Tag: 2016

  • Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Drew Hendry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Drew Hendry on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of UK premises has access to ultrafast broadband; and what steps she is taking to increase the number of such properties.

    Matt Hancock

    There is no agreed definition of ultrafast broadband. According to the independent broadband information website thinkbroadband.com – who define ultrafast as download speeds of more than 100mbps – approximately 50% of UK premises have access to ultrafast broadband.

    Virgin Media have announced plans to extend their coverage by up to 4 million premises by 2019 through their Project Lightning roll-out. This roll-out has funding support from the UK Guarantee Scheme which has been put in place the government. BT also plan to make available ultrafast speeds to 10 million premises by 2020. Smaller providers, such as CityFibre, Gigaclear and Hyperoptic, are also investing to provide ultrafast services.

  • Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lisa Nandy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Nandy on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what correspondence she has received from members of the panel of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse on the conduct of Dame Lowell Goddard between her appointment as Chair and the date of her departure from that position.

    Sarah Newton

    The Secretary of State did not receive any correspondence from panel members on the conduct of Dame Lowell Goddard between her appointment as Inquiry Chair and the date of her departure.

  • David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many recorded attacks there were against prison officers in each of the last five years.

    Andrew Selous

    We do not tolerate violence of any kind in prison and any assault is treated extremely seriously. Any prisoner who commits an act of violence can expect to have action taken against them.

    Statistics for assaults on staff are published in the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin.

    The information requested may be found in the ‘Summary tables June 2006 to June 2015’ at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-bulletin-june-2015

    “

  • The Lord Bishop of Durham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Durham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Durham on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to engage the African Union and the East African Community in efforts to stabilise the situation in Burundi.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    In the margins of the African Union (AU) Summit, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), met with the Chair of the AU Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the AU’s Peace and Security Commissioner Smail Chergui and a number of African Foreign Ministers. We are exploring what more we can do to support the AU’s leadership, and have intensified our efforts at the UN and with our EU partners to halt the violence.

    The UK strongly supports the East African Community-led dialogue and sees it as crucial in finding a solution to stabilising the situation. The parties met for the first time on 28 December and the second round of talks is scheduled for 16 February. Alongside our international partners we continue to press them to engage.

  • Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bridges of Headley on 25 February (HL6102 and HL6103), whether the Cabinet Office’s new rules on grant funding mean that (1) Citizen’s Advice, (2) the Territorial Army Rifles Association, (3) the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies, (4) English Heritage, (5) Imperial College, and (6) the Marine Management Organisations, can no longer make representations to them, Parliament or the European Commission, on legislation or policy.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    The clause ensures that taxpayers’ funds are not diverted away from their intended purpose and wasted on political lobbying. The clause does not stop any grant recipients from campaigning using other sources of funding.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the incidence and nature of human rights violations in South Sudan.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    The UK is deeply concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in South Sudan. A range of reports indicate that sexual violence and attacks on civilians remain widespread and that war crimes and/or crimes against humanity may have been committed, if established in a court of law. Bilaterally we are raising our serious concerns directly with the Government of South Sudan and pressing for action. At the regional level we are calling on the African Union to rapidly establish the Hybrid Court for South Sudan. And internationally we are pressing for a UN arms embargo to be put in place. We also undertook extensive lobbying to help secure a new Commission for Human Rights for South Sudan at the UN Human Rights Council in March.

  • Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robin Walker on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effect of the introduction of Flood Re on people seeking to access affordable flood insurance in areas of high flood risk.

    Rory Stewart

    Flood Re launched last month, and will ensure people will have access to affordable flood insurance. Flood Re will achieve this by providing reinsurance, with high risk customers having their policies ceded to Flood Re by their insurer. Flood insurance policies ceded to Flood Re have premiums and excesses within set limits based on Council Tax band.

    As of today, 29 insurers are using Flood Re and it remains important that consumers shop around to obtain the best price. A review of the Flood Re scheme will take place in 2019.

  • Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lady Hermon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for what reasons the Government did not extend the European Union Referendum (Voter Registration) Regulations 2016 to Northern Ireland to enable late registration by any method; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The registration deadline extension for the EU Referendum was implemented following system disruption to the online registration portal in Great Britain. The extension did not apply to Northern Ireland because online registration will not be available in Northern Ireland until later this year and voters there were not disadvantaged by the system disruption in GB.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many sailors have been recruited to the Royal Navy in each of the last five years.

    Mike Penning

    The number of Royal Navy personnel (excluding Royal Marines) recruited in each of the last five financial years is as follows:

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    Officers

    240

    240

    250

    320

    340

    Ratings

    1,250

    1,430

    1,930

    1,890

    1,920

    Total Intake

    1,490

    1,670

    2,170

    2,210

    2,250

    In accordance with Departmental policy figures are rounded to the nearest 10 – totals may not always equal the sum of their rounded parts.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects new rolling stock to be deployed on the Manchester to Stalybridge railway line.

    Paul Maynard

    TransPennine Express plan to see new rolling stock deployed on the Manchester to Stalybridge line progressively from mid-2018.

    Northern plan to deploy refurbished rolling stock on the Manchester to Stalybridge line and will introduce their fleet refurbishment programme progressively across the network from 2018 up until the end of 2019 which includes recovering seats, new floor coverings, Wi-Fi, LED lighting, and passenger information system.