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many applications for consent determined by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency have required environmental impact assessment since 2010.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Since 2010, when the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has determined applications for consent, three Oil Transfer Licence applications have required environmental impact assessments.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether spending on the upkeep of the defence estate counts towards the Government’s pledge to spend at least two per cent of GDP on defence, as defined by NATO.

    Mark Lancaster

    In accordance with NATO guidelines on Defence expenditure, spending on the upkeep of the defence estate to support our Armed Forces does count towards the Government’s pledge to spend at least two per cent of GDP on defence.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of a possible relationship between the activities of Boko Haram and those of armed Fulani herders in Nigeria.

    James Duddridge

    We are concerned by reports of recurrent clashes involving pastoralists and local farmers over land, farming rights, grazing routes and access to water in Nigeria, in particular in the centre of the country. We continue to call on all parties to find a peaceful solution to the underlying causes of these incidents.

    Boko Haram is known to cooperate with criminal gangs and use illicit networks to facilitate the movement of weapons and persons in the region. However, we have no evidence that Boko Haram is involved in these violent clashes.

    Together with international partners, we will continue supporting Nigeria, and its neighbours to tackle threats to regional stability.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 5 November 2015 (HL2969), whether the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment, as verified by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation in December 2014, posed a terrorist threat to British nationals in the United States and the international community.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The destructive cyber attack directed against Sony Pictures Entertainment in November 2015 was condemned at the time by the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond). The ability of both state and non-state actors to conduct sophisticated cyber attacks is something the UK takes seriously and we have committed to investing £1.9 billion in cyber security over the next 5 years. The Government does not hold information on British nationals involved in the Sony incident.