Tag: 2016

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the processes and policies in place proactively to identify symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in service-people returning from war zones.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a range of processes in place to look after the mental health of personnel both on, and returning, from operations, including Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) and the post-operational decompression period. Personnel are given briefings on the possible psychological after-effects of deployment, as well as advice on seeking help and treatment if required. Efforts are being made to reduce the stigma that can be attached to all mental health issues, including PTSD, and this may be encouraging more Service personnel to come forward.

    The MOD has also been working closely with King’s College London on a two-year study, funded by the US Department of Defense, looking at a possible post-operational mental health screening tool. The study was undertaken using UK Armed Forces personnel, and the results are currently being analysed. When published, the study will help us to understand the efficacy of screening; to consider whether such a tool would benefit the UK Armed Forces; and provide evidence on which the US can gauge its current policy on mental health screening.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what funding her Department has allocated to help develop clean energy storage.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Energy storage is one way to provide flexibility to the energy system and to help make best use of our low carbon electricity generation. DECC has provided more than £18m of innovation funding since 2012 for development and demonstration storage technologies; including funding for four storage technology demonstration projects. In the Budget 2016 announcement, the government confirmed that it would allocate at least £50 million to help innovation in energy storage, demand-side response (DSR) and other smart technologies over the next five years.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-07-19.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the reduction in council housing rents on new council housing and the existing stock.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    Our decision on social rent reductions was based on the need to put welfare spending on a sustainable footing, whilst protecting the most vulnerable. The housing benefit bill for the social sector in England rose by a quarter over ten years, reaching £13.2 billion in 2014/15. We believe that local authorities and private registered providers will be able to find and make efficiencies to accommodate the new rent settlement. The Government remains committed to delivering 400,000 affordable housing starts by 2021.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2016 to Question 44301, United Nations: finance, how much his Department contributed voluntarily to the missions referred to in each of the last five years.

    Alok Sharma

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office pays the UK’s assessed contributions for Special Political Mission thematic cluster I, which covers special and personal envoys and advisers of the UN Secretary General. This is paid as part of our contribution to the UN Regular Budget, which is mandatory under the UN Charter.

    The UK Government has also, on occasion, provided additional targeted voluntary funding. Information about these discretionary payments is not held in a single consolidated form, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The Government identifies and monitors the value and impact of providing the voluntary funding on a case-by-case basis.

  • Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Falkner of Margravine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Falkner of Margravine on 2015-12-22.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in making their decision about how to vote on the implementation of real driving emissions tests at the 28 October meeting of the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles, whether they took into account (1) estimates from DEFRA and Public Health England that pollution from mono-nitrogen oxides is responsible for 23,500 premature deaths in the UK per annum, (2) the 2010 estimates from the WHO suggesting that air-pollution related deaths cost the UK $83,069 per annum, (3) the failure of London, Leeds, and Birmingham to maintain nitrogen dioxide levels within legal limits over the past five years, and (4) the Supreme Court’s ruling in R (on the application of ClientEarth) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2015] UKSC 28 on 29 April that they should take immediate action to tackle air pollution.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Government is committed to taking action on vehicle emissions testing that restores consumer confidence and delivers our wider air quality and climate objectives. We strongly support the current Real Driving Emissions agreement, which is expected to significantly reduce average real world NOx emissions from new diesel cars from 2017. It makes type approval requirements for diesel vehicles significantly more stringent by requiring manufacturers to ensure real-world emissions are maintained below 2.1 times the laboratory-testing limit in 2017 and at or below the laboratory-testing limit by 2020 (with a margin for measurement uncertainty). Issues relating to vehicle emissions are considered in the context of the UK Government’s plans for air quality. More detail is set out in the air quality plans published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the 17th December.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-01-25.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether current railway legislation permits a managing director of a railway undertaking to hold a senior management position on the infrastructure management company on which that railway undertaking operates.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Current railway legislation does not prohibit an arrangement of this sort. However, railway legislation contains safeguards designed to prevent conflicts of interests arising in respect of infrastructure management and the management of railway undertakings, particularly as regards the allocation of track access rights and the determination of charges. It would be for the infrastructure manager to satisfy themselves that such an arrangement complies with all relevant legislation.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-22.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths there were in (a) the UK and (b) England for which an eating disorder was the underlying cause of death for deaths registered in each year between 2010 and the last year for which figures are available.

    Mr Rob Wilson

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

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-03-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many nationals of other EU members states have won appeals to prevent their deportation in each of the last 10 years.

    James Brokenshire

    The table below shows the number of EEA foreign national offenders who have won their appeal against deportation over the last 10 years.

    Calendar Year

    No of Appeals allowed

    2006

    69

    2007

    40

    2008

    35

    2009

    49

    2010

    110

    2011

    121

    2012

    152

    2013

    130

    2014

    83

    2015

    59

    Total

    852

    (1) All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

    (2) A foreign national offender (FNO) is someone who is not a British citizen and has been remanded in custody, convicted, and given a custodial sentence in the United Kingdom for any offence. An FNO can be convicted and have served their sentence while on remand, so may not have been sent to prison.

    (3) Figures relate to main applicants only and exclude dependants.

    (4) Figures relate to appeals lodged between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2015. Appeal outcomes may have been reached in the same or in subsequent years.

    (5) Appeal Allowed figures only show the final appeal outcome and do not include any previous appeal outcomes for that individual case. They include those determined in both the Lower and Upper Tiers.

    The table below shows the total number of EEA foreign national offenders removed over last the 10 years.

    Calendar Year

    EEA FNO Removals

    2006

    480

    2007

    523

    2008

    633

    2009

    748

    2010

    933

    2011

    1,147

    2012

    1,653

    2013

    2,121

    2014

    2,962

    2015

    3,310

    (1) The figures quoted have been derived from management information from the Home Office databases and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

    (2) A Foreign National Offender (FNO) is defined as an individual with a criminal case on the Home Office’s Case Information Database, and may include individuals with asylum cases.

    (3) Total EEA FNO removals figures relate to those cases that have been deported, administratively removed or voluntarily departed from UK.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2016 to Question 29629, if the Government will make it its policy to introduce targeted sanctions against individual members of the Maldivian government if the recommendations of the Commonwealth Action Group are not implemented in the next 12 months.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Following its meeting on 20 April, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) set a revised deadline of September for clear and measurable progress to be delivered in the six areas of concern, identified at their previous meeting in February. It will be for CMAG to assess what progress has been made by September and to decide what collective action may be required. If CMAG assesses sufficient steps have not been taken, the UK will carefully consider appropriate bilateral action to help support reform efforts in the Maldives.

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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is making to help prevent the displacement of Bedouin people in southern Israel; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have been encouraging the Israeli authorities and Bedouin communities to find a satisfactory solution to this issue, respecting the equality of all of Israel’s citizens.