Tag: 2016

  • Lord Bruce of Bennachie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Bruce of Bennachie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bruce of Bennachie on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider re-opening a bilateral development programme in Burundi, in the light of recent violence in that country.

    Baroness Verma

    The UK Government is extremely concerned by the ongoing political unrest in Burundi, and its humanitarian consequences, including the flow of Burundian refugees to neighbouring countries.

    DFID offices across the region, including in Tanzania, DRC, Rwanda and Uganda, are working closely to monitor the situation, review preparedness activities and provide humanitarian support. £18.15 million has been committed by DFID for refugee response in the region through UN agencies, such as UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP, and international NGOs. This funding includes £14.25 million to support refugees in Tanzania, and £3.9 million to support refugees in Rwanda. We are staying in close contact with the UN system about future funding needs. Additionally, DFID is working closely with the FCO to coordinate HMG’s response, and international partners such as the EU on Article 96 discussions, to ensure that humanitarian assistance continues to reach those in need.

    DFID is monitoring the situation closely and may consider additional funding. DFID has deployed a Humanitarian Advisor to the region in support of the response and to monitor funding provided so far.

    DFID is currently undertaking a Bilateral Aid Review, but there are no plans to reopen the DFID office in Burundi.

  • Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to consult with (a) nurseries and (b) other stakeholders on the development of the childcare workforce strategy.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The government has committed to develop a workforce strategy in 2016 and remains committed to engage with stakeholders in the sector on elements of the strategy. We regularly speak at conferences to talk about the workforce. It is our intention to consult with a range of stakeholders, including early years providers such as nurseries, and we are currently considering the best course of action to pursue this.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Ivan Lewis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-02-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the prevalence of child poverty in the Greater Manchester area.

    Priti Patel

    The Government is committed to eliminating child poverty and improving life chances for all children, including those in Greater Manchester.

    We know that work is the best route out of poverty and we are already making progress, with the number of children in workless households across Greater Manchester down by 13,000 since 2010. Our investment in childcare, the National Living Wage and increases to the Personal Allowance will help people increase their hours, increase their earnings, and enable them to keep more of what they earn.

    The Secretary of State will say more about the Government’s plan to tackle disadvantage and extend opportunity in a new Life Chances Strategy. This will be published in the Spring.

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

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on whether Passenger Service Performance by the TSGN has exceeded the Default Performance Level for any benchmark for any (a) three consecutive reporting periods, (b) four reporting periods within a period of 13 consecutive reporting periods or (c) any five reporting periods within a period of 26 consecutive reporting periods except in relation to any reporting periods falling within a no breach reporting period.

    Claire Perry

    The Department receives information on each franchised operators’ performance against respective benchmarks every four weeks. Delays and Peak Short formations have not exceeded the Default Performance level as defined in the Franchise Agreement. However, GTR exceeded the breach performance level for cancellations last year and the Secretary of State issued Govia Thameslink Railway with a Remedial Plan Notice requiring them to set out the measures they will take in order to improve performance. Subsequently, the Secretary of State has accepted the Remedial Plan that sets out the steps the operator is taking to improve their performance.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions officials in his Department have had with Public Health England on the potential effects of minimum unit pricing of alcohol on liver disease health outcomes in England.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no meetings specifically to discuss the potential effects of minimum unit pricing on liver disease health outcomes in England.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-06-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion 1150 of Session 2015-16, Legal protection for unborn children.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government has no plans to repeal the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929, or sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation her Department has undertaken on the draft adults at risk policy for vulnerable people detained under immigration powers.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Stephen Shaw carried out a comprehensive consultation in preparing his report of his review of the welfare of vulnerable people in immigration detention and the adults at risk policy, which will come into force on 12 September 2016, forms part of the Government’s response to Mr Shaw’s review. The Government has seen no reason to duplicate this in developing the adults at risk policy. However, when the draft policy was published on 26 May 2016, the Government wrote to a wide range of relevant non-governmental organisations and offered them the opportunity to discuss it. Subsequently Home Office officials held meetings with a number of interested organisations, and received written representations, and the views of these organisations have been taken into account as the policy has been developed further.

  • Lord Wigley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Wigley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wigley on 2016-10-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK citizens also have citizenship of the Republic of Ireland.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Lord Norton of Louth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    Lord Norton of Louth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the The Lord Chairman of Committees

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Norton of Louth on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Chairman of Committees how many items of correspondence were received in the Palace of Westminster in 2015; and of those, what proportion was received in the House of Lords.

    Lord Laming

    In total, 2,000,504 items of mail were received in the Palace of Westminster in 2015. The Administration does not count which House each item goes to but estimates that approximately 25 per cent of these items were destined for the House of Lords. These figures do not include parcels, courier items or internal mail.

  • Khalid Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Khalid Mahmood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to monitor air pollution levels outside schools.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK national monitoring network follows strict criteria for the number and location of air quality monitoring sites as set out in Annex III of the ambient air quality Directive.

    These do not preclude siting monitoring outside or nearby to schools and some existing monitors are near to schools. To ensure the network meets the Directive requirements, monitoring is undertaken at a range of locations (e.g. urban background, roadside, industrial and rural locations).

    Practical factors such as health and safety, access, locality to services, planning, land ownership and cost of monitoring sites are also key in siting new monitoring stations.

    Many Local Authorities also conduct air quality monitoring and are free to determine their chosen approach in assessing air pollution based on local circumstances and priorities. Local Authorities are able to use monitoring methods not available to the national network due to the Directive’s requirements.

    This means that they are able to design monitoring more suited to the local circumstance. However, when a new national monitoring site is required, Local Authorities will be consulted and where possible, existing sites may be shared or a new site located to meet both national and local needs. This may often mean consideration is given to siting at a local school or at a Local Authority or public building.