UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2016

  • Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-03-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the EU about its public response to the takeover of the Turkish newspaper Zaman.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    EU leaders discussed the issue of press freedom with the Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, at the EU-Turkey summit on Monday 7 March. As a friend and ally, we urge the Turkish government to uphold the right of media to operate without restriction. The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), did so when he met Turkey’s Prime Minister at the summit and underlined the importance of protections for a free press and human rights in Turkey. We welcomed the EU Commission’s Annual Progress Report on Turkey, released on 10 November 2015, which highlighted the need for further reforms from Turkey in these areas.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria Natural England uses to assess applications for badger cull licences; and when such decisions on such applications will be announced.

    George Eustice

    Natural England assesses badger control licence applications using guidance issued under section 15(2) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (NERC). The guidance can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-natural-england-preventing-spread-of-bovine-tb.

    Decisions on this year’s licence applications will be announced before the start of badger control operations.

    “

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department plans to spend on cycling in each year from 2016 to 2021.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department’s spending on cycling programmes is stated in the table below.

    Programme

    2016/17

    2017/18

    2018/19

    2019/20

    2020/21

    Total

    Cycling

    £185.2m

    £202.6m

    £119.0m

    £93.0m

    £58.7m

    £658.5m

    The totals shown above include the Department’s core cycling programmes plus spending by local bodies on cycling projects using sums from within current Local Growth Fund and the Integrated Transport Block allocations. Not all of the Local Growth Fund is currently allocated, so as future allocations of the Local Growth Fund are made to Local Enterprise partnerships, the amount supporting cycling projects through to 2020/21 is likely to rise.

    In addition to the above, from within the record £6 billion allocated to local highways authorities between 2015 and 2021 for road maintenance, this funding can help maintain footways cycleways. Further, from 2018/19 the plan is to change the formula used to allocate local highways maintenance capital funding so that it also takes into account footways and cycleways as well as the roads, bridges and street lighting, which it is currently based on. Once implemented, around 9% of the funding will be based on footway and cycleway lengths.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for publishing the Government’s analysis of whole system costs.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Following peer review by experts in the field of whole system impacts, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will publish the methodology report of the Whole System Impacts of Electricity Generation Technologies project in due course.

  • Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Clement-Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Clement-Jones on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking steps to close the domestic ivory market, including the market in ivory products.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    A number of proposals on elephant and ivory related issues will be discussed at the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to be held in South Africa between 24 September 2016 and 5 October 2016. This will include discussions on the existing global ban on the trade in ivory, which the UK is committed to maintaining, and the role of domestic ivory markets in illegal trade. Officials have engaged in substantial discussions with counterparts from other EU Member States on these and other issues over several months in formulating the EU and Member State position at the CITES Conference. The UK will continue to play a full role in these discussions.

    The then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs, Rory Stewart, discussed the issue of the closure of domestic ivory markets with the Government of the United States (US) during a trip earlier this year. In addition officials in Defra are in regular contact with their US counterparts and have discussed the US measures on a number of occasions.

    The Government has been actively exploring options with relevant parties about how to implement the UK Government’s manifesto commitment to press for a total ban on ivory sales and the steps to be taken in respect of the UK’s ivory market. On 21 September 2016 the Secretary of State announced plans for a ban on sales of items containing ivory dated between 1947 and the present day, putting UK rules on ivory sales among the world’s toughest.

    The Government will consult on plans for the ban early next year, seeking views from conservationists, traders and other relevant parties to ensure clear rules and guidance for those operating within the law, while cracking down on illegal sales. This will complement the existing UK ban on trade in raw ivory tusks. Trade in raw tusks presents the greatest risk of poached ivory entering the legal market.

    TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring organisation, has recently published its independent report – A Rapid Survey of the UK ivory market. Although not an exact comparison with a survey conducted in 2004, TRAFFIC’s survey found the number of market stalls offering ivory for sale had declined by approximately two-thirds and the number of items offered for sale had halved. No new or raw ivory was seen in any of the physical market outlets or online platforms— only one ivory item seen for sale was reportedly from after the legal cut-off (1947) for antique ivory being sold without CITES documentation within the EU. Ivory is a key UK wildlife crime priority with an enforcement action plan in place to tackle risk. For example, UK Border Force through Operation Quiver has in particular successfully targeted ivory sent through postal systems.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his Department’s document, English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision, published in December 2015, whether the progression from traineeships is intended primarily to be into apprenticeships or into employment.

    Nick Boles

    Traineeships are a demand-led, high quality education and training programme, designed to support 16-24 year olds educated to below level 3 who have little work experience but are strongly motivated by work. Traineeships have been designed to support progress into both apprenticeships and wider employment opportunities.

  • Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve Reed – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Reed on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many times the Ministerial Committee for Syrian Refugees has met.

    Richard Harrington

    The Ministerial Committee for Syrian Refugees has met on three occasions.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to reduce the burden of EU regulation on businesses.

    Anna Soubry

    The February 2016 EU Reform settlement, secured by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, sets out concrete steps to reduce the burden of EU regulation on business. These include regulatory simplification (including the withdrawal or repeal of legislation); a specific focus on reducing the burden on SMEs and micro-enterprises; and establishing burden reduction targets in the most onerous areas for business.

    We will now work with Member States to hold the EU institutions to account, overseeing the agreement and implementation of these measures.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic resources he is providing to the peace talks between the Houthi rebels and Saudi-led coalition in Yemen; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK is providing diplomatic and financial support to the efforts of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, in convening UN-facilitated talks between relevant Yemeni parties. We welcome the cessation of hostilities that began on 10 April and strongly encourage all parties to respect it, and engage constructively in forthcoming peace talks.

  • Glyn Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Glyn Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Glyn Davies on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of introducing a new criminal offence of failure to prevent economic crime on the number of prosecutions for such crimes.

    Jeremy Wright

    Under existing law, a company only faces criminal liability if prosecutors can prove a sufficiently senior person knew about the criminal conduct. It can be extremely hard to prove this, especially in large companies with complex management structures.

    A new failure to prevent offence could help prosecutors hold all companies to account for criminal conduct and bring some positive changes in corporate culture.